A Woman Named Ocean

One thing I’ve learned while on this trip is that we are definitely not called to hide. I was called out of my comfort zone when I was told to walk the streets of Jaco (the Sodom and Gamora of Costa Rica) with a group of 9 people and pray over anything we felt God calling us to pray over. We were offered drugs multiple times, invited to parties, encountered active prostitution, and prayed over store fronts whose back rooms were used to traffic women and children. This walk became very discouraging and very hard to process as we saw more and more of what a fallen world looks like without anyone shielding our eyes from the ugliness that exists. I think God saw my hurting heart and provided an opportunity to encourage and restore. My team chose to sit down and get a coffee in a nice area and while we sat, my teammate and new close friend felt God calling her to speak to a woman who had been sitting near us. She chose not to hire and began a conversation with a woman who very possibly couldn’t even speak english. I watched Meredith begin this conversation while I finished a facetime and decided I too wanted to meet this woman who was now loudly and vibrantly laughing with a huge smile painted across her face. This woman knows loss, pain, and turmoil yet spoke to my friend and I with such joy and hope because of one thing the three of us had in common, the love and freedom of a relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. She spoke of her love for the ocean, her name (which coincidentally means ocean), and the beauty of the ocean which she feels God created just for her. I couldn’t help but listen with a huge smile on my face because of the sheer goodness of the conversation I was having with a complete stranger. In that moment, the woman named Ocean needed us and we most definitely needed her, her encouragement, and her push to enter back into the darkness in order to bring a relief of light. Sometimes Hod calls us to have conversations with people like this beautiful woman I met. 

Don’t hide, don’t live too comfortably, and listen when the Lord speaks. I love you all and I’m happy and healthy (you’re welcome grandma). 

Much love, 

Katherine