Hotel Del Rey

***Please have discretion before reading.***

It's long and not about a pretty subject.

Ellen:

There’s a big pink hotel in downtown San José. It’s a little hidden from the main road, but it’s still near the heart of downtown. Its colonial architecture and the quaint park nearby make it seem like a beautiful place for tourists of all kinds to stay (you can check out their website here. In the park people read, musicians perform, dogs play.  And nearby Hotel del Rey seems like a sleepy old hotel, like most do during the day. 

But let me tell you something. Come nightfall, Hotel del Rey is anything but beautiful. Once it’s dark, business begins. The crowds of people in the surrounding brightly-lit bars somewhat disguise the darkness of what Hotel del Rey is. A brothel. The largest in Central America, in fact.

“Hotel del Rey” in English is “Hotel of the king”. King with a lowercase “k”, not King with a capital “k”. Because the king of that hotel is not our King.

“In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing thelight of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4

Hotel “of the king” breaks our capital “k” King’s heart. Hotel del Rey is ruled by this king of the world and it does not have the light of our King Jesus. You can feel the darkness as you near the hotel, even when you’re in the park (you can read more about that below in Kelsey’s section).

I heard about this hotel and what goes on inside in the fall from a local ministry called LightForce International (more info about this ministry is below in Christy’s section), but I hadn’t seen it. All I knew about it was that it was somewhere downtown and it was pink. I had completely forgotten about it until about a month ago when we were headed to La Carpio for ESL. I turned around to ask my friend something on the bus and I saw it. And it was huge. Last week I finally remembered to look it up. I didn’t know what to search so I just typed in “Hotel del Rey San José Costa Rica” into the search bar. Near the top I saw a website with hotel reviews so I went with that one. 

I’ve never had to do hotel research before because my parents always take care of it. But now that my eyes have been opened to the complete publicity out there, it’ll make me think a lot before booking a hotel. I read this link: TripAdvisor's reviews of the hotel. Now, before you click it, I’m warning you that you will read things that make your jaw drop. It’s absolutely sickening to read what men are so proud to post. Single men, married men, ignorant men, lost men. There are a few negative reviews about the service and bills, but there are no complaints about the brothel part of their stays. A few people didn’t know it was a brothel, but they stayed anyway and didn’t care. Upon reading all 72 reviews, my heart sank. It still hasn’t risen back to the surface.

  It’s a known fact here that gringos come to Hotel del Rey for the sole purpose of sleeping with a prostitute. They walk in, pay for a room, have a few drinks, and choose a girl. Sometimes they take them on a date to a bar or restaurant next door. Gah, just typing that made me sick. I think what I hate most is that all but (6-8) reviews are in English. All but (6-8) reviews are from gringos. Men from the United States. Men from my country. That kills me. Someone told us that the hotel was really busy for a few nights last year when Obama came to Costa Rica. Apparently Obama stayed in a different area, but Hotel del Rey was packed with our politicians. Isn’t that something that people deserve to know about? I think so.

I continued researching Hotel del Rey, and unfortunately I only found worse things. Among those was this Costa Rican website called Tica Secrets. I thought I may have finally found the site disapproving of it, but as I kept reading, I found I was wrong. And I kept being wrong. There wasn’t anything exposing Hotel del Rey in a bad light. It’s all portrayed as positive. Here’s another link to an article about what Hotel del Rey is all about. 

This is what people see on the Internet. There are tons of brothels all over the world, but the majority are secret. But Hotel del Rey isn’t some underground effort. What goes on there is 100% public. And those reviews are taken into account and followed by countless men visiting Costa Rica.

I think most Costa Ricans are ignorant to the presence of the hotel, and if they know about it, I can’t find many efforts to stop it (Besides LightForce. Read on in Christy’s section to find out more about it). And the gringos that know about it are the thousands feeding it and the few working against it. This blog post is a compilation of the four of us who went to see the hotel up close on Friday.

Kelsey:

As Ellen said, four of us went to Hotel del Rey on Friday. Lisa, Christy, Ellen and I walked from the bus stop through the park in downtown San José. Walking through this park toward the Hotel, the closer we got, the more you literally felt the presence of darkness. We stood across the street for a few minutes looking at the building. We saw only men. Standing in the door ways of that building and the surrounding ones. The surrounding buildings consist of casinos, bars and restaurants that we had read about on the internet. We could point out the businesses and say, “that one has good food that he brought one of the girls to” or, “He brought three girls from that bar back to his room in the hotel”.

The four of us stood across the street from the hotel in front and surrounded by the casinos and bars. Broken. Broken for the broken hearts. Surrounded by darkness. Surrounded by lost people. Surrounded by emptiness crying out for fulfillment. 

And we prayed.

Speechless, I opened my mouth to pray, but no words came for a few moments. The presence of darkness, Satan’s foothold on that whole place was remarkably tangible. We felt the pressure of it on our chests.

But, we stood there together as one body of light in the darkness. Crying out to God for the empty men and women that were behind the walls and barred windows. Fitting, that the windows are covered and barred. These people are trapped. Like a jail. In chains. In bondage of the desperation for a Savior. We prayed that God would rescue these people, tear down the bars and walls of their hearts, open their eyes to see that their ways of life are going to leave them unsatisfied. Empty. Wounded. Hurt. Yearning. Searching. For something more. For both sides: For these precious women to see their value and worth. For them to see there are other ways to make a living. For them to come to know their Creator, to experience true love and fulfillment. For these lost men. For them to think about the consequences. For them to value these women and the other ones in their lives. For them to come to know Jesus. (You will read in Lisa’s section how hard it was and is for us to love both sides of this).

We asked God to take these places out of business. To show Satan that he has no power over Him. Jesus has defeated the grave, death itself. He has defeated Satan. Jesus is The King. He has reigned, He reigns right now and will reign forever. The TRUE, Holy, Just, Sovereign, Righteous King Jesus has already won the war. It hit us that the name of “Hotel del Rey” that “Hotel of the King” is not the hotel of the real King. OUR KING. The things happening in that building and in that whole area break the True King’s heart. We asked God to show us if there is anything that we could do to fight this. God have given us the opportunity  to learn about and become friends with some of the people from LightForce International which you will read about in Christy’s post. 

Lisa:

As you can gather by now, this whole injustice completely sickens us. Once my eyes were opened to the blatant perverseness of Hotel Del Rey, it seemed my eyes were opened to other darknesses that surrounded me as well. There were nights my chest was so tight praying for this broken world it was hard to breathe, nights resulting in endless tears realizing what was going on in these girls’ lives as I slept comfortably in my bed, nights of angry prayers to My Father as I was confused and incapable of seeing His big picture-because there is a big picture. So, after God sorted my emotions and gave me refocus I as well as the rest of us were faced with the question: What is a righteous reaction to this, and as the Body of Christ, how do we respond? The response part of this will be found in Christy’s section (yes, it’s next, we’re done alluding to it). After talking to Life Force’s Anna Carrol, we received a realistic perspective, one that isn’t as hopeless as we make it seem.

First of all, we’re called to take every thought captive in obeying Christ. If we go about this completely emotion driven, we will get burnt out and therefore be ineffective in our ministry. But getting involved in other people’s lives means you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable to an extent. Cry for these lost broken people, yell at the injustice of it all, but return to the conclusion that God is Sovereign over all things and our flawed human perspective will not grasp His eternal, all-knowing one. I can yell at God all day asking “why?” and nearly drive myself mad, or I can step back, breath and ask Him to steady my heart and give me His eyes.

Second, it’s important while tackling any darkness to build a solid foundation of the goodness of God. A lot can read past this rather quickly thinking, “Of course I know God is good.” But do you? Seeing one human take advantage of another, hurt each other emotionally and physically while pursuing a selfish degrading life…can we gaze upon such a godless world, one that at times appears to have no light and the end of the tunnel, look up to the heavens and proclaim “You are a good God”?

Yes. Through His Holy Spirit we can. God is a God of grace, a God of justice, a God of mercy and love and is ready and willing to work in any way He sees fit to receive the most honor. Stories from encounters on the streets have encouraged us, as through the ministry of His servants people are being exposed to the light, and God is being glorified.

And thirdly, in dealing with the “Johns” or the buyers of sex, and the pimps-what about them? In my flesh, I despise these men and women(women run a lot of brothels as well). I am frustrated and angry and disgusted. No way can I love such people. And this is where it gets crazy, because we as the hands and feet of Christ are called to do just that. Love them. They are just as broken as the women they buy and sell. It’s a cycle of brokeness, a cycle of de-valued people seeking fulfillment in a temporal pleasure that will not last. Anna compared it to MSG, how its consumed with the intention to satisfy but does no such thing and leaves the consumer wanting more. So it is with this lustful trap. These men, picking a woman and taking her on a date fills them with a false sense of value, because in some area of their lives, (past abuse, marriage, family) they have been robbed of their value. A surprising note was that a portion of these men are past war veterans, men going through divorce, or men that were bullied in school. And here’s where we take heart. This cycle of brokenness doesn’t intimidate our Savior, and it shouldn’t intimidate us. We walk as victors in this world, Christ defeated death and in fact reigns as King. Love with the same abandon Christ did as he hung there bleeding on the cross for the sin we were once slaves to. Walk in that truth, and continue to speak of the truth that is setting people free.

Christy:

Ok, so here is the part about one of the ministries here working in Costa Rica to help these broken people. One thing Anna said about the Johns here is, “Hurt people, hurt people.” If that is true, and it is, then the opposite should also be true. Healed people, heal people.Now, no one is whole or healed without Christ, and He is the true healer. Healed people are the Christians that have Jesus’ Holy Spirit working through them. The true healing comes when He decides to make it happen. He is good. He really is, and He loves the men and the women. Light Force goes out at night and gives these men (yes, men sell their bodies too) and women coffee and cookies. They love them right where they are at. If someone shows interest in getting out of that life, they help them. They send them to a psychologist and help them find jobs. They give them a place to stay and offer them love. They also do many more things that I just don’t know about. You can find their information here. To support them can be as little as buying your coffee from them (it is good Costa Rican coffee), but you don’t just have to support them. 

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44

Those are the Johns, pimps, and brothel owners. Broken humans in need of a savior.  

“You must also help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” 2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray. Never stop mentioning these women and men in your prayers. Pray for the ministries. Pray for the  prostitutes. Pray for the johns, pimps, and brothel owners. Pray, pray, pray. But don’t just pray for the ones in Costa Rica. This is a global epidemic. A sickness that has been happening since the beginning of time and happens right in the United States. In Denver, pimps make close to $50 million a month, while in Atlanta, GA it was reported that sex trafficking brought in about $350 million dollars last year. Pray. 

This plague of their minds starts from devaluation. Just like the johns are hurting men from totally different backgrounds, these men and women have been devalued. They have been told they are not good enough. They walk into school, they get judged and devalued. They hurt, and they think this is the only way. Give the people around you value! Just like Light Force goes to the prostitutes where they are, we as Christians must love people where they are. When you see someone who does’t look “presentable” to you, love them anyway. We don’t know their story, and if we devalue them without knowing them, we are continuing the cycle of brokenness. Jesus made friends with the prostitutes. Maybe He was thinking of His lineage, and Rahab the prostitute He came from, who saved the spies in Jericho. Obviously God finds value even in the lowly. Love the unlovely. Stop prostitution before it happens. Anna asked us, “Who is socially awkward, withdrawn, bullied?” Love them! They have lost their value. Jesus wants to use us so that He can restore it in Him. 

Also, know the government and laws. It is extremely important to know what is going on to help these people. Look into children’s groups for prevention. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or rehab facility. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. Educate your children. Pornography feeds this evil industry, and many kids start viewing it at the age of 8. Know what is being viewed and educate those around you. Share this post, and/or more importantly, share the link to Light Force’s page. There are many things you can do to help eradicate this. Remember, God is good, and He loves these people more than you or I do. There is hope in Him and Him alone.

It's been way too long!

My last blog was… A long time ago. And I am so sorry about that. So I’m going to give a run through of everything that has happened since I last posted. I started blogging a few different times, so this is them all compiled together. But if you just have time to read one thing, please feel free to skip to the bottom!

So first, I went home for Christmas Break! (haha forever ago I know) I spent time with my family and friends! It was awesome but also very challenging. I did not think I would be one to get “culture shock”, however, it is a very real thing!  Living in Costa Rica for 4 months really did change me and a lot of how I think, speak and react to things. Going back to the States stretched me quite a bit; Which was good and necessary considering how much I was learning and growing in Costa Rica. Being home confirmed how God wants me to work and serve Him there, in the States, after I leave here. God really showed me that we are called to be missionaries wherever we are and where God calls us. Whether that means our neighborhood, city, county, state, country, continent or just the whole world! But He has a specific place for each of us.

I have been praying for God to show me what He wants me to do/study after I leave here. While home for break I continued praying and God started to reveal…

Psalm 82:2-4

“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Isaiah 1:17

“Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless; please the case of the widow.”

I would say that I stumbled upon these in my reading plan, but I know that God has those specifically there in that moment for me to read. All that to say, I really am feeling led to inner city, Hispanic community, Law, defending women and children, kind of stuff! So please please please be praying for that! For God to open and close the doors according to His Glory and Will! That God would continue to speak to me, that I would be listening and sensitive to the Holy Spirit. That I would not confuse, mix or compensate my feelings or desires with God’s Will.

THEN I spent Saturday January 11^th-18^th in Turrialba, Costa Rica. I stayed with an older Costa Rican woman who does not know any English. Which was incredible for me to practice Spanish every day with her! There was 12 of us GAP students that went to Turrialba and stayed in different homes; helping the church, Primera Iglesia Bautista; and their Escuelitas Biblicas (Vacation Bible School). I was able to build so many awesome relationships there, and see an amazing congregation and leadership come together, functioning as the true body of Christ, loving and serving Him with all that they are. It was such an encouraging week.

I spent the week after camp working with my ministry Metro. The missions organization that started Metro in that community, YWAM, put on a Vacation Bible School from Tuesday-Saturday. I had the literal amazing opportunity to help with that each day. God is doing amazing things in Purral, Los Castigos, the city that Metro is in! The relationships that God is allowing us to build I would not trade for anything in the world. Getting to know the families and backgrounds of each child has given us a new passion and excitement to go each week and love on them. Please be praying for all the kids that attend Metro and their families. Satan really has a foothold on the neighborhood as a whole, but I can definitely see the Holy Spirit breaking things down. Demon possession is a huge thing right now, there are a few girls claiming to be possessed. Please pray for Gabby and Tatiana!

Also! My mom and my sister Klaire came down and visited for Parents Encounter Weekend! They got to come and see what my life down here is like. I loved having them here, they came to Metro, Church, San Jose, the market and class with me! We also went to Punta Leona, a beautiful beach we spent the day at! It was amazing but so surreal having two worlds collide but I loved spending time with them and meeting all the families of my friends, too!

So, now just something God laid on my heart a few months ago to share in this blog. I have a few questions:

Do you try to live your life according to or lining it up with the Bible?

If yes, Have you ever read the whole Bible through?

If no, why not? You’re trying to live your life by it and walk around claiming you are a Christian, believing in and living according to the Bible, and you’ve never even read the whole thing?

If that came across a little too harsh, I apologize, but…This is what slapped me across the face the first week of being here in August. So I hope more than anything that that is motivation for you to READ.

God’s Word is ALIVE! I’ve never understood it like I do right now. How real and ACTIVE God’s Word and the Holy Spirit are. He wants to work in you! You have to be ready! Be preparing! Be surrendered!

So this past week we went to a camp in Managua, Nicaragua. With our visas, we had to leave the country because we cannot stay in Costa Rica longer than 90 days. But God, in His sovereign, beautiful, perfect plan, knew all that was to come in the midst of my doubt and complacency. We left early Monday morning and did not get to the camp until after dark. So the next morning, we had about 3 hours of time to spend with Jesus.

Side note: If you would have told me in August to spend 3 hours with God, I probably would’ve told you that you’re crazy, then went ahead and spent maybe an hour at the max, then slept or day-dreamt the rest of the time. Now, that is most definitely not the case.

So during this time, I read, prayed and wrote. And I’m going to let you in on a little bit of my journal and pray that someone hears something that will encourage them in their walk with the One who is writing their story.

“Please, Lord, give me the desire, hunger and thirst to want to praise, serve and live for You, and You ONLY.

Unplugged from the world, but plugged into you. Unchained from the world, but chained to You. Unbound by the things of the world, but bound up in Your Truth.

I am wholly and completely Yours.

Because where Your Spirit is, there is freedom.

You tore the veil so that we can have communion with You. Entering into the Holy of Holies, laying our burdens down at Your Throne of Grace.

You came, put on flesh. Lived a blameless, sinless, above reproach life, so that we may have life. Life to the fullest. You bore our sin, taking it on yourself and become our ransom. Paying our price.

God! I will serve you all my days. I am so unworthy. Yet in Your unfathomable and infinite grace, you have given me life.

Life…

Life of….

Joy in the midst of trials and suffering

Hope when all else fails

Peace in the times of chaos

Truth when nothing else is stable

Grace when punishment is deserved

Patience when anxiousness controls emotions and thoughts

Comfort when no one understands.

Trials and tests to break me and show my emptiness and desperation in contrast to your sufficient fulfillment. For You have let me go to the end of myself to then find You. Because we do find you when we fall apart.

But now, I seek You. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. To be in tune with Your Spirit, no one could miss it. To be so in love and familiar with your Word that there would be no way to stray from Your will.

I beg you to break my heart. Break it for the things that break Yours. Help me not to find pleasure in the temporary, sinful delights of this world. That my emotions would be the reactions of Christ. May they not waver to and fro but remain built and founded on You and Your Word.

In You alone can we find abundance, fulfillment and fullness for all that our hearts crave and long for.

I am finding rest, hope and joy in the One who is gentle and gracious. Patient yet just. Unseen yet more real and alive than anything I have ever experienced. With all my heart, soul, mind and strength I give up myself. Dying to this world and the temporal things it has to offer. Surrendering, living for, striving to be a disciple of Jesus, seeking, falling in love and imitating Him more each day.

The Author of my story and Creator of life itself.”

Love you. Thankful for you. Praying for you. Feel free to e-mail me.

kgoldcca2013@gmail.com

November 20th

Hola!

Ah seriously, every time I go to start these, I am just overwhelmed with God’s goodness and faithfulness that I never know where to begin.

First, I would just like to thank you for your prayers and support. I can tell you that your prayers are not returning void. I know God is changing, breaking, stretching, and preparing me for whatever it is that He has lying ahead for me. Also, thank you for praying for my safety. I feel more healthy, pretty much better than ever! And I have not gotten injured, which is a huge step for me! Haha So, thank you thank you thank you!

As I said in my last post, God has given me this crazy hunger and passion for Spanish. I just want to learn and take everything in. I’ve been talking so much, asking a lot of questions and studying outside of classes. God has made it very clear to me that He is going to use Spanish somehow in my life and future ministry! So, knowing that I am going to be using Spanish for Him makes me even more passionate about learning! I am so excited! Please continue to pray for God to just expand my time, energy and knowledge!

I am coming home in 26 days! I feel like I just got here! But on the other hand, I feel like I’ve known everyone here for my whole life. It’s so awesome how the Holy Spirit in someone else brings you together and you have this common bond and unity that seriously only comes from God. My friends here are awesome. Everything about GAP and Costa Rica is awesome. It is so cool how much God has done in my life since I’ve been here. And after I go home for Christmas I will have even more time here! Ah!

So just some really awesome things:

Metro on Saturdays is awesome. We are making friendships which is allowing us to love on these kids more and more as we get to know them. God is really showing me how different long term and short term missions work is. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the trips that I have been on to the Dominican and would encourage anyone and everyone to go on a trip! However, being here in Costa Rica, living here, doing more “long term” missions work is really opening my eyes. Having the opportunity to be here for 9 months really helps in making friends, inviting people to church, or going and hanging out. Whereas short term is more like going into a village doing a few skits, sharing a testimony & the gospel, then hoping someone gets saved. Not taking anything away from this, God is just changing me to be a lot more relational minded and motivated. I’ve been able to hang out with some ticos and just build relationships and invite them to our Sunday night church. People want to be loved, everyone has a God-shaped void in their heart that can only be filled by God himself. We as Christians have accepted that gift, we are filled, and now have the opportunity to share it with others. And we share this by loving other people. Making friends. Being patient. Slow to anger. Listening. Not always talking about yourself. Not being competitive in conversations. Letting the Holy Spirit use you. Striving for everything you do, to bring glory and honor to the Only One who deserves glory and honor!

Trying to be like Jesus. Which for me, looks like waking up every morning and asking God to help me look more like His Son in everything I do that day. (Which is what God has laid on my heart to do).

“Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me” - Jesus

This past week I had the opportunity to play and sing on the worship team at our English-Spanish church! God is so awesome and is stretching me so much. I am learning to rely on Him for my source of everything. God is stripping me of my pride and humbling me to realize I am truly empty without Him or when I try to do things apart from Him.

On a funny note: The Gathering Place (GGP) (Our English-Spanish church) is an old theater. The ceilings are high, with tiles and window type things, old wooden seats, and a stage. In the middle of the song “Yaveh” during worship a window type tile & a cat… Yes…. A cat…. fell from the ceiling. The window hit the piano I was playing, and the cat landed on it’s feet, ran up onto the stage and out the back. When I say this was one of the most bizarre things that has happened to me since I’ve been here, I am being completely serious. I was in shock. My first thought was that it was an earthquake. I wanted to run and scream. But it was one  of those things that you want to react to but your body is in shock that you just cannot move. It was so crazy.

We have been studying Apologetics in Bible for the past couple of weeks and it is amazing! Learning so much truth about God, the Bible, Salvation, other religions & beliefs, and how to refute or answer when we are presented with questions or arguments. God is constantly revealing himself to me and just how real and sovereign He is. I am definitely being tested, having to figure out truth, and why I believe what I do on my own. This is something kids who have grown up in the church and with Christian families often struggle with. Why they believe what they believe? Do they even really believe it? Is it just because their parents told them what to believe? Is what their parents told them truth? All of these things are coming to the surface for me. I’ve never really been one to just believe anything, but I am definitely being challenged, stretched and encouraged.

I just want to say thank you and hug all of you for your prayers. I will be home in 26 days! :)

Les amo mucho! Estoy muy agradecido para ustedes! Dios bendiga!

October 22

Hello beautiful people!

Here’s a little re-cap of the past few weeks of my life here in CR:

We had testing the last week of classes and we started practicing translating which was really cool! I translated one of the teacher’s testimonies into English. I am loving the atmosphere down here and how I don’t even have a choice to speak Spanish or not!

We went white water rafting a couple hours away in Limon. It was beautiful! Waterfalls and mountains on all sides!

We are starting to get more involved in our Saturday ministry with Metro! This week we helped with a skit! I was also able to lead the verse of the week and some other games and rules they do. 

I absolutely love my church and the people there! They are so encouraging and fun and crazy, I love it! Weekends get really long and draining, so it does get hard to be energetic at all times but God is good and JOY which can only come from Him is what shines through when we feel exhausted and drained!

This past week (October 15-18) we went to Panama! Our visas only allow us to be in Costa Rica for 90 days, and since we will be here a total of 111 days, we had to leave to renew our visas. So we drove about 6 hours from the Villa to the border of Costa Rica and Panama. Then we got out of the bus and filled out paper work and walked across a sketchy bridge into Panama! (This took a couple of hours). We drove about another hour to the water, went on a water taxi to the main island then took another water taxi to the island where our hostel was.

The islands are called Bocas. It was honestly one of, if not the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. From the hostel we could walk through a trail in the woods to get to the beach, which we did each day!

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to an old folks home. We brought them food, sang songs, danced and talked to the people there. It was so cool serving along side my friends and just allowing God to work through us even if that means making fools of ourselves.

Thursday we went to a village on the same island as our hostel. It was about a 20 minute walk through the woods. We visited the little elementary school there, played with the kids, sang songs, danced and shared some testimonies.

When I walked into the school house, I felt completely overwhelmed with humility. Looking around at 5, 8, 12-year-old kids all in the same class, crammed into this little building. Some of my friends and I sat down next to a few kids and talked to them about school, their families and things they like to do. When we told them we were going to sing and play outside, all the kids but one ran outside. Eddier, a beautiful 7-year-old boy (who looks about 2 or 3) stayed in and waited for help. He melted my heart in that second and we did not separate until we left the village. He held my hand and watched the other kids play for the first hour. My heart broke watching him want to play. I found a ball and him and I played for the next 2 hours. Men and women from the village noticed that I was playing with him and watched. At first they were laughing at me for taking the time to play with him, then they started to smile, amazed that he was playing and that someone was playing with him. I learned so many different lessons that morning.

Love like Jesus. Be like Jesus. Who will love the least of these if we do not?

Jesus did not overlook the crippled, the adulterers, the criminals; he didn’t segregate himself from those people. He called them to himself. He loved on them.

People are watching us. As Christians, non-believers are watching us. Examining, testing, questioning.

I also was able to share my testimony in Spanish at that village that morning. God is so good. He has given me a new passion for Spanish this past week. I have been able to speak so much better this week than ever before. God is expanding my abilities and my mind. It is awesome. I know God is going to use Spanish somehow in my life. Whether it is working overseas in a Spanish speaking country, working in an inner city with Spanish speakers or even if I just get to share Jesus to someone in Spanish. I know this is all worth it.

Ah! God is so good. We are so undeserving of everything. We deserve nothing but Hell. But God, in his infinite, indescribable, incomprehensible and abundant grace and mercy, He has saved us and given us LIFE.

Some truths that God is reveling to me:

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

“We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began…. ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived- the things God has prepared for those who love Him’- these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.”

This one is huge for me right now:

Ephesians 6:7

“Serve WHOLEHEARTEDLY, as if you were serving the Lord, not people.”

GOD IS SO GOOD! Thank you from the depths of my heart for your prayers. Please pray for guidance, wisdom and discernment for me. I know that I have surrendered to God everything that I am, and now I am in the waiting, trying to be patient and listen to God and what He wants from me. I am trying to not forget that He has me here, in this moment, for a purpose. He wants me to learn Spanish, study His Word, build relationships and do ministry right now.

Matthew 6:27

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Matthew 6:33-34

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.”

You are where you are, to give God the glory, working at everything you do to the best you can to share and shine Jesus to others. Live every day like it’s your last.

Thank you for reading! Wow.  How are YOU?! If you e-mail me I will e-mail you back when I can! J kgoldcca2013@gmail.com

Love you, and am eternally grateful for you.

October 4

Hi friends!

Every time I go to write one of these blogs I don’t even know how to start and all I can say is “wow!”

First, to answer all your questions… Yes. I am feeling better! I’m not sure why my body has not really adjusted to being here. I’m getting used to Costa Rican germs I think, finally. To give you a run-down: The first day I got here I had a sore throat. I went to the hospital the first time 2 weekends ago with an inflamed colon & colitis. Then, after taking all the medication from that, I started feeling better but my sore throat started getting worse. I went to the pharmacy (because in CR you can see a doctor and they can give you medicine at the pharmacy) and they gave me a few days worth of pain killers/ anti-inflammatories. Those worked for the two days they were for, but then my throat got a lot worse. So…. My mom came down to Costa Rica and took me to the hospital. I had/have an infection in both my tonsils, an inflamed uvula, throat infection and double ear infection. I was given 2 shots and a bunch of medication. Then we came to find out after a few days of me taking these medicines but not getting better, I was given medicine for urinary tract infections. So NOW I am just taking a bunch of vitamins, probiotics, and a regular Augmentin prescription I brought from home. I am so much better!!!!! It took a few weeks, a lot longer than I expected but THANK YOU so much from the bottom of my heart for your support, messages, encouragement and prayers!

I really wish that all of you could just come down here and be a “fly on the wall”. There is just so much that I am learning and experiencing, it is overwhelming.

I am just going to ramble off a few super cool things/praises:

-  I love love love the friends that I am making here. It’s so cool how I have not even known these people for a month, and it feels like I have known them forever! Being able to talk, pray, worship and serve at any time with any of the other students, interns or staff is awesome.

-  I was given the opportunity to be on the worship team at my Sunday morning Spanish church! I played the piano with the team then we did a special music song that I was able to play and sing! God is so good and allowing me to make new friendships through this. Please pray for endurance, strength and energy for me on the weekends. I will be going from my week of classes, to worship practice Friday night, ministry Saturday morning, youth group Saturday afternoon, Worship practice, Sunday school and Spanish church, then English church. Weekends are crazy busy but they are SO awesome!

-  Monday we went to the beach for our free day! It was beautiful!

-  We leave on the 14^th to go to Panama! So please pray for that: 1. for safety 2. That there are no problems at the borders, going into and coming back, with our visas.

*-   Yesterday our Bible teacher received a call from a ministry down here in Costa Rica called “Light Forest”; (they are missionaries who are here ministering to prostitutes, doing different trafficking ministries and going out into the streets of San Jose).The call informed us about a prostitute who fled from where she was living and is here living in a hostel. So last night a few of us got together and went to the grocery store to buy her food for the week. She will be receiving it today. So I beg you to join us in praying for her, for restoration, her salvation, that she would run into the arms of Jesus and that she would allow Light Forest to help her and minister to her. We are praying that she stays here and comes to our church on Sunday! 

I am learning so much. I am growing in so many different ways, God is stretching me; weather it be in my Spanish, knowledge of the Bible, challenging my beliefs, making friends, living with 35 other people, Costa Rican culture and lots more!

I just want to talk this time and encourage/challenge you to seek God, read His Word, talk to Him, serve Him and not be SATISFIED. We have become so content and complacent as Christians. I really encourage you to read, study, dissect and devour the book of 1st John. There is so much in there about Salvation and testing your Salvation. I pray that if you are reading this, you know without a shadow of a doubt where you are going to spend eternity. There is nothing more that I would want in all the world than for you to spend eternity in Heaven with the one who created you, loves you more than you can imagine and bore your sins on the cross so that you CAN have LIFE! 

1 John 1:5-10 "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."

For me, it was always the little things that held me back from fully surrendering to God, giving Him ALL of me and my plans for His kingdom! Sometimes we set up our own obstacles, label ourselves, compartmentalize things, believe the lies that Satan puts into our minds and idolize the things of this world; all of these things, hold us back from surrender or even true salvation. Serving and living for Jesus is worth everything. When we get to heaven, the fleeting things of this world will pass away and we will be with Jesus! In paradise! Perfect! Holy! Pure! Sinless! Surrender is like signing a blank contract and letting God fill out the page! SO awesome! Worth it ALL!

Challenge:
If you could ask God one question, your biggest prayer request, struggle or the foothold that the devil has on your life.... Got it?.... That's your burden, the struggle that is holding you back, maybe it's just what needs work or what is holding you from full surrender or even salvation. Focus on that. Surrender it. Cover it in prayer. Seek out scripture. And although I might not know who even does this, I am praying for you.

I love you all so much. My heart is overflowing with gratitude. I am so blessed.
May God bless you for your prayers and support! 

Some pictures of my awesome friends and expierences :

La playa

Room 7: We finally got out shower door taken out!

La playa

Cosechas on my birthday with some of the coolest people I've ever met.

September 15th

Hey guys!

Wow so much on my heart that I want to share! 

First I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for me specifically physically. For those of you who do not know, I spend last night (Saturday) in the hospital for a couple hours. I had some tests done and IVs. I have colitis and right now my colon is really badly inflamed. So I have a few antibiotics and instructions, I'm resting and just staying in the Villa. I ate some crackers today which is the first thing I've eaten in 3 days. I'm starting the uptrend, please pray that these medications work and that, Godwilling, my body will heal. I am so thankful to have answers to a lot of the sickness I've been feeling since I got here. I know God has awesome things up head so thank you for your prayers!!!! 

Okay so two weeks of Spanish and Bible classes down! Spanish is awesome, listening and learning for 4 hours without being able to talk or speak in English is crazy but so cool! Bible: WOW! I am a new person already! God has broken me and is molding me into His daughter that He wants me to be. 

Metro is my Saturday ministry and I already know God will be using that to stretch me and break me in so many ways the next few months. This ministry will probably have the most posts about it, which I am so excited for! 

God is continually showing me that this is all part of His plan for my life. It is not a coincidence that I am here, God had this planned before I was born that I would be here, right now, in this moment.

Some prayer requests:

- Health! For myself and the 36 other people that live in the Villa. When there's so many people in one place you can imagine the hot spot it is for bacteria and sicknesses. 

- No distractions. Please pray for all of us to focus on God and for us to be seeking Him and His Word daily! That the Devil would not have a foothold in any of our lives. This place where disciples are being equipped is a battlefield. 

- Strength, energy & wisdom on the weekends. 

- A long term prayer that a lot of us are praying here and waiting on God for: Direction for all of us as to what God is calling us into. 

God is so so so good and faithful and WORTHY to be praised! We are reading through our Bibles in chronological order. (Or what scholars have put together as kind of general idea of how it seems the Bible was written) I am stoked about that! I will post it on here just in case maybe some of you would be interested! 

My prayer for you and myself: 

Let us become more aware of Your presence, let us expierence the glory of Your goodness. 

Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I love you all and thank God for you!!!!!

Hey guys!

I just want to thank you for your prayers thus far throughout my adventure! I would also like to ask for your prayers for the interns, staff and a few of us students. There’s a little bug going around, it’s not too major, but we’re losing our voices and stuff. I haven’t been able to sleep much and I know it is hindering others from giving 100% as well.

Aside from that… The weekend! I’m going to tell you a little about my weekend, what it was like and what it will be for the rest of the time I am here.

Saturday mornings are ministry mornings. All 30 of us have been put in groups that go out and do different things with missionaries or our interns. My ministry is called “Metro”, this is new this year, in a pretty rough part of San Jose. Myself and 4 others will be going with one of the interns to do some ministry every Saturday morning.

Ministry while I’m here in Costa Rica is going to be very different than all the short-term trips I have been on. Long-term missions is all about building relationships. It’s not going to a different village every week and doing a Vacation Bible School and never coming back. I will be going to the same place and hanging out with the same people every Saturday.  I know God has me going to Metro every week for a reason. I can’t wait to share it with you guys!

(A little side note: I just typed “y’all” instead of “you guys” – That shows how much I am spending time with people from different states haha!)

Saturday nights and Sunday mornings I am going to a church along with 4 other people to a church called “Impacto”. However, this past Sunday our Pastor was sick so a deaf man came and preached.  It was definitely an awesome experience, his wife translated for him into Spanish! 

Every Sunday night we will be going to an English church called "The Gathering Place" The Pastor is our Bible teacher John, so all of us GAP students will go there on Sunday nights. It was a amazing night, I realized how blessed I am to be with 30+ other people who love Jesus, want to learn more about Him, and want to learn more about other cultures just like I do. 

I am estatic to see God's plan unravel through the next few months. God is so good! 

Thank you SO much for your prayers! Today (Tuesday) is my first day of classes!

God Bless!