A Girl Named….

A Girl Named…

This story is about a little girl up in the mountains of Costa Rica who is a beautiful creation of God and got to spend 1 day with a group of missionaries who brought love, acceptance, and a footprint of a man named Jesus. This is a story about how a small moment can leave a huge footprint. 

 A little backstory to introduce Isaita. On my last day of kids ministry in Costa Rica, all of us from the Farm went up to this new community that the hosts were just beginning to create a kids ministry with. This day was the first day of kids ministry at this site. We were informed that we were going to begin our time there praying over the location and worshipping. We wanted to invite Holy Spirit and God into this place and into our ministry for the day. We didn’t really know what to expect since this would be the only time we ever met these kids. 

Isaita is a 7 year-old girl who lives up in the mountains of Costa Rica with her family and cousins. She loves flowers and making bouquets and her favorite Color is Red. She may or may not have ever met a North American before, but she is a kid who simply wants to be loved and known. She is one of many. 

On this particular day, she showed up to a building in her community that was being transformed into a church and was met with a large group of white people who were speaking and singing in English. She wasn’t sure what they were doing, but she was curious. Her and her friend came up to the fence to peek over and listen to the music they were singing. 

She felt timid, but wanted to meet these new people and was just waiting to find the courage and the invitation. She heard them singing all together and saw some of them walking around with their hands raised up and speaking words all over the property. She saw them some with their eyes closed and some bowing down. She then saw one of them walk up to the fence and stand an arms length away singing and smiling at her. She smiled back, but didn’t dare move. They made eye contact a couple more times and then this woman reached out a hand inviting her and her friend in. She slowly approached and hugged her. This was her new friend. 

She stuck by this woman’s side all day. She listened to her pray and worship. She danced to the music with her. She went on a walk and listened to her pray over her town. They both picked flowers and held hands all the way. Lot’s of smiles and lots of hugs were shared. She even taught her a new worship song she had been learning in Spanish and they sang it together. They even learned a new verse together and practiced memorizing it together. 

She finished the day by having lunch with her all her new friends. When it was time for her new friends to go she wasn’t sad, but full of joy and having had such a great day. She ran and hugged her new friend many times before their van drove away. 

She is like many children that we come into contact with when working in short term missions. I was so blessed to get to pray over and love on Isaita for this short time, but I don’t know what will happen now. I can only continue to pray over her and pray that the Lord continues to send people into her life who can share his love with her. 

We are like many short-term missions teams who enter a place with a heart for the people and the children that the Lord has placed on them, but have to leave too soon and trust His plan. We are equally impacted in these interactions because we are reminded that the work we are doing is far greater and far bigger than we can imagine. We walk away filled with love and hope for the future. My team walked away filled with joy at what the Lord was doing and excited about what can come of the work beginning with Fundacion Resplandecer and the village. 

 I share this story to say that even though I was only there for a short time, He is there before, during, and after we leave. He will never leave the Isaita’s and I am so blessed to be a small part of growing his footprint within the communities I live. I am learning to trust the little moments that He allows me in on to be used for His glory, in His time. 

So to finish up, I would like to leave you with a question to ponder. 

How are you partnering with God where you live to grow His footprint?