Costa Rica Wednesday

Adam called tonight. He said it was another long day. Today they taught English, did Kids Clubs, and cleaned up in what he described as "the worst place he's ever been."
The English Camps went great he said. It was the first time 6:8 had tried to do a mobile English Camp. That made for some challenges and flexibility but Adam said Amy did a great job leading it. There was a mixture of kids and adults that came.
The Kids Clubs were harder today. They went to one club that seemed to show some opposition. The team was great through the whole thing though. It is comforting to know that we are promised that things will not be easy for the sake of Jesus' name. Adam says the kids are doing SO amazing and he is very proud of them. Working hard to get whatever task that is laid before them accomplished.
A group of students went to an abandoned coffee field that is the worst place Adam has ever been. He visited this place when he went down a few months ago and said the same thing about it then. This coffee field is the most evil place he has ever experienced. His exact words were that he "hates Satan." This was with tears in his eyes and disgust in his voice. Satan has such a hold on the people that live and interact in this field. It is a breeding ground for prostitution, drug use, and brokeness. It is filthy in all uses of the word.
The team went in to clean up trash and pray for the people and redemption of the land for Jesus' name. Adam said that the students were broken and weeping over it. I have to add a little of my heart here. I cry as I type this because I want the students that we work with, more than anything, to be all about the name of Jesus. I want them to see the true brokeness of the world. I want them stretched so far out of their comfort zones that their lives will be completely disrupted for the causes of the Kingdom! I'm sure as a parent this is a scary thing to read. I have two very little boys of my own, but pray every single day that these two boys that God has entrusted to me would be released at the right time to turn the world upside down for HIS glory. Once again- this is not said without tears. I realize that a life lived for ourselves is wasted. A life lived for Jesus (even if it is uncomfortable) will be eternally rewarded. Each day of the trip, and many leading up to it I have prayed for the team that they would never be the same because of what they encounter.
When Adam told me of the trip to the coffee field I felt that this was exactly the thing I was praying in advance for them about. All through out the Bible, from beginning to end, God is about ONE thing. HIS GLORY spreading through out the earth. From the description Adam gives me of this abandoned field- this place needs a radical heavenly disruption. God's presence is not void in this field, but it is suppressed. In the end of Romans 1 we see that God is evident in the hearts of men and the creation around them. They are without excuse. We need to pray urgently for the people living in sin in this abandoned field. We need to beg God to shine HIS light into this dark dark place. May the students on this trip be that light during this week there, but also for us to think past just the time we have children invested in the setting. This place will still be dark and in desperate need of Jesus long after the students return home, settle back into school, and Christmas comes. We must never forget those in places unreached that need Jesus. Please don't be involved in such things only because your kids are there, or you supported someone that went. Be involved because these are things that God's heart breaks for, no matter what time of day, month or year. This is always on the heart of God.
I feel like somehow I got off track from just the things that Adam told me about but I am not sorry for that. :) The unreached people that have never heard the name or love of Jesus are at the center of my heart and the thing that gets my blood boiling, my heart racing, tears flowing and my adrenaline pumping. When I see prayers being answered, or needs being revealed I just can't help myself! I don't know what it is that God has laid on your heart that HE can't stand and wants you to not be able to stand either- but I urge you to search your heart for that and put action to the holy discontents that God has given you. We are just empty vessels to be used by Him. A life lived for any other purpose is a waste.
I think that prayer is needed for the team tonight. Be fervent and urgent in the things you request of the Lord. Make HIS glory the center of your pleas.