Tico Tuesday, January 17th

And we're back!

Subtle picture from small group

Wow, I feel like I could write a short novel about our time on that special Caribbean island this past week. But first, let me thank you for your prayers. Life on the island is hard, and especial in and around the capital city, the spiritual atmosphere is really dark and heavy. I know many of you were praying though, and I thank you. God answered them! God blessed our trip and our trip was wonderfully fruitful. We felt we surpassed our goals. From what I sense, these visits to my brothers and sisters on the island are like taking water to the desert. Not because we're great, but because they live in such a hard place in such hard circumstances. Yes, we bring a lot of donations (most people there live off less than $20/month), but I think just the time we can spend with them, the trainings we can give them, the friendship and encouragement we can offer them all mean so much. And at the same time, God blesses our giving and obedience and we end up leaving blessed and encouraged ourselves. I don't think there was a dry eye on anyone on our team the last day when we started saying our good byes and they thanked us and gave us each a wooden mortar and pestle with their fellowship's logo custom-made on it.
In our time there, not only was I able to give the small group training I'd been asked to provide, but I was also able to spend a lot of time talking with the young woman who is in charge of discipleship and small groups. She had a lot of questions for me and we joked a lot about my team leader's comment about the people there squeezing us like lemons all week. But that's what we were there for and I was so happy to share what I have learned with her. We also had the opportunity to visit a few of the small groups. That was really neat. It is such a gift, such a joy to be able to share with fellow brothers and sisters in other places. Being part of God's family is such an amazing gift!
Being able to go on this trip was a really special gift too. Thank you to those who gave to help make it possible. This trip helped me grow a lot and we were able to provide some tools and training for our brothers and sisters there and encourage them to keep on persevering and growing in the task set before them.
Thank you again for all your prayers and support. May God continue to challenge you, grow your faith, and use you to bless and encourage others!
Love,
Carrie