Fundacion Resplandecer

Hi friends! My time in Costa Rica is coming to an end and I am already sad to have to leave soon! We leave our ministry host this Saturday and then we will head to a different part of Costa Rica to meet up with the rest of our 18-person squad for a week of debrief. I wanted to take time in this update to give a broader picture of the work that our hosts do for the communities around Costa Rica! We are working for an organization called Fundación Resplandecer which means “Foundation of Bright Light”. The main mission of their organization is to bring resources to the children of the local communities to prevent drug abuse. In many rural communities in this part of the country, many families have histories with drug addictions and many children have an easy access into that lifestyle. Although the hope of this organization is to bring light and love to the kids and hopefully give them alternative hope for their future.

Our hosts also run a farm that is located in the jungle in Northern Costa Rica, and they ask people who have struggled with drug addictions to live on the farm for about six months at a time to help with manual labor, construction projects, and farming. They grow a lot of different vegetables and foods on the farm that they take around to the communities as well and deliver them to people that are in need. This farm is being prepared now to be the land that will eventually be turned into a school. I have been so thankful to work with them for the last month and live here on the farm. We have been able to serve with them in so many ways and our hosts have been so kind to teach us about what they do and how we can best serve them during the month that we are here.

As I mentioned in some of my last posts, I have been able to serve with them on the farm and through their children’s ministry. At the farm we have worked on a lot of construction projects such as chopping lots of wood for firewood for the stove and clearing out fields and spaces for the upcoming construction projects that will take place here. For the children’s ministry that we have worked with, we played with the kids, sang songs with them, and led them through activities. Last weekend we met with a new community and 65 children showed up! We ran them through lots of activities and at the end a lot of the little girls had a fun time braiding my hair!

I am so excited to be here for another week, and so thankful for the opportunity that I have had to be here this month. Thank you for all of your prayers!

Love, 

Claire