Taking Courage

It has been a very full few weeks. But to start off, I have some more details that I can give you! Over the last couple of weeks I have now received expectation forms for both my time in Cuba and in Costa Rica, these explain more about the country, what I’ll be doing and what to expect, as well as what will be expected of me while I am there. 

In Cuba I will be living with Delvis, a Baptist pastor, his wife Vivienne and their two children, a little boy of 9 months and a 4 year old girl. For those of you who have seen me around small children, you can imagine my delight upon hearing this news! The picture below is of the sign in front of their church. My interest in youth work has been communicated to Delvis, but the various opportunities available to me will be clear once I arrive and we sit down and discuss them. Delvis is currently studying English with Hollie (Latin Link Short-Term Coordinator or STC) in order to pass an exam that will allow him to travel to and study in the UK- living with him and his family will be beneficial for both of us as we can practice and learn each other’s language. I’m also relieved that I will have at least one person to speak in English with! The town I will be living in- Cotorro- is quiet and friendly, and has bus links into Havana centre. 

Particular details are still being worked through on the Costa Rica side of things, including visa details and costs and what course I will be studying at Bible College. Again, I will be living with a host family, although as time goes on I may have the opportunity to move in with friends I make there. Internet access will not be an issue the way it will be in Cuba, where it is under-developed and expensive, as most homes have internet and there are plenty of internet cafes that I can use. I don’t know where exactly I will be staying, but it is most likely to be in San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica.

Because of my plans to study at a language school and then study at Bible College, as well as the fact that I am moving country which means more flights, there are a lot of extra costs involved in my Stride placement. I have also been informed that I am expected to attend Latin Link’s International Assembly in Ecuador in February next year. In isolation, I would love to go and visit Jim Elliot Country and attend the conference, but by that point I will only have been in Cuba for a few weeks maximum and it also means more money to come together before I go. I know that my God cannot be anything but faithful, and that because He is the one calling me to do this that He will provide, but at the same time there is still a lot of money that needs to come together in a very small amount of time and I am finding it very difficult to trust God completely i.e. in a way that means I’m not stressed or anxious about it! 

   Last week, I was fretting over finances and how to communicate the need and that evening I was continuing reading through Exodus and I came to 25:2 where God is speaking to Moses about contributions required for the building of the tabernacle:

“Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.” Exodus 25:2 (ESV)

I can have confidence knowing that firstly, I am not asking on my own behalf, because everything that is given is being given back to God, to whom it all belongs to Him in the first place, and that it is He who moves people’s hearts. 

It is also just beginning to hit me how little time I have left before I leave. I am so excited about what God has done so far and what He is going to do, but fear of the unknown and of leaving everybody behind is starting to set in. I know that I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control, and so I am doing my best to hand over these fears to Jesus, knowing that he understands exactly what I am feeling. This is the verse that I am holding onto right now: 

“The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” Acts 23:11

 Paul had longed for so long to go to Rome and be with the church there, but he had no idea when or how or if that would eventually happen. I know that I’m not going to Cuba to appeal to Caesar, but the fear is there all the same. When I first began telling people about what God had asked me to do, so many times I was told how brave I was and at the time, I didn’t feel I was being brave at all, but now I understand. When I first read this verse, it was the phrase “the Lord stood by him” that caught my attention. I know that as I go to testify to the gospel of Jesus Christ in Cuba, as I have done in Edinburgh and Fife, that He will never leave me nor forsake me and that I can take courage because of that.