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Greetings from Costa Rica! The team has picked up its pace over the past few days and we have had early days and late nights. The weekend brought a really engaging break for us. On Saturday we got to experience the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica on a beach. The team spent a few hours there before its started to pour rain. Because of its proximity to the equator the water is very warm near the beach and everyone enjoyed splashing around. When the rain started we made a team memory and almost everyone got into the ocean as the waves swelled. There we all were, trying to body surf big waves with the rain pouring down. It was a memory I'll never forget. On Sunday we had plans but those were changed due to weather.
Early in the trip we got to see a soccer match in San Jose. It's not their professional league (think MLS) but it is a competitive club soccer team (think AAU team). One of the strategies SI has used to reach people is to adopt a few of these club soccer teams. They are called Los Guidos (pronounced "g" as in Gatorade and "eee dos"). They have two Costa Rican interns; "Juice" short for Justen and William. They are both believers who serve along side the SI staff in the ministry sites. These two men coach the two younger aged clubs and both of them play for the oldest club team (the one we watched on Sunday). There are two traits that make this remarkable. One, they are engaging with the community with its national passion, soccer. Two, they are ministering to a rough group of boys/men.
Think of it this way. If you were to move into the extreme poverty locations in and around Fresno you could have the opportunity to start a youth soccer team. But, the kids you would have on your team come from the most broken of homes. They aren't reliable, consistent, and don't have much of a work ethic. You come in and try to instill those things bit by bit. Sound difficult? It sure is.
I heard the story of the top level team we watched and it showed the progress God is making in the team. Three years ago, this region of San Jose didn't have any teams in the competitive soccer tournaments. This year they have three. Some of these boys from Los Guidos have only been playing organized soccer for one or two years. The teams they play have been playing together since they were 5 and 6 years old. The other teams have made great progress and it's a bit like David vs. Goliath. The game we watched last week was a part of the finals. These Guidos boys made it through a 60 team tournament and are in first position currently to win the national tournament with two games left. As a soccer coach, it has been fun to watch the universal sport of soccer be used as a ministry tool to enrich boys' lives. Later we will post a blog about, Manuel, one of the players on the team. Until then, hasta luego!
- Jerrod Rumley