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Saying Goodbye Too Soon







He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

 Hello Family and Friends,

I imagine that anyone reading this is also in the midst of a crazy season, but I wanted to update you on what life looks like right now.

As of Monday we made the decision to go home. We were hoping to wait it out, but on Monday the news came that Costa Rica was declaring a state of emergency and closing their borders to all incoming travelers. This has effected us in two ways: 1. We were no longer able to do our border run to Nicaragua or Panama since we would not be able to re-enter the country. 2. There is no way to know if airlines will continue to fly flights out of Costa Rica if no flights are coming in. So with that information the decision was made to send both students and staff home rather than risk being stuck in Costa Rica. Though Costa Rica is doing well so far implementing social distancing quickly they do have 70 confirmed cases.

Our hope was that we could quarantine to the Villa and keep students healthy. The thought was that they would have better odds of staying healthy if we could avoid traveling. Unfortunately, with the borders closing, both here and flights being grounded in the states the decision was made to go home. Most of the students had flights yesterday and today. We have only a few of us left and I fly back to NY on Monday.

This makes goodbye that much harder. It feels unfair and unreal. It feels like we are stuck in a bad movie. I know that this is hitting people hard all over the world, but this just doesn't feel right to send our students home when we had so much planned for the next six weeks.
So we are saying goodbye much too soon. Goodbye to our ministry partners. Goodbye to our ministry students. Goodbye to each other, our family, our friends, to Costa Rica, and to GAP way before we expected to. So that is the update: We're coming home, coming home- tell the world we're coming home.

This is also a challenge for me as I will not be returning to Costa Rica next year and the program is also coming to an end here in Costa Rica for now. I know God has been kind to let me come back to visit every year since I was a student and now has given me two more years of living and serving here in Costa Rica and for this I am grateful. Faithful He has been and faithful He will be. I hope I will have opportunities to come back in the future. I am trusting God with that.

Please be praying for us and our students. Most of us were not able to say the goodbyes we wanted to and there is a lot of disappointment in that. So here are some specific prayer requests:
1. all of us make it home safe and healthy
2. we would be able to adjust to the United States especially in the midst of all the craziness
3. we would all remember the things we have learned this year and would be ready to live it out
4. we the church would be the church- generous, compassionate, gracious, peaceful, joyful, and would demonstrate the love of Christ in all things

Thanks everyone for following along. Stay safe, stay healthy and know that I am bringing home at least one role of toilet paper just in case.

Love has no borders,

Rachel Martha

Here are some photos from the last few weeks/ days:
Saying bye to Sammi and LeAnn


Saying Goodbye to our Los Guido Students


Last adventure together to a coffee plantation cafe



After girls night we went to the beach!


Girls Night Bake-Off between rooms

The girls with their creations































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