As the pandemic continues, stay-at-home orders for several countries remain, and others begin to open back up, our work in each base is looking different every week. However, we are blessed to continue finding ways to serve God in the communities to bring light and hope. Today’s story comes from our staff in Costa Rica!

Mother’s day in Costa Rica is celebrated on August 15th and is a day of thankfulness, celebration, and usually a big fiesta. But with COVID-19 cases rising by 800 – 1,500 a day, this Mother’s Day looked a little different. Social distancing requirements and extreme driving restrictions made it so many families could not get together like they usually would. Many of our site participants are mothers, and we wanted to make sure we did our part to make the day memorable for them. Even though we can not be close to the mothers, we figured out a few ways to make the day unique.

Amanda Bartz, the leader of our Community & Environmental Health site, created the “Mother’s Survival Guide” booklet, filled with healthy recipes, stress-reducing exercises, and uplifting bible verses that reaffirm how important mothers are to us. Some of the ladies’ favorite recipes were the Oreo Truffles and the Cas-abuena Smoothie.

Creative Arts site leader Dani Artavia and Juan Centeno from the Boys & Girls Club put together a few songs with lyrics rewritten especially for mother’s day. Current restrictions in Costa Rica prevent us from singing in public (due to the health risk it presents), so we made a COVID-19 improvisation. Instead of going door to door serenading all the moms, we prerecorded a concert and sent them the link (https://youtu.be/kVagNeDmVdA).

Additionally, Cindy of the Microfinance Site, Lily of the Tutoring Center, and Amanda baked and decorated mother’s day cupcakes. A local print shop was able to print edible frosted stickers that say, “Feliz Dia de la Madre” or Happy Mother’s Day! Over 225 cupcakes went out into the community distributed to mothers with the “SI Mother’s Day Survival Guide”. Ultimately, we wanted to make sure that all moms knew how special they are to us and their loving savior Jesus Christ on this Mother’s Day.

We were all very excited about the community’s happy and grateful response! We received a lot of messages over social media, reminding us that our time was well spent. Even though the present circumstances make in-person ministry challenging, we are finding new ways to walk through life with the community. Would you consider praying for all of the mothers affected by COVID-19 in Desamparados? Please pray that they will be physically, financially, and spiritually well. Also, pray that we will continue to find new and exciting ways to disciple through distanced measures.