Dengue Fever

Hey Everyone

I currently have Dengue Fever or aka "breakbone fever" - you get Dengue fever from certain types of mosquito's here. It's symptoms are pretty rough.Look it up online if you wanna know more about it. I have had Dengue fever for about 4 days and 3 nights. I wake up drenched in sweat if I sleep any at all during the nights, and I got blood work done which confirmed it was Dengue and now I am having to just rest. I am not too good at that. I am starting to get the feeling that the Lord has something to teach me in this time. 

If any of you are able and would like to help support me in getting better, there are a few things medicine wise I need and I need to pay for the blood work I got done, but if your not able I understand I do have emergency money that I am tapping into as well I just wanted to throw that out there if any of you were willing. Message me @ my email devin.tudor@yahoo.com and I will tell how to donate to my personal account not my World Race account.

I have only been posting pics of our fun days, and as much fun as we are having here there is a lot of work being done here in Costa Rica. There has also been lots of trials our team has had to go through, so I thought I would let everyone know whats going on. 

For starters, I have an amazing team. They love so deeply, and they are so intentional with their time here, their time on the World Race and the work we do here. 
The work we do here is a mixture of about a billion different things. We take care of the property we stay on in La Ola, we host kids camps throughout most of the week, we open the skate ramp up everyday from 3 to 5, we help with a bible study on Thursdays, and we teach a youth group on Saturday nights. So we are very busy during our work days, but it's been good. 

Our team has had some rough days as well though, so keep us lifted up in prayer. One of our teammates had to make a hard decision, and they decided they had to go home. That teammate had already become like family to us, so it was hard saying goodbye, but we wanted to honor their decision and bless them in their going out as we did in their coming in to our World Race family. Our team is still processing it all, but we are choosing to respond in such a good way we will only become closer because of the process. 

One other thing to inform you of : Jaco is known as a party town, and is a huge contributor to the sex slave industry. Lots of human trafficking takes place here in Jaco. It has been breaking our hearts to see this going on so close to us, and us feeling like we can't do anything about it. So, we are praying. Praying that more people join the movement to end human trafficking and tear down the sex slave industry. We're praying more conferences like Passion or Onething to erupt all across the US and abroad raising up a moral outcry for the ending of human trafficking and abortion. 

The atmosphere here is very heavy and oppressive, and the streets can be pretty dangerous at night. Me, Gabe and one of my squad Leaders Joel avoided a beatdown by some street thugs simply because Joel has a good eye and was watching out for stuff like that. We take all the precautions to be safe and for the most part we usually always are. 
Please be praying for my team as they are working their butt's off right now, as I am laid up in bed writing to you, and pray for me too. 1) That the financial stuff I need with the Doctor will be taken care of and 2) That in this time of rest, that The Lord will speak to me, and help me learn how to rest, that I will still be able to encourage and love my team through this time. 
Thank you everyone for all your love and support. 
Dev

There Is A Special Kind Of Beauty In...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."Mark Twain

So here I am.. 

Month 1- I sit here in amazement at the Lords goodness, at His faithfulness. Because of your kind hearts I'm here in Costa Rica. 
I'm here! I did it! I ventured out into the unknown. I sailed away from the safe harbor..

I can hardly believe I'm even here. I have only been gone a week, and yet it feels as if a month has already went by. You wouldn't believe what goes on in just one day. The Lord is always speaking, He is always drawing my heart closer to Himself, He is always teaching me something. He is teaching me of the peace I can walk in daily, and the confidence I can have over my heart and the love I pour out.

 I miss home yes, of course! But I feel the support from home. I feel your prayers, I feel your love. It carries me into the Lord's presence. Your support helps me lead my team. Your support helps me lead my heart. So thank you..Thank you for who you are and the sacrifices you have made to pour into me, so I can simply pour into and over the nations. 

This month we are in the beautiful country of Costa Rica and our teams focus is this:

We are currently doing a two fold ministry- Where we are staying is called La Ola (the wave) it is a beautiful spot where the Christian surfers ministry made their home. We camp out in our tents on a little grassy knoll. 

Our teams main focus is actually taking care of the property we are on. Our ministry contact April is like many of us, like many of you- a dreamer, yet she has felt the up's and down's in life in such a way that her heart hurts and she just feels burnt out, and just needs help. That is what one of the things we are here for. April is a local here, and has been for about three years, she already knows the street kids, and how this culture operates so we have simply been taking care of things for her so she could catch her breath a bit. We are here to empower people not to take over or give our own agenda. She is the local so we came simply to serve her, and serve them- the people of Costa Rica. Jesus said He came to serve and not be served. We are trying to operate out of that same mentality.  Already with a week of us working on the property and opening La Ola to the kids, praying with her, April seems a little lighter, a little happier and every now and then you can catch a smile break across her face. 

Kids just like these are the other half of our ministry. We have been hosting kids camps all week, and cleaning their parks around here with other missionaries that our in CR for the week. We practice our Spanish at night as a team to help ease the language barrier. 

These kids will simply capture your heart, they will make you feel like a kid yourself.. their gratefulness, their attitude, its so humbling to see and feel their hearts.  It seems the longer we stay here, the more phone numbers we get of more people who want us to join them in some ministry their doing. We have connected with about 7 other people that we will be doing ministry with soon so be on the lookout for more to come there.. 

The Lord has been speaking to me in this place, around these kids, when I'm with my team during the day and we speak of the Lord's goodness, we reflect on His faithfulness..Or at night when I get off and get away by myself with the Lord, He is speaking..He is moving. The Lord has moved my heart in these quiet moments before Him. He has shown me that there is a special kind of beauty in brokenness. 

I am here in Costa Rica and my heart is breaking. My heart is breaking for home, my heart is breaking for the children here. Most of the children here have no fathers. Many have up and left, some have died.. no matter the situation each little boy, every little girl comes up and wraps themselves around your legs hugging you, holding on to you, or they will have you bend down so they can jump on your shoulders and have you run them around like your playing chicken fight on land. 

My heart is breaking because it's growing. If you don't read but two lines of my blog read these!

My heart is breaking, because it's making room for more love. I am here to learn love. I am here to become a student of love. I am here to be flexible. I am here to do more than just humanitarian work. While that's great, I am here to change the very atmosphere, the very culture. I am intentional with my love. My heart is breaking because I am finding beauty. 

There is a special kind of beauty in brokenness.."The gory bits of you, and the gory bits of me" ..

Keep following my journey, there is so much more to come. So so much more..