Costa Rica 2009 – Day 1
What a wonderful first day in Costa Rica! It started at 2:00 a.m.
for the 15 of us as we took the last warm showers for 10 days.
Everyone then met at 3:00 a.m. at the church to drive to Charlotte to
pick up a 6:45 a.m. flight. Everything worked smoothly as we got our
boarding passes, checked our bags and made it to the proper gate. Even
though some were close, none of the 30 bags were over 50 lbs. In
addition to our personal bags, we brought things we are donating to the
church as well as school supplies, VBS supplies and several bags that
Valerie Fulton had collected for her senior project, which was spurred
from last year’s mission trip. The layover in Dallas was met with
breakfast and last phone calls before entering the “dead zone” of Costa
Rica. Landing in Liberia, Costa Rica at 1:20 p.m. was perfect (though
there is a 2 hour difference in time zones). Then standing in customs
for an hour, getting our bags and meeting Lanny, our project leader who
quickly took us to our first Costa Rican experience, Burger King. It
seemed a bit surreal to be eating a Whopper Jr with fries and a coke in
Costa Rica while looking at Transformer toys that were in the kids
meals. Along the way, we were able to stop at Pastor Carlo’s church
where we had worked 2 years ago laying the concrete for the floor of
their new sanctuary to catch up with life and see the improvements in
both facility and growth in membership. He said they now have over 500
in attendance each Sunday. It is great to see the fruit of work
started years ago. The rain started soon after (it is rainy season) as we drove the 90 minutes to Las Juntas, the town in which we are
living and ministering. Everyone got their first sight of the Costa
Rican countryside. The trees and birds are different than the US. The
sun’s rays filtered through the clouds on the horizon. The many rivers
that we crossed. It is beautiful. We also got to connect with our new
pastor, his 17 year old daughter and one of our interpreters – all
three expressed how they felt God was going to work through our team.
After arriving in Las Juntas, we got settled in our hostel which is
much more in the “urban area” than we have been in previous years. We
unpacked, played a little soccer among ourselves and then went to
dinner at a local pizza place which was incredible. The Mexicana
pizza, a blend of queso, taco meat, pepperoni, sauce and cheese, was
delicious and combined things I never would have thought of in the
States. By this time it was 8:00 p.m. here (10:00 p.m. at home) and we
were getting very sleepy. We’ve been going for 16 hours straight. We
took time to tell each other first impressions and go over the schedule
for tomorrow before heading to bed.
Here’s how you can be praying for us: 1) Against sickness. As our
bodies adjust to different food in a different country. Also, flu is
on the rise here. 2) Against fatigue. We are very tired after a long
travel day. 3) For Jesus to be glorified. We start tomorrow meeting
those to whom others have ministered and we may continue to connect
with. Plus there is a 4 hour church service in the morning. I can’t
wait. Documented by Joel Tassie
Costa Rica – Day 2
Morning came early at 7:15 a.m. when everyone woke up to get ready
for church. 8:00 a.m. was breakfast of cereal, milk and juice. Then
our first personal devotion time, followed by our first Concert of
Prayer, led by Joel and Ashley who each brought their guitars to lead
musical worship. Lanny then divided us up into pairs where we shared
what our major strengths are and then prayed that God would make them
our weakness so we would rely on Him this week. By 9:30 a.m. we were
off to church – Iglesia Metodista Fuente de Vida. It was a 2 ½ hour
service full of Jesus and full of life. The music was amazing and even
songs we sing at our own contemporary service (Forever, From the Inside
Out, Mighty to Save – though each in Spanish) and the sermon given by
Lanny (a 50 minute amazing piece of preaching). Everyone hugged at the
end of the service. We then changed into our shorts, ate a luncheon
meat buffet lunch, divided into our 2 work teams and went out to prayer
walk for a couple of hours. Read what Jennie wrote about her Prayer
Walk experience:
“Prayer walking is a completely foreign concept to me…so when Lanny
sent us out on our first prayer walk today, the butterflies filled my
stomach. As we started, the first few houses were quite nice: clean
porch and yard, nice furniture, bright colors, etc; however, as we
continued down the gravel road, the houses gradually became more
impoverished. At one house, we met a man named Roberto. He was
friendlier than I expected and welcomed our entire team into his mining
shop and home with open arms, along with his 14 dogs. Without
assaulting the man with questions about his faith and practice of
religion, we simply wanted him to feel comfortable talking with
us…Roberto seemed very enthused to give us a tour of his property.
Using 200 year old tools, he fixes mining tools. Furthermore, he breeds
African and Italian bees…The resulting hybrid(aka Formula 1) is
downright evil- just kidding-they just sting really hard…and could
potentially kill you but other than that, harmless. He then showed us
his house- 80 years old. On the second floor, the top floor, he had a
stand at the far end of the room where he had busts of a pygmy and King
Tut from Egypt. On the table next to it were many types of rocks and
supposedly ancient shells. When we got back to his shop, Roberto gave
us rocks from the abandoned gold mine as a thank you. Before leaving we
asked if there was anything he wanted us to pray for him: Roberto
admitted alcoholism, which keeps him from continually attending the
church. I believe that part of the reason why Roberto was so open to
the ministry team was because, like many of the Costa Ricans, he had a
genuine curiosity about us – he had seen a previous group by the mines
a week or so ago. (Many of the local folk here check us out or just
stare.) But I think the major reason why he opened up to us about the
alcohol problem was because he felt comfortable with us. We talked to
him with genuine curiosity about his home and life…not diving right
into an interrogation. Roberto is a good man and I pray that he
overcomes alcoholism using God as a support instead of feeling ashamed
to be in His presence.”
Jennie’s story was one of several shared this day.
At 4:00 p.m., the pastor came back to the church to pick us up and
take us to a place where he said “there is a great problem that breaks
up families and harms the children of the area.” We didn’t really know
where we were going, but we ended up in a field with large covered vats
and bags of rocks. Read what Charlotte Barr had to say about this
experience:
“On our first full day here, we were taken to a site where gold ore
is processed. While there we were told about the history of the area. I
was truly astonished to hear about the hardships the people of Las
Juntas have faced. Most of these difficulties are a result of being
exploited by large mining companies from various foreign countries such
as Great Britain, the US, and Canada, who use labor to mine extremely
dangerous mines located near the city. Once these companies have
obtained as much gold as they desire, they leave the destroyed earth
for the locals to scavenge. Young children are some of the many miners
that attempt to obtain gold from these mines in order to help
economically support their families. We were told of the many dangers
that the miners face. Some are subjected to poisonous vapors, lung
disease, cave-ins and the chemicals, cyanide and mercury, used to
excrete the gold from the ore. Because the miners are uneducated on
how to properly handle these extremely chemicals, they have to deal
with the side effects of these chemicals and are unsure of where to
place the byproducts. Many boil off into the air while others get
dumped into the river. This in itself creates other hazards for the
community. Someone in our group made the point of saying how pleasantly
surprised she was to see that the people of this town weren’t bitter
against Americans even though large US mining companies had done great
harm to their town and its community. I think this is a true depiction
of the kind and open people who reside in this town.”
The whole experience was eye-opening and made us appreciate even
more what the people of this area have faced for the last 200 years and
more.
After the walk/ride back to the church, we had an hour to relax
before an Oriental dinner (it seems so strange that we come to Costa
Rica to eat Oriental.) During this time, some went to the Pastor’s
house to meet the family and send in this blog, others went to a local
soccer field and played a pick up game of soccer (I was surprised to
find out they actually won.) and others stayed back and rested. By
6:30 p.m., we were eating dinner (which was amazing!). Then it was back
to the church to debrief the day and share God stories with each
other. Then back to the hostel for an hour or so of Kid’s ministry
prep. Then to sleep by 11:00 p.m.. (Or 12:45 a.m. for me.) Documented by Joel Tassie
Costa Rica – Day 3
So here it is around midnight and finally the day’s blog can be put
together. This was our first full day of ministry and God was
amazing. We had our first traditional Costa Rican breakfast – beans
and rice, eggs scrambled with meat, orange juice, unrefrigerated milk
in a box, coffee that is so good you know you’re in Costa Rica. The
meal was followed with musical worship, daily personal devotions and
then out by 10:00 a.m. to do house visits. This is where the day gets
interesting and where God begins to manifest in powerful, supernatural
ways. I’ve had 3 members of the team: Edward Couvillion, Valerie
Fulton and Gina Simmons write about the morning from their perspective.
Edward’s Story
“Today, God called our group to participate in a covering prayer
session for the other group and the family they were about to visit.
Before the other group had left we had heard a few words on the
condition of the family and the situation that they were in. What we
gathered from these words was that this family had an elderly man that
had just been diagnosed with cancer and his wife was attempting to get
a type of social security pension so that they could solely survive.
With this information in mind our group sat down and began to pray and
listen to the information that God had for us. During this time God
spoke to many people and let them know what He had in store. Joel was
pointed by God to a specific verse, Ephesians 3:20, which talks about
how God can do more for us than we could ever imagine, then to another
verse about healing, then to another verse about thankfulness. Another
person in our group kept seeing a picture of a young girl. God was
consistently telling members of our group to keep Him at the center and
to let Him lead us and the other group in the correct direction. For
about 30 minutes we continued to pray for the family so that God could
lead them in the right direction. Throughout this time our group had a
very powerful and intense prayer time that, I think, allowed our whole
group to get closer to God and have a closer relationship with Jesus.”
While this prayer time was happening at the church with Edward’s
group, Valerie’s group was experiencing something very different from
what they were expecting. Here’s what she has to say:
Valerie’s Story
“Today my group had an amazingly intense experience when we were
least expecting it. A woman, Myra, came to the church and asked us to
pray over forms asking for a social security pension for her husband
suffering from cancer. We did so and then followed her to her home to
pray over her husband in person. After talking, laughing, and praying
over this man, we went to talk to the rest of his family. This family,
we soon learned, was in need of much more than just physical healing of
the man’s cancer. His wife told her story of her abusive marriage that
had just changed this year after her husband received his cancer
diagnosis. Her faith, story, and comparisons of herself to Mary
Magdalene were moving and vivid. We then spoke to her youngest
daughter, a woman with children of her own. Her broken relationship
with her abusive father and her mother’s legalistic approach to church
had tainted her relationship with God. Upon hearing that her father
had recently accepted Christ, she asked how he could still be so full
of hate and abuse if he had truly become a man of God. She wanted to
love him, but did not know how to trust. She said, word for word, that
she was confused. All of us in the group were deeply moved and our
hearts tugged us in different directions. This experience of hurt,
though, provided a healing moment for my faith, and we as a group can
now be God’s healing love for this family. So, as we attempt to “be”
and not “do” in Christ Jesus, I pray- and ask all of you back home to
do so as well- that we may be like stained glass windows, letting
Christ’s light shine through us to color this family’s life with joy
instead of discouragement and love instead of bitterness. If you can’t
tell….it was an intense day! We were exactly where we needed to be,
and I am so thankful to have been so powerfully led by God.”
Everyone in Valerie’s group was intensely moved by their visit and
feel called by God to return to this family’s house tomorrow to
continue the conversation. Please pray for them.
After Edwards’ group felt finished with what God needed to do with
covering prayer, we went on our own house visit that was also
powerful. I’ll let Gina explain…
Gina’s Story
“Today, team one was given an opportunity to visit a home in Las
Juntas where a home-bound 56 year old woman lives with her mother. Her
name is Yadida and she suffers from epilepsy. Yadida has suffered
severe brain damage due to repeated seizures since she was young.
Yadida’s mother takes very good care of her along with some other
family members. However, in order to be able to care for Yadida at
home, officials from the mental hospital required a special room be
built in order to protect her. Since her brain damage is so severe, at
times Yadida can lash out violently. Unfortunately, this special room
resembles nothing more than a cage. It starts with a cold steel wall
of bars with a very small door way of bars as an entrance. Even the
shortest person has to crouch down in order to get into the room. The
bottom of the door is covered with wire and screen to keep her from
putting her hands and feet through the bars. In this very small room
is only a rocking chair next to a window. That’s all. Attached to
this cage like room is a doorway to a bedroom and bathroom where Yadida
spends her nights.
Where we greeted Yadida was in her rocking chair. She seemed
frightened of us as we filed in. I was somewhat shocked and mostly
felt compassion for her. I could see there was a full life behind her
eyes locked away. She made the only noise she could, perhaps out of
fear. It sounded like a shriek. Nobody took notice or acted
frightened. We just asked if we could sing, since we heard that while
she was young, Yadida liked to listen to music in church. We started
to sing and I crouched down to the floor. I wanted to be lower, to
look up at her so there weren’t so many people looking down at her. I
guess I didn’t want her to be overwhelmed. While Joel was just outside
the room playing the guitar, a few of us were in the small room with
Yadida, a few were with Joel and Ricardo (our translator) and Yadida’s
mother was in the bedroom. It was cramped, but we sang and sang.
Yadida slowly turned from her agitated look to one of peace. She
started to rock in her chair at times, and other times she seemed to
fall asleep. It was amazing and very powerful to witness this
transformation. If only for a moment, this child of God had been given
a moment of peace. At least, I hope that is what she felt, for we will
never know…
We then asked Yadida’s mother if we could pray. She agreed and we
prayed for the family and for Yadida. We then asked if we could speak
to Yadida’s mother so we went into her kitchen and spoke with her about
God. I asked her if she believed that our prayer would reach God. She
said she did, and that she believes in God. We asked more questions
and learned that she is Catholic and attends church occasionally. We
still needed to know more. We asked if there was anything we could do
for her but she said her family helps out. She even went jogging this
morning. A mother of a 56 year old jogging! But she also let us know
that her two sons are struggling with alcohol. We did pray for them as
well. It is an all too familiar problem in this area. What a strong
woman she must be, dealing with such troubles, yet she goes on.
Our group still feels like there is unfinished business at this
home. We plan to visit again, if only to bring a little more music
into Yadida’s life and a little more comfort and compassion into her
mother’s life.”
We knew coming into this trip that it would be unlike others we
have done. That God would use us in ways different from past trips.
We’re beginning to get the picture of what this looks like. No wonder
we have this exact team with us this week.
Now comes lunch. (Yep it’s hard to believe that all this happened
before lunch.) and then it’s off to do Kid’s Ministry. Each of the two
teams head in opposite directions, each prepared with Bible stories,
songs, sports equipment and lots of crafts. For the next 3 ½ hours,
each team ran a VBS-like ministry. One team had about 20 kids show up;
the other about 12. Each group came back with good reports of
relationships starting to be built and that news will spread about us
for the next few days.
By the time we got back at 5:30 p.m., we were ready to relax. We
had another amazing authentic Costa Rican meal (a beef stew-type thing,
rice, potatoes and a Costa Rican “blueberry” drink). For debrief, we
worshiped musically and then really started to unpack the experiences
of the day – very much needed. About 9:30 p.m., we broke into groups
to discuss Kid’s Ministry for the next day and by 11:30 p.m. we were
all asleep (except me who’s typing all this in.).
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR US! JUST READ ABOVE FOR THE SPECIFICS.
Costa Rica – Day 4
Another amazing day! Breakfast of French toast and fresh mango –
yum. Ashley and Joel playing good worship music before devotional
time. God speaking through our devotions and then the pastor telling
us a story of a boy of the congregation a few weeks ago that had died,
was prayed for and was brought back to life through prayer. The boy
was even there today for us to see. An incredible thing is the verse
that the Pastor had used was the same one God gave to Joel when we were
praying for the healing of the family yesterday. After a brief prayer,
both teams went out. Team 1 went to do Kid’s Ministry and it went
great. We had twice as many kids as yesterday and they loved the
games, the Bible verses, the Bible story told by skit and the crafts.
The pictures speak of how well it went. Check them out. Read what
Heather wrote about the morning.
Heather’s Story
“Today was a really interesting day. My group started our day
doing children ministries at 10 while the other group talked with a
local family. The Pastor drove us to the site were we were doing the
ministries and as we went we saw little kids starting to follow us.
They were so excited. Today we were able to use a covered area unlike
yesterday because the building was being used at the time. We were
very fortunate to have the covered area because it was very hot in the
sun. The shelter had plenty of tables and chairs for the crafts and
lots of room for the kids to run around in the shade. Joel asked them
what they had learned from the day before and they were able to answer
every question. They enjoyed the lesson about the mustard seed,
especially when we gave them a mustard seed of their own. When we had
craft time it went really well. I got to talk to a group of boys that
were hilarious, and we exchanged a lot of Spanish and English words.
Then we had finally finished and packed everything and headed back to
the church.”
Team 2 went back to the house of the same family from yesterday. Read Hayden’s version of the experience this morning…
Hayden’s Story
“Today, we once again visited Manuel and his family and spoke of
the issues at hand. Manuel leads an interesting life, one filled with a
large amount of personal tangles, but also one where Christ is most
definitely prevalent. At this moment he is joyously recovering from
colon cancer. This cancer is hopefully the turning point in the
struggling family’s lives. This unfortunate ailment, while at this
moment is not life threatening, will hopefully ignite reconciliation
between him and his family. While this is important, we as a group hope
the colon cancer will renew not only what so many people take for
granted, but also renew the entire family’s faith in the Lord.
Manuel’s wisdom and passion gave us a feeling of peace and
understanding to guide our lives. Manuel is a true testament that while
every person has their impurities, few are blessed with the ability to
eloquently provide true hints at what life is and will be like. They
are solely “hints” because as the patriarch of his four generational
household states, “The only one to give true advice is not me but
rather the one and only Lord.” This quote is one of many snippets of
conversation that this amazing man gave to a group of five privileged
people.”
The fact that this family is unknowingly in the midst of both
groups is a testament to God’s work as well. 5 of the group talked to
Manuel, the father. 2 of the group talked to the mother, sister and
grandmother. 3 of the group played with the 2 kids and brought them to
the other groups Kid’s ministry. Each part of the group talking
through dysfunction, abuse and misunderstanding between the others.
We came back for lunch (hotdogs and fresh pineapple with an amazing
juice combination to drink) and then out for afternoon ministry. Team
1 went to the house of a woman (Linda) with two disadvantaged children,
aged 4 and 6 years old. The pastor had to drive us there and then
stayed with us the entire time. The little girl played with all of us
in their tiny living room. Eventually the pastor took the girl outside
to play and the rest of us had a serious talk with the mother. She
shared the difficulties she was having with her husband about the
kids. She was an amazing woman, full of faith and full of stress.
There was an intense prayer with her. Then we were off to the same
house as yesterday – the house that Gina talked about yesterday.
Yadida was asleep, so we had a nice conversation with the mother and
prayed for her two sons, and 4 daughters. The rain had started by
then, so we took a soggy walk back to the church to wait for dinner
(spaghetti, bread and salad).
After dinner, it was team 1’s turn to clean the kitchen. (Each team
alternates doing the clean up chores.) The rain storms caused a flash
flood in the area and to keep the muddy water from entering the
purified water system, the entire town’s water supply was turned off.
Hard to wash, flush toilets and take showers with no water.
We enter the evening debrief time with what was supposed to be a
few songs, yet ended up being an intense time of worship and prayer for
healing in our own lives. (Steven had the insight to notice that at the
same time God uses us to heal and bring wholeness to others, he brings
up similar issues in us that He wants to be dealt with.) The sharing
about the day was lively and deep. It lasted to almost 10:00 p.m. at
which time it was time to talk about Kid’s ministry for the next day.
By 11:30 p.m. we were all back in our rooms and ready for sleep.
Keep praying for us…..
Costa Rica – Day 5
God continued to reveal Himself to us today. After breakfast, we
did something different for our devotion time. We did something AIM
calls a “head-to-head.” This is a listening prayer exercise. (Is
prayer ever an “exercise?”) Essentially it’s getting with another
person and instead of asking them what they need prayer for, you ask
Jesus what you should pray for that person. As always, God moved.
Afterwards people were sharing things that God needed them to hear. One
person shared that his partner prayed something that only 4 people in
the world know and how God used that; another shared how their partner
prayed healing into a conflict they were having at their church which
had never been talked about to this group; another shared how God spoke
to them of how He wanted to remove a specific hurt that person was
dealing with (sorry too personal to share the specifics in a blog) and
replace it with His love. And the stories went on and on….
As much as we wanted to stay in this prayerful state, we then went
off to morning ministry. Team #1 went to do Kid’s Ministry. Again it
went smoothly with games, Bible stories, testimonies and crafts. (One
of the highlights was Joel getting to be a donkey, complete with a
donkey head. The rest of the morning kids would ask him, “What does a
donkey say?” in Spanish, just to hear him make a donkey sound.) Many
of these kids really love hearing the stories and learning the Bible
verses.
Team #2 did another house visit. Read on to hear Allie’s comments on this visit.
Allie’s Story
“Today we went on a house visit to a family whose grandparents
attend the church we are working with. In fact, the grandmother had
been a prostitute on the streets for 30+ years to support her family.
We found that their thirteen year old granddaughter is pregnant. We
arrived and were introduced to the family (including the pet squirrel
they have tamed). After talking to the family we learned that this
girl’s older sister is also pregnant and today was her son’s two year
old birthday. Lanny, our project leader, pulled us aside and told us
that he was feeling that we needed to throw them a birthday party/baby
shower and we all agreed. Then we told them that we would be back in
about thirty minutes and we split up. Some of us went back to our
rooms to get some of the baby clothes that we brought from Valerie’s
senior project; others went to the store to buy a cake, toys and food.
Ashley went to get her guitar so we could sing as well. When we
returned, we saw that they had showered, done their hair, and changed
clothes. As the gifts were given, the family was completely overwhelmed
with all of us and everything we were giving them. The daughter wasn’t
even able to open all the clothes that we had brought for her unborn
child. We sang songs, served the cake, and generally had “una fiesta!”
We took pictures of the family which we printed later and took to the
family before dinner. We also wrote notes in 3 of the Bibles we
brought with us and took them to the family. God moved today.”
By now it was time for lunch (amazing food again I must say) and
afternoon ministry. For Team #2 it was Kid’s Ministry. Today many
mothers and their young children came and the mothers stayed and helped
them with the crafts and games. Luckily today there was only a slight
drizzle. Team #1 felt a God-tug to stay at the church to minister to
Pastor Roberto and his wife, Anna. I was proud of the youth on this
team. They were given an out to go with the other team to do Kid’s
Ministry instead of hanging around and talking to “the old folks,” but
every one of them chose to stay and minister to this family. The guys
went to one table and the girls to another and we shared our lives. We
laughed together and cried together. They shared the joys and
difficulties of their lives here. The final prayer by both groups was
powerful and a continual testament of the character of God. (Edward
was amazing as he easily became the translator between Joel and Pastor
Roberto. A surprise at his skill with the Spanish language.)
There was a little free time before dinner where some went to
watch/play soccer with people we’ve met; others went to get ice cream.
Most of the ladies got a pedicure from one of the church women.
Margaret and Doris connected with the principal of a special needs
school here in Las Juntas and got a tour of the school. It was
powerful enough that Doris wants to set up a sister school relationship
here.
Dinner was again amazing and after we debriefed the day, and
prepped for Kid’s Ministry tomorrow we looked forward to the
celebration of the Annexation of Guantecoste. Fatigue took over and by
10:00 p.m. we were all in our rooms and sleeping.
Did I mention that the water was completely off in our rooms for
most of the day? No showers for 2 days when most are “sweating like a
Tassie” and getting completely dusty – makes for a smelly bunch. Did I
mention that Nick spent $3 for a Costa Rican haircut this afternoon?
You gotta see the pictures. Did I mention that a 5 inch
sort-of-a-cockroach was in the hostel’s courtyard? Did I mention that
Jennie fell in love with a “pet” squirrel on the house visit that
crawled all over her arms, shoulders and head? We’ve got video to
prove it. Did I mention that an ox cart complete with 2 oxen linked
with a yoke walks around town and that this is a national symbol and
many people get married in the back of it? Did I mention that it’s not
uncommon to see men with beer in their hands on the street at 8 a.m.?
Did I mention that an elderly woman tried to sell Joel a lizard for $2
and then called him a “bad man” when he didn’t do it? Did I mention
that ants love Steven’s bed every day? Did I mention that Hayden
shared an amazing story at debrief? Did I mention that we printed over
100 pictures with our photo printer during Kid’s Ministry?
It’s all the little things that happen throughout the day that are so hard to capture.
Keep up the prayers. We feel them and need them. Tomorrow is
going to be a physically challenging – Kid’s Ministry the entire day,
complete with a parade through the town (we hope).
Costa Rica – Day 6
Okay, so yesterday I said that I hoped we were going to be in a
parade. What I didn’t know was that the first parade of the day was at
5:30 a.m. and then wrapped around the town and by our hostel again at
6:00 a.m. Most of us didn’t have a problem going back to sleep.
Breakfast was an interesting type of cheese sandwich with mango fruit –
yum. After cleaning up breakfast, we had opening worship as always,
followed by our personal devotions. The cool thing about these trips
is that we try to live in Christian community with all of its ups and
down. By this time of the trip, the “honeymoon period” is over. We
try to keep relationships clean and tensions diffused as they build up
between people and in the midst of the group. One of the groups did an
amazing job realizing that they needed to talk some things out and
diffuse some relational uglyness that may have been creeping into the
group. Then it was off to ministry.
Today is VBS day! God did an amazing thing with Kid’s Ministry
this year. One of the worries from last year is that the Kid’s
Ministry grew to 130 by the end and, with only 15 of us, we would be
over-run. This year it was felt by Lanny that we would do 2
simultaneous Kid’s Ministry sessions at opposite ends of Las Juntas
from 2:00-5:30 p.m. After the first day, we realized that Joel’s team
would never have covered space (the sun is hot and the rain could fall
at any minute) since another group uses the building in the afternoons.
So we moved Kid’s Ministry for Joel’s team to the morning, 10:00-12:30
p,m. As usual the Kid’s Ministry grew as the week progressed. Today
we saw another dimension to God’s plan. Joel’s group’s Kid’s Ministry
grew from 12 to 38 as the week progressed. About half of the kids were
elementary and the other half middle school and high school. We needed
to divide the kids into 2 age groups. We needed all 15 of us to do
that. In the afternoon, Nick’s groups Kid’s Ministry had grown from 12
to 59 people. Most of their kids were smaller so we could keep them in
the same group, but there were so many of them that all of us were
needed to handle it. God is good. All the time!
Major cudos and thanks go out to Margaret Proffitt who organized
almost all of the Kid’s Ministry curriculum, supplies and, with
Valerie’s help, kept everything running smoothly all week. Again we
are amazed at how all the supplies, stories, games and crafts worked
out perfectly. And Pastor Roberto spoke to each group for about 10
minutes and his passion and love for the children of Las Juntas shined
through. It was sad to say goodbye to all the friends we had met this
week. It always is….
On the way home from the last Kid’s Ministry, we stopped at another
amazing place. There is a man 4 or 5 houses down from the hostel we are
staying at that Lanny knows. He has his own coffee tree farm and
roasts the beans in his backyard and sells it to people. I know this
might be giving away some coming home gifts, but there is nothing
closer to “free trade” coffee than this coffee. The surprises keep
coming!
In the little bit of free time we had, people did everything from
find some Costa Ricans to play soccer with, shower, eat ice cream, call
home, etc. Dinner was amazing as always. And then in was to debrief.
Debrief has always been good each night, but tonights was extra
special. Musical worship was good. Sharing was good. The feeling of
community was good. Steven is going to share his thoughts about
tonight’s debrief:
Steven’s Story
“Tonight’s debrief tops the past nights by a long shot. Tonight the
group specifically expressed how we saw God at work today and what God
is doing in us today.
It was amazing to see how God had revealed himself to each person
differently. Through people, visions, testimonies, and many precious
moments that remind me of how awesome the people of this country and
group are. Tonight we shared our appreciation to Ricardo, and his son
David, who have been more than the translators for us. The youth and
adults of Las Juntas, Costa Rica know them so well and both of them
bring a smile to the faces of young and old people that we encounter
throughout our days, especially us. This love and appreciation was also
shared after one group member expressed the impact of a team meeting
held earlier, because of the lack of compassion for each other in the
group. We as a team realized that sometimes we show more love to
someone we see in need versus our brothers and sisters in Christ that
we see every day.
It’s hard and possibly impossible to describe the relationships
that have been built between people we can barely understand. It’s
funny how in the midst of over 50 kids playing and 20 adults, the issue
of language isn’t an issue at all. From intense games of soccer, to the
many plays we perform, to the various artwork we do and so much more,
we as a group have felt the love of the Costa Rican people throughout
this entire trip and tonight we shared our love for one another that
has grown along the way.
Openness and strength were the words spoken to me during the head
to head prayer yesterday morning. Tonight that theme of opening up and
being strengthened by one another as the body of Christ was spoken and
felt as members of the group shared their testimonies and deep
emotional moves of God. We ended the debrief in our first debrief group
hug prayer, which for some was not that pleasant as they turned their
heads way from the sweaty armpits of their neighbor. I don’t know what
to get more excited about: tonight’s debrief, tomorrows beach day, or
spending more time with these people in my group and the Costa Ricans
over the weekend. I choose all of the above.”
A couple of questions:
Did I mention that most of us were awakened at 5:30 a.m. and then
again at 6:00 a.m. by a truck with a band in the back of it? There was
a mini parade for the Annexation Celebration that is starting today.
Did I mention that as our hamburger meal started, a real parade went by
and we all went out to walk in it? Did I mention that Nick really
“sweats like a Tassie?” Did I mention that living things like to fall
from the sky in the church and land on Jennie? Did I mention that
there is a cat in love with Hayden? (No really…its in love with
Hayden. Ask him about it.) Did I mention that Steven was near a cannon
when it suddenly went off? You have never seen such a scared man. Did
I mention that our favorite breakfast is beans and rice with eggs and
ham? Did I mention that there is rainforest all around us, complete
with all the animals that go in it? Did I mention that some of us
stood in the street to watch the last of the USA vs. Honduras soccer
match? Life is good!
Costa Rica – Day 7
This is our day to relax a bit. We visited a resort beach that
Pastor Carlos (the pastor of the church we helped the first year) told
us about. There were banana boats, snorkeling, and 15 foot waves that
made all of us
crash into the beach (but they were SO fun). At the top of the hill
were infinity pools, food, INTERNET (to send these blogs). The ride
there and back really showed all of us how much we’ve grown together as
a community. We laughed so hard, played so hard, and shared the
craziest stories of our lives with the saying, “What’s said in Costa
Rica, stays in Costa Rica!” Sorry. And we are treating the Pastor and
his family with a trip to the beach as well. They aren’t able to do
this ever so it was a good break for them. Lanny was sure to remind us
that the mission part of the trip is far from over. We still have
Saturday and Sunday, but it will be great to have a time of rest.
Did I mention that we got to vote for our favorite breakfast tomorrow – and it’s rice and beans with eggs mixed with ham?
Costa Rica – Day 8
So it’s Saturday and God continues to “wow” us. This was our
listening to God day. We’ve been here for a week. God has moved in
incredible ways. We have met amazing people. We even rejuvenated a
bit yesterday. We asked ourselves, “What more can God do?” After the
breakfast that we asked for, we sat down to ask God what we were
supposed to do today.
Read what Nick had to say about it…
“Today our team engaged God through a listening prayer activity
where we sought his will for our ministry activity. God was graceful
and spoke clearly to us regarding his plan for our day. He spoke to
each of us differently during the prayer time-some through Scripture,
some through visions of miraculous things, and some through song. As
he spoke to each of us, we came back together and shared what God had
put on our hearts. Through this process, our team made a composite of
what God had showed us individually in order to plan for what we should
do corporately. We saw a range of things from iron gates in front of
the houses, psalms, animals, children, specific people we needed to
meet and places here in Las Juntas. After sifting through what God
laid on our hearts, we came to the corporate conclusion he had led us
to lead a parade throughout the city to embody his character, and
spread the love of the Gospel to the people of Las Juntas. After
stepping out in obedience to this calling, our team very clearly saw
that God led us into a powerful action that impacted lives for the
Gospel. Our parade started at one end of town and wondered through
streets, ending in a field near one of the VBS sites at the other end
of town. Along the way we handed out bags of rice and beans,
butterflies, stickers, necklaces and other things we had. It concluded
with around 20 children playing, singing and receiving bibles. It was
astounding to see God move so clearly through our team individually to
give us a clear, meaningful corporate direction. As for me personally,
God very clearly impressed the overwhelming value he places on
children. He showed me the faces of the children we have been
ministering to this week. In doing that, he reminded me about how
counter-cultural his value system his. God values the small, seemingly
insignificant things in the world, and makes them infinitely more
valuable than the trinkets we chase simply by his great and glorious
affections. God gave me eyes to see the things he values, and worked
in my heart to align my values with his.”
The parade was great. Ashley made a 10 foot banner to lead the
parade. It read “Jesus Rey de Gloria.” She and Valerie held it as we
walked through the streets. We found a snare drum for Steven to play.
One of the Costa Rican kids we met during Kid’s Ministry also had a
drum and played with us. Joel had his guitar and we had several songs
translated into Spanish that Edward typed into the computer to be
printed out. We sang and drummed the entire 2 ½ hour parade. David
(one of our translators though he is much more than that to us) went
with Jennie to a toy store to find butterflies. Several went to the
grocery store to buy a car load of food that we were going to hand out
as we went. Allie, Heather, Margaret, Doris and others cut out
butterflies, got crafts and stickers ready, etc. We even packed all the
suitcase of Spanish Bibles that we brought with us. After 1 ½ hours
praying/discerning (yes we all prayed that long) and another 1 ½ hours
preparing and lunching, we were ready. With the banner in front and
the car of food in the back, we started walking. People came out of
their houses to watch. Kids walked with us for a while and then went
back home. People were nourished – with the encouragement we gave,
with Jesus whom we share and with the food we gave out. We ended in
the field Nick talked about. As we were leaving and old man came up to
us and put the exclamation mark on the entire day. He started by
thanking us, and told us his life story, of how he was an alcoholic and
how his alcoholism had caused him to lose everything he ever had. The
one thing he never lost was Jesus. He thanked us for being there all
week and for the impact we had on the kids. He talked about how this
generation will be raised up by what has happened this summer. (This
is a direct answer to what we received in our prayer.)
After our pizza dinner (that Mexicano pizza is still amazing), we
debriefed the parade and asked the question, “Did everyone experience
what God gave them during the listening prayer exercise?” Every hand
went up. It was exactly what God had intended and we followed Him.
The cool thing was that ministry wasn’t over yet. You know that
it’s the Celebration of the Annexation of Guantecoste into Costa Rica
and the parties and parades have been going on for days. Well Pastor
Roberto somehow reserved the town square from 8:00-10:00 p.m. A
Christian music band, of which David is a part, set up and led amazing
worship. A dance team danced to much of the music and then our group
was asked to come up and sing a few songs. Joel plugged in his guitar
and we sang Todopodoroso, Hosanna and Happy Day, a special request from
Pastor Roberto. For the rest of the time, we spread out and talked
with everyone in the park, so many of them were friends we have made
this week. By 10:00 p.m., we were ready to head back to the hostel.
After stopping by the church to pick up our food (so the rats didn’t
get it), we made it in time to hang out for a few minutes before bed.
Questions of the Day (or it’s all in the little things)…
Did I mention that Joel held a parrot today and it bit him? Did I
mention that Ashley and Heather sang into mics in front of the entire
town square? (The rest of us did too, we just didn’t have the mic.)
Did I mention that Valerie is an adult? Did I mention that Jennie rode
a horse down the street today? Did I mention that Charlotte is the
kindest hearted person on the team? She can make anyone feel they are
the most important person on the earth. Did I mention that the team
bought over 70 pounds of coffee that was roasted yesterday? All of our
rooms smell so good. Did I mention that without Mary Beth, we’d all
have infected sores, blisters and headaches? Did I mention Gina has
been the best at finding people and talking in-depth with them? Did I
mention that God has used the song Hosanna to be the theme of this
trip? Starting in June, God independently gave this song to Lanny,
Joel, and Ashley, and throughout the trip, to most of the rest of us in
some form or another as we have prayed. To God be the glory!
Costa Rica – Day 9
It’s Sunday and time for our last full day in Las Juntas. We
awoke at normal times and had a cold cereal breakfast standing up at
our hostel. Church was at 9:30 a.m. and we were to help lead musical
worship. So after the church’s band played and we danced and sang,
Ashley, Heather and Joel went up to lead one song in Spanish and one in
English. Before the sermon by our project leader Lanny, Joel spoke to
the congregation and introduced Edward, Jennie and Margaret who each
felt a God tug to tell of their experiences of how God had worked in
them and through them this week. The stories were amazing. After the 2
½ hour service, we passed the peace to everyone in the church. It was
bitter sweet since many of those in attendance were those to whom we
had ministered. We ate a peanut butter and pineapple jelly lunch and
then told the team that they had 3 hours of free time in which they
should take a nap because the night will be long. 3 or 4 people
actually did; others found people from Las Juntas and played soccer,
giving them the ball at the end; others called home, packed and walked
around the town. We gathered at 4 p.m. for a special treat from the
Pastor and his family. Pastor Roberto talked to us about the history
of Las Juntas and preached a little sermon about the difference between
religion and the Gospel. Then a woman dressed in traditional
Guanacaste attire came in and after the dress was described, she danced
a couple of traditional dances to local music. Then Bitia, the pastor’s
daughter, did a few dance improvs for us – very cool. Then it was time
for gift giving. The Pastor gave the entire team a large gift and then
15 of the pastor’s family and church members stood up front as Margaret
called each of the team by name and they were given a small gift to
remember this trip by. On Wednesday, the pastor had expressed a need
for more teaching materials, including as LCD projector. I told the
team about this and asked for them to give as they felt led from their
own money. This afternoon we gave him $415. He was overwhelmed. From
this event, we walked about a mile to a special dinner that the owners
of the Hostel made for us. They grilled out steak and we had a
traditional Costa Rican fiesta meal. By now it’s 8:30 p.m. and it was
time to walk back to the church for our final large group event. We
sang a few songs that we’ve come to love as we stood in our circle.
Lanny then took a stool and put it into the middle of the circle and
called it the hot seat. For the next 4 ½ hours, we took turns sitting
in the hot seat while everyone else spoke words of encouragement and
the ways they saw God move through them. Doris can talk about it best:
Doris’ story
“With a opossum peering over the top of the wall, a lizard crawling
across the floor and a bat flying over our heads, Lanny, our AIM
leader, called my name to come to the “stool.” As I sat down, I
immediately felt completely surrounded by love and filled with God’s
grace. As each person shared how they had seen God’s love shine
through me during the last nine days, I was continually blessed with
words that reminded me of my devotions to young children. Tears rolled
down my cheeks when Lanny said he looked at a picture every night that
he had taken of me with a little girl that looked like she could have
been my daughter. I had written our names with chalk on the concrete
and he described how she was looking at me with eyes filled with joy.
As I recalled the moment, I knew that I would be leaving a part of my
heart with the children of Las Juntas. At 2:00 a.m., I should have
been exhausted but I was renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit and
the blessings of my heart. Wherever we are, God is and all is well.”
There were many tears and many laughs. Many profound words said
and much appreciation. It was intense and a great way to end the day.
At about 2:00 a.m., we walked back to the hostel, finished packing and
went to bed. It’s a 17 hour travel day tomorrow.
Today’s Questions:
Did I mention that we found a tarantula (whose bite could kill a
horse) walking near the room where we were celebrating? Did I
mention that while sitting in the church this week we saw a bat,
iguana, a cat, a opossum come in through the roof? Did I mention that
the pastor’s salary is only $450 a month? Did I mention that Steven
can do the traditional Guanacastan yell so well? Did I mention that
on the way back from dinner Joel started a foot race with Edward,
Hayden and Steven and ran so fast that his watch flew off into the
darkness? (Thanks Heather and David for finding it.) Did I mention
that the hot seat actually got hot?
Costa Rica – Day 10
It was hard getting up at 7:00 a.m. for our last cold shower,
putting on the last of our clean clothes (well, some of us were wearing
clothes for the second time). We walked to the church for a cold
cereal breakfast, then back to the hostel to get on the bus by 9:00
a.m. As we took a last look at the countryside in the 1 ½ hours it
took to drive to the airport, the conversation was loud and spirits
were high. We got through security just in time to get a quick bite to
eat (though Joel got stopped trying to smuggle wire cutters in his
guitar case. It’s interesting that it got through the American
security on the way down.) We landed in Miami 20 minutes early, went
through customs and had a great dinner. Some went for pizza, the rest
went to Chili’s. We waited for another hour or so for the bus to take
us onto the tarmack to board the plane to Charlotte. We found our cars
easily enough and drove back to Greenville to be greeted by an intense
thunderstorm.
THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT THROUGH THIS ENTIRE
MISSION PROJECT. WE ARE ALREADY PLANNING OUR RETURN TRIP NEXT YEAR!!
