Sunday Sharing

We got a chance to share all about our trip on Sunday. It was great to be back home at Butteville Community Church and to be able to share all of our stories with our Church family. The kids did a great job helping out with the music. Julie was excited to be able to lead some of the songs in Spanish, which helped to sort of recreate what we experienced when we were with Eduardo's church in Costa Rica. It was cool so sing "Trading My Sorrows" (since they did that one while we were there), and it was fun to hear everyone attempt to sing "Worthy of My Praise" and "This is the Air I Breathe" in Spanish.

The sharing time was neat for us as a team, now two weeks after returning, to be able to solidify our memories, and to also hear from our church family. It was neat to realize that while we were there in Cosa Rica, we were not alone. Marilyn shared about how she popped out of bed at 5am every morning (no alarm clock or anything) and she just started to pray. To see everyone in the church raise their hands to express that they had been praying for us as well was quite moving. It's neat to see a community come together around a common purpose. Thank you again for all of your support.

Here's a slideshow of some of the photos from our trip we played at the service.

We're Home!

Well, we made it home safely. We are certainly exhausted, and the Sun on Saturday didn't help our cause much, but we're happy to be home. We were pleasantly surprised that for both legs of the flight back (from San Jose, Costa Rica to Phoenix, and from Phoenix to Portland), our entire team got to sit in first class! We all made it through (Hannah was even able to keep her bottle Aloe Vera, though it was WAY over the 3 oz limit. I think everyone had pity on her because she was moving slowly after her Saturday Beach Sunburn.)

Thank you all for your support and for making this trip possible. We created some lifelong memories, and were able to serve in some areas where there was much need. We can't wait to share more of our stories, so please ask us!  Thank you all again for following and supporting us.

Day 7 - Eduardo and Company

Here we are visiting Pastor Eduardo's Church
(That's him in the white shirt with his wife). In the back is Frank,
the youth pastor, and one of the students who plays
drums on the worship team.

While some of us recovered from sun exposure, the rest of us were able to head to a Spanish-speaking Church Sunday morning where Greg delivered the sermon. It was a fantastic experience to see a church (very much the same size as Butteville) in a completely different culture. The church actually met at the home of the pastor, Eduardo, who had a vision for this specific community. The community is in an economically struggling area. Eduardo bought a lot of land that is more like a compound where they built a home for his family and his wife's family. There is a lot of undeveloped land behind them where their vision is to build a community park for the local youth. There is also another lot adjacent to the church where doors are opening for Eduardo (resources-willing) to purchase and expand his vision for the community recreation center. It was neat to see his vision and dedication for this community that is in dire need.

The church service was a great experience as well. They were quite welcoming, and though the service was entirely in Spanish, they did an English song, "Trading my Sorrows" and had the words in English AND Spanish, so we all could sing in our own language. At times, it was neat to sit back and even though we didn't understand the words being said or sung, you could get a sense that we were all connected and part of a family with a similar purpose.

Greg gave a great sermon on the Hope we have in the resurrection. Fitting, since it was the first Sunday of Holy Week leading into Easter. Greg did an excellent job considering he didn't even know he was preaching until the day before (it pays to be prepared!). I was able to share my testimony as well about my journey discovering hope. It was very encouraging to be able to be with this community of believers, and knowing that at the same time, our community in Butteville was also meeting, and praying. What a great way to end the week!

Here's a welcome video they played for us at the church (Frank, the youth pastor, put it together). It was so thoughtful of them the way they opened their arms to welcome us. It was also encouraging to see that they included Marilyn as part of our team. Even though she wasn't able to make the trip with us due to family illness, she was still very much part of our team, and we coveted her prayers for us while we were there. 

Day 6 - The Rich Coast

Saturday, we got to venture out to the coast to the national park, Manuel Antonio. We saw all kinds of wildlife (monkeys, toucans, iguanas...). We got there at about 9am, but since it was the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week... kind of like our "Spring Break"), the beach was already pretty full. We were excited to find there was a large tree completely vacant, so we happily plopped down under the shade. Of course, after an hour or so, we found out why this perfect shade tree was vacant. Beach goers started coming up to us telling us that the tree was "toxic." We didn't really believe them (thought maybe there was a mis-translation; how could a national park have a toxic tree just out there on the beach with nothing blocking it off or anything!?) Finally a park ranger came over an explained that the tree secreted a toxic mist from the sap of the branches causing potentially extreme allergic reactions to some people. Essentially, we were sitting under a poison oak tree. Fortunately, none of us were allergic. In fact, ironically, the toxic tree had actually helped us from our real threat: the sun.

Wow this story is starting to go downhill fast. We actually had a wonderful time (despite the fact that several of us wished we would have applied a bit more sunscreen). The water was incredibly warm: like a bathtub. What a bizarre sensation for us Oregonians to walk into the ocean and wish it were just a few degrees cooler. Crazy, eh?

It really was a relaxing day. They have a saying in Costa Rica that they use quite a bit. "Pura Vida." Translated literally, it means "pure life." But it means more than that. It means something like, "all is wonderful" or "I'm living it up." When you ask someone "Como Esta?" (how are you) the response is often "Pura Vida." "Did you have a good weekend?" "Pura Vida." At the beach, I had fallen asleep. I sat up and turned to a guy who was relaxing nearby. I asked him what time it was. He looked out at the water, and with a smile said, "Pura Vida." I said, "awesome," and went back to sleep. That sort of sums up the day.

One more thing: We also made some friends! Check out this little guy who befriended us all day (including visiting me while I slept). Here's him saying hello to Erica.

Day 5 - Roblealto

 Here are some pictures from our visit to Roblealto. Julie already shared a bit about what we saw there. Here are the kids posing with Erica, our driver who we serendipitously found out was actually orphaned and raised herself at Roblealto. She hadn't been back in 20 years, so it was neat to be able to tour the grounds of the homes with Erica, and to see where she was raised. The last picture at the bottom is the House Mother we were able to help move. We also got to check out the Roblealto farm where they raise dairy cows, as well as chickens to help offset the cost of the ministry. Pretty inventive stuff!

BEST DAY EVER!!! We visited the Roblealto Hogar Biblica. This is a Bible Home for at-risk kids. We helped a 50 year old house mother move down the hill into a new home for she and the eight children who live with her. The steep hill was getting to be to much for her to go up and down. The kids were going to camp, so we helped load all the food to go along...remember 60+ kids for one week. We toured the property and learned about their self-sustainable farm practices. This mission turned out to be very close to my heart. They not only take in at risk kids, but work in trying to rebuild the family unit by providing psychologists and others to work with individual families. Look it up on line. They have other ministries as well, so I encourage you to check it out. They do have a child sponsorship program, and because the farm profits cover administrative costs, ALL the money goes to help your child! Let me know after looking at their website if you want more info. I would love to share what I experienced.

Day 4 - Visiting the Public School

 Day 4 at Colegio Monterrey, and we had the opportunity to sneak away for the morning and visit the neighboring public school. After having worked at the private school all week with its (relative) abundant resources and facility, it was interesting to see the public school down the street. In Costa Rica, the English language opens many doors for employment and at Colegio Monterrey, students begin taking English classes in kindergarten. By high school, science classes are in English, and most students are quite fluent. In public schools, though, with limited resources, students aren't able to take as many classes, and their foreign language classes are limited as well. While at Colegio Monterrey, school runs from 7:30-3:00pm, at the public school, in order to maximize the facility, students come from 7:00-11, then another group comes in from 11-3:00, then in the afternoons from 3-6, the building is open for older students who have fallen behind. It's actually quite impressive the way they have the schedule worked.

The principal of the public school was a friend of Rebekah (Don Alfredo's assistant at Colegio Monterrey) and showed us around her school. It was encouraging to hear the work they are doing with students with disabilities despite the budget difficulties. When Rebekah came to pick us up, the principal told us the story of how they are connected with Colegio Monterrey. She told us the story of a little girl at their school who was orphaned suddenly (losing both parents). The future looked bleak for this girl, but Colegio Monterrey stepped in and "adopted" the girl giving her a full scholarship. The principal started to tear up a bit when she spoke of how this girl's future path changed through Colegio Monterrey and the possibilities that would open to her through her education there. She was quite grateful that the work being done at Colegio Monterrey. It was pretty encouraging to hear as we shared more with Don Alfredo. Around 16 percent of the students at Monterrey are on full scholarship like the orphaned girl. Kids from difficult backgrounds, generational poverty. It was incredible to think that through Monterrey, for many of these students, it meant ending the cycle of generational poverty. These students would graduate with an education that would almost guarantee gainful employment. It was encouraging to see the impact this school was having in the community and to think that we were able to help be part of that.