Day 4 - a little different

Instead of returning to our construction projects, today we vistited a local public school.

We spent time with each grade from 8:30am until after 4pm. Some of the time we spent playing with the kids during their recess time. The majority of the time was spent during a special program time. We had about forty minutes with each group of students - all of which were mixed age groups. With the younger students we spent time playing soccer, jump rope, bubbles, and face painting. With the older students we practiced English and Spanish in small groups. Then with both age groups we have a very short Bible lesson. We then finished our time by giving them a few pieces of candy.

We all seemed to have a great time playing with the kids today. Because I'm tired I know I'm not going to do justice to the experience but perhaps I'll write more about it later.

One event that I do want to highlight was getting to go into the classrooms of the school. As someone who has always been fascinated with education in different countries, it was great being able to walk in and see what not just the school building but also the classrooms look like. I loved our stroll through the open air hallways and our brief moments inside the classes. It was an experience I'll not soon forget.

This evening we ended our day sharing stories of our closest moments with God. It was a moving time getting to hear all that God has done in each of our lives. We grew together as a group tonight with an awesome thunderstorm storm as a soundtrack.

Day 3 - and God said "Let it Rain"

Today was a unique day with lots of wonderful experiences. 

We started the day back at the Pastor's house continuing our contruction. Five of us worked on the septic tank cisterns. After digging the five by five by five hole yesterday and putting the concrete  cisterns in place, today we had to dig out the dirt from the inside, fill in the dirt on the outside and mix cement for the bottom. It took a lot of effort but we got it done! One of our team members even hung upside down in the cisterns to smooth the cement! 

While that was going on the rest of the team began working on a sidewalk project for the church. After we finished with the cisterns we headed over to help them out as well. I got to be part of the concrete laying team. Three of us were in charge of smoothing out the concrete when it was poured. We only got about a third of the way down the path before lunch. 

During lunch the sprinkling rain turned into a complete downpour. We stretched out our meal as long as we could to see if the rain would taper off but it didn't. We ended up calling the day early. 

While we waited for the bus to come back and pick us up a few of us started kicking the soccer ball around. Now I don't typically like to play soccer but I think this was the most fun I had kicking a ball around in a long time. I laughed as my teammates kicked, tapped, and chased after the ball all while raindrops pelted my head. 

The rain was refreshing - to my body, to my soul, to my spirit. I love summer rain storms and that's exactly what we got today. During lunch I was looking for a reason to go out into the rain and was thrilled when I finally got the chance. At one point I just stopped in the middle of the field, stretched out my arms and turned my head up to the sky and just took it all in. The rain was like peace washing over me. I came back to the hotel feeling refreshed. 

After showers, a few of the girls and I spent some time just chatting. Andrea and I have known each other for years but I've only known Allyson and Angelica since I started working at 3J's two summers ago. It was wonderful to sit and talk to these girls - to get to know them and to laugh with them. We spent probably two hours just resting and chatting. My heart was full. 

Then I got my machete. 

I wanted an authentic machete to take back to the states so I bought one at the hardware store. t the hotel there are mango trees and we went on an adventure to get some mangos - with the machete in hand. I am happy to report that we got three mangos (which weren't ripe), all of our fingers and toes are still intact, and we had a great many laughs while doing it. 

We ended our day with a meeting to prepare for tomorrow's venture into a school. I'm looking forward to seeing this part of the Costa Rican culture. 

Day 2 - Hard Work and a Lesson

So day two brought along lots of sunshine ... and lots of bugs.
After breakfast we began working on a construction project for the Pastor's house. We dug out a two by twelve-ish feet trough to about two feet deep and then another hole that was five feet by five feet and probably about five feet dep as well. Additionally we mixed up concrete to stabilize some poles for the roof.
I have never seen a group of people work as hard as we did today. Everyone was sweating and working their tails off in the heat and the humidity.

And everyone had smiles on their faces.

I had the opportunity to practice more of my Spanish and to learn more words and remember others. I've really enjoyed refreshing my Spanish. It's been awesome to be able to talk to the pastor's wife. Between her broken English and my broken Spanish we manage to communicate. And it's all without the use of google translate!

We had the chance to walk into town this evening for dinner. I always enjoy getting to see the local community. It was fun walking around and seeing all of the signs for stores and advertisements.
As always the food today was incredible. I seriously want the recipe for the rice and beans we eat each morning.

At our team meeting this evening, Daniel asked us how we've seen God yesterday or today. He reminded us of the story of Moses and God after the Ten Commandments. God told the Israelites that he would send angels with them to the promise land but that he wouldn't go with them. Moses replied to God that if his presence wasn't with them then he didn't want to go.
This story reminded me of a song I sang at a YWAM worship service. The chorus basically reiterates that thought. "If your presence goes I don't want to stay. If your presence stays I don't want to go."
Daniel encouraged us to look for God during this trip - each day. He will show up!

Day One - Ministry and Laughter

So today was our first day of ministry in Cariari. We headed to the church to meet with the pastor and have breakfast with his family. Before the service began we had a meeting with Daniel, our translator/guide extraordinaire. He gave us some rules for our time in Costa Rica.

Number 1 rule of the trip? Don't die.

He went on to explain how to maintain rule number one and gave us a few more guidelines for our time in Costa Rica. As one of our team members, Shane, said, if Daniel ever desides to  stop being a missionary he could probably have a pretty successful career in stand up comedy.

Needless to say, we laughed today. A lot. It was so fun to just enjoy being with people who all have one goal in mind. We made new friends and practiced our Spanish.

-After some rest time this afternoon, we headed hack to the pastor's house and got ready for our first night of ministry. Splitting into two groups, we headed down the road to invite people to the church to watch God's Not Dead. With the help of one of our translators, Pablo, I was able to practice my Spanish and invite people to the church. I have to chuckle because I had the whole invitation down pat and would rattle it off and then the person would say something in response and I'd have no idea what they said. Thankfully Pablo helped me out with that.

I learned a new word today: palomitas. It means popcorn in Spanish. We had palomitas for the movie this evening.

A day of traveling and answered prayers

Today has been a whirlwind of a day. It began at 3:45am with a blaring alarm and an instant panic attack. Through prayer after prayer and some encouraging words from Andrea, I made it down to the shuttle and we headed to the airport.

Upon arrival, our group was waiting for us, having arrived early from Hershey. I had to keep reminding myself to breathe, but I was feeling much better. We got checked in and headed for security. It has been about 4 years since I had traveled via airplane, but the airport regulations quickly came back to me as we stood in the TSA line.

We got to our gate with about a half an hour until boarding. Having never flown Jet Blue before, I was unaware that we didn’t get our assigned seats until we got to the gate, and there was a very high chance we would all be scattered throughout the cabin. Our leaders took care of getting those for us and I was so very happy to see that Andrea was right across the aisle from me for our first flight to Fort Lauderdale. Once we got on the plane, to my pleasant surprise, we were also sitting with other members of our group. God couldn’t have planned it better. 

I took some Dramamine before take off, closed my eyes and prayed until I fell asleep. After a successful landing, we traipsed a few gates down for our next flight which was set to board shortly. I had been concerned that we would be rushing to our next flight since the layover was less than an hour, but we arrived at a gate in the same terminal, so there was no rushing needed!

The assigned seat situation was the same with this flight – we didn’t get them until we were at the gate. Andrea was sitting in the row in front of me this time, and I was with two other members of our group, completely putting me at ease for the flight. I slept most of the way to Costa Rica.

Upon arrival, everything went smooth through customs – we made it just in time before a large group of people entered the line. We waited for our last team member who was coming in from Kentucky, and then we met up with our contact outside of the airport.

Once our luggage was loaded onto the bus, he informed us that the road to Cariari (where we were headed for the week), was closed due to a mudslide. It was scheduled to reopen in the afternoon, but we couldn’t be sure. So, our plans changed a little bit and we headed to dinner. 

The restaurant we went to is one I have heard my team members rave about. It didn’t disappoint. I was able to eat a bit of rice and chicken – the first food I’d eaten since 6:30pm yesterday. We then headed to Wal-Mart (yes, they are very similar to the ones in the US) to pick up a few things and then headed down the road for the 3 hour journey to Cariari. If the road was still closed, that three hour journey would turn into a 7 or 8 hour journey. So, closing my eyes and praying while I was conscious, we headed down the road.

We came to the tunnel that was right before the closed section of road, and I just happened to be conscious for it – the road was open! I cannot tell you how relieved I was that we were able to continue our journey and not extend it too much longer.

We’ve now arrived at our hotel for the week and I’m just reflecting on all of the wonderful things God did for me/us today:

-       Made our flights with ease – no rushing around, no hiccups

-       Arranged our seating with favor

-       I made it through all the travel without having to take my anxiety medicine!

-       The road was open for us to travel the more direct route to Cariari

-       I didn’t get sick at all today, and after this morning, my anxiety was manageable all day

-       We made it safely to our hotel with plenty of time to settle in and rest up for tomorrow

God is so very good, and he listens to the prayers of his people!​

Anticipation and fading into the background

I created a to-do list this morning, and despite it being a mile long, I still feel the compelling urge to take a few moments out of the chaos to write a little.

Friday evening I head to Baltimore to board a plane Saturday morning to head to Costa Rica.

I've been planning for this trip since last summer and while I am extremely excited, I find myself experiencing a vast array of conflicting emotions.

Wednesday ends the 2016-2017 school year and with all of the excitement from the past few weeks and the few weeks forthcoming, I am finding this conclusion simply fading into the background. While I am ready for the "break" from work, I find that the end is not as full of anticipation as previous years. Tomorrow is just a Wednesday. I will see my students in the morning, send them off home before lunch and then wave to them in the hallways next year as eight graders.

And then Friday I leave.

Despite not experiencing a conscious feeling of anxiety, I can tell that my body is reacting to the stress and unknown of it all. My brain spins in constant motion as I work to complete my grad work before I leave as well as compile all of the supplies I could possibly need for a week in a foreign country. As I work I constantly have to remind myself that I have no more weekends in which to catch up before I head off on my venture. Balancing my time between school, grad work, my apartment (which is desperate need of a cleaning before I leave), and my hometown, I find the hours dwindling to minutes.

I'm spending a lot of time thinking about what needs to be done because I can't muster the energy to begin. So, with a firm deadline in sight and only a day and a half more with my students, it's time to embrace each minute - sucking as much life from the seconds ticking by as I can.
This week is short, but I am absolutely sure that next week will feel infinitely shorter and infinitely longer than the ones before it.