Conversation

Saturday a mission team member named Mark and I had a great conversation with a woman. We had been going down the street doing door to door evangelism with little to no luck of talking to people. Mark spotted a pink house with the door open so we walked over to it and I rang the doorbell. A short woman came to the door and when she asked what we wanted, I replied that I was in Costa Rica studying Spanish and would like to practice. She immediately grinned and ushered us into her home and began to talk. She had apparently been studying English and wanted some gringos to practice on.  I honestly did not plan to say anything about being a student or making small talk. I think it was the Holy Spirit guiding my words so that I could speak with this woman. We talked about learning another language for about ten minutes then I asked her about the Costa Rican culture. She told me several things that Ticos really care about then she said that God was really important to them.

I saw my chance and asked if I could practice my vocabulary concerning religion. I then asked her what she thought she had to do to gain salvation. She replied that she had to believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God the Father, and Mary. So I asked her if she was catholic and she said she was a different catholic. She explained that she did not believe in the Pope and the saints because she studied the Bible and found no mention of praying to them. At that point we came clean and said we were Christian and did believe in Mary. I asked her where she found in the Bible that Mary was the mother of God and she had no answer. Then we asked her if she believed Mary was perfect and she did. So I showed her Luke 1:47 where Mary says that God is her savior. The woman replied that it was a controversy and refused to yield on Mary. However she has agreed to have a bible study in her house now! We will continue to minister to her and pray that her eyes be opened that her salvation can only come from Jesus.

Computer Class

This past semester at NGU I took a computer class that I did not like. It wasn't that the class was difficult, it was just that it had a lot of busy work for a class I felt I did not need or would ever use. However because of the class I have been able to help both Jacob and Courtenay. Jacob has been wanting to create a chart on different scenarios that we come across when witnessing to people. Now we have made the chart of the most common scenarios with corresponding verses. Courtenay wanted a template for a week by week class schedule that she can reuse each week, hers was harder to make but now she has a pretty purple schedule that should last her a long time. It's funny how something I never liked has become useful. God can use anything.

Coffee

The coffee here is amazing! Since day one I have had at least one cup a day, If not more. The Folks have a traditional coffee maker here and along with the Costa Rican coffee I believe it is better than Starbucks. I have already picked up some coffee to bring back to my parents here is a picture of their coffee maker

Here is the coffee I purchased for mis padres. 

Zip line

Yesterday morning after the volcano and just before lunch two team members and I went zip lining. This was something I was unable to do when we lived in Costa Rica before as I had torn the cartilage in my knee. The sensation was amazing, I felt like I was flying. The very first line was 450 feet off the ground. Where we started from there was a lot a fog so we couldn't see but maybe 30 feet of the line, which we knew was about the length of a football field and a half. I went down and in a matter of seconds I was suddenly out of the fog and soaring above a river lined with rocks. I was holding on with my hands to the single strap that was keeping my from falling to my death. I thought to myself, "I really need to think more before I make a decision." It was so much fun. Words cannot describe the thrill. The team members took pictures so once I get ahold of them they will be uploaded.

Top of Irazu

Yesterday morning Courtenay drove most of the mission team and I to the top of the Volcano so we could see into the crater. The drive took a lot longer than I thought it would. Once we got to the top the view was amazing, we were looking down on countless clouds and beautiful countryside. The crater was kind of like how I expected, a conical pit. It was about three hundred feet deep, and a thousand yards wide. Here are a few pictures!

Casa

Yesterday Courtenay and I took the mission team to a market in San Jose to get souvenirs. We had a good time and I got various items for my family, items that will remain a secret until my return to the states. After we were done with the market Courtenay took us by my old house in Costa Rica! She had me get out and take a picture. 

The family that lives there are friends of Courtenay and they actually invited us in! I shocked by their hospitality. The woman invited the entire mission team in as well. Then she took Courtenay and I on a tour of the entire house. I was surprised by how little the house had changed. Much of the furniture was the same. After we left the house Coutenay took us by the language school and by her old house. I was amazing to see the parks where we used to play and the school where I first leaned Spanish. Right now Jacob and Courtenay went to go pick up the new mission team. This one is so large they had to take two cars so right now I am babysitting their kids. After I am done with this blog it is hide n seek time! 

Cool cultural thing

Jacob and I were invited Saturday to go to a wedding celebration. It started at about seven pm. I am not sure what the name of the celebration was but it occurs for all weddings here. The celebration takes place a week before the actual wedding. Jacob and I were invited by a member of one of the bible studies, the groom. We were the first to arrive along with Jacob's helper Enrique and his family. Everyone else arrived on Tico time, about a half hour late. Once families started to arrive the hosts began distributing food and drinks. The groom works as a part time DJ I believe, he had all his equipment and was playing Christian Latino hip hop. 

I talked with Enrique and tried to learn all I could about the customs of the party as I knew Jacob and I would have to leave early to go be with the mission team. At some point during the party, and the time was unknown, a mariachi band would show up and knock three times on the door. They would play a couple songs then the groom would join them and sing a romantic song to his bride. Unfortunately Jacob and I had to leave before they arrived but we enjoyed the festivities. 

El Ladron!!!

First off I am going to say that nobody was hurt and nothing important was stolen. Yesterday afternoon while Jacob and I were out with the mission team Jacob received a phone call from Courtenay. "What!" He exclaimed. He quickly shifted gears and increased speed telling us we were going straight home. He called Jorge the landlord and said something to him in Spanish then told us that Courtenay had been out and just returned to find that the house had been broken into by someone, and that she thought that person might still be in the house.

He raced back to the house and got stuck behind every possible slow car on way. The engine even started to smoke. Jacob had me call Jorge to see if he was at the house yet and then I called Enrique, one of Jacob's close friends. We finally made it back to the house and fortunately the thief had left before Courtenay arrived. A box the thief had gone through had fallen which led her to believe that someone might still be in the house. 

There is a part of the Folks house that is a glass room, it has sliding glass doors. This room is where the mission teams eat. There is a heavy wood door that seals off this room from the rest of the house which is why the thief was unable to steal anything else. One of the glass doors had been ripped open and part of the glass was broken. We do not know how he pried open the glass door, or why he didn't just smash in the glass. All that was stolen was an iron and a hair dryer. Please pray that the thief will not return and that God will restore piece of mind to Jacob and Courtenay.

The Midge

So this is another funny story. There was a girl down here with me and the Folks here name is Lindsay. We went to a bible study with Jacob one night and at the study one of the members made a comment about how incredibly tall Lindsay is. The funny part is that she is short. She had been sitting down when this other person arrived and based just off of how she looked sitting down and by the fact that she is a gringa this girl said that Lindsay is very tall. We all laughed really hard. For the remainder of the time she was with us we would joke about how tall she was. Then she mentioned to us that her friends back in the states call her Midge. So we called her Midge till she left. 

House to House

This week's team is doing primarily house to house evangelism. There are only five members in the team and three translators including me. Today in my group I had two younger girls. They both were eager to share the word. We went down a street and knocked on all the doors. Some people were not at home. One woman said she would speak with us as she was Catholic. Several doors later we met a wonderful Christian woman. She told us she was so happy that other Christians had come to spread the good news. The woman told us that she did not have many friends that lived nearby because the majority of her neighbors are Catholics. She is now going start attending the local bible study! 

Green House

Monday and Tuesday of this week we did not have a mission team. Jacob has been wanting to make a greenhouse because it is so cold up here on Irazu that food plants do not grow well. Monday we placed the four main posts of the structure in the ground which took some time as the ground here is extremely rocky. Digging the holes took most of the time, volcanic rock is everywhere. After we had planted and cemented the four posts in the ground we went looking for more limbs and branches to complete the frame. Here the lumber you buy in the hardware stores is extremely expensive. Recently the Folks landlord has been logging a lot of his land, the remains made easy pickings. Tuesday we decided to put up two more posts so we went searching for lumber again in the tree remains and soon the basic frame was done. Here is a picture.

Funny story

This past week I had a great time with the mission team. One memory though stands out in my mind. On Wednesday I believe, it was raining so instead of doing door to door evangelism as we had been doing, the mission team and translators went to a nearby mall to witness. In my group I was assigned a man named Gideon and another man named Steve. The Folks' son Benjamin was with us also. Gideon is in his eighties and he has a hilarious sense of humor. So we walk into the mall and we decide to go upstairs. So I lead my group toward the escalator. We approached the escalator from behind it. I got on and turned around to make sure that all my team members were still with me. As I watched Gideon tried to get on the escalator. As he was walking around the escalator to get to the front he was so close to the wall that his hips were brushing along side of it.

I don't think he knew that the hand rails on escalators move because as he went around the rails to get on the escalator he leaned on the rails. A look of shock and fear came to his face and he let out a grunt then he was riding the escalator rail up to the next floor. That's right, this eighty something was riding an escalator rail up to the next floor. After he realized what was happening he sat and said, "all right now, guess I'll go up like this." He honestly seemed content to ride that way. Steve and I immediately helped him off the rail as there was a wall extending out of the second floor that he would have run into. Later on bus several people laughed so hard they cried as we recounted the story.

Bible Study

So yesterday I led my first bible study en Español. I taught on the importance of love teaching from 1 Corinthians 13. We had a lot of discussion and I found out that all the members of the bible study had at one point or another gone to the local witch doctor for help. Jacob's helper Enrique had been brought to the doctor as a baby to be blessed. Later Enrique brought his daughter to the witch doctor to heal her broken arm. The witch doctor did heal her arm but it was a partial healing. Her elbow is now on the opposite side of her arm. After the bible study our hostess prepared a delicious meal of rice, beans, pico de gallo, and something I didn't recognize. 

Today another mission team is flying in. This team will arrive at 7:00 pm. They will be bringing inflatables. Jacob and I rode up to a village called Santa Rosa near the top of the volcano Irazu Saturday night to ask for permission from the city council to set up the inflatables in the town square. Thank you all for your prayers

Souvenirs

So this morning the mission team went to an orphanage in San Jose. They enjoyed playing with the children and I translated for many of them. The children were delighted to us and play with us. There were a pair of young girls there that reminded of my beautiful sisters. After lunch the team went to a local souvenir place. It was like an indoor bizarre. A tin roof covered dozens of small shops all housed in one building. There was a narrow central hallway filled with vendors cramming and fighting for our attention. 

They sold items such as shirts, dresses, knives, machetes, pipes, cigars, carvings, and hammocks. Speaking of which, I am sure my friend Mr. Henson will be happy to know that I picked up two hammocks for him today. I saw some purses there I think my sisters will like, I will get those next time when I go with the next mission team. 

Today was the first day I really struggled being away from my family. I have missed them a lot but before today I have been able to deal with it. Today however on the bus I was going through some pictures of my family and when I came to the pictures of my sisters I actually teared up a bit. But despite missing my family I am having a wonderful time here. I expected to experience culture shock but so far none. 

Thank you for your prayers! If you want to here about anything in particular let me know in the comments.

Pictures

Here are various photos from CR! The are pictures from the Basilica, the Folks house, and our trip to Panama.

Mission Team

Today Jacob and I picked up the mission team. We met the bus driver before they arrived in front of Sojourn Academy where I went to school in Costa Rica. There are fourteen members of the team. After we picked them up from the airport we went to the Basilica church of Costa Rica. It was a beautiful building however stained glass windows showed images of Mary being crowned ruler of heaven by the Father and Son. 

Then several members of the group went with Jacob to a bible study and the remainder of the group and I went to Walmart. I'm sure my parents will be happy to know that I picked up some bags of decaf Cafe Britt for them. We checked the mission team into a nearby hotel and ate supper with them. Please continue to pray for my Spanish as I continue to use it more and more.

Back in CR

We made it back! After crossing the border and having our visas stamped again we drove eight hours to make it back to Cartago. We are all tired after so much time in the car. It feels good to be in the cool mountains. As I am writing this the front door is open and I am watching clouds drift through the mountains and the volcano Irazu. Tomorrow morning Jacob and I will be picking up a mission team. I will be translating for them and helping out where I am needed. Please pray that God will give me a good recall of all my Spanish.

Earthquake!

Early this morning while we were still asleep we had an Earthquake! It registered as a 5.0. It woke me up when it hit though I did not know what it was. I felt kind of like I was swinging forwards and backwards in a hammock, if that makes sense. My first thought when I woke up was that either Jacob or his son Benjamin was shaking the bed to try to wake me up.

Then I opened my eyes and realized what was happening and by that time it ended and I went back to sleep. Today was fairly uneventful. The Folk family are using this time out of the country in Panama as vacation time so they are enjoying the swimming pool. The girls spent what seemed like hours shopping for clothes in the local mall as the prices are much lower here. All the boys stood around trying understand why they took so much joy from the experience.

I am still trying to figure out how to add photos to this blog using my iPad so once I do there will be pictures a plenty.

Arrival in Costa Rica

So it was a busy day yesterday, I got up at five and was at the airport at 6. I departed at 7:45 and arrived around 8 am in Atlanta. I departed from Atlanta around 9:45 and and arrived at Costa Rica at 11:15 their time, which would be 1:15 in South Carolina. Courtenay met me at the airport along with some of her family. She took me by where my family used to live in San Francisco de dos rios, talk about a walk through memory lane! 

We made it back to their house just in time for lunch with a mission team led by Mr. Hart, my science teacher from sojourn academy.  After eating they showed me my room and I unpacked and caught up with the Folk family. We had tomato soup for supper then I went to a bible study with Jacob. The study was on grace and I don't remember much from it as I became very tired during the bible study. 

Today we got up at five and went to PanamaThe Folks have to leave the country for 72 hours to do with Costa Rica rules for long term stay. We had an 8 1/2 hour drive. we stopped for lunch and had a picnic on a beach. as we ate we got to watch some locals surf. I enjoyed eating some coconuts we found in our picnic site! Now we are staying in a hotel in David, Panama. In order to use the Internet we have to be in the lobby. I tried to blog yesterday but when I went to upload it the Internet did not work.

During my time here in Panama i will be preparing lessons for the bible study in CR. Please  pray that god will bring me out of my comfort zone as I help minister to the people here and that he will draw me nearer to him and that he will give me the words to say to the people.

Return to Costa Rica

I am going back to Costa Rica! It has been close to three years since we came back from Honduras. Since then, I believe not a day has gone by that I have not thought at least once of my adventures in the mission field. I feel called to full time missions like my parents. However, because I miss it so much, I am worried that maybe I am not called to the mission field but rather I am imagining it due to how much I miss it! So I am going to Costa Rica tomorrow to see if my call is genuinely from the Lord (and not from me!). I will be there for six weeks staying with Jacob and Courtenay Folk, missionary friends from our time in language school.


Throughout my stay I will help with their ministries and with any mission teams that come down. Also while I am there I will be taking a class online through my college North Greenville University. I am a Spanish major so why not knock out one of the required classes while in a Spanish speaking country? If anybody reads this before tomorrow, please pray for safety for me for tomorrow and for me to make all of the connections. I will be flying from Greenville to Atlanta, once in Atlanta I have only forty five minutes until my next flight to San Jose! Also prayer throughout my entire stay for safety and courage would be much appreciated!



Thanks!

Trey