Hey everyone, welcome back to Costa Q&A! This week’s questions come from Sharon Seitzinger and Mark Armstrong. Let’s dive in 🙂
How do language and dialect (specifically limonese creole) affect evangelism in the area?
As someone who came into this speaking absolutely 0 Spanish, I can honestly say that differences in dialect are not affecting me here. This is because I’m learning Spanish specifically in the dialect of the region. For many of my squad mates who speak spanish, dialect has only affected communication intermittently.
Mainly we evangelize in Puerto Viejo. It’s a tourist town, so most people speak the kind of Spanish taught in schools, and they speak English on top of that. When we’re not in Puerto Viejo, we’re evangelizing to indigenous communities in the mountains, and there, dialect becomes more of an issue. We have to ask “otra vez?” , “como??”, and “que???” a lot, but everyone has been very kind and patient with us as we try to become better communicators. We are also blessed to have bi-weekly Spanish classes here on base, which have been a HUGE help for myself and many others on the squad.
I’m not sure that any of the dialects we’ve encountered have been Limonese Creole, considering the dialect seems to change village by village. A few members on Base staff were raised in indigenous communities in the area, and they are a great resource to all of us on campus.
“Why should every graduating senior look into the World Race”
Honest answer? Not all of them should. The World Race has shattered my preconceptions about what a mission trip “should” look like, and all my expectations about God, myself, and pretty much everything else around me. That’s one of the big reasons I’m loving it so much. This is a truly amazing experience, but everyone’s race is different. I believe that before considering signing up for the race, a graduating high school senior should spend some serious time in prayer with the Father over where he’s guiding them in the coming season. But also…
My own experience on the race is something I wouldn’t trade for the whole world, and certainly not for freshman year of college. Living internationally in a tight community where everyone lives and works together teaches accountability, honesty, how to give and receive criticism, how to grieve, how to rejoice, and how to love others well. No matter what your experience on the race looks like, you will inevitably learn more than you expect, and I think that’s wildly valuable.
Thanks so much for reading!! Next week will be my final round of Q&A (unless somebody sends in more great questions…), so stay tuned to learn more about our ministry, how our squad maintains unity, and how you can be praying for us moving forward!
If you’d like to see a great summary on our squad‘s ministry in Costa Rica so far, check out Kate Pogue’s recent blog ”Jesus, Rasta, and Chicken Pasta” at katepogue.theworldrace.org
