Dear Papa,
(Note: This is a little letter to the Lord about our time in Terraba. Terraba is the village that we spent ten days in doing ministry. It’s a small and poorer village in Punteranas. My team and I were there from December 18-28th. We were one of the first groups of people and the first group of people who were not from Costa Rica to help them. It was such a sweet beautiful time! This blog is different than other blogs that I’ve written, but I wanted to highlight the life we lived there and some of the memories we had.)
There’s so many things that I remember. So many sweet moments I had in Terraba. So many people that I’ve met and so many relationships that I built. It was sad to leave, but I also know that saying goodbye is a seal to the sweet moments that will be forever stored in my heart. I loved everything about it. My team and I lived in what seemed to be in an abandoned school, took bucket showers, and hand washed our smelly clothes. I remember our walks through the streets, the dogs that wondered around everywhere (especially at night), the little church that we helped out with, the view of the mountains at every overlook, the waterfalls and big streams that we went to, the beach that we spent Christmas day on, the bug bites that covered my legs, the people that welcomed us in like family, the blanket of stars that shone over us every night, the team times we had, and even the indigenous game that the people played during the holidays. There were so many more things that I loved about it, but those are just the few of them. Oh my sweet sweet Father…I will never forget these memories. You know what I’ve always dreamed of Father? Ever since I was six, I’ve always dreamed of spending the holidays overseas doing mission work. Even though I love my family and friends back home, there’s something just so special about spending it with the family of Christ too. There’s something so special about having and living with nothing. There’s something so special about building relationships, laughing, crying, and sharing everyday moments with your people. There’s something so special about Terraba.
I’ll never forget our ministry either. Everyday we did something different. Some days we would teach English to the parents and children. One day we painted our little white kitchen that the church owned to a bright blue. We painted literally everything blue even the stone beams, so now you can’t miss it walking down the street. Some days were spent doing prayer walks around the village. We went into people’s homes and prayed healing over the sick, blessings over the faithful, peace over the restless, God’s hands over the hopeless, and salvation over the lost. And you know what happened Father? Three people got healed right before our eyes! There was one day that we went to go pick up trash all around the village. Even though trash covered the streets I still loved it. As we picked up the trash I made three little friends; all beautiful daughters of Christ. As we walked they shared with me the different kinds of trees, plants, and flowers they had in Costa Rica. I love flowers Father and they knew that too, so they continued to share all these amazing facts with me. Soon enough during our walk I was no longer holding trash, but a whole bouquet of flowers that the three little girls picked for me. Flowers that where an array of different types, shapes, colors, etc. In that moment, you reminded me of the beauty of getting to know your people and the love I have for them. I remember the tours we got of the village. We saw the little tourist center they had. We saw the little craft shops that the indigenous people had. The little shops were inside of their homes for the most part and were filled with dream catchers, bracelets, earrings, carved bowls, and carved coconut water jugs. I loved those little craft shops!
One day, we painted the inside of the church too. The church was nice considering the access to materials that they had! Before we came, someone decided to put in new tile just for us so that it could look nice when we arrived. It was so sweet and such a blessing to us! Oh Papa, they had so much love for us before they even met us. One day we put pieces of title on the walls lining the church while wiping off the access cement. Another day we painted the whole inside of the church that same blue we painted the kitchen. We finished painting the church in one day! It was pretty amazing and it looked so nice afterwards.
I remember how much of a joy that church was to me. During those ten days that we lived there, we ended up going to church at least four or more times. It was so sweet to hear the voices of God’s people echo through the church. It was beautiful to see the bravery your people had to go up in front of the body of Christ and sing whatever is on their hearts. It was beautiful to see how excited the children were to come up to the front of the church and give their offerings to the Lord. Just the whole community aspect in general was beautiful! I remember there were a couple times where people in the church made us lunch in that little kitchen…wow what a blessing it was for us!! The little store that was there didn’t have much to offer, but nonetheless we managed perfectly. Rice porridge and cereal were served for breakfast. Salty chicken, rice, and beans were served for pretty much every dinner and lunch. Yet, when the women from the church made lunch for us on occasion it was like the best thing ever! They made delicious plates of rice, beans, plantains, salad, chicken, and so much more. It was so good!
One of my favorite memories was a couple days before Christmas. We spend half of the day at Juan and Maria’s house (our ministry hosts). It’s Costa Rican tradition to make tamales every year during Christmas time. The day before they shot a pig and collected rice for the filling. That day Juan spent hours preparing the rice. He pounded the rice in this big wooden bowl that stood up and with what looked like a mallet. From there he shook out and separated the rice from their husks and whatever else wasn’t rice. Maria, on the other hand, spend the day cooking. Everyday they would build a little fire with small chunks of wood and put it under their stove top. On the table was everything needed to make tamales: big banana leaves, meat (which was from the pig), rice (which was shucked by Juan), twine from the banana leaves, filling, etc. As we sat there on the wooden bench we watched the women from church make the tamales. It wasn’t long until, we too, were making tamales with them. As we cooked and made tamales we sang. I sang with Nancy (Juan and Maria’s daughter) and created hand motions with her. She showing me songs that she loved in Spanish while I showed her Christian songs in English. She loved it! A couple hours later after the tamales were boiled in water for about 30 minutes we feasted and Juan and Maria sang a duet. As they sang the duet in Spanish Juan played the guitar. Papa, I remember looking around the room. I saw everyone that I deeply cared about. Even though I didn’t know much of what they were saying in the song I was brought to tears. There was something so special and beautiful about their singing. There was something so beautiful about spending Christmas in Terraba inside of Juan and Maria’s house. There was something so beautiful about living like they did and having nothing, but at the same time having everything and more. I will never forget that day. I will never forget how beautiful my memories there were.
Christmas Eve was spent at the waterfalls and on the river. We hiked down the mountains and up the rocks to uncover the prettiest, biggest, and most wonderful waterfall I’ve ever seen! We then stayed along the shore of the river afterwards, talking, playing, stacking rocks, eating tamales, etc. Then in the evening, we spent time in the church! We watched the Grinch off of my teammate’s phone, ate pancakes, exchanged secret Santa gifts, and stayed in the church wrapped up in our sleeping bags and laying on our sleeping pads for a while. It was such a sweet time!
On Christmas day we all woke up really early to go to the beach. Juan and Maria went too! We got to the beach a little after sunrise. The ocean and the black sand were beautiful! We spent the whole day there! Maria and I collected shells for hours and went on a little adventure way down the shoreline when the tide was in. She showed me different sea creatures and we named the little crabs that I found. I asked a lot of questions, she explained in Spanish, and we both got a good laugh every now and then when I didn’t understand something or when one of the crabs pinched me. We ate a mixture of beans, rice, and veggies for lunch and leftover pancakes for breakfast. We went through the cave tunnels when the tide was low. We swam, talked, and enjoyed the big crashing waves over our heads. We got sunburned badly! We sleep under palm trees and spent time laughing and talking. We ate not the best ice cream that was really overpriced, but it was still a good experience. The day ended with a sweet sunset on the beach…it was the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen! Papa you should have seen it! Actually, I know you saw it because you made it! You made it just for our enjoyment and so that we can sit in awe of your creation and your presence.
On our last day there, one of the girls that I made really good friends with gave me her stuffed animal and kissed me on the cheek goodbye. I cried on the way back to San Jose. It was such a beautiful time! It was such a beautiful ten days. It was sweet memories that we made Father. It was in those moments Papa that you reminded me that the whole point of missions and ministry isn’t always about doing work. It’s about creating relationships, disciplining, and building each other up in love. That’s exactly what we did! Sure, we worked and completed tasks that helped the community there, but more importantly we created memories and friendships that I will never forget. We were able to be you light and show how much you loved those people there by simply living everyday life. There were so many other memories Father, but those are a few that will forever be stored in my heart. Papa, thank you for that sweet time! Thank you for letting us love on them and putting them in our life to love on us! I shall never forget your presence in Terraba and all that you have done through it.
All My Love,
Courtney
