These past 7 days in Costa Rica have been the best days in my life. I want to take some time to describe the week I have had in this beautiful country. I don't have any pictures and for that I am so sorry. I can't seem to remember to bring my camera with me when we go anywhere. We still have about 2 weeks here so there will be pleanty of pictures at the end of the month!
FRIDAY:: My team and I arrived to Costa Rica Friday night and went straight to Glory Christian School where we are living this month. This is a private school with American teachers so that the Ticos (Costa Rican people) can learn English without much of an accent. In Costa Rica many jobs require English speaking as a necessary skill.
SATURDAY:: We attended a Costa Rican wedding. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. The bride was absolutely beautiful and it was just a neat thing to be able to experience our first full day in this wonderful country.
Katie is our ministry contact and has become more of a friend than a contact. She really gets me and understands my humor like we have been friends forever. Katie took us to Pastor Rene's (Ren-ay) house so we could clean it before he and his family move into it. It was a really nice first day to be able to spend it with the team cleaning and working for the Lord.
SUNDAY:: Church was amazing. It was a bilingual service; Spanish with English translators. The worship was so awesome. My Spanish is increasing each day, but I didn't understand everything I was singing. Regardless of the language, the Holy Spirit was all up in that place. I got to meet two Ticas, Nataly and Sara, who both spoke English very well and helped me learn some Spanish. I also spent some time with Luis, 13, who also speaks very good English. He hung out with Katie, my team and me until we went to play soccer with some of the other Ticos in the area.
I played soccer for about an hour with them. And Steph, get excited, I totally got an assist. Yeah, that's right. I was playing with a bunch of Costa Rican boys and I took the ball away and passed it to someone on my team who was wide open for a goal. The entire play may have been an accident.. But that's beside the point.
On the way back to the school I was talking to Fabi, 13, and he is so patient with my Spanish. He teaches me things and makes sure I get the accent right. He is such a great kid. He hung out with us for hours after we got back and tried teaching me how to do a rubix cube.. He can solve a 3×3 in about 2.5 minutes. He also has a 4×4 which takes him about 5 minutes. He stayed with us until our dinner was almost ready.
MONDAY:: After a morning workout and a good breakfast we went to Pastor Rene's house and helped him and his family pack up their things and move them to their new house. It was a lot of heavy lifting and was exhausting but so rewarding. A wonderfully made Costa Rican meal was prepared for us for lunch. I got to get to know Pastor a bit better; he has such a great sense of humor. I also got to meet a pastor of another church. My team will have the opportunity of doing something with his youth group.
TUESDAY:: Tuesday was the first day of English camp. The kids are off school until February so we are teaching English to anyone interested in learning. This is a project that I am heading up because of my background in education. I love how well everyone was working out and how eager the Ticos are when it comes to learning English.
Katie took us to Barva so that we could pray over that town and evangelize. We had three translators with us. Fabi was my translator. He helped me share Christ with a lady and then pray for her. It was neat to hear my prayer being translated. I also met a man who is 90 years old and speaks English very well. He told me he thanks Christ every day he is alive. Costa Rica is filled with such interesting people. And the great thing is that they are so open to having conversations with strangers, which makes evangelism much easier here than in the states.
WEDNESDAY:: We had our first day off on Wendesday. It was mostly just a day of rest and relaxation. It was really nice to have some time to process all that has been going on. However, having so much time to stop and think made me a little home sick. Ok, a lot home sick. But I know I am doing more here than I would be at home and I am here because God called me to this. I know that the homesickness will always be there, but I also know that my Father can get me through it. And staying busy helps.
THURSDAY:: We worked around the school, mostly cleaning and painting. As well as some yard work. Church was at 7:00pm and I really enjoyed it. At the end of the day I about passed out from exhaustion and slept like a baby.
FRIDAY:: Friday was the second day of English camp. I did remember to get some pictures which will go into a slide show for church tomorrow. After the camp, we went to Marybell's and had some freaking delicious soup stuff. I don't know what it was, but it was good. Some testimonies were shared and there were some laughs and some tears.. What can I say, that's what happens when a bunch of women (and Roland, our translator) get together.
Maria led us in worship with Roland and it was the best worship I have had in a long time. Well, it feels like a long time.
SATURDAY:: Today we hung out with some kids and played games with them. And now we are relaxing until youth group tonight, where I am sharing my testimony.
I have only been here for one week but it feels like I have been here for a month or longer. I have absolutely fallen in love with Costa Rica and the people I have been meeting. I feel as though I belong here. And I am learning Spanish at a very fast pace, so communicating is getting easier. I will post a more personal blog at some point, but for now I just thought an update is necessary.
Please keep my team and me in your prayers!
I have about $8,000 in my support account, so if you would like to support all of this and what the Lord is doing please do so through the "Support Me" button in the left column of the blog under my picture.
Much love from Costa Rica!
Pura Vida!!
Malerie
