The story starts at the border crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Our entire squad is about 22 people, so finding transportation to fit all of us is no small task. (Shout out to Hailey and Mon for doing so much for us!) This time though, we had to split up. One group had to wait on another bus. That meant waiting in the hot sun for 3 hours before being able to cross the border. The group I was in left immediately and walked with all our bags for about 15 minutes to the border crossing. It was hot and tiring but we made it to immigration. While standing in line, someone overhears another person in line talking about the Bruno Mars concert in San Jose, Costa Rica, that night. Our ears perked up, because we were staying in San Jose that night. Was it possible that we could see Bruno Mars that night?
We asked them more for more information. Then we hopped on our bus and headed for San Jose. We tried to decide if we would try and go. We knew that the other half of our squad would not make it in time, so we were not sure what to do. Upon arriving at our hostel in San Jose, we decided to be spontaneous and at least try to see if we could get tickets. After trying to buy them online and calling the event center, they told us we could purchase tickets at the box office. Our decision was made. Jessica, Hannah, Shea, and I grabbed our bags and left to find a taxi to take us to the concert. On the way to find a taxi, Hannah prayed that if it was God’s will for us to go to the concert that it would happen.
We tried multiple times to flag down a taxi but they just kept driving past. Finally, we walked down the street and saw one pulled over to the side of the road. We talked to him about price and hopped in. We asked him his name and he told us it was Carlos. Carlos was a taxi driver who had lived in Costa Rico all his life and had been a driver for 35 years. He told us about his favorite places in all of Costa Rica and what he loved about living there. He told us he didn’t speak English but kept answering our questions in English. When we would call him out, he would just giggle and repeat himself in Spanish. We told him about our mission trip and what we were doing in Costa Rica. We asked him if he was a Christian. He said, “Claro! I am a son of God.” We told him he was our brother in Christ and my teammate, Jess, told him, “You are mi hermano favorito!” He told us that he could tell we were very good people. We knew that this taxi ride was going to be something special, but we had no idea how special.
Then we arrived at the concert. We were about to get out of the taxi and thank him for everything, when he gets out and tells us that he is going to go find out about the tickets for us. It was so sweet how he was trying to protect us and help us so much. When he returns, he tells us that the tickets are sold out and the scalpers are charging $100 per ticket. We just couldn’t afford that, so we thanked him for his help and asked him to take us back to the hostel. He apologizes to us but we are not upset at all. We tell him, “Esta bien!” (Its oaky!) He got back in and started to drive us back, when suddenly he turns the car back around. He tells us that he is going to try another entrance to see if he can get us cheaper tickets. We know that it’s probably a futile attempt but he was so nice that we couldn’t say no. He pulls up to another entrance and has us wait again. The same price was quoted, so we turned to go back home.
Carlos seemed really sad that we couldn’t go to the concert and asked us if we were hungry and we told him no. So, when he pulled into a small store, we thought he was stopping to get himself something for dinner. We waited patiently in the car for him as he ran into the store. When he got back to the car, he immediately started handing out napkins to us. We asked him, “Carlos, what are you doing?” He just smiled, and then pulled out a box from the bag he’d just bought. He said, “Cake!” He had gone into the store and bought us cake and juice!
He passed out the cakes and juice with so much joy. We were overwhelmed by how amazing this night was becoming. We may not have seen Bruno Mars, but Carlos was more than making up for that!
As we drive away, Carlos put on his favorite music for us: 80’s American jams! He was singing and dancing, and we were loving it. On the way back, we pass a street that was lit up with Christmas lights and we exclaim, “How pretty!” At that, Carlos cuts across multiple lanes of traffic (35 years of driving makes for impressive skills) and takes us down the street. He tells us about the parade that will be happening down that street later in the month. He shows us the children’s hospital and how beautifully the decorate it for the kids each year.
While, driving around looking at lights I get a phone call. Our other squadmates had arrived and needed help getting g to the hostel. Again, we ask Carlos to take us somewhere different and he graciously take us to the bus terminal, but, once we get there, they had already left. So, we ask him to take us to our hostel again.
We finally arrive at the hostel and thank Carlos for a wonderful time and tell him goodbye. He made us take his number and told us to call him the next morning and he would take us to the bus station for free! Then we asked him to take a picture with us!
We were pressed for time in the morning and couldn’t meet up with him again, but we did call him and thank him once more.
That night in Costa Rica was so special to me. We started out with a plan, but God had an even better one in store for us. Meeting Carlos was far better than we could have ever hoped for. He was so kind and made our night in San Jose one of my favorite nights of the race so far. I’m so thankful that we decided to be spontaneous and go. We asked for God’s will in our night, and he delivered. It was so much more than a taxi ride. It was meeting Carlos and hopefully leaving him feeling the love of God. So, ministry in Costa Rica was taking a taxi to a Bruno Mars concert, and I’m okay with that!
