10 reasons I'll miss Costa Rica

We call ourselves “La Familia Rara”, the strange family. After living together 24/7 for the last 2 months, we truly feel like family. We have our own traditions- a song we sing for grace while holding hands, a special DTS handshake, and the way we end prayer times with a group huddle and “uno,dos,tres, JESUS!”. We have our own inside jokes (just say “fuego” and see what happens, or ask one of us to finish the phrase “donde yo voy. . .) We tease each other and sometimes we drive each other crazy, but mostly, we love one another.

Alex- We’re alike in so many ways. We even find ourselves saying the same thing, at the same time, with the same inflection. It drives Alex crazy, but I think it’s funny. She always encourages me, notices when I’m not feeling great, and asks me how I’m really doing and makes me answer. She also gives me great hugs. Her desire to draw close to God, and the ways I’ve seen her work on overcoming her own fears during this DTS are awesome.

Anna- has an infectious laugh and the largest repertoire of cartoon voices and fake accents of anyone I know. As the third youngest person in our group who is also one of our group leaders, she constantly impresses me with her maturity and ability to lead. Her passion for God and to draw others into a passionate relationship with him is a blessing.

JT- is such a servant leader. His humility and habit of being the first to volunteer for anything we need inspire us all. JT’s ever-optimistic predictions of what the next day holds (5 star hotels, catered food, swimming pools) always keep us laughing. JT is so hungry and willing to grow spiritually and has grown so much during this DTS. He and his wife are also expecting their first baby, a son, in April!

Katie- is generous and loves to share. She’s a Bible scholar- her love of learning and digging deeper into scripture and the things of God make me want to read more non-fiction. Katie is honest about her own struggles in ways that encourage me to be more open. You can also always count on Katie to make you laugh.

Lito- is a really good listener. As our only male leader, and the fact that he’s known for being serious and reflective has earned him the position of the honorary “father” of our family. He also has a goofy side though and I love the way he’s able to not take himself too seriously.

Luis- We all expect him to be an evangelist or a Pastor. Luis impresses us with his natural preaching ability, and the way he can approach perfect strangers and easily start a conversation about God. His smile never fails to make me smile in return and his craziness makes us all laugh.

Manny- is my biggest help and encourager with Spanish. He’s not afraid to correct my mistakes, but he also notices when I’ve learned something new. I love talking to Manny- he’s really animated when he tells about something that happened to him, and he’s always willing to listen to my stories. He’s really striving to hear and obey God’s voice.

Reanna- is everyone’s little sister. I love her exuberance. Her Panamanian phrases and excitement over little things make us smile. The freedom she has when she worships God and her love of prayer and willingness to pray in public encourage me to be more like her.

Rebeca- reminds me of a princess with her femininity and grace. She’s always friendly to everyone and has an ability to make people feel loved. Her desire to serve God is evident in her life, and as the youngest member of our group it’s really encouraging to see someone so young who is so dedicated to following God. I can’t wait to see how He uses her.

Rossela- is the wisest one in our group. She is good at giving hugs, encouragement, comfort, and advice. She loves to rejoice with us. Just being around Rossela makes me happy. We love to teach her new random English expressions like “gee golly” and “let’s blow this popsicle stand” so we can hear her say them in her amazing accent.

Free Hugs

This past week we've spent in Monteverde, a tourist hotspot in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. If you've heard about Costa Rica's ziplining tours, this is where they were born. It's also a good spot for tours of coffee plantations and hikes to see some of Costa Rica's amazing biodiversity.

We're not here as tourists though. Being a gringo in a tourist town, but not being there to do the usual tourist things is a bit unusual. In most of our other destinations the local church we worked with had our time booked with church services, youth activities, school presentations, and manual labor projects. Not so much here in Monteverde. We've had our fair share of church services and activities with the youth, but there is also a lot of time to be creative and reach out to the locals and tourists.

The downtown center of Santa Elena (where all the tour booking offices are, as well as more restaurants, bars, bakeries, hostels and internet cafes then I've seen in one place before) is very small, so we decided to make it our center of operations. One day we split up into groups and picked up trash. Another day we brought along a guitar and sang praise and worship songs by a fountain. Several people came over to talk to us and a guy named Chris from California even took a turn with the guitar and played "Better is one day in your Courts" for us. We started giving out free hugs too, which opened doors for more conversation.

While we were singing and hanging out, we noticed all the taxi drivers just watching us and decided it would be fun to do something to bless them. So, Friday night we cooked a big batch of rice and a pot of beans, and Saturday morning I made gallo pinto. All of us went into town, to give out gallo pinto and more free hugs. The free food opened lots of doors for conversation. There was a group of university students there interviewing foreigners for an English exam. I got to chat with one of the girls for quite awhile and shared about what we were doing and why.

The plan for tomorrow is to bake cookies and then pass them out with the gospel message in a bag. We're excited that people have noticed us and are talking about what we're doing. They're curious, and open to know more. At youth group on Saturday evening one of the girls told me that her Mom's friend, who is a taxi driver told her Mom about the group giving out free pinto. Pray that as we go back on Tuesday and Wednesday we'll be able to share the gospel een more clearly, and that people who have seen our practical ways fo loving them will be ready to accept God's eternal love for them.