Costa Rica Trip--Wrap Up

If the trip ended almost two weeks ago, it's definitely time to finish up the blog entries.  

During the week, we had the opportunity to share the "Forgiveness" lesson in two high schools.The lesson has several great illustrations, including the use of a backpack and three or four large rocks.  Adding rocks to the backpack one of the students is wearing illustrates what lack of forgiveness feels like over time.  The burden can manifest itself as bitterness or pride and it gets progressively heavier as we refuse to ask for forgiveness or forgive others.  When we are forgiven or offer forgiveness the load we've been carrying disappears.  This is a very visual illustration for the kids and before the lesson is over there are almost always some students who are crying.  The most exciting result is that they begin to understand that Jesus offers them forgiveness, no matter what they have done up to this point in their life.  The come to understand that all they need to do is admit their sins, believe Jesus died and rose from the dead and confess their sins and ask forgiveness.  He is faithful to forgive them.  Praise the Lord, there were 150 professions of faith in the schools in Costa Rica.

   

Costa Rica Campaign--Tuesday

After devotions on Tuesday morning we went downtown San Jose to shop for souvenir and share the gospel on the street.  Everyone found a place to eat lunch on their own, meeting back at 1:30 so we could rest a bit before going out for the evening campaign.

 

We left the hotel at 4:00 and arrived at the neighborhood for the family festival about 5:00 a.m.  Although the traffic is not as bad as Colombia or Guatemala, it's still not easy to get across town.  The team visited homes, invited the adults and children to the family festival and shared the gospel with as everyone who would listen.  The festival was well-attended and there were 25+ decisions for the evening.

Costa Rica Campaign--Monday

We spent Saturday and Sunday with the team in Guatemala and then flew to Costa Rica early Monday morning.  We arrived about 10:30 and Pastor Rodolfo was there to pick us up and take us to the hotel.  A walk to Subway for lunch was just what we needed; after which, we met with Pastor Steve to share info on the Guatemala trip and learn what had been happening in Costa Rica.  He flew to Nicaragua about 3:30 p.m., but we were our paths crossed if even for a short time.

The team in Costa Rica is one person larger than Guatemala--47.  They came from Murrels Inlet Baptist Church, Murrels Inlet, South Carolina; First Baptist Church, Foley, Alabama; Ridge Avenue Baptist Church, West Monroe, Louisiana and Woodland Park Baptist Church, Hammond, Louisiana.  As always there were both familiar faces and new faces--just the way we like it.

Last year and again this year we spent August 1 handing out tracts and praying for all of the people who were making the journey to the national cathedral in Cartago, Costa Rica.  Here's a recap of what this pilgrmage, called the Romeria, is all about:  

In August the Basilica of our Lady of the Angeles is the object of extensive pilgrimage and visitation by about 2.5 million believers throughout Costa Rica and other surrounding countries, many of whom join in the celebrated 22-kilometer walk to the basilica during the Romería. Though many people start the pilgrimage from locations all over Costa Rica, some, as a demonstration of their piety, choose to crawl the 22 kilometers on their hands and knees.  (Click here to read more about it.)

We started by forming small groups and praying together and then for thirty mintues we walked along with the group and passed out a tract called "The Words of Mary,"  after which we walked against the flow (still passing out tracts) until we returned to the park.  Because we want to be sensitive to the event, we only stop and share the gospel with people who are not participating in the walk.  

Triple Trip Preparations

We've been hard at work helping Guillermo prepare for the triple trip; as you can imagine, it takes a lot of preparing to be able to send 100+ Salvadorans to join up with 120 North Americans in three different countries at the same time. Here is a list of some of the things we've been helping with:

• Verifying those who will be going on each trip and what their role will be, i.e. translator, evangelism, logistics.
• Verifying paperwork for all minors (under 18) who will be traveling, which requires legal documentation from each parent authorizing them to travel out of the country with the church.  All of these documents have to be notarized and multiple copies made.
• Purchasing, assembling and documenting contents of the first aid kit for each country. First step on Monday was to buy $80 of various types of medicine--it's definitely a blessing to be able to buy things here without a prescription.  For example, we bought 9 antibiotic regimes (10 tablets each) so each kit would have three.  We also added lots of over-the counter medicines like Alka-Seltzer, Sudafed, cortisone cream, gauze, alcohol, adhesive tape, cough drops and much more, all the while hoping that no one needs any of these items.   
• Assembling everything that needs to go to each country, Bibles, tracts, equipment, etc.
• Ordering and organizing the MetroAmerica 0-20 t-shirts which we will be selling to the North Americans in each location
• Ordering and organizing the MetroAmerica 0-20 mission trip t-shirts which are gifts for everyone from the church who travels with us
• Making up packets for each country which contain the "Jesus drawing" (see below for pictures) for each night of the campaign (total of 20 presentations across the 3 countries.) 
• Attending and presenting at three training sessions (one for each country.) The Nicaragua training was last night, Guatemala tonight and Costa Rica tomorrow night.
• Lists, lists and more lists

Of course, there's also our regular personal preparations including paying all of our bills ahead of time.  This time we are going to go to both Guatemala and Costa Rica, so that has added to our packing issues.  

Here are a few pictures of last night's training for the team going to Nicaragua.  

Please pray for everyone involved in the trip and for the people who will hear the gospel, some for the very first time, in each country.  Pray safe travels and good health for our team and the teams from the states.      

Lazy Days

There were supposed to be two July campaigns this summer, but both of them were canceled due to worries about the Zika virus.  As a result, we've had a lazy July with time to relax and catch-up on things.  We're not used to the time off!  Of course our regular activities have continued (band practice, Bible study, seminary class).

This week we will start preparing for the triple trip which is coming in less than two weeks.  Good News in Action will be hosting three trips in three different countries at the same time.  A team of 45 is coming to Guatemala, a team of 46 is coming to Costa Rica and there will be 24 in Nicaragua.  All of this means that Vida Nueva will be sending many, many translators and other support persons to each of the three countries.  

Stephen and I are going to spend the first two days in Guatemala.  We'll be riding the Vida Nueva bus over.  On Monday, we will fly to Costa Rica to spend the remainder of the week.  Pastor Steve and Pam are starting their trip in Costa Rica, which allows us to start in Guatemala. This will be the first time we've visited two countries, but a team from First Baptist, Ferguson, MO, is coming to Guatemala and we want to be there to welcome them.  Pastor Steve and Pam will fly out of Costa Rica on Monday and we will fly in.

Please pray for the teams who are coming from the states, our teams as they prepare for the trip and each local church.  

Hayden Comes to Visit

We were blessed to have Hayden Bridges come to see us on Saturday.  We met him on our last trip to Nicaragua (in March.)  He was the youngest of the three "dog-bite" guys.

We saw him again at the campaign in Costa Rica in August.  He really has a heart for Central America.  It was while in Costa Rica that he talked to us about the possibility of visiting El Salvador and, perhaps, seeing if he could find a teaching job here.  We encourage him to come for a visit so he used his fall break to fly down.

Stephen picked him up at the airport just after lunch on Saturday, which was a very busy day for us.  I was gone all day to a women's ministry event and Stephen had to take the inflatable to an event in Lourdes in the afternoon.  

When we were in Costa Rica, he got to know all our translators from El Salvador.  So, we made arrangements with Wilbert and Rodrigo to pick him up and take him to the youth service on Saturday night.  They even took him out for dinner afterwards.  Stephen and I were both home by the time they dropped him off.

More about the rest of his visit tomorrow!

Costa Rica in Pictures

"I'm three; I can help with the inflatable."

Ready for her Sunday School class

Most talented balloon artist I've ever seen

Our wonderful team this week

This was the bridge we "couldn't cross when we got to it."  

Hayden and his "friends" at the school

Three beautiful stained glass windows at the hotel.

They don't have to cut the grass, just prune the vines on the front of their houses

Modern art in front of the Museum of Natural History

Mural on the wall of the artesan market in downtown San Jose

Sharing In Spite of Restrictions

While in Costa Rica we were able to go to schools on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  Because Catholicism is the national religion, most of the public schools have restrictions about distributing literature.  We were able to share the lesson, share the testimony and share the gospel, but not pass out tracts, Bibles or take the names of the students who made professions of faith. 

God is faithful, however, and the students were very interested in the lesson. Monday there were 74 decisions, Tuesday there were 101 and 105 on Wednesday for a total of 280 in the schools.  Praise the Lord.

Something out of the ordinary and a great Sunday morning worship

Instead of having a regular family festival on Saturday evening, Pastor Rodolfo explained that we were going to walk along with the people on their pilgrimage to the Catholic church in Cartago, Costa Rica.  Here is a bit of information about the pilgrimage.  

In August the Basilica of our Lady of the Angeles is the object of extensive pilgrimage and visitation by about 2.5 million believers throughout Costa Rica and other surrounding countries, many of whom join in the celebrated 22-kilometer walk to the basilica during the Romería. Though many people start the pilgrimage from locations all over Costa Rica, some, as a demonstration of their piety, choose to crawl the 22 kilometers on their hands and knees.  (Click here to read more about it.)

We joined in with the walkers at a point inside the city and walked (and prayed) for a distance of about a mile and a half.  We then turned around a walked back to the park where we started.  While we were going against the flow, we passed out tracts called, "The Words of the Virgin Mary," to all who would take them.  It was definitely a bit intimidating to be going the other direction.  

I probably write a post about Sunday morning worship almost every time there are gringos around for a campaign.  I think it's because it is so impactful to worship together.  Sunday morning at IBVN San Jose was no different.  

Depending upon who is leading the music, occasionally we sing the worship songs in both Spanish and English.  However, this time it was a bit different.  Instead of changing the slides from Spanish to English for each verse/chorus, where they were able to they put the Spanish words and the English words for each line of the song.  As a result, the gringos were singing the English words while the rest were singing the Spanish words.  It was very cool!

Pastor Chris Sprires from First Baptist Church, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, gave the message, with Vladimir translating.  

Costa Rica 2015

We flew into Costa Rica on Saturday morning and took the shuttle to Hotel Casa Conde.  It is the first time we've stayed here.  It's much closer to the church location and so it saves time and makes the transportation costs much more manageable.

We were pleasantly surprised with the hotel.  It was built to look like an old colonial town and as you can see from the attached pictures they did a great job.