Beans, Rice and Jesus Christ

In less than 24 hours we have experienced hectic airports, disappointing soccer score, uplifting church ceremony and a full day of preparation for the journey that lies ahead.

We started off at the Detroit airport where we organized chaos of our 50 bins, suitcases and kissing our loved ones good-bye.  Landing in Dallas where 2 hours gave us enough time to grab some Mexican food -ya'll.  We even ran into another Mission Trip team headed to El Salvador, but we think our shirts were better!

Our pilot on our flight to Costa Rica started off our flight saying, "When it rains it pours in Texas".  Our air conditioning was broke and delayed us 2 hours.  The Costa Ricans (or Ticos as they are called) thought this was a gift from God as the Americans shared iPhones and data plans to stream in the World Cup game. Sadly, Costa Rica wasn't victorious but we considered our flight a success as we were surprised with Pesto Tortellini, free head phones and in flight entertainment!

After a long flight, we were greeted with a welcome sign from "Ciudad de Fe", the local ministry church team we will be working with along with our guides, Beth,  Paola, Dustin from Joshua Expeditions.  During customs, our bins were delayed slightly as the bins with medicine (Tylenol and vitamins mainly) were questioned by the custom officials.  Through the power of prayer and some fast talking, all of our bins and luggage made it through customs - Jesus at work!

A long Saturday quickly turned into a bright and early Sunday morning filled with beans, rice, and Jesus Christ. Every meal includes beans and rice, including breakfast! On our bus ride to the church, we passed through impoverished houses and barbed wire fenses silhouetted against the background of the beautiful Costa Rican terrain of the mountains. As we pulled into the parking lot, unloaded the medical and kids; camp supplies, we could already tell that we were welcomed into their church community
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Although there is a distinct language barrier between our English (and broken Spanglish) and their Spanish, we could still feel God's presence during the church service. At first we did not know what to expect, especially since we are so use to sitting quietly in our pews at home, being comfortable in our passive ways. The church here doesn't hold back; they dance, sing, and praise with hands lifted high-praising God enthusiastically. (Literally, singing and dancing for an hour continuously worshiping God!) Boy, at this rate, many of us will be losing water weight...fast!

In all seriousness, it was encouraging to see the people of Ciudad de Fe worship God by giving Him all their energy. From ages 2 to 92, everyone was involved. Their Sunday mornings are the equivalent to our American Friday nights in the way where they were so excited to be there.

The pastor's message coincided with our morning devos (that's slang for devotions) about Peter trusting in Jesus to walk on water, and for us to put our doubts and fears behind us as we put our trust in the Lord this week. Although there may be rough waters ahead, we our all trusting this week is in God's plans.

As the singing came to an end, some of us slipped away into the welcoming arms of the Costa Rican children in the church day care. Whether you were with the infants, small children, or middle school students, their joyful smiles seemed to uplift our spirits. From coloring pages to piggy back rides, the iPhone "selfie" camera seemed to be the biggest hit among all ages. The camera roll on each phone suddenly went from 400 to 1000 as the kids raced around the building laughing and taking pictures. Our high school Spanish classes proved to be weak as we struggled to understand most of the kids questions and comments. Through it all, spending even just a few hours with the children proved to be a blessing and we are all looking forward to tomorrow.

Hasta mañana