Team Season Begins!!

As part of the Harvest Hands ministry, short-term missions teams come down from the United States to do various work projects. Teams partake in a variety of work projects including building houses, doing construction tasks, painting walls or murals, playing soccer in the plache (a soccer field down at the bottom of the hill by the river), playing with the kids, taking prayer walks, praying with people, teaching various trades and skills, etc. Each team is made up of unique people with their own gifts and talents and before they come we try to facilitate ways they can use those gifts to the fullest. I have been here almost four months now, and this is the first of the teams. I had the joy of working with my own home church from Grand Rapids. Here are the highlights:

Top row left to right: Jason, Zach F., Terri, Zach S.

Bottom row left to right: Julie, Matt, Abby, Jim, Larry

This is how Matt likes to pastor...Teach a skill and then stand back and make sure it's done right.

It's called "supervising".

The best way to make sure children are safe on the playground is to reinforce the swing set.

This swing set is now earthquake proof.

Abby learned that people are way more free with their kids here.

"They'll just give 'em to anyone!" she said.

These two kids are the youngest of 7. I think the mom just needed a break!!

Jim definitely took some leaps of faith this trip.

Zach learned the hard way what "caca" REALLY means.

It didn't make anyone feel any safer to know that this sign translated means,

"For you security, we are filming you."

I have discovered why everyone is so short...they start drinking coffee VERY young!!!

Elidey was our rose in the desert!!!

We did take time to learn to surf. Our instructors were phenomenal teachers and very patient with us gringos.

We invited them to a worship night on the beach later that night.

Zach and Abby held their own on the boards. They got really good by the end!!

For a time of ministry, we gave out hot dogs in the central plaza.

It was great except when Terri and Abby went missing.

We later found out they were wandering the streets yelling:

"Donde estan ninos? Ninos! Hoto dogos, no pesos!"

Which means, "Where are the children? Children! Hoto dogos, no pesos!"

(PS. Hoto dogos are not a real word and pesos are the currency of Mexico...)

Again, only in latin america can strange adults from another country come up to the children and pass out food and not have the parents be super suspicious. Would this work in the States?!?!?

We had some left over hot dogs so Christina reminded us all that this really is a dog eat dog world.

"I just found a hermit crab with it's hermit still in it!!" ~Abby

Of course Tito and Zach HAD to reinact the karate kid.

Jason lead worship on the beach.

It was a great time of enjoying God's presence surrounded by the ocean, sand, and really good people.

We worked with Jay, who owns a wonderful hotel that over looks the ocean. He had a sweet dog named Lobo, who kept us all company. Check out his website at: http://www.buenavistasurf.com/. If you ever head to Costa Rica, check out this place. You won't be sorry!!

Of course all trips have to come to an end. Each team with it's own flavor. According to Rodney, the Grand Rapids guys also won for having the largest suitcases ever as guys. The girls even had smaller suitcases than them. Zach Straayer's response to this was, "Don't hate me 'cause I gotta bring beautiful with me. It takes up a lot of space."

Some things about Ticos...

There is an interesting book here in the house called The Ticos: Culture and Social Change in Costa Rica, written in the late '90's that discusses life in Costa Rica. These excerpts from a particular section we found pretty...interesting... It is a reflexion on dating in the early to mid 1900's in Costa Rica. I hope you find it as amusing as we did:

Until the 1950s, the retrata, or band concert in town parks, where boys and girls strolled around the square in opposite directions, provided opportunities to look over the opposite sex. Girls' mothers, meanwhile, chatted on a park bench, discreetly watching....

Flirtear is a favorite partime. A young man shows his interest in a girl by silently and insistently staring at her. If the stare is returned and he already knows her, he may invite her to a soda bar or a movie or ask to walk her home. If they are strangers he may seek a mutal acquaintance to introduce them, though many now cinsodier this unnecessary. If the pait hits it off, he will ask to see her again, perhaps arranging to meet her at a movie or dance and not visitng her home until they have met several times....

Until the early twentieth century, a peasant suitor was required by his novia's parents to leave three cartloads of firewood at their doorstep as a test of his ability to provide. His parents in turn expected her to grind corn and make tortillas for them. The urban girl leanred to cook, sew, and adorn the parlor. Her mother showed her handiwork to potential mothers-in-law.

So remember, the next time you are in Costa Rica and some one is insistently staring at you, only reciprocate the look if you can either build a spectacular bonfire or are a really good cook.

Randomivity

Random thoughts to start out the new year:

~According to Steve you can say "wicked good" and "gnarly" but NEVER "wicked gnarly".
~When random people in the airport asked what I was doing in travelling to Costa Rica and I responded that I was a missionary there, several times I got the response, "Oh, my. God will reward you." I was caught off guard. How does one respond to that?
~Apparently no matter what country you are in, boys from 15 to 22 years old think farting is hilarious and totally socially acceptable.
~If you want a meeting to start at 7 in Costa Rica, tell the ticos it starts at 6:15 and it will be sure to start by 7:30.
~Even though the word "no" is the same in both English and Spanish, children can never seem to understand it.
~If you take a picture of a child, he or she will want to see it.
~There really are gigantic cockroaches.
~I should have started drinking coffee sooner...maybe it really would have stunted my growth.
~Even though a 5'2'' guy and a 5'3'' girl have the same size shoe as a 6'1'' girl, the tall one still gets called the sasquatch by default.
~Contrary to popular belief, it does actually get cold here. At least enough to need a sweater and jeans.
~Coffee tastes so much better outside of the United States.
~When offering Costa Ricans coffee, be sure to offer cookies or bread with it.
~If you don't understand what a child says in Spanish, NEVER just say yes. You have no idea what you may be agreeing to and they ARE much smarter than we give them credit.
~If a child comes to you and tells you the other person in the house told them they could do something and that person does not speak very good Spanish always check with other said person before allowing said child to do what they ask....
~Glitter is a pain in the neck no matter what country you use it in.
~If an adult tells you something in Spanish and you don't understand but laugh anyway, you may end up get laughed at.
~Be sure to check any presents you bring back to the United States...a cockroach may just end up getting stuck in the wrapping (AKA the really happened to Christina......)
~Never fly Spirit airlines. They charge for everything. Including water. I'm surprised they didn't charge for toilet paper. The only thing they didn't charge for was ice chips. So I got creative and left my ice chips on the seat next to me until they melted. It would have been a lot easier if they had just given me the water.
~When traveling to Nicaragua remember to bring your own toilet paper, but toilet seat covers are optional.
~Note to self: buy stock in hand sanitizer.
~A great way to make friends, regardless of language or culture, is to learn how to bake. There is something about baking that crosses all borders.
~When studying another language, make sure to at least be aware of swear words and negative slang so as to not accidentally use them in every day conversation. I accidently told one of the guys to "tranquila", which I thought meant "calm down", but instead in their common use of the word means "to go drug up"... oops.
~There are tons of words you never learn in Spanish 301 but really need to know for surviving on the streets...or in conversation with teenage guys.
~When painting walls in a house, always paint the lower half of the wall in a darker color. Anything else shows all the hand prints and chair marks.
~Needing to tell guys to take the trash out and put the toilet seat down is universal (you know who you are).
~No, Christina and I are not sisters. Yes, we do look like we could be. But no, we're not.
~Ticos point with their lips instead of their index finger. So if someone is trying to tell you they are talking about the guy over there, instead of pointing with their finger they literally purse their lips like they are going to kiss from a distance whatever or whoever they are talking about.
~If you don't know how to pray in Spanish but are asked to and don't want to be rude, just say, "Sí, Señor. Por favor, Señor. Si, Señor. Gracias Señor. Si, Señor. Si, Señor. Aleluya. Amén."

Anonos update

Before we left for Nicarauga, the municipality had started taking out houses and bull dozing the land. When we arrived back in Los Anonos after the trip, it was as if it were a totally different place. The following pictures show the changes since this week.

The lone tree used to be right infront of Adriana, Meylin, and Jacqueline's house. Rodney, Christina, and I were in the house right in front of that tree the night of the flood.

 Other houses have been taken down from the top of the hill as well. All that is left of this house if the tile floors. 

Nicaragua, 2010

Twenty-one people representing 6 Vineyard churches, 3 countries, and multiple personalities hopped in 2 vans on December 2 headed for Managua, Nicaragua. Our mission: build relationships, construct a roof for a church plant, have a Christmas party for the children, do the work of the Father. We had a few snags getting there...like a flat tire in the middle of no where...

 But once we got back on the road we were all fine. We got pretty comfortable with each other in the vans. Most of us got really comfortable, too.

Like any good trip, we came well prepared. We stayed well hydrated and fed.

We were a little worried about crossing the boarder, but Tito made sure the way was clear.

We did have to walk between the two countries. It was quite an adventure, but at least we had our walking shoes on.

We went right to work.

Even the children pitched in to lend a hand. We removed all the bricks from the walkway and stacked them over to the side. Several large holes were dug and metal poles were welded together. This was preparation for a roof.

 



We met lots of wonderful children. They even taught us how to take leaps of faith.

We bought some toys for the kids for Christmas.

We shared the light of Jesus with the poor.

We saw some knock-offs...

We shared our hearts with each other.

Life definitely moves differently in Nicaragua...take this one horse power engine, for example... 

Or what this lady uses instead of a shopping cart...

Or another way to avoid sitting next to someone who smells on the bus...

I also kept getting strange comments about my height. Like I am tall or something.



But I did finally find some one taller than me to hang out with.

There were many things to think about. For example, we parked our vans IN the church (postly because there was no street parking, or safe parking outside. Oh yeah, and almost everyone walks to church, there was only one other person with a car.) I wonder if I would have ever walked to my Vineyard in Michigan because I didn't have a car...

In one of our prayer walks we found this family. The baby has a food allergy to rice. She has huge welt-like rashes all over her body, her hair is frail and brittle, and she is sick all the time. When I asked her mother what she eats, her mother said rice and beans. They have no money to afford milk, fruits, or vegetables. It absolutely broke my heart to think that this child could be healthy, but there is a complete lack of resources.  

 These people live in plastic-bag shacks near Managua.

God did show up in awesome ways, too. For instance, a small group went on a prayer walk and met a woman who had terrible cellulitis in her legs. She told us she had dealt with significant pain in her legs for years and they were very swollen. We prayed for her and God healed her legs. All the pain left. She started yelling to her daughter, "My legs don't hurt any more! The pain is gone!" Praise the Lord!!

Overall it was an amazing trip. The friendships and relationships that we built will continue to grow.