Something Beautiful

Tonight, I went to the weekly prayer service of my local church. It was only 12 of us, so I didn't feel so intimidated sharing prayer requests and reading scripture aloud in the small setting. But, when I was asked to lead the group in prayer for a woman whose husband left her, I could scarcely form the words. Yet, as I began a shaky prayer, "Dios...Estamos orando por esa mujer." (God, we are praying for this woman.), a beautiful thing happened.

Other people in the circle began praying aloud, and their words finished where mine trailed off. It was like an orchestra, where the violin has the pick up notes and the entire orchestra joins in the next measure, escalating, crescendoing into an overlap of melodies that fit together to make heart-melting music. It was marvelous. And I wanted to hold that moment forever.

That moment where I felt so incompetent, but God answered. He surrounded me with His people to whom He had given the words and, hearing their petitions for this woman, I eventually paused my own prayer and just listened, echoing their words in my heart and saying "Si, Senor. Gracias Dios." (Yes Lord, Thank you God.) We held hands, uniting in our petition, and I listened as the prayers ebbed and flowed, and, after awhile, slowly waned until people were repeating one after the other, "en el nombre de Cristo" (in the name of Jesus). Not missing a beat, nor waiting for an awkward silence, another launched into his prayer, playing the next pick up notes, and the resounding chorus began again.

It reminded me of this passage:

Romans 8:26-27
²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

My whole life I've wrestled with prayer. How to pray? What words to say? I know God cares more about your heart than the words you say, and that prayer is simply talking with God. But to know that God loves us so much even to give us Christ as our intercessor, standing at the right hand of God pleading for us. Which in itself is powerful. Then, He's also given us the Holy Spirit to express praises and petitions we don't have the words for or sometimes don't even realize are on our prayer list until God prods that part of our soul. So what is stopping us from praying?

In my phonics class, we start every session with prayer. With us, gringos praying, that is. Our first prayers went something like this: "Gracias Dios por ese dia. Gracias por esa clase. Ayudanos para aprender mas espanol. Amen." It was difficult, because I felt I couldn't express the real desires and gratitude on my heart. I knew God understood; He knows our thoughts and requests even before we open our mouths. (which is very reassuring and somewhat alarming sometimes).
Even so, I found myself being even more careful in prayer, selective of what words I used and hoping they made sense.

Then, I led a study on prayer for the women's bible study at school, and through it, realized prayer is more about enjoying that fellowship with God and listening to Him. And intercession is a tremendous gift. Intercession is uniting with others in acknowledging we can enter into God's presence only through the blood of Jesus Christ, and God uses this time to conform our desires to His, to teach us oneness through pleading on behalf of the other.

Here are two long quotes that I love. May you be inspired as you pray:

"Why does God need our prayers? If He knows what is best for someone, why doesn't He just do it without involving us? That's the other dimension of the oneness Jesus prayed for. He came not only to make us one with God, but to call us into oneness with each other. The reconciliation He died and rose to provide, and returned to impart, is both vertical and horizontal; it is with God and between us and others. That's why intercessory prayer is so crucial. The Lord wants us to be to one another what He has been to us in love, forgiveness, and unlimited concern. The mystery of it all is that often He will not bless another until we pray. When we do pray, His love flows through us to the other person." --Lloyd John Ogilvie (pastor/author)

"WHAT IS PRAYER?

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire
Unuttered or expressed
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast

Prayer is the burden of a sigh
The falling of a tear
The upward gleaming of an eye
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high:

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
His watch-word at the gates of death,
He enters heaven by prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And say, Behold he prays!

The saints in prayer appear as one,
In word, in deed, in mind,
When with the Father and the Son
Their fellowship they find.

Nor prayer is made on earth alone:
The Holy Spirit pleads;
And Jesus, on th' eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.

'O Thou, by whom we come to God!
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer thyself hast trod,
Lord, teach us how to pray!'"

(James Montgomery, 1818, poet/hymn writer)

In Costa Rica

This post has been writing itself for quite sometime as I've reflected on the differences between Costa Rica and Honduras, and realizing that some of the things I said "only" happened in Honduras are actually a Latin America thing. Who knew?

In Honduras
Only In Honduras
Continuacion

Here are some stories/pictures from my three months in Costa Rica:

(Macaw at La Paz Waterfall Gardens)

Dry vs. Rainy Season
During my entire time here (Jan-April), it has been summer. Never raining, always sunny with a perfectly refreshing breeze. BUT. This week that has changed. They still tell me it is summer, but it has begun to rain. I was studying on our patio, when I heard the distant rumbling. What could that be? Another power outage? Then the skies opened, and it downpoured. It was the strangest rain though, for I saw it was raining in the front of the house but not in the backyard. Though, I was grateful for this quirk the next time, when I had to run out and grab clothes off the line.

(Leading a typical Costa Rican Ox Cart)

Another time when we heard heavy peals of thunder, my Tico dad told me that they have an expression here: "San Pedro esta corriendo los muebles." (Saint Peter is moving the furniture.)
I tried to explain that in the States we like to say "The angels are bowling." But somehow the Spanish didn't translate. haha.

(Standing by Catarata Magia Blanca at La Paz Waterfall Gardens)

El Agua Se Fue (The Water is Out.)
Last weekend, the water was out for three days. It was supposed to be one day, just for "cleaning" the water. Not sure how they do that, but it meant we literally only had drips of water. Or those of us who didn't know the water was out and tried to turn on the sink may have gotten sprayed with brown water and then been left with nothing.

(Butterflies! Brilliant blue on the inside, patterned brown on the outside)

My Tica family adjusted well, storing buckets of water in the shower and cleaner water by the sink. But not to drink. I never realized how many things we used water for, besides showering and laundry. Let's just say we had Chinese food for dinner and ate tons of fruit to make up for our lack of water.

Finally, feeling parched, especially after being part of the recycling brigade (see below), I decided to head to the local pulperia to see if they had any water bottles. The first one was a no. But the second one had just a few left..ice cold. I excitedly bought two and downed half of one before I got home. I didn't realize how I missed water. See earlier blog post about a similar experience in Honduras: Sin Agua.

Megan's Birthday Party
The AMCA leader calls me during the middle of dinner to tell me she wants to make a delivery of avocados. Avocados? Yes, one of your AMCA students gave them to you as a gift. New term: Drive by-avocado-ing.
So then, when the time comes to sing "happy birthday" to Megan, I realize we don't have a cake or candles. So I whip out the avocado, stick a toothpick in the center, and oila! avocado birthday cake. Later, we made up for it in buying her coffee.

(Left: Heredia with Chelsea and Traci during Semana Santa)

One Weekend, End of March:
*Friday:
-Amazing dinner at an missionary family's house with ILE friends
-Went to worship practice, which was canceled, but went to coffee instead with the church pastor and all the elders. We ended up sharing testimonies. So cool.
-There is a huge Day of Sports Festival in our neighborhood so I went with my Tico dad. We listened to old Spanish songs, a newer band (with flute, violin, and bagpipe), watched a Lucha Libre fight, and listened to a Christian song with dancing and people singing karaoke. Plus, there were volleyball nets set up all over the park for people to play and a little area quartered off to kick soccer balls around. Like no festival I had ever been to!

(Left: At a Lebanese Restaurant, the smallest cup of coffee I've ever seen, next to a sugar spoon)

*Saturday:
-My friends and I decided to ride one of the local buses (Periferica) the entire route just to see where it went. It was a good 2.5 hr ride, but we saw so much! A patient Tica even sat next to Traci and explained to us more about the area and named the sites we were seeing. We got off at Walmart to look for a church Traci wanted to find. Her directions: "Green roof. Large church. Over by Walmart." Okay..so we'll just walk until we see it then?
Well, we walked, stopped and asked a few people for directions, and sure enough, found it!! Then we decided, hey, why don't we walk the entire way back..Yeah! We all agreed, wanting to walk. But boy were we relieved when we saw Parque Bosque, a familiar sight! I slept really well that night.

Left: Heredia, Iglesia de Imaculada Concepcion
Middle: Heredia Fort
Right: Look what I found! This is an icecream store, believe it or not!













*Sunday. After church, around 2p, I met up with the church college/post college group and went around the entire neighborhood collecting recycling. We piled it into wheelbarrows and then dumped it in a big pick up truck to bring back to the church and sort.


This was four-fold awesome:
1. Great Spanish Practice! (nadie supe ingles)
2. Exciting to see Costa Ricans care about the environment.
We actually picked up trash along the way. Plus, this was an opportunity for ministry, as we offered our collection service for free.
3. Amazing to meet my neighbors or at least see their faces. I'm pretty sure I would have never met so many of them had I not gone on this venture.
4. An incredible chance to invite the neighbors to church and express Christ's love in a tangible way to them!
Making Empanadas
Tuesday night, my Tica mom taught me how to make empanadas, with cheese and beans inside. I may have gotten a little carried away in my excitement when I finally mastered the process. My Tica mom came over and pointed to the dough and explained in Spanish. "Um, we probably won't eat twelve." Whoops. I stopped assembling the empanadas and focused on the cooking part. They turned out great! Que rico!






Tican Clothing Stores

I went on errands with my Tica mom and sister on Tuesday. It was my first time in a real clothing store here, and it was fascinating. Basically, if you don't like the color of a shirt, you
have 7 other brilliant colors to choose from: bright pink, lime green, turquoise, school bus yellow, orange, purple or red (think Howard from BBT). Every color looks great with tan skin. Now, if I can only find my size. Yeah, their pants are my capris.

Semana Santa, April:
I ask several Ticos where to go to see the Semana Santa processions. Everyone says: Heredia. So my friends and I go there on Holy Thursday, and it turns out the only procession that day is at 10pm at night. We enjoy exploring the area anyway, even though almost all the shops are closed. But, when we arrive back in San Jose, it is deserted. Everyone has left for the beach. But we are just in time to see a procession that la policia tells us will start in 20 min. Tico time. Entonces, an hour later, we witness a short but interesting procession for the Procesión del Silencio, where they carry an angel (some unfortunate teenage boy) standing on a platform surrounded by
calla
lilies.


Preceded by rows of Roman soldiers, the angel speaks to Jesus. Heavy drums beat, as the people slowly march down the street. This is followed by more statues, incense, priests, nuns, and several people wearing purple sashes, which I found out later were all the parade staff.

It's hard to believe that I only have three weeks left in Costa Rica!
It's been a great adventure!

AMCA: Last Days

Read this first for background on the teaching English ministry: AMCA Day 1.
We had our last class on Wed, March 28th. It was very bittersweet. Bitter to say goodbye after these three months of weekly classes together, and sweet to reflect on how much our students have learned during that time and see them put it into practice. The second to last class was spent on how to ask for/give directions and doing an airport roleplay. The class began with Janae, our awesome and faithful volunteer, teaching the students the hokey pokey as a fun review of "right" and "left."

I taught the cardinal directions and helpful phrases to use when you're giving directions. I also had students roleplay with maps: 1 person being lost and the 2nd telling the person how to get to where they needed to go. They did a great job!

Edward led the second half of the class, focusing on airport vocabulary and practicing what to say at the check in desk.

Our students are dedicated, hard workers, and I know they will continue to learn English, well after we leave.

The greatest privilege for me in the whole AMCA experience has been getting to attend the Bible Study that happens every Wednesday, an hour before class starts. We've shared an amazing journey through the book of John; they have learned English words along the way, but more than that been given a clear view of who Jesus Christ is and why He came.

During the Bible Study, Chris Gault would ask if there were any new words in the passage. This experience deepened my faith and gave me an increased ability to communicate God's truth, as I tried to explain the meaning of words like "faith," "grace," "glorify" and "sanctify."

Mark, Edward, Polin, and I. Polin asked to take a picture with us to show how short she is! She is so sweet and gave both Edward and I avocados as a thank-you gift.

I will miss the AMCA crew (teachers and students)!

It has been a wonderful learning experience, full of mutual encouragement and abundant joy!
I pray that God continues to work in and through the lives of the students who attended
and who will attend next trimester!

Ephesians 3:16-18

Bocas del Toro

After a long journey on the bus, through the border crossing, in a tour van, and on a boat taxi, we were relieved to finally arrive in our destination: Isla Colon of the Bocas del Toro islands off the coast of Panama. Thursday night (3/22), we found our amazing bed/breakfast hotel and a place to eat dinner, and then crashed, exhausted from the day's travels.

Friday morning, we got up and took a taxi to Playa de Estrellas del Mar (Starfish Beach--which is exactly what it sounds like: bright colored starfish lay submersed, just off the shoreline.) The water was extremely clear, so you could see all sorts of sea animals living on the shallow sea floor.

Climbing onto these palm trees arched out over the water, I felt like I was stepping into a postcard or even a screensaver.

Then, Patrick decided it would be a good idea to use his machete to get coconuts out of the tree.

Patrick's advice: How to get coconuts off a tree

1) Find palm tree of reasonable height

2) Attach machete to long branch to make a coconut cutting device

3) Hack at a coconut until

a. it falls off

b. your machete gets lodged in the coconut

4) If a. then use the machete to whack off the top of the coconut and drink your well deserved coconut juice.

5) If b. then pick up nearby coconuts and chuck them into the tree to dislodge the machete. Stand clear. Once the machete falls to the ground, repeat process starting at step 1.

The amazing group of people I got to travel with!
(NESW: Patrick, Megan, Adam, Kate)

I was so excited to be so close to the starfish, I reached down to touch its center. But a Panamanian lady walked by just at that moment and yelled at me, "Solo para mirar." (Only for looking!) Just a bit further down the beach, I noticed many signs saying "Don't touch the starfish." Oops. Guess I'll let them be.

After many tireless efforts, Patrick and Adam were successful with their coconut (pipa) gathering. They figured out if they just chucked an old coconut with just enough force and at just the right angle, they could knock other coconuts out of the tree. We then used Patrick's machete to hack off the top of the coconut and drink the sweet, fresh coconut water.
I felt like I was on Survivor.

We also "borrowed" Patrick's machete for a few fun pictures.

This is my favorite: The Orndorff's..aka Central American Gothic

Molas! Reminds me of home.

Adam and Megan at our great hotel. Not only did the hotel have air conditioning, hot showers with strong water pressure, and a hammock, but it was Christian-owned and they served us delicious breakfasts with homemade jam in the mornings. What a retreat!

The last day we rented kayaks and kayaked across the bay to another island (no pictures, too wet). Now for me, who has never kayaked, let alone ocean kayaked, in my life, this was no easy task. But after about 40 minutes of agonizingly repetitive rowing, I was able to jubilantly yell, "Land ho!" and we slid our kayaks onto a gorgeous section of white sand.
It was our own private beach and to me personally, seemed even more like an undiscovered treasure, since we had done the grunt work to get there.

But the real story is this:
Patrick, Adam, Megan and I were out snorkeling in "our" little section of the Caribbean, marveling at the colorful coral and glittering fish darting out of our way. Adam was making fun of me for talking to the fish through my snorkel. (Which apparently sounds the same as when you're at the dentist and he asks you a question and you have to answer with your mouth propped open and an airtube inside. Ex: Ello ish! Eh ool! Translation: Hello fish! Hey cool!)

Suddenly, I heard Kate calling from the shore. I lifted my head out of the water to hear more clearly. Megan, Patrick, and Adam were already by her side. I half swam, half backward flipper-walked to the shore. "What happened?" I asked, curious beyond belief.

Kate explained, "I was watching our stuff and decided to walk to the other side of the kayaks. I only had my back turned for a minute, but one of the locals swept down out of the trees, grabbed Patrick's bag and disappeared back into the jungle."

"What?!" It was the craziest thing I had ever heard. Although, probably likely to happen; I mean a monkey did try to steal my sandwich once. Imagine the speed of an island native and we were on kind of a deserted beach.

Patrick and Adam had already thrown off their snorkel gear, and Patrick fastened his machete around his waist. "We're going to go find my bag."

Again, this seemed to me to be something out of a drama series. It was either going to be Lost, where their adventure would end poorly, or it would be Gilligan's Island, where the local would return with the bag, having had a cultural misunderstanding, and everyone could laugh afterwards. Hopefully. Megan, Kate, and I stood on the beach scanning the trees for any signs of the guys' return and praying hard.

About half an hour later, Patrick and Adam returned, the determination in their faces was gone and no backpack was to be seen. We were just thrilled they were alive..muddier, but alive. They informed us that they had found the tribe/area where the locals were living and spoke with them about the bag. "Lo siento." responded the tribe members after hearing Patrick's story. They claimed to have never seen the bag. Patrick and Adam continued to search the area, but to no avail. Fortunately, all the items in the bag were not of great value (cheap camera, $40, chapstick), only the bag itself had been Patrick's favorite. Really, though, we gave thanks to God for protecting us and hoped that somehow God used what was in the bag to provide what the local needed.

After we had kayaked back (much easier this time!) and relayed the account of the stolen bag to the snorkel/kayak owner, he gave us a huge discount on our bill. What a gift!

Isla Colon is one large party town, so we spent the rest of the time exploring the area, resting at our hostel, and popping into different restaurants to hear the live bands. Some of the time we pretended that we only spoke Spanish, in order to distinguish ourselves from the obnoxious tourist groups, and the last night, we sought out authentic Panamanian food. It was a wonderful respite with great friends, and we came back with some unforgettable stories.

Adios Panama! See you again in May!