Hola amigos y familia!
Today was an exhilarating and exhausting day. We walked through pouring rain, invited kids to our VBS, and experienced natural hot springs from a volcano. Through it all, “humility” is a key word that has stuck out to us while we have been serving the people here.
We started the day by driving to near by houses to pass out invitations for the VBS we will be putting on. We divided into a few different teams with each team equipt with invitations, lollipops, and one of our amazing translators. We walked from house to house inviting kids and trying to connect with the people that live here. After our debrief tonight, all of us shared stories of the humility of the Costa Rican’s that live here. When it started pouring down rain, a guy from the church here literally took off his shirt for someone on our team, another woman who lives here gave us umbrellas, and still others offered us their homes for us to rest and dry off in. Something as simple as a tiny lollipop made the kids faces glow. And just us trying to speak whatever little Spanish we know, meant so much to them. Personally, I felt convicted. They live in such simple homes, and have so little. Yet they are so grateful for it all. For me, I know that I all too often get caught up at home with what I want, and what I wish I had. I easily complain about “needing” this or “having to have” that. But I was reminded today about what gratefulness looks like and how I can better exhibit it. A personal highlight for me, was being able to pass out invitations and have two local woman join us. They saw what we were doing, and came to help us translate to the neighbors. They knew hardly any English, yet worked to understand what message we were trying to tell the families. When it started to rain really hard, we found shelter under this saw mill and were able to just sit , share snacks, and talk. I love connecting with the people here. And despite the language barrier, there are some things that I have found to be a universal language. Like acts of selfless love, smiles of pure joy, and welcoming gestures. I aspire to be as open and selfless as the people here have been towards me.
After we finished passing out invitations, we went to some of the natural hot springs that come from the volcano here. The hot spring we visited is a place where a lot of locals go with their families, sorta like a water park in the states(but let’s be real, way cooler). It was an enjoyable time, where we were able to connect with our fellow team members and unwind from the day. We had dinner in town at this amazingly delicious pizza place. As if all the great food they have been cooking for me wasn’t delicious enough, I got to finish my day with some hot pizza (which felt great sense we were all soaked from the almost continuous rain we have been getting down here). A personal highlight for me, was getting to sit with Alondra and shop with her in the town. Alondra is 8 and lives here in Costa Rica. She is an amazing part of our team, because she is fluent in Spanish and English and gladly helps me and everyone else communicate down here. She absolutely makes me so happy with her smile and energy…she keeps me active and is the sweetest little girl ever.
I know we all miss you guys back home. And personally, I miss my friends and family so much (so shout out to you guys) Thank you guys for praying for us. I know I need the prayer, and I am sure the rest of my team appreciates the support too. You guys are helping in an instrumental way on this trip. Your prayer is powerful and necessary so I can not thank you enough for taking the time to pray for us. Today’s specific prayer requests would be (1) that we can be bold to connect with the kids despite maybe our natural response to be shy or the struggle of the language barrier (2) that we can work well as a team, and keep the unity and honesty amongst us, and (3) that we can stay healthy and that our main translator Angelica (who we couldn’t do this trip without) can recover from her cold soon and be feeling her best for the week. We love you all and I hope you guys are doing well.
Blessings to all of you,
Calli West and all of us down here