Day 9: Travel (a.k.a. more bragging on my city folks) - March 15
"Sam, today is Monday, you can't trick us into thinking you posted this on Sunday night just by putting Sunday's date on it."
Darn, you caught me. Sorry friends, I got overwhelmed yesterday and didn't do anything productive once I got home.
Did I tell you that I got a little stuffed turtle when we went to get souvenirs? I did. I love him. His name is Paul. I am gifting him to my niece.
Weird start to a post.
Ok, yesterday we traveled all day! We left the hotel at 3AM (so I slept like 45 minutes, I'm pretty sure some people didn't at all), said bye to the Lagos', and headed to the airport. We got through security no problem, and I slept through the whole first flight, not gonna lie. I had planned to wake up when they came by with breakfast, but I couldn't stay awake, alas.
Our layover in El Salvador was pretty short. They made us go through security again, which was unexpected. They were not super patient and I definitely felt frustrated, but that was mostly sleepiness. I stayed awake for some of the next flight, but not a lot. Maria kindly woke me up when food came around that time.
We landed in Houston and got through customs really quickly. Like, really quickly. I should have taken a picture, I've never seen it so empty. Yikes. We got our bags and decided to stop for lunch at a Whataburger on our drive back. That first sip of Dr. Pepper though. Dang. Ha, actually, it was kind of underwhelming, but don't tell anyone I said that, ok?
While we were there, a really sad and strange thing happened. I was munching on my fries and a guy came over to our table and got my attention. He was probably late 40's, country-looking guy. He asked me if I could help him and his friend with their truck; they didn't have enough money to get gas to make it home and needed someone to come buy a gallon or two for them. And my heart reacted really poorly and suspiciously. Like, in my heart of hearts, I just really wanted him to leave me alone. After a full week of feeling great loving people n hard circumstances. I went over and helped him and everything, but wow, I was humbled and upset by my heart in that moment. I think God used that in me to remind me that the type of love we give and ministry we do is not compartmentalized. It doesn't stop when you get home. And I know that and even told that to the team, but wow, my heart reveals the truth.
So, we got everyone home and took another group picture to match our first one. I'll post them both when I get access to it. We prayed and headed home and suddenly life became shockingly normal. Well, sort of. The whole Covid thing has normal a little bit of a fluid concept right now, but pura vida, our team is better trained to roll with it than they were before Costa Rica, I hope.
So, here's my final bragging on the city folks I got to work with this week:
Evan - Evan worked so hard this week. He stepped way outside his comfort zone, engaged deeply with people, rolled with all of the changes, and jumped in immediately and willingly to any and every task we did this week. His "I'll do anything you need" attitude and sense of calm and playfulness were a huge blessing to the team and helped keep us grounded and relaxed in what could have been stressful circumstances (such a HG leader).
Hector - If you read last year's posts, you'll know that Hector is a hoss. This year was no different. He pulled way more than his share of the work in translating, guiding social interaction (as a total introvert), ministering deeply to each person we encountered, and looking out for our team in ways that I really needed help with. In all our interactions with people, Hector stepped up and ministered at what was just a different level (though I suspect, still not his final form).
James - James confirmed every single thing I'd ever hoped would be true about pulling in the 10:01 people to own this side of the trip. His experience, wisdom, ministry skill, creative problem solving, work-ethic, people skills, and just general awesomeness as a human being took our team to a whole new level that I didn't even know was possible. His work in hands-on projects was a huge blessing to the church.
Kendall - This was Kendall's first mission trip, but I had to ask to confirm that was true, because she handled it with so much grace and went so hard! She did an amazing job ministering to everyone we encountered and showing so much love and great work ethic in everything we did. When we worked with kids, she connected with them so well and they LOVED her.
Rachel - Rachel was the youngest on our team, but she brought a great amount of experience and skill that made our team so much better in the hands-on serving days. She also let herself be stretched outside her comfort zone in all the ministry work we did and had a crazy work-ethic that even had me telling her to slow down a couple of times. She took risks and made sacrifices and God used her powerfully.
Sheryl - Sheryl's Spanish proficiency and willingness to roll with absolutely any circumstance are overshadowed only by her desire to love people. She was always in ministry mode, always engaging with nationals or checking in on team members, always ready to work. She also brings a sense of fun to the work we do that just makes everything better. People love to laugh and make people laugh and Sheryl is really good at laughing with people. It ministers so deeply in hard situations!
You! - So many times things shouldn't have worked out. So many times the fluidity and changing plans should have thrown us off. So many time the spiritual warfare should have derailed us. But it didn't, because God was at work in crazy ways this week. That means people were praying for us. Your prayers made a huge difference, and still can! Keep praying for the people of this little chuch in Costa Rica.
To the members of the team (the whole team) who read this, I am so proud of each of you and love you deeply. Thank you for working so hard this week! God will take what we offered and multiply it beyond what we can imagine.
Darn, you caught me. Sorry friends, I got overwhelmed yesterday and didn't do anything productive once I got home.
Did I tell you that I got a little stuffed turtle when we went to get souvenirs? I did. I love him. His name is Paul. I am gifting him to my niece.
Ok, yesterday we traveled all day! We left the hotel at 3AM (so I slept like 45 minutes, I'm pretty sure some people didn't at all), said bye to the Lagos', and headed to the airport. We got through security no problem, and I slept through the whole first flight, not gonna lie. I had planned to wake up when they came by with breakfast, but I couldn't stay awake, alas.
Our layover in El Salvador was pretty short. They made us go through security again, which was unexpected. They were not super patient and I definitely felt frustrated, but that was mostly sleepiness. I stayed awake for some of the next flight, but not a lot. Maria kindly woke me up when food came around that time.
We landed in Houston and got through customs really quickly. Like, really quickly. I should have taken a picture, I've never seen it so empty. Yikes. We got our bags and decided to stop for lunch at a Whataburger on our drive back. That first sip of Dr. Pepper though. Dang. Ha, actually, it was kind of underwhelming, but don't tell anyone I said that, ok?
While we were there, a really sad and strange thing happened. I was munching on my fries and a guy came over to our table and got my attention. He was probably late 40's, country-looking guy. He asked me if I could help him and his friend with their truck; they didn't have enough money to get gas to make it home and needed someone to come buy a gallon or two for them. And my heart reacted really poorly and suspiciously. Like, in my heart of hearts, I just really wanted him to leave me alone. After a full week of feeling great loving people n hard circumstances. I went over and helped him and everything, but wow, I was humbled and upset by my heart in that moment. I think God used that in me to remind me that the type of love we give and ministry we do is not compartmentalized. It doesn't stop when you get home. And I know that and even told that to the team, but wow, my heart reveals the truth.
So, we got everyone home and took another group picture to match our first one. I'll post them both when I get access to it. We prayed and headed home and suddenly life became shockingly normal. Well, sort of. The whole Covid thing has normal a little bit of a fluid concept right now, but pura vida, our team is better trained to roll with it than they were before Costa Rica, I hope.
So, here's my final bragging on the city folks I got to work with this week:
Evan - Evan worked so hard this week. He stepped way outside his comfort zone, engaged deeply with people, rolled with all of the changes, and jumped in immediately and willingly to any and every task we did this week. His "I'll do anything you need" attitude and sense of calm and playfulness were a huge blessing to the team and helped keep us grounded and relaxed in what could have been stressful circumstances (such a HG leader).
Hector - If you read last year's posts, you'll know that Hector is a hoss. This year was no different. He pulled way more than his share of the work in translating, guiding social interaction (as a total introvert), ministering deeply to each person we encountered, and looking out for our team in ways that I really needed help with. In all our interactions with people, Hector stepped up and ministered at what was just a different level (though I suspect, still not his final form).
James - James confirmed every single thing I'd ever hoped would be true about pulling in the 10:01 people to own this side of the trip. His experience, wisdom, ministry skill, creative problem solving, work-ethic, people skills, and just general awesomeness as a human being took our team to a whole new level that I didn't even know was possible. His work in hands-on projects was a huge blessing to the church.
Kendall - This was Kendall's first mission trip, but I had to ask to confirm that was true, because she handled it with so much grace and went so hard! She did an amazing job ministering to everyone we encountered and showing so much love and great work ethic in everything we did. When we worked with kids, she connected with them so well and they LOVED her.
Rachel - Rachel was the youngest on our team, but she brought a great amount of experience and skill that made our team so much better in the hands-on serving days. She also let herself be stretched outside her comfort zone in all the ministry work we did and had a crazy work-ethic that even had me telling her to slow down a couple of times. She took risks and made sacrifices and God used her powerfully.
Sheryl - Sheryl's Spanish proficiency and willingness to roll with absolutely any circumstance are overshadowed only by her desire to love people. She was always in ministry mode, always engaging with nationals or checking in on team members, always ready to work. She also brings a sense of fun to the work we do that just makes everything better. People love to laugh and make people laugh and Sheryl is really good at laughing with people. It ministers so deeply in hard situations!
You! - So many times things shouldn't have worked out. So many times the fluidity and changing plans should have thrown us off. So many time the spiritual warfare should have derailed us. But it didn't, because God was at work in crazy ways this week. That means people were praying for us. Your prayers made a huge difference, and still can! Keep praying for the people of this little chuch in Costa Rica.
To the members of the team (the whole team) who read this, I am so proud of each of you and love you deeply. Thank you for working so hard this week! God will take what we offered and multiply it beyond what we can imagine.
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