Day 5: Well, That Was a Long Day (be warned: lots of tangents here)
Today sure did start at 5:30 AM.
So, real church community, so far as I understand it, comes down to Doing Life Together. That means playing and celebrating together, praying and worshiping together, mourning and hurting together, and working together...all focused on and for the sake of God's glory. If you don't have people in your life to do that with, go find them. And if you have those people, but are missing pieces, take steps to do those things together. It's worth it.
"Coooool Sam, what's that got to do with getting up at 5:30 AM?" Yisssss, good question. Today, I feel like we got to see and be part of the church here doing life together. This morning, we went to Duke's to help unload trucks full of a bunch of heavy stuff. Then we moved bags of dirt* around and put plants into the dirt that we put into the places that we took the dirt out of. That lasted until like 11:30 AM (with a break in the middle for breakfast). So, we moved boxes and oved dirt and moved plants, but it was beautiful y'all. Because we got to watch (and be part of) a church being a church. People came and worked so hard and we got to see them joke around and just...be... together. There's a different vibe when you're with a group of people that loves each other with the love of God.
We washed off (some of) the dirt and hopped onto the bus to the CDI. We got there around noon (i think), so we had just a little bit of time to get ready for the kids to arrive. Izzy, however, had already made a lesson plan for us - both in her head and as a note on her phone. What a baller. Dang. So, we got ready and ate a quick lunch and then the kids showed up. And, oof, did they show up! We had at least twice as many kids today as we have before. Sadly, I didn't get all of their names today.
We played a little bit, and then we danced together to some Disney songs to practice rhythm (and to have fun, obvi). That devolved into just singing Disney songs in Spanish, then we switched into our English lesson. We talked about animals today. Some of the names are very similar, but some are super different (murcielago = bat, sloth = oso perezoso). We had the kids do charades with the English names where they acted out the animals and had to guess them in English (how DO you charade a panda?), which was really funny, because some of the kids just said the name of the animal in Spanish instead of acting it out. We played some games and did tutoring/homework time, which was made more difficult by the fact that many of the kids didn't bring their homework. At Lagos' suggestion, we practiced some basic skills with them, in accordance to their age group. I spent time practicing English with Justin, who was too old for the reading practice the littler kids were doing. I really like this kid, but I have a hard time getting traction with him because my understanding of Spanish is so limited.
It makes me really sad to be just on the outside, unable to make the kind of difference I want. However, that's the rub with short-term trips; they CANNOT be about us being the ones who are the primary ones ministering. We need to connect these kids to real people who can really be there for them, so I'm not just another man who is inconsistent in their lives.
After the CDI, we rode back to the hotel and had a couple hours to just chill before dinner, so we walked to a nearby store to grab a bunch of snacks. It was a fun adventure for us as a team :) I really like our vibe as a team. It feels like we're hitting a rhythm, but that's the rub with short-term trips; just about the time you get effective in ministry, it's time to go home. That's why we're so passionate about having good trainings and frequent prayer together as a team before we go; it shortens the learning curve. Wow, I'm preachy today. must be the caffeine I found at the store.
We found out that Lagos had taken the two hours of break to go home and cook dinner for us. Because that's the kind of man he is. Y'all, Carlos is such a good leader. And he and Ana (who isn't here yet) are such a good team. In this exact moment, I'm a little bit at risk of just never coming back. But I will. Anyway, there was a technical difficulty, so we'll have to eat that dinner tomorrow. Instead, Lagos brought us some awesome tacos from a place that he's told me the name of twice, but I don't remember...otherwise I'd recommend it to you if you're ever in Costa Rica. We had a really good time eating together and just talking.
After dinner, H@ngout had a movie night. But, again, everything is COVID-closed right now, so they had it via NetflixParty. We got to observe and be part of these students just joking and spending time together digitally. Again, the church being the church. Life finding a way (thanks Jeff Goldblum), even though they can't all be together physically. The movie was really interesting; a French film called "The African Doctor." We thoroughly enjoyed it. Our team did get to watch together, which is why we went to get snacks in the first place. Did I mention I really like our team?
Now I'm here. It's dark, except for my laptop (sorry, roommates). It's quiet, except for inside my headphones (you're welcome, roommates). We have two days left with our whole team, so tomorrow we'll do stuff and things. CDI, COVID tests, church service (via Zoom).
Please, please pray:
- for the kids at the CDI, that their lives would be the ones that change their community.
- for the adults in this church, that God would be their strength as they work and work (and do life) together
- for the nation of Costa Rica, that it would recover well (and soon) from the effects of COVID on the economy and culture
- for our team (week) to be able to wrap up the week well and process well with God afterwards
- for our team (month) to prepare well to transition into our new rhythms
Just a couple of pictures:
*TIL there's good dirt and bad dirt. I've never really tried very hard to keep plants alive, but that seems like important information.
Comments
Post a Comment
Hola