This last Saturday, as usual, I went with the group that has been ministering to the children that live in Los Guido. Also as usual, there were about 40 children there. We played some games with the kids and after our Tico friend Jairo finished the Bible lesson for the day, he asked who had gone to the children's camp that week that our church here hosted. Most of the children raised their hands and some of them even stood up. He then asked if there were two or three that would be willing to share what they liked most about the week at camp. (Now please keep in mind that most of these children have probably never set foot in a church.) Well, after Jairo asked this question, every child that went to camp jumped up and wanted to share. It was exhilarating to see the excitement they all had from being at camp. Since Jairo was overwhelmed with such a response, he allowed them all to stand up and share. Just about every child said their favorite part of camp was either "aprender a Dios" or "aprender a la Palabra de Dios", which is learning about God or learning about the Word of God. Seeing the hunger that these children had for the things of God moved me greatly and made me thank the Lord for allowing us to be here working for Him. May we continually be filled with that same joy and excitement for God and His Word!
Chris
Monday, January 18, 2010
Saturday, November 28, 2009
A Mexican Thanksgiving in Costa Rica!
Twenty-two people crowded into our home for a Thanksgiving “lupper”, at 3:00 p.m. Almost nothing was familiar…almost.
Turkeys are rare and expensive here, so right off the bat we decided not to have turkey. We just asked each family or person coming to simply bring their favorite dish. We figured it would be a mismatched dinner but our focus wasn’t really on the food. I stayed up late Wednesday night putting together a few of my family’s favorite dishes and planned to do the rest on Thursday. My plan was to cook everything after school. (Yes we had school! Thanksgiving is not a holiday here.) Approximately 2 ½ hours before our house was bustling with 22 people, I put my cake in the oven. I wanted to get that done first and still have time to cook my other dishes. When I checked on my cake I realized it hadn’t cooked all the way through. As I was checking my oven setting, I realized the flame had gone out on my large pot of beans on the stove. As it turned out, we were out of gas! Nothing I had prepared was finished and I was concerned about having enough food for everyone. After all, I had only requested that our friends just bring one dish per family. This was not good! Chris hiked down to the market to by a new canister, found one, carried it back home on his shoulders, attempted to hook it up and realized it had a different sized connector. By this time, we only had about an hour before people arrived. Frantically I begin calling a few other students to see if their ovens were available. I did find a couple of available ovens, but could only cook about half of what I prepared. I began scrounging around my kitchen for things that I could cook without the oven or stovetop. I only had rice for the rice cooker and a few avocados. I made some rice and some guacamole, both of which were strange offerings, in my mind, for a Thanksgiving feast. I was fairly upset but kept repeating to myself that “it pleases the Lord for this to have happened”, and “the Lord is sovereign over ALL things”. I shed a few quick tears of frustration, put on a smile and asked the Lord to increase the food so that we’d have enough for everyone.
As our friends started to arrive the smile quickly changed from one of those “things are going horrible but I need to put on a fake smile for my guests and be hospitable” kind of smile, to a REAL smile! Everyone brought three times as much food as I had planned for and to top it off, a lot of the favorite dishes they chose to bring were Mexican!! The fellowship that night was so sweet. We decided to take turns thanking God for the “quirky” things that mean so much to us. I was able to share about how thankful I am for a God who is sovereign over ALL things! Even gas stoves!
I mentioned that “almost” nothing was familiar about our Thanksgiving, but some things never change when you are a child of God... His loving care over you and the sweet fellowship available to us with our brothers and sisters in Christ! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Turkeys are rare and expensive here, so right off the bat we decided not to have turkey. We just asked each family or person coming to simply bring their favorite dish. We figured it would be a mismatched dinner but our focus wasn’t really on the food. I stayed up late Wednesday night putting together a few of my family’s favorite dishes and planned to do the rest on Thursday. My plan was to cook everything after school. (Yes we had school! Thanksgiving is not a holiday here.) Approximately 2 ½ hours before our house was bustling with 22 people, I put my cake in the oven. I wanted to get that done first and still have time to cook my other dishes. When I checked on my cake I realized it hadn’t cooked all the way through. As I was checking my oven setting, I realized the flame had gone out on my large pot of beans on the stove. As it turned out, we were out of gas! Nothing I had prepared was finished and I was concerned about having enough food for everyone. After all, I had only requested that our friends just bring one dish per family. This was not good! Chris hiked down to the market to by a new canister, found one, carried it back home on his shoulders, attempted to hook it up and realized it had a different sized connector. By this time, we only had about an hour before people arrived. Frantically I begin calling a few other students to see if their ovens were available. I did find a couple of available ovens, but could only cook about half of what I prepared. I began scrounging around my kitchen for things that I could cook without the oven or stovetop. I only had rice for the rice cooker and a few avocados. I made some rice and some guacamole, both of which were strange offerings, in my mind, for a Thanksgiving feast. I was fairly upset but kept repeating to myself that “it pleases the Lord for this to have happened”, and “the Lord is sovereign over ALL things”. I shed a few quick tears of frustration, put on a smile and asked the Lord to increase the food so that we’d have enough for everyone.
As our friends started to arrive the smile quickly changed from one of those “things are going horrible but I need to put on a fake smile for my guests and be hospitable” kind of smile, to a REAL smile! Everyone brought three times as much food as I had planned for and to top it off, a lot of the favorite dishes they chose to bring were Mexican!! The fellowship that night was so sweet. We decided to take turns thanking God for the “quirky” things that mean so much to us. I was able to share about how thankful I am for a God who is sovereign over ALL things! Even gas stoves!
I mentioned that “almost” nothing was familiar about our Thanksgiving, but some things never change when you are a child of God... His loving care over you and the sweet fellowship available to us with our brothers and sisters in Christ! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Praying for Ice Cream...
Yesterday Katey went to a friend’s house for dinner. It was nearly 7:00 pm when Chris headed out to walk over and pick her up. It was well after dark and just before they left, we realized we were out of water. That meant that while Chris was out he would need to walk to the nearest store and heft a 5 gallon jug home on his shoulder. Jeffrey had completed his homework and wanted to go with his dad and see if he could be of any help. That meant that Wesley and I were home alone. We were both sitting on my bed reading and studying when Wesley said, “you know what sounds so good?” I looked up and saw a longing look on his face. “Ice cream” he said as if he were savoring fond memories of it. Ice cream had been a daily treat after dinner for our family when we were in the United States. However, here ice cream cost about $7.00 per gallon and is a real rarity for us. We both giggled at the thought of how much we missed it and were craving it. Wesley’s eyes flickered “Shall we pray for it?” I wasn’t sure what to say at first, knowing our budget, Chris’ frugality and the fact that nobody really “needs” ice cream. However, after some thought and a quick prayer my response came. “Why not? As long as we both agree that God may say no and that its okay with us whatever His answer is.” He agreed, so we prayed right there on my bed that God would move Chris to see and buy ice cream while he was at the store. About 30 minutes later we heard Chris, Jeffrey and Katey at the gate. Chris had the jug of water up on his shoulders and Jeffrey was carrying a bag. “Did you guys get anything good?” Wesley asked, hopefully. A big smile came across Jeffrey’s face and he said “Yep!” With excitement, Wesley pressed him, “Ice cream?” “Yep!”
When Wesley shot a knowing look at me with his face as bright as Christmas we both laughed out loud. Not because it was funny, but because we were happy. It was a wonderful night of ice cream, and thanksgiving!
All of my life I have just had ice cream pretty much when and where I wanted it. Thank You Lord for bringing me and my children to a place that we would need to, and think to ask You, for ice cream! I love You!Monday, October 5, 2009
The Pool...
Yesterday, we went with another missionary family to a local public pool. It is outside and the water is very cold. However, the kids all enjoyed swimming for a little while. During our time there, Laura and I were approached by some children asking for some food. As we began talking with them, we found out that all eight of them were orphans that slept at a local church each night and received one free meal from the church each evening. Otherwise, they were on their own. The children ranged in age from 13 to 16. While we were there, I also began talking with another man, named William, who appears to know our Lord. We decided to go and purchase a bit of food for these boys and William offered to go with me, since I didn't know the neighborhood. We went across the street to a bakery and I asked him what he thought we should get. He suggested a couple of loaves of french bread, which were only about $0.80 each. We also picked up a couple of loaves of a cream cheese bread that I thought may be a little tastier for the kids. We then returned to the pool and the kids were climbing over each other to get some of the bread. William helped me settle them all down and had them sit while I divided up the two types of bread between the children. I couldn't believe how happy these boys were to get a piece of dry french bread. It truly shows how desperately hungry some people are.
In talking with William, I found out that he is learning to be some type of an electrician or electrical systems technician. Since he is still in training, I am sure he doesn't make much money in order to support himself and his family. I ended up giving him a leftover portion of the sweet cheese bread, since it would have been too dificult to divide between eight children. While he was very gracious and polite, the way he ate it gave me the impression he had been hungery as well, but yet, he had not even hinted in any way to me that he would like something for himself. Then, two of the smaller boys came to him and asked for more and he gave them all that he had left. It truly touched my heart to see someone give out of their poverty.
It makes me wonder if I am broken enough before God to give out of what the Lord has blessed me with, to the same degree William gave of his meager portion of bread...
In talking with William, I found out that he is learning to be some type of an electrician or electrical systems technician. Since he is still in training, I am sure he doesn't make much money in order to support himself and his family. I ended up giving him a leftover portion of the sweet cheese bread, since it would have been too dificult to divide between eight children. While he was very gracious and polite, the way he ate it gave me the impression he had been hungery as well, but yet, he had not even hinted in any way to me that he would like something for himself. Then, two of the smaller boys came to him and asked for more and he gave them all that he had left. It truly touched my heart to see someone give out of their poverty.
It makes me wonder if I am broken enough before God to give out of what the Lord has blessed me with, to the same degree William gave of his meager portion of bread...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Neighborhood Pictures 1
A couple of people have asked for pictures of our neighborhood. Here are two.
One is a view of our street. The other is the park that is about a hundred yards from our house.
The back gate of our school is quite close to our house also, however it is only accessible certain times of the day. At other times, we walk 6-7 blocks to the front gate. Both gates have guards and like our house, there is razor wire around the perimeter of the school. More pictures later....
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A few interesting facts about life in Costa Rica...
1. One never puts toilet paper in the toilets here. The pipes and systems are not able to handle it. So... you will always find a small garbage can beside every toilet for paper deposits. This takes some getting used to!
2. Cheddar cheese (once a staple in the Johnson home) costs about $8.00 a pound. Ouch!
3. Black beans and rice everyday, twice a day isnt' that hard to get used to. Bean tacos aren't so bad either!
4. There is an icecream man in our neighborhood who pushes his hand cart up and down the hilly streets. It's a tough job and he takes it very seriously. One time while at a park near our house we saw him walk right into an ongoing "ultimate frisbee" game just to see if anyone on the field might want to buy something.
5. We have recieved information on earthquake preparedness. Apparently they are a very common occurance. We have been told there have been many trimmers since we have been here, but they have gone unnoticed by us. Nevertheless, we are working on readiness. We still need to stock up on nonperishable food and water.
2. Cheddar cheese (once a staple in the Johnson home) costs about $8.00 a pound. Ouch!
3. Black beans and rice everyday, twice a day isnt' that hard to get used to. Bean tacos aren't so bad either!
4. There is an icecream man in our neighborhood who pushes his hand cart up and down the hilly streets. It's a tough job and he takes it very seriously. One time while at a park near our house we saw him walk right into an ongoing "ultimate frisbee" game just to see if anyone on the field might want to buy something.
5. We have recieved information on earthquake preparedness. Apparently they are a very common occurance. We have been told there have been many trimmers since we have been here, but they have gone unnoticed by us. Nevertheless, we are working on readiness. We still need to stock up on nonperishable food and water.
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