We just got home from a week of “camp” in a town southeast of San Jose called Turrialba. It’s the perfect town! It’s quiet and in the mountains, but still has a lot of things to do. We helped out at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Turrialba with their VBS and youth group all week and lived with Costa Ricans in their homes.
The church was AMAZING. Everyone there was beyond hospitable and helpful all week. They were SO nice, I can’t even explain it! The leadership in the church was so solid and involved! The adults especially, but even among the high school and college students. They all played such a big part in pulling off the VBS and I couldn’t be more thankful to have spent the week getting to know them.
Each weekday, we got to the church at 8 (which means around 8:20 in tico time) for breakfast. We had gallo pinto, pancakes, fruit, eggs, and more depending on the day! And they don’t do small breakfasts- it was a heaping pile of food each day for every meal (luckily we had hungry boys who were always willing to help). We didn’t have much to do in the mornings, so we helped the church members prepare some things, prayed as a group, did devotionals, read, slept, and talked. We did that until lunch at noon, filled our stomachs to the top (then gave the other 90% of the food on the plate to the guys again- not kidding, it was SO MUCH food). Then at 1:30, kids started coming in for VBS at 2!
In our free time in the mornings, we hung out at the church, but we also went to the park a few times!
On Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, I helped out in a class of 10-12 year-olds (except we had three 13-year-olds and two 14-year-olds). And get this. There were 17 boys and 4 girls. And man, they were rambunctious. All but 6 of them lived in a neighborhood called Noche Buena, which from what I’ve heard is similar to La Carpio where we work on Thursdays. They loved talking, but they didn’t feel quite the same way about paying attention. And causing trouble? Their specialty. I was pretty discouraged to see them acting like that, and sadly it didn’t stop all week. They did, however, improve on their willingness to dance. They didn’t move on the first day while we sang and danced in the crowd, but once they heard the threat to make them sing and dance on stage, they started busting out all the dance moves they had from the pews. The only time they were calm was when they did their word-searches (they’re called “sopa de letras” in Spanish, which means “letter soup”. I just think that’s funny). Even though I didn’t see any improvement, I can’t see into the hearts of those little guys. Maybe something they heard this week will stick with them so that they can take it back to Noche Buena. Please be praying for their well-being in their homes. I don’t know any details about any of them, but I could see enough that they don’t haven’t grown up in homes with a solid Godly foundation.
This is my friend Vero. She was hilarious and so patient when I didn't understand her Spanish! She and I were in a constant tickle war for the week... She didn't really tickle anyone, though. It was more poking my sides.
On Wednesday and Thursday we went out into the community. Wednesday we went out to the UCR campus and played basketball. “Played” might be a stretch… I played one game, shot 5 times (and missed every time), then watched the rest of the games. The university students we played with were hilarious and had no idea how to play basketball, so at least we were on the same page. On Thursday we went to an albergue (like an orphanage, but the kids are there because they were taken from their homes). We all partnered up as soon as we got there to make balloon animals. I was with a girl named Leticia who was really quiet, but so nice. We had no idea what to make, and we decided leaving them straight and calling them snakes wasn’t good enough, so we tied them together to make a heart last minute. Then we went inside and had snacks and drinks, then sang some songs. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would! Hopefully whenever we go back to visit, we can go there and see everyone again! The afternoons out in Turrialba were short, but I really liked getting to see other places!
I stayed with a young couple whose names were Lynn and Manfred. They lived close to the church in a cute little apartment. Lynn’s brother Luis Daniel is staying with them while their mom is in the US and he very generously let me sleep in his room for the week (gracias, Luis!). Since we were at church all day, we didn’t spend much time in the apartment, but I got to practice quite a bit of Spanish! Manfred taught me TONS of “costaricenseismos” (CostaRicanisms) that I could use. Fun fact: they also say “it’s raining cats and dogs”. I can also call people sassy and a few other random things that I probably won’t end up using, but oh well. It’s fun to know!
About half of the GAP students went to the VBS, and after that week, I feel like we bonded more than we would have in a week at the Villa. It was just a really fun week of hanging out and getting to know each other more. We also learned new kids songs and dances (and that’s always something to bond over). There will be a video on Facebook soon with all the funny video clips I got while we were there!
Prayer Requests:
-Noche Buena kids. There were about 50 of them. They live in some crazy home situations.
-One of the girls in my group, Vilma. I don’t know her story, but there were always three girls around her. One on either side and one either in front or behind of her. And it wasn’t like a middle-school girl clique where some girl was escorted by her posse, though. They looked like they were guarding her. She was really quiet and sweet, but something was wrong with how the other girls stood around her.
-Tomás. We went to Cosechas one day and while we waited outside, we talked to a very drunk man named Tomás for about half an hour. He spoke English and we tried asking him where he learned, but he was too far gone to give an answer that made any sense. One of my friends tried to ask him about what his beliefs in God were and told him that he doesn’t have to suffer or cope like this, but still he gave no answer. At the end of the conversation, he said he would stop drinking, but the chances of that are slim. Just pray that God brings someone to share Jesus with him when he’s sober so he can be fully present in the conversation.
-Focus. Now that we’ve left Turrialba, it’s easy to wish we could go back. It was fun, relaxing, and we felt like we learned a lot. Coming back to the Villa is nice, but there was something so peaceful about a small group in a quieter town. Also, it’s easy to be distracted by what’s going on at home with my family and friends. I want to enjoy these next few months completely!
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