(the photos above from top to bottom are 1. Our friends from Guatuso that invited us to a birthday party for their 18 year old sister, Gabi 2. Brett at the party getting pinched by a baby 3. Brooke with Katherine, Nicole and Kattiana. We celebrated Katherine´s birthday at the zoo. She is one of the students we tutor.)
July was a busy month with 3 straight weeks of teams from the states. The teams represented Wetumpka, AL; Richmond Hill, GA; Metter, GA; and Midland, TX. Three of the groups worked on construction projects which included the new cabin at the camp, Pedro´s house across the street from the camp, and the parsonage/education bldg at the church in Santa Rosa. They also led Vacation Bible Schools in El Mirador and Santa Rosa. The team from Texas had a dual dentist/vision clinic near El Mirador.
In addition to helping translate for the teams, we have continued to tutor and teach English. We thought we picked up another student last week, a girl named Fabiana who dropped out of the 8th grade a few weeks ago due to personal family problems. She told us that she wanted to continue to study while not in school, in hope of returning next year. We have scheduled two tutoring sessions with her, but she did not show up to either one. This is an example of cultural passivity that is extremely hard to understand. Rather than being honest and telling people no, we have run into several occasions where Costa Ricans say they will show up to a meeting we have scheduled, but then just not show up. Needless to say, Fabiana needs prayer, and we need patience.
We also picked up more English classes. One is on Saturday afternoon in Linda Vista with two boys in the 9th and 10th grades, Diego and Marvin. Another class is to some of the workers at the camp and some folks from El Mirador. Brett and I tag team on this class, so we can have an advanced and beginner class at the same time. We always try and present the Gospel in all our English classes, but we are still learning how to make the lesson an interactive discussion. Bible studies are not too common here, in that, church participation involves service and sitting in pews, not necessarily questioning and probing Biblical concepts. This is another cultural adjustment which is hard to overcome. We feel like we’d like to be able to encourage people to have an opinion and be heard, and that it’s okay to ask questions. At the same time, we wonder how much of this struggle is God trying to get us to change, rather than trying to change the culture around us?
This week I (Brooke) started teaching English classes to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in Linda Vista. While the majority of the students listen well and participate in class, every class has a handful of mischievous trouble makers that try to cause complete chaos and disruption. Such an event occurred in the 5th grade class on Wednesday. A student named Luis Manuel, who recently moved into the community to the boy’s orphanage decided it would be funny to call me some derogatory names he had learned in English. I thus asked him to step outside for 5 minutes, but he continued to disrupt the class from outside. While the 5th grade teacher was in the class with me, he has yet to show any ability to help me with discipline, so I felt quite alone in my efforts. I decided I needed to talk to the directors at the orphanage about this problem child. I learned he just arrived to the orphanage 15 days ago, and he was living in another orphanage in Quesada previously. They had to move him because he was getting into too many fights with the boys there. It was hard to understand everything the directors said in their rapid-fire Spanish dialect, but it sounded like his parents couldn’t handle his anger, so they gave him up. This child definitely has reason to be angry, but only God knows what he needs to overcome these struggles. It’s moments like these that I feel unequipped, and I have a desire to receive further training in social work or counselling. At the same time, I know that in the old days, disciples received “on the job training,” usually while working with a more experienced teacher. I struggle with the faith to know that Christ will provide me with the words I need in the moment, but at the same time I know He has already assisted me in every situation in which He places me. Matthew 10:19 gave me some encouragement on this matter:
¨...do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.¨
The mission field can be a very lonely experience, when I feel like I don’t have a teacher to guide me through the hardships. Though I am learning to understand and feel Christ’s presence within me, dwelling within my heart. We are all living, breathing, moving temples of God. I have recently been reading verses that speak of God within us. Such as Ezekiel 36: 27, “ I will put my Spirit within you,” or Jeremiah 31:33, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.” Or 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells within you?” No matter how much scholastic training we might have, it will always be God that gets us through the situations which school could never teach us.
We are now the youth directors for our church in Santa Rosa as well. We lead a Friday evening program and Sunday School to a group ranging in age from 10 to 18. We think the kids we are working with have never been in a bible study where they have had to give their opinion and actively participate in discussions, so it´s like pulling teeth trying to get anything out of them. Last week we decided that everyone was going to bring a verse or pick a theme to present on Sunday, in an effort to get them actively searching for the God’s presence in their life. We found this worked quite well. Although not everybody did their homework, we had sufficient participation from at least two members of the Sunday School class. One of the girls in the class, Karla, is hearing impaired, so it has been a challenge for us to know how to include her in the discussion. Her sister, Karen, knows sign language, but is apparently going through a rebellious stage where she doesn’t want to help Karla. Karla left the class crying one Sunday out of frustration for not understanding. Please pray for both of them, that they would be able to mend their sibling rivalry, and that Christ would bless Karla with the clarity to understand and communicate in her life.
I (Brett) am still cleaning up around the shop. It´s taking a long time due to the initial lack of organization and the limited space in which literally a life time of wood, unfinished projects, and countless forgotten appliances have accumulated over the years. Some of the wood either is termite-eaten, dry rotted, or contains rusted fasteners. All of it needs sorting and culling so that we retain the pieces that have some use. As I have been going through the various shelves I have found that many of the shelves are, in fact, completely hollow, having themselves been eaten through with termites. I haven’t taken on an apprentice yet because I still feel the shop isn’t safe for a teenager to learn in. In addition to all the clean up I am going to be starting the fabrication of about 20 bunk beds for the new cabin, and hopefully some new cabinets for the kitchen of the guest house at the camp and maybe even kitchen cabinets for our house near the camp. Your prayers for this part of our mission certainly are appreciated, as it has been a struggle to resist wanting the dynamic of the shop and its use to change over night. Slowly but surely (‘poco y poco’ is what they say here). My OCD tendencies get the better of me sometimes, and explaining what I am trying to do in the shop, with its organization often seems to fall on deaf ears. I have to remind myself sometimes that it’s just a shop.
We are also going to start using our architectural backgrounds to help draw some of the existing Methodist churches in the Northern Zone of Costa Rica. The Ministry of Health has developed additional regulations in the building code, and is in the process of ensuring that public buildings follow these new guidelines in addition to existing code. Since many churches that have been built over the years were not built to code, and there is no “grandfather clause” there are a lot of changes to be made. Many churches have to add handicap bathrooms and ramps and entrances wide enough for access. Protestant churches here have been subject to closings and noise violations, infractions similar to those received by bars and night clubs, due to the loud P.A. systems, loud music, and loud preaching. Part of the code involves changing the windows in the churches to solid plate glass, and adding sound barriers to the walls, in order to keep the noise inside. This consequently means that churches are now going to need air conditioning, that is, if they don´t want anyone dying of a heatstroke during service. While all of these regulations and measures are necessary for the health and safety of the church members and their neighbors, there is a fear that many of the churches are going to have to shut down since they don´t have the financial backing to meet all the requirements. Please pray that the Lord will provide them with the financial means to remain open.
We will be heading to the US in October to participate in a Missions Fare at one of our supporting churches, Trinity United Methodist in Gulfport, MS. We will also visit our families and friends in SC and NC, since we found it is more economical to fly via Spirit Air to Myrtle Beach, and then drive to MS.
Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.
Blessings to you all,
Love,
Brooke and Brett
