Prison & Sex Ed

These past couple of months have been extremely busy at school for our family.  We have extra classes because it is our last trimester and they are trying to fill us full with all of the spanish they can before we leave.  This week we had a few ministry opportunities that made all the school work & studying worth it.

We have a friend here that is a member of the local christian business men's association and he invited Clint to come along with him and some other members of the association to the local prison to preach and lead worship.  Clint studied hard and put together a wonderful sermon to share with the inmates.  Several people received prayer and Clint was encouraged to be able to take a break from studying to minister.

While Clint was busy at the prison, I was offered the opportunity to help with a ministry team from Va.  It was a lovely group of ladies who came to work at a Latin America Child Care afterschool club, Chicas de Promesa.  I had a blast at the club the few times I was able to go.  The girls and I laughed and made up sayings to go along with the slang word here "chuncha" which means thing-a-ma-jig.  

My favorite part of the time at the girls club was the day of ministry that the team taught sex education to the girls.  The area where the girls live is poverty strucken and a very high risk neighborhood.  The girls were taught that they were valuable to God and that God had a plan for their lives.  There were testimonies told of abuse and the girls were taught what to do if they had been abused.  It was also very good for my spanish vocabulary.  It's amazing those words have never been on our vocabulary tests (hee hee).  The word for sperm in spanish is 5 syllables.  

I was blessed to be able to spend time with the girls, to embrace them, and to let them know God created them like they are for a reason and even if they had been abused, God still loves them and has a plan for their lives.

5 Things I Have Learned Living in Costa Rica

I anticipated change in my life  when we were preparing to move to Costa Rica but, I never anticipated change on the magnitude it has occurred in me.  I thought it would be fun to share with you 5 big things I've learned this year in Costa Rica (it's hard to choose only 5).

1.  To depend fully on God as my best friend and comforter.  I have been so blessed throughout the years to have friends that are literally closer than family.  They have always been there for me to laugh with, to cry with, and for advice.  I know they are still here for me but it is different when you are so far away.  I found that many times I reached out to friends when really I should have been reaching out to God.

2.  How to cook.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am famous for takeout, baked rotisserie chicken, or anything else that doesn't require effort.  Costa Rica's prices are double that in the US and that really cramped my style when it came to quick easy meals.  I have learned to cook, I mean really cook - from scratch.  It's a miracle, I know.  I'm still praising God for it.

3.  Family time is so valuable.  The sun goes down here at 5pm.  We don't normally go places after dark because our method of transportation is as my grandma says "Pat and Charlie" and it's not recommended to walk in the dark here in the city.  This has given us many nights to talk.  I love our nights.  Our children are growing up so quickly and I really value this special time we have together.

4.  Spanish.  I love the language and yeah, that's what we came here for so it had to make the list.

5.  To have patience.  No matter how many times you raise your voice, emphasize your words, or throw a hissy-fit it will not change the outcome of the matter in Latin America.  You may find something at the grocery today that will not be at the grocery for another 6 months.  Deal with it.  It's part of life.  People are late a lot.  It can be complicated to walk or take a bus, hence tardiness as the norm.

That Woman

That woman who wears her dress a little too short or her top a little low, does God love her?  Should I love her?  

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a human trafficking conference to learn more about the subject, to open my perspectives, and to find out what I could do to help.  It has taken me this long to blog about it because it was such a heavy subject.

My mind has been opened.  "That girl" doesn't always choose to be "that girl", and sometimes when she does at the time it's a decision she feels like she has to make.  

Too often she is marginilized and treated like trash when God sees her as beautiful.  Human trafficking is a horrible thing that is happening all over the world.  It is taking the lives of many women and children and we need to pray for God to intervene.

We also need to educate our young men about sex, about how beautiful it is, and what God's design for it really is.  If it were not for demand from men, trafficking would not happen.

"That girl" was made in the image of her Creator.  Let's stop looking at her the way we do and see her in His image. 

Who Am I?

This question seems silly.  I know I am a child of God.  I know my idenitity comes from Christ.  But who I am as a person is changing so rapidly I can barely keep up with me, with who I am.

Part of that is that I am learning to look at things from another perspective.  I am becoming a little less american and a little more latin in my mindsets.

Our niece is here to visit this week and I have noticed how different I now am by looking at her and how she acts.  So many things that are just everyday normal activities or sights or smells or foods to us, are so different to her.

I'm not sure what to think about all of this.  All I can do is trust God that He is molding me into who He wants me to be.

I thank God for being an american and will never lose my patronage to my home country but I can say I'm not a normal cookie anymore.

People are Staring

For those of you who don't realize it, culture shock is a real thing.  Most of the time I love living here and enjoy the culture but for the past month I have been extra sensitive.  I thought it would be fun to try to paint a word picture for you a little about living in another country.

The one thing that is constant is people staring, I look different, I talk different, I think different, I act different, I eat different.  So of course I am always a freak show for those around me and get asked daily "where are you from" and the response that I don't like to say because it's a tongue twister is estados unidos.

Another thing that gets to me is constant waiting.  If your appointment is at 4, you may get seen by 6.  Don't worry, they will give you coffee in the meantime, never mind that I DON'T REALLY LIKE COFFEE but have to drink it because it's the polite thing to do.  If something breaks the technician may come out, look at the problem and tell you they will be back the next day only not to return for a couple of days.  Time is just a thing, we have plenty of it...Right?

And the grocery store thing...First I walk to the store, getting whistles and looks along the way because I am a "gringa" then I get to the store to realize the thing they just had yesterday, they now don't carry.  So I walk to several other stores and finally give up after being exhausted from all the walking and searching.

Sleep...It is something I don't get alot of these days which may be why everything else gets on my nerves so much.  Latin America is just noisy in general but here in the city it's extra noisy.  Last week we were awoken at 4 in the morning by a taxi's horn outside our apt.  That night we were so exhausted we thought yay- tonight we will get in the bed a little early.  We hopped in the bed at 9pm and as soon as we   layed our head on the pillow a mariachi band begins.  I just smiled and sighed.

Oh how I wish I were more like the Apostle Paul and had joy during all of this.  How I pray to have the "pura vida" attitude.  Lord help me to be a better servant for you.

Firebreathers

When you walk or drive down the streets of San Jose, there are people everywhere selling things, begging, juggling, and doing other things to earn money.  The knife jugglers freak me out because I'm always afraid I'm going to witness someone get stabbed, but the firebreathers fascinate me.  

In the night, I look for them.  When they start, sometimes they juggle torches of fire, and sometimes they inhale it and breathe it back out.

Everytime I watch them I wonder why.  How did they begin doing such a dangerous thing?  Don't they know it can kill them?  Does it give a thrill, a high?  

Yet, I am fascinated.  It is cool to watch.  When my spanish is better I'd like to talk to one of them.  Everybody has a story.  

What is something strange that fascinates you and why?

Thank the Lord the Power Went Off!

Last week I was caught up on my studies so I stayed home an extra hour in the morning.  I had in my mind what seemed like a million things I wanted to get done that day before class.

As I was drying my hair, I heard a click, the power went off.  So as cool as a cucumber I sat the blowdryer down and went onto my next task.

I thought well now would be a great time to call and pay that bill.  As I picked up the phone, I realized the phone only works through the internet and at that moment it didn't work because the electricity was off.

So I turned on my computer, pulled up my e-mail and started reading a devotion.  As I got to the middle, I needed to click on a link to read the rest, and you guessed it, it didn't work.

Next I went into the kitchen and all of the cereal was gone and the stove didn't work.  Obviously I wasn't getting to eat.

Suddenly the thought came to mind I will just sit in the Lord's presence just me and the Bible and talk with God and read His word.  I don't need an online devotion.  The Lord desires that I spend time with Him sometimes without anything else.

That morning my time with Him was wonderful and I left feeling refreshed and renewed.  Sometimes things that seem bad are a blessing in disguise.  I thank God for the power outage that day.