Tico Tuesday, March 30th

I have a fan club! One of my friends in Grove City teaches the 5^th & 6^th grade class at the little Christian academy there. She and her 17 students pray for me every week on chapel day and send me letters and cards from time to time! While I was in Grove City in February I got to visit her class and meet these fantastic kids-it was such a blessing to meet them and get to interact with them! This past week I got another fat envelope in the mail with 18 thank you notes!!! If I were any more sensitive I surely would have cried!! These kids are an enormous blessing and encouragement to me! God uses even the small ones in His Kingdom to minister to others! More pictures and some adorable, heart-melting quotes on the blog!

Megan (the amazing teacher of these kids) wrote me a really sweet card telling me how things are going at our church in Slippery Rock (the next town over from Grove City)

Christian sent me a note all folded and stapled up and the outside had the most precious part “P.S. WE ARE PRAYING”

The last part of David's card said “I hope you love Costa Rica and do not get homesick.” Aww! I must confess I do get a little homesick, but Costa Rica has definitely started to feel more like home, thanks be to God! (A related thought to this coming later)

Caroline wrote, “I think it is really neat that you are a missionary. I hope to be one someday!” May it be so in Jesus' name, dear Caroline! She also drew me a nice picture of a cow

“We've all been wanting to see the missionary we've been praying for.” Thanks Mary! I was so excited to see everyone's face too and try to match them with their names. I didn't have too much success at that unfortunately. My 45 minutes in that classroom were the fastest minutes of this century.

“Dear Miss Smith, Thank you for comming to our classroom. I think you are so beautiful. Have a wonderful day! Love, Leah” AWWWWWWWWWW!!!! She also drew me a cute picture of a monkey.

Mae Julin said “I enjoyed how excited you were to listen to our questions.” How sweet!

Ethan's card was impressive. You see, once upon a time I was walking around outside with my umbrella. I can't remember if it was sunny or raining in that moment, but I was contemplating the multiple functions of my umbrella and was inspired to make up the following haiku.

Legged Octagon

Walks around in sun and clouds

Total Protection

So when the kids asked me about the climate, I shared my haiku with them. Ethan either memorized or copied down the haiku and reproduced it on his card for me! You can see it in the picture. The inside of the card says “Costa Rica! Awesomeness abounds here!” And in his letter he said”The Costa Rican postcard I received is arguably one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen! It's the one with the monkey-type thing in the top left corner and palm trees. Did you like my cover illustration?” (I brought a postcard for each kid and left them with Megan so she could distribute them in a peaceful way after I left.) What a hoot! There is also a drawing on the back with the little octagon man with his umbrella by a palm tree and it says “Hey, it's Costa Rica. What's there to miss?” This kid is hilarious!

Ben drew me an intimidating dragon, “and, if you're wondering why I drew a dragon, well, I felt that there would not be much reason to draw something you already see all of the time. I do hope you can visit us again.” Well, I don't get to see sloths and monkeys and toucans every day. But what a thoughtful perspective to take!

Elizabeth's card also made me go AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! She made me an acrostic (I remember making those in art class in elementary school!) My friend Megan has them all call me Miss Smith so:

Marvelous

Incredible

Sweet

Servant

Super

Miss Smith

Indestructable

Thoughtful

Helpful

and the real kicker. “ I loved your enthusiasm. People in Costa Rica must love you. : ) ” After reading that you could have about knocked me over with a feather!! See why these kids are such a blessing and encouragement to me!!

An Anonymous writer, that I think was Hannah the girl who drew me a sloth last time drew me a horse, horseshoes and hay. “Dear Miss Smith, Thank you so much for coming to see my class. I loved your cool head-band. I hope you like my picture.”

These kids aren't just a fan club-they are a support team that means SO MUCH to me! Thank you God for each one these kids and bless them and their wonderful teacher

Lenten Irony

I'm guessing by now you have an idea what Lent is. I think I've explained it before, but here's a little refresher so you'll understand what I'm going to talk about. Lent is the 40 day church season preceding Resurrection (Easter) Season. Back in the day, people were often baptized on Resurrection Day (I suppose many still are). Lent was used as a period of preparation for baptism. Now Lent can be used by anyone as preparation for Resurrection season. Lent is a pentitential season. It is very solemn, all the "alleluias" are cut out of the liturgy, but we MORE than make up for it in Resurrection Season! It is a really good time to ponder the important things in life, to pray and meditate and ask God to really clean out some of the junk in our lives. It is a time to remember that "we are but dust and to dust we shall return" (as says the rector on Ash Wednesday). Back in the day people got rid of all the fat in their houses for Lent (hence Mardi Gras-Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday when you use up all the fat in your house).
A common practice in Lent is "giving up _________." Some people give up chocolate or some other delicious food. I had a friend give up love songs. I know people who give up earrings, fast food, all sweets, etc. Why do we give things up? Well, the 40 days of Lent also remind us of the 40 days that Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert. I think it is really healthy to have a desert withdrawal for 40 days a year. And as you can see, the "fasting" doesn't have to be extreme, but it should be something that requires a sacrifice. Fasting isn't something to be shown off. It is like an extra reminder of our need for and dependence on God. When we crave what we gave up-that is a signal to look to God to satisfy us and meet our needs.
Does everybody have to observe Lent? No! Do I know a lof of people that go to nonliturgical churches and still choose to observe it? Yes.
So, there's my take on Lent. This sounds weird but it is actually one of my favorite times of the year. I don't often take the time to ask God and let him really search me out and clean out junk in me that is not of Him. So I'm really grateful for these 40 days. And, celebrating Lent makes Resurrection time even MORE wonderful and exciting! Resurrection Day is one of my absolute FAVORITE days of the whole year!!
This year I gave up mousse and gel. I like to think I'm not terribly vain. I hardly ever wear makeup, I only shave my legs once a week (aren't you glad I told you that?), I'm ok with wearing t-shirts in public, etc. But, I don't like my wild curly hair to be a disaster. Mousse and gel are wonderful ways to control my hair and they make it look really nice. I wasn't about to face the world with totally crazy hair, but I figured I'd just do enough to control it pulling it back or covering it-which I didn't think would be terribly flattering, but that would do the trick. I'd still miss my mousse and I wouldn't look or feel as nice without it. But I wouldn't feel like a disaster either. And, I decided to give up my contact lenses again too. Not only is that to take on my vanity, but it is also such a good reminder that I want to see others through God's eyes and not my own. I want to see and love others as He does.
Well, I've never gotten more compliments on how nice I look-even in spite of my glasses! Talk about irony! I think some of it might have to do with my hair covering headband-kerchiefy things I bought-especially since I hadn't worn them before. But, getting compliments during Lent makes it a lot easier to give the credit to God. I'm not ever trying to flaunt my looks and ESPECIALLY not in Lent! So, the credit goes to Him for making me the way I am. I'm definitely not dressing to impress!
But, regardless of whatever outer things I've (not) been doing, God has really been doing a great job at his Lenten work inside of me. Sins of pride and judgmentalness/supercriticism have really been attacked. I'll still be the first to tell you I'm far from perfect. But over the last few weeks, God has been cleaning, scraping and scrubbing hard! I am not the same girl who I was at the beginning of Lent.
You know how sometimes we get kind of comfortable in our sins? We know we're not supposed to do x, but it is such a habit and it isn't really that bad... then God takes the steel wool and scrubs off the sin-scum that has semi-cemented itself as part of your shower drain. It hurts. It is really uncomfortable. And God keeps scrubbing. One painful situation after another. It is most unpleasant. But then, with one more pass, the chunk of gunk breaks off. It's kind of weird to have water flow over that spot again. But oh, what freedom! The water can flow so easily and not get clogged in the drain! It feels so good to be clean! I know there's still a lot of scum and gunk that still need to go, but God is still at work. And He won't stop until His face reflects off every tube and facet.
There's only a week of Lent left to go, but it's never too late to ask God to take off your drain cover and get to work.
Thanks for reading. :-)

Tico Tuesday, March 23rd

ONE YEAR!

One year can seem to take an eternity. But for me this past year went by like a cop going after a guy who is speeding. I have now officially been a missionary in Costa Rica for a year! Glory to God! I have learned and grown so much. There have been numerous challenges, frustrations and tears shed, but God has unrelentingly proved to me His love, goodness, faithfulness, presence, sufficiency, grace and forgiveness. I believe that God has also been at work through me and pray that He continues to do so. Many thanks to all of you, dear readers, prayers, financial supporters, encouragers, loved ones. 1 year down, 2 to go, and we'll see what God has in store for me after that! See how I celebrated my one yeariversary on the blog!

God's joy and peace be with you all!

Carrie

I went RAFTING!!! It was really fun! I'd been before in Maine, but had never had to chance to go in Costa Rica. (I'll tell you about going in Maine another time) My friend Norina (the only other gringa in our raft)who is at language school in San Jose is in charge of organizing trips for her fellow students and she invited me to come along on the trip. So I went and Ana (that I live with) and Rosbi (a friend of ours from church) came along too. We had a blast!

Breakfast was at a restaurant that had this GORGEOUS view! It's pretty where I live, but nothing like this!! The closer I can be to mountains the better!

I thought the rafting was going to be a whole day with lunch on the side of the river. It was only the morning though. Well, except that instead of pulling out of the river at 1 like they said it was more like 2. My bladder was full and I was STARVING. But anyway, I had SO MUCH FUN!! It was great!

We put in at about 10:30 and did about 20 miles of rafting. The rapids were up to class IV. So, it was enough to be fun and exciting, but there was never anything to worry about.

It was a spectacular trip down, lush greenery was everywhere and we passed several semi-hidden lodge/camp places. What a spot to get away! There were several skinny waterfalls that came tumbling down from the canyon heights and landed in the river. (We were on the Pacuare, which is east of San Jose. I think we started in the province of Cartago and got out in Limon!)

We had a few opportunities to get out of the raft and float along. I took advantage of every one. It wasn't a dreadfully hot day. It wasn't even sunny. But the water wasn't that cold and I love to be in water! Seriously, how often do you get the chance to throw yourself into a clean river and just let the current take you along? And know you're safe? Jaja, well, until the guide tells you to get back into the raft because more rapids are coming.

It was a long, tiring day. We had to get up really early in the morning, but it was worth it. I wasn't even very sore the next day! (Rafting, like kayaking, is a whole upper body motion and not just arm motion. That is why people get sore.)

As we were rafting along I decided that it would have been fun to do crew in college, if it had been available. I'm pretty sure I would enjoy it. I like doing things in sync with others. Walking naturally in step with Mommy for years has been good practice, and cheering competitions drove it into me too. And of course, I love being active outside! Hmm, maybe someday....

Tico Tuesday, March 16th

It's about time!

I've been in Costa Rica for almost a year now, and it's taken me this long to do 2 things I wanted to do right when I got here... not sure why it took me so long to get around to doing them, but por fin (at last)! Success! I have a huge, lovely world map in my office that has already grabbed the attention of those who dare wander by and poke their heads in my office (which is not part of a high traffic zone in the church). And, that little thing I'm holding is my Costa Rican Driver's License! For once it paid to be a gringa! Further details on the blog along with the amazing story of the appearance of the map.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
Love,
Carrie


Last Wednesday I went and killed the 2 birds mentioned above with one trip into San Jose. I'll tell you, it was the longest trip I have EVER had into San Jose. The pirate taxi drivers (that aren't official and insured) had some kind of protest/demonstration stupidity and blocked the major arteries into San Jose. I left my house at 7, no buses came until 7:35, I got to Heredia centro at about 8 (normally it only takes 12-15 minutes to get there), and got off in La Uruca at 9:15ish. It was RIDICULOUS!
In order to get my Costa Rican license, I could just “co-validate” (I don't know how to say that in English) my license from the US. The process of getting your license for the 1st time here is a MAJOR headache. And, thanks be to God I didn't even have to wait in the insanely long line with all the ticos (Costa Ricans). I could just skip upstairs, have them look over my papers, go deposit $7 and get my picture taken and walk out with my license. I got out of there the same time as the ticos who arrived at 7am! And they don't even open the place till 8!!!
Next I headed to San Jose centro. I had been told I could find a large world map there. So I found out where the maps were and then asked another girl there if they had any big world maps. There were a whole bunch of large things rolled up maps, body parts, charts of the senses, etc. I thought she might be able to help me find a world map easier. I wasn't looking forward to having to go through each one. But the girl told me they didn't have any of the big size. They only had smaller ones, about a quarter of the size I wanted. I asked where else I might be able to find a big world map and she just said “any bookstore.” HELLO! I was in the biggest, most well-known bookstore in San Jose-and that probably means the whole country. If this bookstore doesn't have something, NOBODY else will either!! So that was a little frustrating. But, I figured while I was there, I might as well look through the big rolled up maps and random charts-there might be a world map there, I desperately hoped. I'd seen a few that said Central America, Europe, Latin America, but I picked one up. It said “planisferio mercator.” I don't have a clue what mercator is or means and it doesn't appear on Word Reference.com (ok I looked it up and it is a map thing, named after a Flemish cartographer). But, there is a world map at the MSO (LAM Miami Services Office) that says Planisferio on it, so I figured it had a good chance of being a world map. I unrolled it the rest of the way and-Voila! The girl saw it and was like “Oh well I hadn't seen one in so long I just assumed we didn't have any more.” Right. Maybe she doesn't pay very good attention. Or maybe God made the map just appear for me! I'd be ok believing that. And there you have God's goodness to me this past week. :-)

Tico Tuesday, March 9th

Thinking big

Yes, this is a ridiculously huge aguacate (avocado). Such are the delicious joys of living in tropical paradise. We also have overzised cantaloupe, a certain variety of monstrous limes, big mangos, etc. And you thought everything in the States was big! Ha ha ha!

But anyway, speaking of big, I have been continuing to work on my Perspectives class and was again reminded this week of the bigness of the remaining task-just how many thousands of people groups have never heard the name of Jesus, and how only 2.5% of the missionaries in the world are working to reach that quarter of the Earth's population. Pretty sobering. How big is our vision? How big is our faith? Further contemplations and pictures of large fruits on the blog!

First of all, I've become a lousy 2 posts a week blogger. My apologies.

Second of all, I'm running out of time to finish my Perspectives class, so I'm having to dedicate a lot of time to that. But oh is it worth it!! I'm currently learning about the historical perspective on missions. (Part 1 was the Biblical perspective). It's fascinating stuff. I wish I could go into all of it, but that would take too long. A lot of people have gone before us pioneering and mobilizing people for missions. We protestants (even though I'm Anglican I still consider myself a protestant. That might not be technically right, but let's not get fussy about that) have been slow on the uptake when it come to missions and evangelism. It wasn't until the 18^th century (a couple hundred years after the Reformation) when Mr. William Carey came along and turned on the light-showing that the Great Commission is indeed still applicable and wasn't just for the apostles. In the last 200 years we have indeed made up for our earlier laxity, but there is still much work to be done. It started in the coastlands, move to the inlands and now there are Christians in every country in the world. But Jesus didn't say that was the goal. The goal was every nation, every tongue, every people group. The Greek proves it, and we know that there are plenty of people groups within every country. Even within the US. Stingy old farts from New England aren't the same as prim Southern belles. And that's ok. God created diversity. Another wonderful, but important thing that Perspectives points out is that the Gospel is for every culture. It can't be chained to or dressed in only one. And there are a lot of difficulties when one tries to present the Gospel along with a culture. The Gospel must be proclaimed as pure Gospel. Human baggage only gets in the way and creates problems.

But anyway going back to what I mentioned in Tico Tuesday, it's true. 27% of the world today remains unevangelized and only 1 in 40 missionaries goes to an unevangelized place. Yes, I openly acknowledge that I am serving in a largely Christian country. God isn't calling all of us to go where none have gone before. But, we all need to be willing to do whatever He says and go wherever He leads.

The last section of the article I am drawing by stats from (by Jason Mandryk) asks the reader a few questions. What are your priorities? Are you willing to sacrifice? Are you willing to partner with those who pray, send, train and go? It is essential to note that this task of world evangelism is directed equally at every believer on the planet, not just the white English speaking ones. The majority of the church is no longer part of the Western world and we need to respect and work with our brothers and sisters in the global south. The last question is, will you pray? The guy who did this article also works with Operation World and their motto is “When man works, man works, but when man prays, God works.” I like that. And I believe it is true.

Over the last several years I have come to realize that BEING A CHRISTIAN IS NOT ABOUT BEING COMFORTABLE. I grow most when I am in tough situations, when I'm out of my comfort zone, when I don't know the people around me very well, when I have to do something I have never done before and don't really know how to do, when I don't have the greatest relationship with my boss, when I need to raise over $1000/month. Why? Because in these situations I HAVE to trust God. How much do I have to trust Him when I have a steady income and am surrounded by an amazing community of strong believers and have a great church? We were called to make disciples, not complacent bubbles. Community is VITAL to the Christian walk, I'm not downplaying that at all, but we need to be united in our community and have an outward and an upward focus. Inward focus only creates complacency and exclusivity-things which should NOT be characteristic of followers of Christ. Jesus wasn't like that, so we shouldn't be either. I think a lot of followers of Christ need a kick in the seat of the pants. If Jesus is who He said He is and who the Bible said He is, we'd better take Him seriously. Otherwise, what/who are we really living for?

(for further thoughts I recommend reading Philippians and taking the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class put out by the US Center for World Mission)

Tico Tuesday, March 2nd

Happy Tuesday!

Most people who go to serve as missionaries go to the Instituto de Lengua Espanola, which is on the far opposite side of San Jose from where I live. At LAM orientation they deemed my Spanish good enough to be able to go straight to my assignment here in CCI. I will confess, that made me very happy. But, I have made a few trips to the school to visit people I met at orientation. This week I made one of those trips with extra joy and excitement because not only did I get to see everyone I know there, but I also got to see a couple that is very dear to me. Jack and Mary Anne Voelkel came to share at their alma mater. I first met them at my LAM orientation when Jack was the interim president, but we also have a lot of common because both of them have served with InterVarsity as well. A couple pictures and stories from orientation on the blog...

May God bless and keep you this week,

Carrie

So yes, I adore the Voelkels. I have adopted them as another set of grandparents. Abuelito Jack has such a gentle spirit. He and Mary Anne's love for one another and the Lord are so evident! And Mary Anne is such a good example of one who prays. God has knit them together and they make a fantastic team. They are both full of wisdom, encouragement and insights… I could go on, but instead I'll just tell you that you should meet them. (Yes Jack is the InterVarsity Ask Jack) And I do acknowledge that they are people and that no person is perfect. But God in his wonderful grace loves us still.

Anyway, Orientation. That was a while ago now. Before I started this blog, in fact. 10 days of sessions on how to raise support, face various cultural issues, and get to know the LAM and how it works. It was great. 10 days seems like a long time, but that way it wasn't too intense and overwhelming. And it meant lots of time to get to hang out with Kiki-who I adopted as my Cuban mamita, Dick & Sheila (the missionaries in residence that stayed in the hotel with us) and my fellow orientees. LAM Headquarters are in Miami and thus known as the MSO, Miami Services Office. The people there are SO great!!!

I was part of a pretty small orientation, and 80% of us were under 25. Norina, who was 59 (but didn't act or look it) helped boost the average age. Jijiji. More on her in a minute.

My roomie was Heather (top R), a sweet girl with a love for children. She is going to serve in El Salvador and is still raising support. The link to her blog is here. I would encourage you to support her in any way you can. She would love to start language school in August! (and she can't go until she has more support). She like to laugh a lot too and we got along swimmingly... especially since I swam every morning in the huge beautiful pool of our hotel! Jajaja.

Billy was our only guy. Praise be to God he is on the field already-he actually beat me here! He serves down in Peru with Scripture Union. He gets to help host teams and do all manner of cool stuff down there. (Next to him are Abuelito Jack and on the bottom right Danny Levi, the wonderful LAM Pastor to Missionaries)

Lori (top L) and I haven't really kept in touch, but I know she is still raising support too. She is going to serve down in Colombia, I believe at a seminary. You can find biographies of and donate to all of us at http://www.lam.org/, which has recently gotten a lovely facelift.

Then there's Norina. She is a hoot. An amazing woman who has pretty much been through it all and more than anything wants to serve God with a great get-kids-off-the-street ministry (Open Arms Foundation) in Colombia. She ended up not being a missionary of the LAM, but that's ok. We are missionaries for God, not people or organizations. And, so she's actually already at language school. We've gotten to hang out very briefly a couple times, but yesterday since I was around all day between the morning and afternoon chapel sessions (Jack and Mary Anne are the speaker for Spiritual Emphasis week in which they have chapel every day and evening sessions as well), she and I really got to hang and and bond. We had a blast! Then, she invited me to stay the night with her so I wouldn't have to go back and forth all across San Jose. And talk about a humbling experience-this 61 year old lady gave up her memory foam bed (that she brought from the States) for me!!! I tried to persuade her, but she was too insistent. She put amazing Egyptian cotton sheets on there too and one of those wicked soft blankets I love so much. I felt like a princess!

The morning session was great (as were the morning and afternoon sessions yesterday) and unfortunately I couldn't stay. I loved what I got though. And today before heading out I got to hang out with my dear abuelitos for a bit and tell them about life here. I'm excited for my next trip to the States in August because Lord willing I will get to see them when I see my parents in Arizona! YAAAY!!!

Ok, well I feel like I ended up making this an ad for the LAM. I'm ok with that, and I'm sure they are too. So, if you're interested in serving God in Latin America, meeting any of these people or going to language school...let me know or just head to the LAM website!! :-)

PS Oh and I got to meet another fellow LAM missionary! She is a really really cool girl named Cadorsil and ella me cayo muy bien (she made a really good impression on me/I liked her right away). After language school she is going to Paraguay to serve as a social worker. She needs more support too. :-) Http://www.lam.org/