Tico Tuesday, June 29th

Wow, last Tuesday feels like it was a month ago! The group from First Baptist Batesville, Mississippi has come and gone. We went to Isla Venado and came back and a whole lot of other stuff happened in between! The team from MS was fantastic. I was so blessed by them! The medical clinic we had was a huge success. We had about 310 patients and we took care of every one. And each of them was presented the gospel and given the opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior and Lord. It was great! I was with the nurses most of the time and boy did a lot of puffy eyed people come in! Thanks be to God for blessing this trip! More stories and details on the blog.... Now it's time to gear up for the trip to México de Upala in the end of July!

Thanks for your continued prayers,

Carrie

What a wild week! Last Wednesday I greeted some of the team members from MS in the airport. Unfortunately the last couple to arrive got stuck in Mexico and couldn't make it till the next night. God had a good reason for us not leaving for Isla Venado on Thursday!

Thursday morning we shopped and bought more supplies and food, had lunch in San José and VERY briefly showed them the Teatro Nacional. I had fun playing tour guide. In the evening we had a reception for the team and everyone from CCI who was going with us came too. Ok, well, not everyone could make it, but everyone who could did. That was nice too. The icky part was afterwards. We ended up having to change our microbus to the island. It was after 9pm and I was tired. The important detail of air-conditioning had slipped through my grasp, and I with my New England temperature sensitivity had not considered air to be a vital necessity like my dear Southern friends. So, thankfully God provided us with another microbus that had air and could pick us up 8 hours after we contracted it.

Friday we traveled to the island. I had a fascinating shopping adventure- buying food for some 30 people for the weekend. Someone had helped me estimate some quantities, but I was totally guessing when it came to a lot of things! And then I got to the cash register... and I hadn't brought my debit card from the States! I only had my debit card from the bank account here that I never have much money in... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!! Well, thankfully the people that were taking me from the grocery store to the ferry were able to help me cover the bill (later I charged everyone so I'd be reimbursed and I reimbursed them too). But oh was it close! And we ALMOST missed the 10am ferry! They were holding it for us and if we had arrived any later they would have had to leave without us and we would have had to wait until 2:30pm. That would not have been cool. But God took care of us. Us holding up the ferry also worked out well, because another one of our team members had his car door shut with his keys inside. So he was able to get his keys out before we left.

This time the tide was high when we met the boats to take us to the island, so we didn't have to lug everything through the mud. And that's really good. One of the gringos, who I adopted as Grampa Ed, needs a knee replacement so any kind of uneven footing is difficult for him. (This first picture is of Myra, their team leader and Bob, who leads their devotionals. They are both pharmacists)

We got there and enjoyed the delicious lunch of beans, rice and freshly caught and fried fish that was waiting for us. Then we got to work. Getting things going was a bit chaotic. The gringos just kind of launched and the ticos were left totally confused and not knowing what to do, so we gathered everybody round and got us all of the same page. The gringos have been doing medical mission trips for some 20 years, so they are really good at getting to a spot and figuring things out and getting right to work. We learned a lot from them! (Check out the sweet portable dental chairs we got for the amazing price of about $150!!)

We saw some 60 patients that afternoon. I was with the nurses, helping with translation, but I did some floating too to check on how everyone was doing. That evening we had a brief meeting to share and talk about how we could improve for the next day. The gringos camped out in the church sanctuary and the rest of us headed to Pastor Eladio's house (over a km, probably more like a mile away) in the pouring rain. None of us had umbrellas, rain jackets, ponchos or anything with us. We all got drenched, totally soaked to the bone. But, that was actually ok, because there was a problem with a water tube on the island and there hadn't been running water all afternoon. So, it was sort of like taking a shower...

I slept horribly that night-people were talking while I was trying to sleep, and if you think that rooster just crow at sunrise, let me tell you that is a BLATANT LIE!! They crowed all night, bugs were crawling on me, and I think I was still so wound up from everything my mind wouldn't let me sleep either. 5am came all too quickly.

Saturday was yet another long, tiring day, but God brought me through. We saw over 200 patients, I helped again with the nurses, but also covered for a some people while they ate and brought other people water, Coke, granola bars, etc to keep them going.

In the evening we paused the clinic to have an outreach event. We showed a movie called “Hope” that goes through the Bible up through Jesus' life, crucifixion and resurrection. Afterwards the activity didn't go quite as I'd planned, but it worked out fine. We wrapped it up and then gave out hot dogs to everyone. The people on the island live off of fishing, so seeing any other kind of meat is a real treat.

Thankfully it didn't rain that night, so once we walked home taking a shower felt really good. It had been a hot, long day. I took a Benadryl to help me sleep. I'm not sure if it actually helped me or not. Falling asleep was easier because there was much less noise. But I was awakened early in the morning. This time it was the howler monkeys. At least they didn't wake me up too too early.

Sunday we had a team devotional and then a chain prayer-we had everyone pray for the person on their right. Well, you IVers remember Korean prayer? Well, I think I've mentioned it before, but Costa Ricans often pray that way too. We all started praying for the person on our right at the same time. Our way was much more time efficient, but after a couple people we picked up on the idea that it was one person at a time. Yes, I just said “we.” That was really interesting. I find myself identifying more with people and life and culture here. It's always so weird when gringos come. Because I feel like I get them pretty well, but they don't get life here very well. I try to help them with that, but you can see how that leads to me identifying more with people here through that. On the way to the ferry Friday I was riding in the microbus with the gringos again playing tour guide and explaining about coffee and all sorts of things and I found myself saying “we” and “us” as I talked about life, culture and history of Costa Rica. Interesting... I know I'm still a real gringa though. I'll be celebrating Independence day this Sunday! But more importantly... I'm a beloved daughter of the King! That is my real identity! Oh and that reminds me of some other interesting conversations. The gringos asked me about how I got to the mission field, my church background, etc. And it was really funny to see how they reacted when I told them I was Anglican. Yes, I am Anglican and I love being Anglican, but really, being a daughter of God and having a relationship with Him is what matters. Denomination slabomination. I know they exist for a reason, but please, let's focus on what unites us rather than what divides us!

So anyway, back to Sunday morning. They church service was 3 hours long instead of the 2 they'd told us, but really it went by pretty quickly. The testimony time was sweet. The congregation sang a “friends forever” song for us and it was all just adorable. Some of the gringos, including a phenomenal guy (one of the dentists whose name is John and happens to have particularly dark skin) sang a spiritual. He is so good animated and passionate about God and bringing Him glory. He was such an inspiration to me! He pastors a church in MS. I'd love to visit it some day! One of the pastors the gringos brought gave the sermon. He talked about seeking first the Kingdom of heaven. It was simple, but good. It don't always get to hear such Biblical sermons. But I will confess, I did sort of almost maybe sleep through part of it. I was so tired!!!

Oh what what a HUGE blessing! These people on Isla Venado are so amazing. The ladies that prepared our meals are so dear and loving and wonderful and with true servant hearts. I went to the kitchen for a drink. And when I entered they opened the fridge and pulled out my water bottle, full of cold water. It floored me. What a simple, but oh-so-powerful gesture of love!

After church we had lunch and left. Trip successful. We all made it home in one piece, though one of the gringos did get a little nauseous on the hilly, curvy road in the dark with lots of stop and go traffic. I can't really blame him.

Monday I was going to accompany them on their tour of Volcán Poás and the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, but I was too tired. I slept until almost 10am and did laundry, etc, knowing I had another busy week coming up as we prepare to go to México de Upala at the end of July!

Last night we had a good-bye dinner. It was sad to say good-bye to all of them. I was really bonding with some people like Grampa Ed (whose face is half cut off in the picture) and John (right behind him). But everyone on the team was so amazing! I really was so blessed by them!

So, that was the trip! Thanks for reading and thanks for praying!

Tico Tuesday, June 22nd

Happy Tuesday after Father's Day!
I trust all you current and future Daddies had a wonderful, special day with those you love! I got to start celebrating Father's Day on Saturday night since I went to church and they had the little kids say sweet things and sing a cute song about being like their Dad when they grow up. It was SO precious my face hurt from smiling so much! As you can see in the picture they all put on a shirt of their Dad's. How cute! I'd never seen it done that way before! And it was hilarious to see the little girls sing about having a mustache like their Daddy's.... Grandpa Smith always said I'd be a man before my mother. Afterwards they handed out chocolate hearts to all the Dads. On actual Father's Day I went for an adventurous bike ride and got home just in time for the Skype appointment with my Daddy. We had a great talk. He's so wonderful! Stories about Father's day lunch and the delicious dessert I made on the blog!
Thanks be to God for being our Father who is ever-present and loves without condition!
Carrie

So the original plan for Father's Day lunch was to eat at 2... Well then I was told 3. I was ok with that though, because in spite of my big bike ride in the morning and not eating that much for breakfast, I wasn't very hungry. So, in my perfect timing I got to the meeting of youth group leaders right as it ended (oops). Well, then I had time to kill before lunch, so I went to accompany my friend Jorge while he had lunch. He and I had a great time and some really good conversation about friendships here and how we have grown. He is such a dear little brother to me!
Well, just as we finished Albeiro messaged me to let me know he was back, so this time the timing really was perfect. But... lunch wasn't ready yet, though I was finally starting to feel hungry, so we hung out and then finally ate at about 5pm. So it was more like a lunch-supper. But that's ok, it was worth it. We had a delicious lasaña!! And I made dessert. Hot Fudge Cake (with the recipe from Yankee Magazine) with whipped cream and strawberries. Yeah, I went all out. It was SO YUMMY!!! Interestingly enough none of the people present at our meal are fathers, but there were a few potential future fathers there, and we knew we could still give thanks for our fathers whether or not they were present. Then we went to church and afterwards I was going to watch the Red Sox game (together but apart from Daddy), but sadly, the cable company did something mean and didn't show the game. That stunk. But, oh well. It was still a great day to remember and love on my Daddy and give thanks to my Heavenly Daddy!

Click!

Nope, I'm not referring to that Adam Sandler movie. Though it definitely was a thought provoking one. No, I'm referring more to the lightbulb clicking on inside my head. Or as my Honduran friend Luciano taught me "se me cayó el 20" ("the 20 cent coin landed"-think in terms of a vending machine and you can see how it works).

I'll start with the blonde "click" moment and then I'll tell you the other one.

This past week, I discovered something about my cell phone that I've now had for 13 months. After writing a text message, which is something I do several times a day, I have to erase the text in order to leave the editor. Well, the only way I'd ever been able to erase the text was to go back to the texting menu and erase the text from there. Well, on Wednesday or Thursday, I was erasing the message the slow way just hitting "erase" several times in a row. I happened to hold down to "erase" button longer than usual and it erased THE WHOLE TEXT!!! It was amazing!!!! I couldn't believe it! I'd figured there must be an easier way to do it, but I had never been able to figure that way out. And of course it never occurred to me to ask my friends who have similar phones... Oh silly me!

But here is the more interesting, deeper realization that clicked on last night. I'd always wondered about discipline in the Bible. I mean, I know our actions have consequences but sometimes it seems like God disciplines without reason. Like the whole Hebrews 12 passage about that never made much sense to me. Now, don't read too much into this, I'm no big theologian. But, last night the sermon at church was about the way God works with us and His discipline and it just kind of hit me.... There is a difference between discipline and punishment! And all of a sudden, it makes sense. God disciplines, not to slap us on the wrist, though sometimes I think He does that and we more than deserve it. But more than anything discipline is to make us grow, and be more humble and stronger. The beginning of Deuteronomy 8 is the passage we used last night explains it quite well:

¹ Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. ² Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ⁴ Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Isn't that neat? I hope I'm explaining myself ok. If you have something to add or think I'm way off base, please let me know!! Thanks!

Tico Tuesday, June 15th

Go go go! Allez! Allez! Allez!

It's World Cup time! In order to be a functional member of society I feel almost obligated to watch the games. With the time difference some games start here at 5:30am! And people get up for them! I can understand that though-- I was getting up early to watch the

French Open (tennis) a couple weeks ago. It's really neat though, to hear all the different national anthems and names and see all the different uniforms. I didn't get to see the opening ceremony, but I saw some clips and it looked similar to an Olympic opening ceremony but not quite as overwhelming, elaborate or expensive. But it's clear: futbol really is THE world sport. I wonder which has penetrated the peoples of the world more... futbol or the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Hmmm... More thoughts on the World Cup on my blog!

May God use you as His instrument this week!

Carrie

So here's my complaint. The trumpet/airhorn thingies that all those people at the stadiums have drive me NUTS! It's like a cacophony of semi-symphonic bees, wasps, hornets, abejones de mayo and everything else that buzzes. I can't imagine being there in the stadium. I would have to wear earplugs. I'm sure it would be an amazing, wild experience. But that noise... oh man I would not be able to handle it! It almost gives me a headache just watching the game on TV! I know, this probably sounds funny coming from noisy loud Carrie that often yells without even realizing it. But really, this madness of horns is too much!

Interesting fact. The flag of England is NOT the one I thought it was. Do you know what the flag of England looks like? Are you sure? Look it up if you think it has the color blue. Watching futbol is educational!

Am I becoming a futbol fan? Eh... I doubt it. It futbol you can tie and I'm too competitive and be able to accept that as an reasonable way for a game to end. I'm able to appreciate the game more. And I'm starting to understand it a little better. And watching the games is good listening practice. Yes I hear Spanish all the time, but trying to understand the announcers means I really have to pay attention.

I think I was going to say something else... but now I can't remember. Well, if I think of it I'll post again. G'night!

Tico Tuesday, June 8th

Happy happy Tuesday to you all!

Today has been a BUSY day, hence I'm writing to you after work. This weekend we had a meeting about the medical mission trip to Isla Venado (that's in 3 weeks

) and I left with a LOT of work to do! I realized I need to be taking more initiative in these kinds of things and be persistent and communicate more with others. There are a multitude of things to do. I'll delegate as I can, but most of this I'll just need to do myself. And, we have another trip to Mexico de Upala planned for the end of next month too. So I've got back-to-back trips to coordinate.

Thank God they aren't any closer together! The picture is of Pastor Eladio of Isla Venado and his wife, doña Epi (and some people from CCI praying for them in December). You can pray for them as they serve on the island and help prepare for our trip and for me and I have so much to do in the next 7 weeks!

God's peace be with you all!

Carrie

PS I'M FINALLY FINISHED WITH PERSPECTIVES!!! THANKS BE TO GOD!!!!

Yes, yes, YES! Perspectives is done!! It is so amazing to not have that hanging over my head anymore. Never again!! Never again will I take a course online! Distance education is NOT for me! At least, not if I have a full time job! I need class time. Having to go to class and see a prof and have classmates are really wonderful things that really enrich the learning experience! Thankfully I was at least able to listen to a majority of the lectures that accompany each lesson (though that wasn't required). And that was cool. But still not the same as being in class and getting to interact with those around me. Yet, even taking this class online changed my life. I mean it. I don't think about church, Christianity, missions and the world the same way anymore. And I can't urge you enough to find a class near you and take it!

And getting back to what I was saying about Isla Venado. Here's a story. We had a meeting about the trip on Saturday night after the service. I got there just at 8 when we said we'd start because I'd been at home having a really sweet time of prayer and worship with some of the other youth. And I believed that don Rolando was going to be there and lead the meeting. That was sure the impression that I'd gotten when he told me to call the meeting. But, I hadn't ever clarified it with him. And, with him, clarifying is important (though sometimes quite hard to do). Well, he was nowhere to be found. No one had seen him. And he is never late. So, it was up to me to lead this meeting in which I had no idea what to do or say! That was an adventure, I'll tell you! But oh, God was so gracious to me! Everyone that actually made it to the meeting (about half the people who signed up) was very patient and helpful. In most other meetings I've led I've just felt like people have trampled all over me and not respected me. Well, I left the meeting with a looooooooong to do list. And that's why I was so busy today. It was a productive day though, thanks be to God. Though there is still much to be done. I'm still at the point where doing one thing still means I'm basically making more work for myself because there is a whole bunch of follow-up, etc, etc, etc. But, life is good. God is even better, and my Tuesday night activity got cancelled, so I'm happy and thus able to get this out to you!

Oh and the other good news is that today when talking to don Rolando's assistant it seemed like he had actually planned to go to the meeting on Saturday. He just got sick and didn't/wasn't able to communicate that to anyone. That made me feel a little better.

Hopefully more to come soon! Thanks for reading and praying!

Tico Tuesday, June 1st

Oh hey! It's Wednesday. I know at least a couple of you were disappointed that Tico Tuesday didn't come yesterday. Tranquilos! Pura vida! Chill out! It's all good! I actually did it on purpose to give you another taste of tico (Costa Rican) culture. Yup, a lot of ticos run late. The Spanish language even makes it easy for them to not take responsibility by making an impersonal verbal expression that's kind of like “It got late.” Many ticos also aren't very good at making commitments and following through with them. Exactly half the girls I rounded up to play futbol on Saturday me quedaron mal (let me down). It was a bit frustrating, but that's life here (and it was a good lesson to recruit way more people than necessary). My wonderful InterVarsity cross-cultural training reminds me that people here tend to be more people and event oriented than time and task oriented. The fascinating thing is though, this drives a lot of ticos I know absolutely bonkers! Costa Rica has been so highly affected by people from the US that I see the culture somewhat divided- into the more traditional, relaxed, not-so-committal ticos and the more “North Americanized” ticos. It's very interesting....

Have a great rest of your WEDNESDAY!

Love,

Carrie

PS. La foto es de my friend Fer and me. She is the one I went to Jacó with en bici (and her boyfriend David). She is a great playmate!

Yeah, so literally half of the girls that told me they would come didn't show up. That left me with 6 girls and 4 empty slots. Well, after the girls game the guys from church played, so my friends Jorge (the one who ran the race with Albeiro and me) and Luis (his brother) stepped in and served as our goalies. And Yenny and Winny's mom and their little brother played too. So, it worked. As the game went on Jorge and Luis' brother David and another family's young son joined us too. But really, even though they are only 7-11 year old boys, they were about as good as us in some ways and better in others. I used to think futbol ran in latino blood, and that often seems the case, but it must be acknowledged that is a generalization. I've met a lot of people here who don't like to watch or play futbol.

Earlier last week someone told me that futbol 5 is more tiring than normal futbol because you have to run up and down the cancha so much. I kind of believed him/her (I can't remember who it was!) because I knew he/she knew what he/she was talking about. But it didn't make sense to me, so I was waiting to see how the experience unfolded and see just how tiring it was. It was tiring! Really tiring! But it was also really fun and exciting and it ended up being a close game (though I considered my team far weaker than the other). We managed to tie it up and then when there were less than 10 seconds left the other team scored another goal! Too bad! I was still just impressed with how everything turned out though and surprised at how well I'd actually managed to do. Daddy was right! Even though I hadn't played in forever, I'm in the best shape physically I think I've ever been and that made a big difference!

Well, I felt good after the game... Endorphins and such, you know. So I decided to stick with the plan to bike with Albeiro on Sunday morning. Well, I knew it would take me a while to fall asleep because I had exercised so recently, but it didn't take me too too long. But then at 2:30am I was lying in bed, WIDE awake, once more. It was so unfair! I couldn't fall back asleep until after 4am. Finally I did though, and all Sunday I felt fine and was on the go. I went to church in the morning and at night and in between made pizza, ran errands and went out for lunch with friends. Well, I ran out of steam as church was coming to an "N" (end). I fell into bed before 9:30pm and woke up Monday with SORE legs. I guess I did kinda overdo it. Well, I've learned my lesson for next time!