Tico Tuesday, March 29th

God blessed me with this beautiful Hyundai Accent! I am so grateful! I can get back and forth to the office so much easier now! I also have more freedom to go up to the Bible Home evenings and weekends and I can bless other people by giving them rides. I am SO glad and excited to not have to depend on trains and buses, and to be able to grow in my ministry and service to others! Since the car’s primary use is for my ministry, I will be able to be reimbursed for it if God provides $6000 (the cost of my Hyundai) into my Travel & Equipment account. Please see my signature below for information about tax-deductible giving to the LAM.

I’m making a trip to the States in May and look forward to sharing with some of you more about serving in Costa Rica and thanking you personally for your support of my ministry here. It is a real honor to serve God in this way! THANK YOU SO MUCH for your prayers and support and thank you too to those of you who give on a regular basis and thus keep me on the field! God is really blessing me and I am overjoyed to be here!

Love,

Carrie

Please prayerfully consider partnering with me by regularly supporting me and/or making a special gift on my behalf to:
Latin America Mission, P.O.B. 52-7900, Miami, FL 33152-7900 (with a note that it's for Carrie Smith).
Or by internet: lam.org Go to donate to an LAM missionary/Carrie Smith.
Or click on this link to go directly to my LAM bio:
http://csmith.lam.org/

Tico Tuesday, March 22nd

Happy Tuesday!
What does this, the Hospital Clínica Bíblica, have to do with Roblealto? And what do they both have in common with the Latin America Mission? Their founders! Harry and Susan Strachan are two people who God has used to do phenomenal things in Latin America. They did a huge Evangelism-in-Depth campaign with native speaking preachers and excellent follow-up, they founded the Templo Bíblico, the Hogar Bíblico, la Iglesia Bíblica, el Seminario Bíblico, la Clínica Bíblica, etc. I think you get the point. And contrary to the typical assumption, neither Harry nor Susan was from the States! (They were from Scotland and Ireland, respectively). So, there are some fun little trivial facts for you this week. I'll tell you on my blog why I got to go to the Clínica Bíblica the other week!

Yes, I got to go to the Clínica Bíblica. I had a really great time too! And no, thankfully I was not injured or sick (though I have been battling a nasty cough for a couple weeks, but I'm on antibiotics now).

I'll start from the beginning. A couple weeks ago I got to go to the Bible Home (Hogar Bíblico!!) for a night of translation. Volunteer groups from the States and Canada come to Roblealto on short term mission trips and help us with needed maintenance and construction projects (of which there are many!). They also get to play with the kids and love on them and bless the substitute families and it's just a wonderful experience for everyone. Every other night, the volunteers eat with the kids and substitute families. However, this is a bit of the challenge, since most volunteers don't know hardly any Spanish and most substitute families don't know hardly any English. Smiles and gestures go a long way, but one night a week we provide them with a translator so the volunteers can have a richer, higher quality interaction with the kids and substitute families. I LOVE GETTING TO DO THIS!!!!!!!! Anyway, I got to go to the Bosque (Forest) house. The volunteers there were a couple and their 26 year old daughter. We had a wonderful evening. Most of my translating was for the wife, Lynn. She is an amazing, loving woman and it was really special to get to interpret for her and mami Yorleny. Well, Lisa and her family stayed in Costa Rica to vacation a bit after the rest of the group left. And unfortunately, there was a freak accident and Lynn got to get airlifted to the Clínica Bíblica. Thankfully, she is ok and it was nothing too serious. But there was some serious concern before the x-rays and all the tests came through. I'm not sure if Fabián and I were sent or permitted to go visit Lynn, but I was really glad to get to see her again and encourage her a bit. We got her a card and had a beautiful visit in the Clínica Bíblica. It was truly a time of sweet fellowship. We all shared together and it was just beautiful. I could feel God's presence so powerfully in that room with us! So, that was a great visit to the Clínica Bíblica (though of course, the circumstances were all too unfortunate). It's too bad about Lynn's accident, but thanks be to God she is doing much better and He was indeed glorified through it all! Later in the evening Pam (my supervisor), Mami Yorleny and another substitute mom went too and had an even more incredible experience!

One moral of the story I learned: visit people in the hospital. It's not just an old-fashioned pastoral thing. It's really meaningful. Going out of the way and making an effort for others is a great blessing for all! And thank God for the Strachans!

Tico Tuesday, March 15th

This is my friend Julie. You can't see her that well in the picture, but that's ok. (I stole it off of fb anyway). Suffice it to say that she is a worshiper, missionary, long blonde haired wicked awesome girl from Maine that I met in college and has been mentoring me since my senior year. We met through InterVarsity when she was a senior and I was a freshman. Her being a fellow New Englander meant us getting to bond more at mini IV New England reunions and now she lives in the same house as a close friend of my family in the same town as one of my uncles (and his family). Small world, isn't it? Anyway, lately Julie's and my conversations haven't been quite so regular (they used to be once a week, without fail), but I'm pretty sure our conversation on Sunday night was life-changing. How so? Head to the blog to find out!!

May God grant you a life changing conversation this week too!!

Love,

Carrie

Life changing, huh? Yeah. I believe it! And that's what makes the change! Although sometimes I can (seem to) have a very strong personality, I am also very good at being passive. I like other people making decisions for me and telling me what to do. It makes life so much easier! (Or so I think. I've gotten dreadfully burned by this though.) I don't like making decisions for myself. I'm afraid I won't make a good decision and I'm afraid I won't do things right or be able to do whatever I set out to do. I tend to let people steamroll right over me and I haven't had the self-confidence to really believe in myself and my capabilities. Good grief, when I put it like that I wonder how I made it this far? Only by God's grace, that's for sure! And I went to Grove City too, jajajaja! Thank God for Grace!

In college, I didn't know what I was doing with my life. I knew I loved Spanish, Latin America, and the people there. So, it looks like I did the right thing moving to Costa Rica then, right? I guess so! But that's only because I was invited to serve here and i did rally feel like I got the green light from God to do so. But here's the thing. You can study a biology and become a biologist. You can study history and become a historian. You can study psychology and become a psychologist. But you can't study Spanish and become a Spaniard!! What about teaching? (that's what everybody else asks me.) After taking Educational Psychology I decided teaching really wasn't for me. I was too afraid of not being able to handle classroom management. And, I'm such a perfectionist that I would be a horrible Spanish teacher because I wouldn't let the kids make any mistakes and I'm sure they would get the bejeebees frustrated out of themselves. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe I actually could teach.

As I close in on the 2 year mark of being here in Costa Rica (my original plan was for 3 years total), I am contemplating what will become of me when my 3 years are up. I know the world is my oyster and that I have a lot of options. Due to the things I described above though, that is a more frightening than exciting thought. Do I stay? Do I go? What do I do, wherever the heck I am? I can easily let myself get overwhelmed when I contemplate these things. But lately, I have just been trying to think: what are my life goals? Where am I headed? What do I really want to do? How can I make the best use of the gifts and passions God has given me in order to extend His Kingdom on earth? Julie did some awesome “active listening” and helped me brainstorm about some things. That was fun, and I started to get excited about what the future may hold instead of just get intimidated by it. Why? Because she spoke life and truth into me. Nothing I hadn't heard... or even told other people... before. But things that I hadn't truly believed for myself. I often write in reports about the children in Roblealto that God has great things in store for this child. But I wasn't fully believing that God has great things in store for ME, another one of His precious children!! God has created you and me with a purpose and He wants to use us as His instruments to share His love and truth and grow His kingdom. That is so awesome! Life is something to be excited about! I pray God continues to make you and me more sensitive to his leading. May we seek Him and obey Him, that He may be glorified and that our joy may be complete. AMEN!

Tico Tuesday, March 8th

Where do I have the most fun here in Costa Rica?

a) At home

b) In the car

c) At the Bible Home

d) At the mall

And the answer is..... C! (Of Course!) I do have a lot of fun at home, though I haven't had as muCh time here lately. I have fun in the car, especially if I'm not driving alone. The mall is ok. But there is nothing like a party with all the kids from the Bible Home and a group of volunteers!! Friday night there was a pizza/going away party for the group of volunteers that was there last week. We had great entertainment with the help of don Gerardo and Andrés, 2 incredible men that live at the Bible Home and invest their whole lives into ministering to the kids there. We played Minute to Win It and that was hilarious and really fun, but I think my favorite part was the performance by God's Dwarves (or so they called themselves). They did a dance to a popular Christian hip hop song. The foto helps explain it all. I got to be in my element as interpreter for the night. It was a blast! More stories and a secret detail about one of the dancers on the blog!

I hope you get to have some incredible fun this week!

Carrie

The dancer of the far left is a boy!! it took me a while to pick up on it, but once I got a good look at his shoes, I knew it. The poor guy got a bit embarrassed, I think I would have been too if I were him. But, he did a great job.

The Minute to Win it challenges were, 1) scooching across the floor on a mat without touching the ground with one's hands or the balloons with the mat. 2) Kicking off one's shoe onto a table about 15 ft away 3) picking up paper bags from the floor without using one's hands (very sanitary.... NOT!) 4) Blowing plastic cups off the table with air released from a balloon one has inflated. I would LOVE to try that one! Then the volunteers had to put one 10 t-shirts one on top of another. That's a good way to know what you'd look like if you packed on a few pounds!

Hilarious English observation. Sometimes I get “at” and “in” confused now, because there's only one preposition for both those words in Spanish. I remember Srta Forrester (one of my Spanish profs from college) telling us in fonetics (yes, I've also given up on using the ph) that we would never be able to divide syllables again correctly in English. Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it's true. I remember only very little about how to do that in English now. I only know that doubled consonants get split up. But I can't tell you if it's con-son-ant or con-so-nant. I think it's the 1^st one, but in Spanish it would be the 2^nd. AAAAHH!! Oh, and the other day someone pointed this out to me. Buses and cars are both vehicles, but why do you get ON the bus and IN the car??? Oh English, you don't make sense!

Anyway, I'm off to bed! I need sleep!

Tico Tuesday, March 1st

We had this very special visitor in the office the other day. It flew in through the window and had a hard time finding its way back out through the blinds. Finally we were able to help it out, hopefully without damaging its wings. Of course, we had to get some pictures first. Even though this is Costa Rica, butterflies don't pass through the office every day! We had to snap the pictures shortly after it landed though, because once it was still for a while its wings folded up. Have you ever noticed the incredible camouflage butterflies have? It is quite impressive. I never saw that many butterflies in the States, but I wonder how many I have seen, both here and there and just didn't realize it because their wings weren't open and their camouflage served its purpose?

Another recent butterfly story can be found on my blog!

Love,

Carrie

Sunday afternoon I was hanging out with Fabián and his family. We went across the street to the soccer field for a bit and Keren, Fabián's niece made a little friend. They were playing when I think the other little girl's mom found a dead butterfly (and I think it was the same kind as the one that flew into the office). She picked it up and Keren boldly took it into her hands and gave it a thorough inspection and ripped a wing. It's amazing how strong they were! I was surprised they weren't in shreds. Well, the next thing I know Keren's hands are covering in black butterfly dust. It's like the creature was disintegrating in her hands. And of course, she had to get her hair out of her face and the next thing we know Keren is black and dirty all over.

Her mom, like any other young mother, was nervous it might be one of those poisonous ones and took her off to get cleaned up at once. It was really cute. Keren had on an adorable new tweed dress too. I don't think that got dirty from dead butterfly dust, but it was dirty anyway from playing outside. She is so adorable! (This picture of her is from another day when we were in Heredia centro and she got to do one of her favorite things-feed corn to the pigeons. Every night when she says her prayers she has to pray for the pigeons and for the corn that God provides for them!)