Tico Tuesday, April 26th

Welcome to Guararí (pronounce wah-ra-REE with the r's flipped so they sound a little more like d's), the poorest part of my province Heredia.

My church partners with a local ministry here that provides children with tutoring, Bible clubs, a free meal once a week, women with discipleship classes, sewing classes, and a host of other activities. Today, several players from Heredia's soccer team came to meet some of the kids and serve them lunch. It was quite a to do! While we waited for the players' arrival, the man who directs the ministry and some of his fellow clown friends led the kids in some fun songs. When the players arrived it got pretty chaotic, but what do you expect when a couple hundred kids meet famous people? All the local news stations were there interviewing the players--I wasn't so impressed by that. But they had the press come to the activity instead of their training session today (and they are currently the number one seeded team and heading into semifinals). I understand the press' desire and the desire of the team to look good, but I also understand the children's desire to hang out with some of their favorite players.
I had fun getting to meet and interact with some kids. They were having a blast getting their faces painted and balloon animals and such. I saw one boy swinging at the grass with his balloon sword much like people cut grass with a machete here. Thankfully he didn't seem upset by his balloon popping.
I'm grateful for this opportunity to visit this ministry of my church and see the bridge we are helping them rebuild (which is literally falling into the polluted stream below and therefore quite scary to cross. You can see part of it on the left side of the picture). It was quite an experience! And thankfully, God held off the rain until just after we finished.
May God continue to teach us to see his hand at work and be his hands and feet to those in need,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, April 19th

I've had some great meetings in the past week.

 I visited a couple small groups and tonight my supervisor and I met with the leaders of the Crown Finance ministry (pictured) of our church to figure out how we can make better use of their knowledge and materials in small groups and the rest of our church. This morning before the weekly staff meeting I met with Shirley, my right hand small group woman, and last week I had a really good meeting with my supervisor. Needless to say, it's been a productive time.
While I definitely still feel like I'm adjusting to my new role, I feel like I'm slowly gathering a better idea of how things will be and how to go about them. It will not be an easy task and I have a lot of learning and growing to do, but I know that God is at work--in me and in my church. It's a busy, exciting time as we prepare to move up to our property and our first church building!
After the series we are currently doing on the war against temptation, we will be strongly encouraging all small groups to keep on meeting! In the past, the tendency has been for only a few groups to meet year-round, while the majority only have met when there is a series (6-7 sessions, 2-3 times a year). I'm working hard on developing resources for small group facilitators to use when we're not doing a series. Please pray for me as I build a team to work with, develop materials, plan trainings, continue to visit small groups, etc., etc., etc.!
In other brief news: 1) My car is in the country! Please pray for all the paperwork and everything to go smoothly so that I can have the keys in my hand by the end of the month!! Thank you again to all of you who made buying it possible! 2) Please pray for the team I have joined who will be going on a short term trip to Cuba next month! It will be a challenging time, but I'm really excited for this experience!
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, April 12th

Happy Tuesday to you once more!
The ups and downs of this week were a little more exaggerated than normal. It's not every week a good friend has a baby with a bit of a scare right after the delivery (thankfully baby and momma are now well and at home), I get to go to an elegant 25th anniversary party/vow renewal with mariachis and fireworks, and I have to deal with some extra-tricky cultural situations. But thankfully, God is present and at work through it all.
I was particularly grateful my friend and small group member Angie (pictured) was at the anniversary party. There weren't many single people there and while I know I would have been fine without her, I was very happy to have a buddy there. Angie is one of the few people who kept in touch with me while I was gone last year, so she is really special to me. I've really been enjoying getting to know her and the rest of the members of my small group. We're starting to develop a stronger sense of community and I'm really excited about it. I think I've mentioned it to you before: the last time I remember being part of a good small group was college!
I've started visiting other small groups now too and am really enjoying that. Last night I was really impressed by a leader that is reaching out to her neighbors and teaching them from God's Word, even looking up extra passages not mentioned in the study to share with them. From the little I know about this woman, I can see that what she is doing is a really beautiful act of love and service. It's a wonderful blessing to get to know and work with these people, encourage them, and provide them with a listening ear, support, and resources as they obediently serve the Lord. I'm so grateful to be a part of the Lord's work here!
May we be obedient to the Lord and selflessly serve and love others too!
Carrie