Tico Tuesday, April 26th

ALLELUIA! HE IS RISEN!! Resurrection stories and photos will come in the Chronicle that will appear later this week.

Today, I want to share about our trip to Monteverde. Samuel, Ceci and I adventured to one of the most famous places for eco-tourism in the hemisphere. Monteverde is aptly named, for it is indeed green and mountainous. And oh, how beautiful! The views driving up were gorgeous. The horizon was a bit hazy, but we could still see the ocean. We went to a cloud forest preserve and hiked around. Costa Rica is famous for having 6% of the world's biodiversity (and it all fits in a land mass that is smaller than West Virginia). It is impressive I tell you! Unfortunately we didn't get to see much in the way of wild life, but we did get to see gorgeous flora and a surprise amazing view of the Arenal volcano! (I'll try to get some pictures on fb soon.) I marveled at God's phenomenal creativity and was once more left in awe when I remembered that it is the very same Creator God who made, knows and loves you and me! WOW! This God who Himself became a part of creation, joined humanity and walked among us, then gave His life for us and rose again from the dead! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

Don't forget to check out the blog!

Love,

Carrie

Going to Monteverde was quite an adventure. It is still eco-touristy and not totally exploited because you have to drive 20km on a dirt road to get there. I found this out the night before we left, and didn't want to cancel the trip because my excursion for the previous had been canceled. Well, we made it fine, but I certainly would not want to drive that again. Now I really understand why my parents didn't want me to make friends with people who lived on dirt roads when I was little.

One highlight of the trip was the way there. Ceci, Samu and I had a great conversation about love. We have some differing ideas, but it was delightful to have a pleasant, meaty conversation! I haven't had too many of those here. People tend to hide in the shallows and not have deep conversations. Building trust is hard and takes a long time. This has been hard for me because a) our culture trains us that we should get everything as fast as we want it b) it takes a lot of effort and patience c) people tend to open up only in one on one conversations d) I was spoiled by Grove City where having deep conversations is just what you do, in the car, at lunch, walking to class, whenever e) I don't want to pry into peoples' lives and sometimes it's hard to (know how to) relate and I'm not sure how much others will be able to relate to me. So, it's a learning process. And though I am very extroverted, I know I don't have to and actually shouldn't be best friends with everyone. Better to have a solid few than an overwhelming smattering of friends. God has been incredibly good to me though and I am so thankful for all the people He has placed into my life here and everything He has taught me through them!

More to come soon!

Tico Tuesday, April 19th

Today I got to go visit the kids from the Bible Home at camp. As I was getting ready to leave this morning, I asked myself if I should grab a bathing suit.... just in case. I knew there was a pool there, but I wasn't sure if I would have the opportunity to get in, and if it was just going to be full of splashing kids and I wouldn't be able to actually do anything, I'd rather not risk losing my contacts. So I thought. And surely people there didn't know me well enough or have enough confidence with me (How would you say that in English?) to just throw me into the water. So the suit stayed at home, and oh! How wrong I was!! About everything! There was opportunity, and whether I could actually swim or not, getting to be with the kids is so fun and special I would have gotten in if I'd had a suit or a change of clothes. And it turns out though that people do feel comfortable enough to pick me up and throw me in the water -because they DID!!!! I didn't put up much of a fight though and it was useless. Playing with the kids in the water was way better than watching them. And I only got splashed in the eyes once! It was a blast! And thanks be to God, somebody lent me dry clothes. :-) It was a great day!

And I HAVE to share this with you too-this boy that I'm with told me before he got into the pool “My clean heart is going to wash off. But that's ok,” as he put his hand to his chest, “because I'm still going to have one here!” That is what happened at camp! God is so AWESOME!!!

Love,

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, April 12th

Happy Tuesday! Today doesn't feel like Tuesday because yesterday was a fascinating national holiday (a battle against gringos, actually). More about that on the blog. But, I took advantage of the 3 day weekend and headed to my dear Isla Venado. My friend Heather, who is also with the LAM (and currently at language school here) accompanied me and we had a WONDERFUL trip, resting in the hammocks, conversing with doña Epi and Pastor Eladio, eating mangos off the ground, going to a lovely church service, exploring all over the island, eating delicious fresh fish, sleeping, going to the beach, hanging out with Pastor Eladio and doña Epi's grandkids, coconut apretados, etc. Oh and we also got to visit a special friend of mine on the island. She is so sweet! Heather and I also got to enjoy almond fruit, cashew fruit, multiple kinds of iguana/lizardy things, lots of different kinds of scrumptious mangos (what a sin to have mangos rotting off trees there and lousy, expensive, hard to find mangos in the States!), some kind of gorgeous blue bird, a jellyfish that stung Heather and a few other people at the beach, tons of beautiful flowers, cows, roosters, chickens and more. Please note, we did not eat all of the above. Jijiji!! This trip was quite a learning experience!
More on the blog!
God bless you!
Carrie

Ok briefly, yesterday's holiday. Known as the Battle at Rivas, or Juan Santamaría Day, William Walker was trying to invade Costa Rica and we wouldn't let him in. (Oops, did I just say we, referring to myself as a tica? Well, let's call it me referring to myself as someone who lives here. I know I will always be a gringa, but Heather did tell me this weekend I'm more tica than I think. Jajajajaja!!) Juan Santamaría, a tico soldier, volunteered to go burn the palce where all the gringos were and he was successful in his mission, but died in the process. Our airport is named after him. That is a very brief summary of what happened. I should learn more Costa Rican history.
I'm just more excited to talk more about my weekend. It was SOOOOOO great! I went to the island not only to visit, but also to deliver to Pastor Eladio a book he wants to use in discipling others. It is called "Uses and Customs of the Biblical Lands" or something like that. That would be my translation of Spanish back to English. The trip wasn't planned that much ahead of time, so I wasn't able to plan much else. I love going to the island and it has started to serve as a kind of retreat center for me, but I always want to be of blessing when I go to the Island. God's timing is so perfect and I believe He continues to use me. I was really excited to visit my friend Marlen, (the one I mentioned above), because she and I just kind of clicked when I was there in June of last year with the medical mission team. However, when I arrived this time I found out that she could use a visit and I was really glad to be able to check on her and see how she has been doing. You can pray for her and whatever God is doing in and around her right now.
I got to talk a little bit with Pastor Eladio and doña Epi about what I might possibly do during my next visit to benefit the island community and that will take some prayer and consideration, but Pasotr Eladio mentioned giving a talk to the youth about not doing drugs. I think I would probably talk about good decision making and not just drugs (I don't know too much about that. I just remember scary movies in elementary school). But, I don't know.... We'll see. There is much to think and pray about!
This is funny. I go to Isla Venado and love it there. Heather loved it too. But she did point out that for some people going there would be difficult. Eating the same thing pretty much every day (rice, beans and fish), not hot water (you don't really need it though), heat, having to walk everywhere on dirt roads, poverty, no much in the way of stores, chickens all over the yard, sleeping on foam pads on a bed frame... I don't know, it still doesn't sound that bad to me, and I HATE CAMPING. But, I guess that's me. There is running, potable water. I think that's probably the most important thing to me.
Island life is so interesting. Sunday morning a man on the island passed away. He wasn't a part of the church, but we still had a little pow-wow before the service to decide if we should still have it. People looked at me to see what I thought, and I asked what were the pluses and minuses of having the service. Thank God for reminding me to keep an open mind and not just say something. They explained to me that when someone passes away, the community usually gathers around the family and supports them. Hmm, kind of sounds like the awesome sermon by Dr. Gordon I listened to the other week! (Jesus Wept, So Can We). So, we decided to have an abbreviated service. It was definitely the nicest service I'd been to there. I don't know if it was because I'd had time to prepare my heart, I knew more of the songs we sang, or if there was just a different spirit/ambience. It was lovely though. And a very down to earth sermon on lying (he was ag'in it). Pastor Eladio and doña Epi went to be with the family while Heather and I visited Marlen.
Ok, I would love to write more and share every detail, but I got well rested over the weekend and would like to stay that way for as long as possible. :-) G'night!

Tico Tuesday, April 5th

Can you believe it's APRIL already!?!?!?!
Anyway, this is what my church here in Costa Rica is like. This past Sunday was a special day because a group from the US came to worship with us. They are helping us build a new church building that will also double as a child care center for children of teen mothers. (I just can't get away from at risk children! Not that I have a problem with that.... jijiji). Though no one in the group of gringos knew any Spanish, it wasn't too hard for them to follow the service because all Anglican churches use the same prayer book and liturgy! It's so beautiful! But, at a couple points in the service, the rector wanted some of his comments to be understood by everyone, so I got to interpret! IT WAS GREAT!
It's a good thing the work is coming along on the new church building, because have outgrown this little space that we are currently meeting in! If you'd like to keep reading, you can find more on the blog!
God bless you and your times of worship this week!
Carrie


Yeah, so we hope to be able to have our Resurrection Sunday celebration at the new church and are very excited because that day will also have baptism, confirmation and it is our church's namesday (Cristo Resucitado means Risen Christ). So it's going to be a BIG party! I was talking with Nelly my coworker today and she confirmed one of the sadder cultural differences I have observed: typically here in Costa Rica, Resurrection Sunday is not such a big deal. In the States it is a BIG DEAL and I have come to passionately LOVE Resurrection Sunday as I have grown in my relationship with Christ. And to my disappointment, the 4 Resurrection Sundays I have spent here have indeed not had the same hype, thrill, emotion, power and beauty and the typical one in the States. I'm not sure why this is. Easter pageants here are pretty much nonexistent. Well, I think Christmas ones pretty much are too. Life is different. But I will still have my personal sunrise service on Resurrection Sunday morning and sing through the whole Resurrection section of my hymnal! And that will be lovely. So, in essence, Resurrection Sunday will be/is a big deal at my church here, but still not in my ideal way, and I'll deal with it.
Hmm, I had been planning to write about something else. I don't remember what it was now though. Was I going to tell you about the wonderful people there? They truly are wonderful! Was I going to tell you about the colors of liturgy and explain that purple is for Lent? Oh I Remember! It's a funny anecdote:
During announcements, our rector Jorge had everyone introduce themselves, starting with the gringos and then everyone from our church (I can't call us all ticos because we have Venezuelans, Salvadorians, Guatemalans, etc). So, the gringos all introduced themselves. They didn't consider me a gringa because I wasn't part of their group. They'd heard me speak enough English that they figured I was from the States (apparently I accidentally let a y'all slip out! Yikes! I don't know what happened! They were all excited I might be a Southerner too though.) But of course they associated me more with Costa Rica and knew I was a regular attender of the church. However, when almost all the people from Cristo Resucitado had introduced themselves (the only 2 who hadn't gone were the Austrian exchange student and yours truly), Jorge started to move on and I had to clear my throat pretty obviously to catch his attention. Essentially, the gringos thought of me as a tica and the ticos thought of me as a gringa! Such are the joys and complications of my life!
I love being identified with people and life here! But, there are definitely those moments of Wait, where do I belong? or Where do I say I'm from? I definitely can't ever deny I'm from the States, but right now I'm a happy resident of Costa Rica. That ties in with something else I was reminded of recently: Jesus identifies with us in pretty much EVERYTHING!! Since He came to earth as a man, He experienced life here and can thus identify with us. So, He knows what it's like to be from one place and sort of be from another. Not that the US is heaven, but I think you can get my general idea. This came from a sermon I listened to-I finally downloaded all the sermons from my church in the States onto my ipod and have been listening to sermons on the way to work. FANTASTIC!!!!!! I encourage you to check them out too!

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!