Village Parkway Baptist Church Part II

We had a big week planned for our friends from San Antonio Texas.  Our first planned activity was a community carnival.  People came from Paso Marcos, Santubal, Bajo Pacuare and even as far as Tsimrinak to enjoy a relaxing morning and afternoon of games, crafts, fellowship, tug or war and a good summer treat of Hotdogs, Chips and Salad.

Family and friends enjoying the carnival

Mike helping one of the little ones.

Sunday was our day of rest.  Well, not exactly.  The day was spent playing futbol (soccer) in the community of Santubal.  There is nothing like sports to bring a group of people together.  Some of us had soccer skills, (everybody from Santubal) and some of us didn't (the gringos), but what mattered is we had a good time, got some exercise and continue to build bonds and friendships.  That evening we spent some time in prayer and preparation as we got ready for the big event that started on Monday, Vacation Bible School

 The Big Football Match

Vacation Bible School took place Monday through Thursday at an elementary school inside the reservation on the outskirts of Paso Marcos.  God has opened doors for us to work with the community to include two building restorations and other activities.  I do not think many indigenous schools here in Costa Rica have had the great oportunity to have God's word brought to the students in such a manner.  What a blessing to share a couple Bible stories with 24 children, play games, and do arts and crafts.

Terri teaching the Bible Story

The children acting out the Bible Story

Holly always had a crowd around her.

Briana leading the choir.

The afternoons were spent doing activities in the surronding communities.  A big hit on this trip was Holly.  She is a professional balloon animal creator.  Not only did she entertain kids with her fun balloons but also taught adults how to make such creatures.  Other activities included visiting local farmers our micro loan program has helped.  It was great for these farmers to demonstrate how these micro-loans have helped the community and provide insight to us North Americans how difficult and demanding life is here in Costa Rica. 
 

Balloon Fun at Bajo Pacaure

Ron, Mike, Franklin, Art and Vicki on one of our farm expeditions.

Missions trips are always exciting.  We never know what God has in store for the community let alone all the members on the trip.  Of course, life in a foreign environment has its challenges such as the heat, rain, bugs, spiders, lack of hot water, strange food, and even the unexpected power outages but what a wonderful experiece for all of us. What a joy for our team to reconnect with friends they have made over the years while serving in Costa Rica.

Walking In Their Boots

Two years ago on April 30, Lori, Dustin, and I arrived at Centro Emanuel to start life a new in Paso Marcos.  Many things have changed since we first came to Paso Marcos. Today’s blog is about two bridges in our little part of the world and what they mean to our community.  The first bridge is for cars and trucks and the second bridge is for walking and motorcycles. 

Mode of Transportation for most Costa Ricans

The first bridge is in the town of Bajo Pacuare which crosses the Pacuare River and allows vehicles access to part of the indigenous reserve.  This bridge has been long in waiting and we hope it will greatly improve the infrastructure to this part of Costa Rica by permitting heavy construction vehicles to cross the river. 

The new bridge with the old "singing bridge" by its side.

The second bridge is even closer to home.  For the last 40 some years a cable and basket has bridged the two parts of Paso Marcos.  During Holy Week a new walking bridge was dedicated in our little town.  What a blessing this new bridge is to our community, thanks to help of Clinica Biblica in San Jose and Dr Murillo (Alekcey).

I am not much help when it comes to construction,

 but I can dig holes for the foundation!

The walking bridge nearing completion

This blog is titled "Walking in Their Boots".  Walking is the basic mode of transportation for the majority of the rural population.  I like to walk, it is a great way to see and greet our neighbors and get a small understanding of how life is for people in Costa Rica.  So I paid our water bill yesterday walking to the town of Bajo Pacuare.  I did cheat a little bit, I drove down to our work center and started my walk from there.

I walked over the new walking bridge and did not have to get wet crossing the river.  For most of the year the river is too high to even cross by foot.  The new bridge cut my travel time by more than half and it still took me over a hour and a half to pay the water bill.  Of course I enjoyed a little rain and got to see Costa Rica the way most people do around here, by foot.

Inaugaration Ceremony with Alekcey and Rodolfo

This was a short trip compared to the distances most people have to walk and I did this for fun.  Everybody else this is life.  Walk an hour or two to school and an hour or two back home.  Walk to work, work all day and walk home.  This sums up life here in Costa Rica.       

As the US is talking about the new IPAD, Paso Marcos and the surrounding communities are talking about their new bridges.

Construction Team at Sikua Ditso

Construction Team

Once again we were blessed with a visit from our friends at Village Parkway Baptist Church in San Antonio. This was a new adventure for us. We had hosted a construction team when Lori was pregnant, now it was time to host a team with little Emma. We were not sure how Lori or Emma would hold up to a different schedule. Lori and Emma did amazingly!!!

The Team

The before picture

During Picture

Students, Teachers, and Village Parkway Team

Almost there!

After

Our days were long but well worth the effort. Emma rolls with the ebb and flow of life like a pro. We praise God for His grace in this endeavor. A lot of thanks goes to her Costa Rican Abuelita “grandma” Iris, for helping with the cooking and chinear (spoil) our little Emma.

Iris, Emma's Costa Rica Grandma looking after Emma

At the end of the day, I got to reconnect with Emma

After the team left last September we started planning for another visit. This time our efforts went into building a new cafeteria and kitchen for the little public school inside the reservation here in Paso Marcos. We knew this was going to be a challenge in many ways. First, funding a big project like this and how much work could we really get done in one week. I think we had more questions than answers but that is where Faith comes in.

Alan and Keith cleaned the metal sheets, painted, and cut the panels for the roof and sides.

Keith getting measurements before cutting some more metal.

Bill's welding skills came in handy. Gio was happy with his work.

Students looked on as we prepared for work in the morning.

Thanks to a public works project, the foundation for the footers was poured and some cleaning and painting of materials already were accomplished before our team arrived for work on Monday morning.

Pastor Steve has a huge grin after he found the internet in the jungle
Marcelo's Baptism

By the time noon came around on Saturday, the structure was up, the metal tin on the inside was cleaned and painted, the roof was on and metal braces for the skirting were welded.  Giovanni was a little surprised that this team could get that much work done in such a short period of time.

Sure the blessings of accomplishing such a project is great, but the true blessing was the fellowship and camaraderie with such a great group of men. May God continue to bless His work here in rural Costa Rica.