When it rains, it can pour!

I have always loved watching the weather.  Trying to figure out the weather here in Costa Rica is a challenge.  There is no local forecast and the weather changes very rapidly here in the mountains.  

In other blogs, I have written about our rains, the destruction it causes and impact on our lives.  I knew we had experienced some bad weather but nothing too outrageous.  The worst was the 5 inches of rain we got before a dental clinic about two years ago.  Well last month we had a rain people will not forget for a few years to come.

It started like most rainfall here.  Usually a good downpour, a bit of rain after the downpour and that is it.  On this day the rain stopped and started a bit which is not too unusual but that evening the intensity picked up and the rains kept coming.  We had 4 ½ inches by 6 AM and another 4 inches by 11 AM and another 3 ½ inches by 2PM that afternoon. 

Water running off the hillside into the road.   

Water running off the road down the mountain side.

I knew what could happen after 5 inches of rain in a short period of time, and my imagination was running wild thinking about what might be going on in our community.  So, after some 18 hours of heavy rain I was going a bit stir crazy and had to see what was going on.  So, I got the big umbrella and my boots and went for a walk.  I was tired of hearing the sound of heavy rain on the roof and the sound of huge rocks working their way down the river far the mountain from where I live.

Our neighbors house after the cleanup.

It felt great to get out of the house as I walked, prayed and checked up on how Paso Marcos was faring in these heavy rains.  I always walked to see how my neighbors were doing.  The Jimenez family was cleaning up after a landslide sent mud and water careening into the side of the house.  A bit of trenching sent the small river safely away from the house.  I have never seen so much water coming down the hillsides.  It was beautiful and scary all the same time.  Small creeks roared like jets on takeoff and I knew we were in for some trouble as mud slides were going to be a problem.

The small landslide on our main road. 

The big landslide on our main road.  

After three hours of walking and talking it was time to go home.  That evening we lost electricity and water (At least there was a water source real close).  I tried to sleep soundly but the rains kept coming.  After a period of 36 hours we had received 18 inches of rain. 

Sunday morning it was time to check out the neighborhood once again.  Our only road leaving Paso Marcos was impassable the day before, but now a large chunk of the hillside had slid down on the road.  Trees were down and we were the ones that had it good.  There was major flooding in Limon and in Turrialba many people were displaced due to high water and landslides.    

The clean up crew.  

Opening the road to traffic, ok just a small truck.

Would you believe I was tired?

Later that week after trying to get a bulldozer out to Paso Marcos it was time to take care of business ourselves.  God was good.  We started with six people working on the first landslide.  After about an hour, 5 people came to help and they went to the larger of the landslide.  Upon finishing the small landslide a truck full of people from the next town was here to help.  Seven hours later and with the help of 22 people we had made a small dent in the landslide and a car could get through.  About two weeks later we finally got a bulldozer to help clean up the mess. 

Much better after the bulldozer!

What a blessing to see God’s hand of protection on us, on our houses, and to see the community come together lifting a helping shovel. 

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.

Introducing Emma Dawn Friedly

Emma was born on 2 February 2012 at 1902 hrs in San Jose, Costa Rica. She was 7.32 pounds and 20 inches long.

How we got to 2 February 2012. Lori had been having contractions on and off for two months. We thought it was best to stay in the city. We left for San Jose on the 17th of January after teaching English class in Santubal. We could relax a bit knowing we did not have a three plus hour drive to deliver the baby in the city. We were extremely blessed to stay at Alekcey and Judith’s condo in the city next to the beautiful Bougainvillea Gardens. What a wonderful place to walk and to rest. Dustin stayed back in Paso Marcos and took care of the house and Tessa.

Lori and I really appreciated the time in the city to reconnect, rest and prepare for Emma’s arrival. San Jose was very beneficial for Lori to get out and walk and build some strength before going into labor. God is good and always knows what we need and when we need it.

Cristen came out to help and arrived the week before Emma was born. Not knowing when Emma’s big arrival was coming we wanted Cristen to have some time with Dustin. So Dustin caught a ride to Turrialba with the Long’s and then caught a bus to San Jose. Earlier that morning, Lori awoke me and said today will be the day. We told Dustin to give us a call when he arrived San Jose to either catch a cab to the hospital or where we were staying. He went to the hospital. Some 4 hours later Emma made her big debut.

As you can imagine, life is very different here in Paso Marcos. Emma is growing and Lori is getting some sleep every now and then. We are truly blessed that our family has been enlarged. I can only imagine what God has in store for our little girl. To God be the Glory.

While Lori was getting taken care of I got to meet our little Emma.

Not too much later, Emma was reunited with momma.

Cristen took this beautiful picture in black and white

Emma enjoying life in Paso Marcos

No More Coffee... for this Year!

Last week, we sold the last of our coffee for the 2011 growing season. We are thankful to see new buds and blossoms for next year's growing season.

Our Farm

What an adventure being farmers in Costa Rica. I never dreamed of being a farmer. Sure I have great memories as a kid and even as a college student visiting my grandparents and uncles on the farm. What kid is not excited to ride on a tractor, feed the pigs, cows and horses and here we are as farmer/missionaries in Costa Rica.

Cafe Maduro

Our farm has been a huge blessing for our ministry. Not only has it provided a space to build a house but a way of bringing people and families into our lives. We have learned how difficult it is to live, work, and survive here in Costa Rica. We are thankful that we do not live on the proceeds of our farm or we would be going hungry.

Anna Maria at work

So last week, we picked the last of our coffee for the year. Let me restate that. Our pickers picked the last of the coffee. If I had to pick the coffee I would have to pick it twice. One from off the plant and the other time from off the ground. I am sure I would spill the bucket due to the treacherous footings on the steep places on our farm.

Gustabo collecting beans

With the final picking, we picked both the mature and the green beans from the plants. All these beans are then separated and sold. Believe me this is not an easy job; standing in the hot tropical baking sun, bone chilling rains, dealing with the spiders, bugs and snakes, is not fun.

Dan, sitting on the job

Gustabo's wife sorting our coffee

We are blessed for all those God has brought into our lives and for all we have learned while on this amazing adventure and please pray with us as we share the true hope and blessing of Jesus our Lord.

An Amazing Year!

Wonderful view from our porch

What an amazing year! God has been so good and faithful to us. It has been a year of blessing upon blessings and a few challenges. Here are some of things that occurred this year.

• The amazing blessing of our daughter who will be born very soon
• Dustin has graduated from High School
• Acceptance in the community where we live and work
• Finished construction of our house.
• Continue to build relationships
• Aqueduct water at the house
• Bible Studies in Spanish
• Our Two English classes
• Two Mission Teams and several individual visits
• Dental Clinics in Paso Marcos
• Opportunity to partner with a public school within in the reservation
• Work has started on replacing the Bridge at Bajo Pacaure
• Cell Phone Signal and Increased Internet Speed at the house (the little things in life)

One beautiful morning