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.