Kids Club, Los Guido

Yesterday, as is every Saturday, was Kids Club day in Los Guido, one of the poorest and most gang-ridden neighborhoods of San Jose. Every week two Methodist missionaries down here, Will and Ella Faircloth, run the Kids Club for approximately 50 kids, teaching them Bible lessons and giving them a place to hang out.

This week was special because we had 4 students from the Methodist School join us, students who don't normally see such poverty. One of them, Benjamin (pictured above), a 10th grader, feels called to be a pastor, and looked right at home among the little kiddos. It was such a joy to watch him interact with the kids, and for them to run up to me asking, "Is that boy in the red shirt a Tico?" "Yes, yes he is." And they'd run right back to him and keep on playing.

The lesson this time was about Jesus' promise that he will make us fishers of men. As you can see in the picture, the kids have little fishing poles with fish-people attached to them, and the Bible verse from Matthew 4:19.

Benjamin and the other students who joined us, the triplets from the Tatum family (who will be the first house parents at the Methodist Children's Home) came from a Bible Study that I've been hosting two times a week at the Methodist School. My dream is to see those kids grow into leaders for Christ, and to see His influence spread throughout the school. If only all of them could see the Kids Club and be touched as Benjamin was.

As we were leaving, Benjamin said, "So are we coming back next week?"

Monos Locos

Two weekends ago the Ticos (Costa Ricans) celebrated Columbus Day, giving everyone a 3-day weekend.

With 3 teachers from the Methodist School and two of Ray's other interns, I headed to the beach of Manuel Antonio, one of the favorite tourist spots in Costa Rica.

While beautiful, I was unsure as to why Manuel Antonio has become such a hot spot, because every beach in CR is just as beautiful--but maybe it's for the monkeys. The national park there, which is a small peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean, is home to all 4 types of Costa Rican monkey, the only place like that in the country. And they're everywhere.

Check out the monkey above, just chilling on a rope that was stretched between two trees. As I was taking this picture, I was having to dodge the branches, leaves, and fruit that were falling from the tree above me, due to the plethora of monkeys playing around up there. One monkey fell off a branch and nearly smacked another intern, Kim, and me on the head, before catching his balance on another branch.

The funnier moment of the weekend was when I was falling asleep on the beach, only to wake up to Kim screaming in surprise. As I opened my eyes, I saw a monkey running off and up a tree with a shining bag of pretzels in his hand. He was shortly accompanied by 3 friends of his, and they began making a ruckus as they vied for sole ownership of the stolen goods. Then the burly beach security guard came and broke up their fun. Boo.

The Party Has Arrived

Yesterday I went to church in Llano Grande, a small town halfway up a volcano. It's one of my favorite churches to visit, as the congregation there feels like a family away from home. They're marvelous.

So the pastor begins to preach and talks about how this Sunday is a celebration Sunday. Well, every Sunday is reason to celebrate he says, but today we're having a party. Today we're celebrating the party that is Holy Communion--partaking in the blood and body of Christ Jesus. He wanted us to know that we were to celebrate that which Christ has done for us, dying on the cross to forgive us of all of our sins. Of our imperfections. And now it's time to party.

After the sermon, everyone begins to line up in the only aisle of this 50-member church, getting ready to receive the cup and the bread. Quietly, background music begins to play from the speakers hanging precariously over the plastic chairs and wooden benches, the only affordable seats for a congregation in this community. The moment is serene, and I'm contemplating that which Christ has done for me. Then I look up.

And there, walking down the aisle, is one of the church members, probably in his late 40s, early 50s. He's carrying the cup in one hand, the bread in the other, and he's wearing navy slacks with a navy t-shirt, nicely tucked in. He's returning to his seat to pray and receive the blood and body of Jesus. And I can't help but crack a smile. Because written across his t-shirt is a rather simple message, in English:

"The Party Has Arrived"

How appropriate :-)

Seminary, I'm coming

To all of you who keep up with my life plans and such, I've got a small update for you: I'm currently applying to seminary schools, so that I can enroll in the fall of 2010.

That means my days here in Costa Rica are numbered :-( I'm planning on stickin' around this country until April/May of next year, when I'll move back to the States, move to some new city, and then prepare myself for another 3 years of school.

With that being said, Ray is in need of some new interns. Whether full-time or part-time, the help is needed. I'll be doing some recruiting around Texas in November, and I'll be receiving emails from now until May, hoping that new people are called to ministry in Costa Rica.

However, all is not lost. We have Kim Baldwin and, potentially, Alli Adams who will be serving here full-time, so I'm not leaving an empty nest. There is plenty of help available, yet plenty more work than just the 2 of them can handle.

So please, pray for us. Pray for your friends. Pray for your family. And if you know of college students, college grads, or anyone else who feels called by God to come down to CR, don't hesitate to let us know.

Texas-sized Choir Tour

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to take a 10-day tour of Texas with the Colegio Metodista (Methodist School) Youth Choir. It was a blast.

17 high school students and 6 alumni / college students joined their director, Rolando, on this spectacular trip through Texas. They started in Dallas, then headed to Ft. Worth, then made their way down to Llano (outside of Austin), and then back up north to finish their trip in Plano. For the majority of them, it was their first time in Texas.

They sang approximately 30 times, in 4 different churches, in 4 different schools, in 2 different nursing homes, and in umpteen other locations--and they were exhausted by the end. But if you can picture an old, European cathedral near Christmas time, with a beautiful choir singing in the nave, then you can picture the voices of these students. They're incredible. And every church they performed for in Texas was simply amazed.

For the students, they got to see downtown Dallas, to tour the stockyards in Ft. Worth, to shop at some huge Texas malls, to climb a huge granite rock (Enchanted Rock, as pictured above), to swim in a Texas river, to attend a Texas high school football game, to drive through downtown Austin, to take pictures at the Dallas Zoo, to sing at the new Cowboys Stadium, and much more. I think they enjoyed it a bit :-)

For me, it was an opportunity to see my family for the first time since January, soak in some Texas sun for the first time in a year, see new parts of Texas, and show some excited kids all around my stomping grounds. I felt at peace.

As I flew back into San Jose with the choir, I couldn't help but thinking about how, for the first time, I was flying into Costa Rica with a bunch of friends. What a blessing.

Spiritual Emphasis Week

From August 31 to September 4, the Colegio Metodista got rocked by Spiritual Emphasis Week.

Our guests were the Mark Swayze Band and Pastor Ryan Barnett from University United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Texas, and they were awesome. Every day they played to a packed out house, for 550 high school students (some days the students were split in two, but still . . .), bringing praise music, excitement, energy, and the Word of God to the school.

By the end of the week, hundreds of students were responding to the band's message by coming up front and praying with the band, praying for a renewed relationship with Christ, praying for their families, praying for their friends, and many praying to receive Christ for the first time.

One teacher, who doesn't speak English, came up to me and said, "Next time you're translating the sermon for me!" I asked him why. "Because my kids are coming back to class crying all over the place, and I need to know what that pastor is saying!"

It was great. The entire school was touched by the Holy Spirit in a way that had never happened before at the Colegio. God moved through this ministry team from San Antonio, and we hope that the school and its students will never be the same. May God continue to show his presence at the Colegio Metodista.

Thank you Mark, Allison, Steven, Kyle, Andrew, Callen, R.T., Vicki and Ryan. Y'all are awesome.

Progress at the Children's Home

House #1 at the Children's Home is comin' along nicely!

We've started laying block on the side walls, and we've finished pouring the concrete for probably 80% of the foundation. In the next few weeks, we're planning on having nothing but block-laying on our hands. It's tedious, but it's great that we're getting there . . .

Below you can see Bryan and Beth Tatum, our new house parents for House #1! The view behind them is what they'll see out of their back window. Not too shabby, huh?