Day 7: July
17, 2012
Our first
activity of the day was going to a home for the disabled called Manos Abiertas
(Open Hands). We spent some time there with the residents. We made balloon
animals and gave them hats and let them draw on some dry erase boards. Mostly
we just spent some time playing with them. One of the guys was completely
decked out in balloons. He had hats and arms full of animals and swords and
necklaces and anything else he could possibly have. He was so fun to watch
because he was having a blast. Being there was sobering for me because I just
kept thinking that if I had not been healed of my brain infection three years
ago I could be in the same position that they are. But working with disabled
adults is hard for me, I’m not as skilled with them as I am working with
children or teens. But it’s good for me to do anyway because it stretches me! I
was heartbroken when one of the residents was just standing there. I asked her
about the balloon animals she was holding and she threw them down. I picked
them back up for her, but when I looked into her eyes it was like I could see
how frustrated she was. At that moment in time she wasn’t just a resident with
a disability, she was a real hurting human being. I could see that she was
having all of the same thoughts I have, she just can’t communicate them in the
same way. It reminded me to be thankful that God healed me from my mental
disability and that I am now able to live a normal life.
After Manos
Abiertas, we ate lunch and then headed to another community to do some
evangelizing and playing with kids. We had a TON of kids! If I had to guess how
many there were I would guess around 100 to 150. And we were all playing and
teaching in this small cul-de-sac in a neighborhood. We were very close to an
area that was run down and similar to the community we had been to before. But
some houses further up a hill in that area were a lot nicer, while ones down
the hill were in pretty rough condition. This area was called Guacima. We had a
hard time controlling all of the kids! Unfortunately we weren’t as prepared as
we should have been and I had to keep telling kids that we didn’t have anymore
gifts for them and that they needed to share with each other. I was impressed
with how grateful these kids were just to have a bracelet or coloring book or
bouncy ball. Those little things caused them to form a mob around us! That’s
how thankful they were for those things.
During our
time there I tried to help one lady on the team understand what a little boy
was saying to her and vise versa. We found out that this little boy’s name is
Antony. He just kind of stole my heart in a way, I could just tell how sweet he
was. He was doing a lot better at sharing with the other kids and he was glad
when we gave him a New Testament in Spanish. At one point when we were sitting
on the grass talking with him, he pointed at the ankle bracelet that I had made
with the Lakeshore youth group during the 30 Hour Famine and said that he liked
it. I worked on getting it untied and then took it over to him a little later.
“Recuerde siempre que Jesus te ama, y yo tambien. (Always remember that Jesus loves
you and so do I.)” I said. He just smiled and nodded at me and said thank you
once I had helped him tie the bracelet around his wrist. Later I got a picture
with him and he told me he wanted to be a pastor someday. Pray for Antony and
children like him that have these desires, pray that he will have the resources
to pursue dreams like this. A bracelet, so many kids in the United States would
look the bracelet over and go straight for the phone in my hands instead. But
Antony was grateful to have the bracelet, he didn’t need anything else. He was
thankful with the little I had given him.
From the
Guacima neighborhood we headed over to a church for a service. And wow was
their service different! First off, they are renting the building they are in.
But in the states we wouldn’t have even considered this building worthy of
renting to have church. It was just a big empty warehouse type thing. They
didn’t have a big wooden cross in the front or fancy pews and other gold
decorations. They didn’t even really have walls on one side of the building.
They had a portable sound system and they didn’t have a worship team. But for
everything that they don’t have they make up for in spirit! I was a little
worried about worship when I heard CD’s playing, but my goodness! By the end of
the worship time most of the people there were dancing and shouting out
together. It was convicting to me, because churches in the United States often
base their quality of worship off of how good the team is, not how good their
God is! We could all learn a big lesson from the people down here that have so
little and yet have so much more joy in the word of God than we ever express in
our big comfortable churches in the States. Even though their conditions
weren’t the best, they were thankful anyway.
It’s been a
week since I’ve been in Costa Rica now. I can’t decide if it’s gone fast or
slow, I think it’s been a little of both. As I am experiencing other churches
and customs I have developed a lot of questions and I am re-evaluating some of my
own opinions. But my prayer in the long run is that God would reveal truth to
me. Pray for me as I seek this truth in Costa Rica. And pray also that God will
continue to give me his heart and eyes for the people here.
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