COSTA RICA 2018

It’s a good time to return to Costa Rica - good time to work at the church in Mansiones - good time to visit our missionaries, Will and Ella Faircloth and their beautiful daughters, Nicole and Marilyn - good time to see all our dear Costa Rica friends.

COSTA RICA 2018

Sunday Service

Sunday was our first full day in Manzanillo.  We spent much of the day getting to know our new friends in Manzanillo and organizing the projects we would complete throughout the week. We were able to meet Pastor Miguel's family - his wife Pastora Mercedes and their children Ricardo, Enmanuel, and Ana Isabella.  Our trusty translator Dilver introduced us to his wife, Anyellis, who in addition to being a board member at their church is also a professor at the nearby medical school.  The church in Manzanillo was constantly abuzz with activity, and church members were always visiting and passing through the pastor's home.

 

We were also able to hear two sermons by Pastor Miguel and one by our own Pastor Zack.  All of these tied in beautifully with the sermon we heard at our commissioning in March, where we contemplated the common saying "God never gives you more than you can handle."  This fit into a broader theme of half truths and false truths. (DAD CORRECT I DONT REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS CALLED).  At our commissioning, I began to think of the many ways people use and abuse "I am so blessed."  Whether for the purchase of a new home, winning a sports event, a child's graduation from college, or recovery from a serious illness - people use this phrase all of the time.  Of course it is always worthwhile to take a moment when we're feeling good to express gratitude, but have we put much thought into what saying "I'm blessed" truly means?

The Bible teaches us that God is both all knowing and all powerful.  That is to say that these blessings are neither accidental nor random.  To me, the saying "I'm so blessed" implies that God chose you for some good fortune over someone else.  As a personal example, I observed many proud announcements of "I'm blessed" when my law school class completed (and in many cases passed) the Michigan bar exam.  How does this feel to read for one of our classmates who did not pass this time?  Have they not been blessed?  The reason other people don't have the same blessings we have is because God hasn't chosen them.  You may be wondering how this has anything to do with Manzanillo, Cuba.  Here's how.

Pastor Miguel's sermon dealt with Passover, and the difficult question of WHY the Israelites would celebrate while they were slaves.  Why the Israelites would give thanks when they had nothing but faith that good fortune would come.  Even when it appeared that their God either had forgotten them entirely or could not or would not help them emerge from Egypt.  This mindset is integral to the Cuban faith as we experienced it during our visit.  Why?  Because God has not bestowed the same blessings on his children in Cuba that we have in Birmingham, Michigan.  Many of their congregation experienced food insecurity, lack of access to news and information, little economic opportunity, and more limited personal freedom than we enjoy.  But this does not mean that they do not express gratitude even now.  To the contrary, I found the congregation in Cuba to be far less selfish, more thankful, and even more open hearted than most people I encounter in the United States.

Pastor Miguel reminded his congregation, and also reminds us, that we are blessed when we fail the bar exam, we are blessed when we lose our jobs, and we are blessed when a valued friend or loved one does not survive their illness.  Not only are we blessed during all of these difficult times, but we should express faith and gratitude as well.  We are not blessed only when we get what we want.  Sometimes we receive more than we deserve, while others who deserve receive nothing.

Pastor Zack followed with a conversation and a lesson about the meaning of love.  In the same way that we should not give thanks for our blessings only when we feel triumphant, we also should not shy away from loving when it's inconvenient, difficult, or tiring.  Does this mean we accept everyone exactly how they are?  Not necessarily.  But just as we can rejoice when times are tough, we can love someone and try to help them improve.  We can apply this logic to ourselves as well.  Perhaps more important is our duty to fall in love with the unloveable.  Pastor Zack reminded us of all of the "unlovable" people who Jesus loved.  In the same way that we give thanks in times of trouble, we know that God intends us to reach out to refugees, to the homeless, to people who are incarcerated, and share our love with them.  In both love and faith, why don't we all try a little harder not to be fair weather fans?

 

"Let's Go for More"

Friday, March 31.   The team women were privileged to participate in the woman's conference that Mercedes had organized at her church. Over two hundred women, some who had travelled up to ten hours were in attendance. What a beautiful crowd, lovely dresses, glowing faces, dazzling smiles and radiating God's joy. There was music, dancing and three different speakers talking on the theme "Vamos por Mas" - "Lets Go for More".   Hopefully Erika can tell us a bit about what they said!!!

 An interesting phenomenon during the dancing was "slaying the spirit" . Many women got so moved by the music and the excitement that their hands started to tremble, then their arms, their body started to sway and then they passed out and were lowered to the floor. Being unfamiliar with this, my first reaction was to check if CPR was necessary but no one else seemed to think it was unusual. During the afternoon there were quite a few men on hand to safely lower the women to the floor.

Out in the courtyard there were two huge pots in which the lunch and dinners for two hundred plus women were prepared. I think they had rice with chicken and vegetables. It looked delicious.

The men of our team left with Miguel and toured the three mission churches that Miguel oversees. They were able to meet the ministers and assess the needs of the churches for future mission teams. I know that Zack and Jay were really excited about the prospects.

 

 

We got back to the hotel reasonably early as we had to pack and be ready for an early departure Saturday for the airport.Once again, a day of many blessings and experiences. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Jaye

Day 4 - Getting started with our work

Cuba VIM Blog Monday, March 27, 2017 - Day 4

 

​Last night was our first normal night of sleep since before our departure, and it felt really good!  Jay Shell shared morning devotions and reminded us that we are here to help with the things that our hosts find important.

 ​The bus picked us up at 8:25 and took us to Pastor Miguel and Pastora Mercedes home across the courtyard from the church for breakfast.  You can see the bountiful spread on one of the two tables where we were served.  Favorites from the breakfast menu included the guanabana jelly, expresso, and  the cocoa powder, sugar, and warm milk to make our own hot cocoa.

 

After breakfast, the guys went up to the roof to go over the project.  A metal roof shelters 1/2 of the roof with a porch/balcony area at the street end of the roof.  The project will be to lay a layer of sand, cover it with a thin coat of cement which will act as a mastic for tiles.  This is needed to provide sound insulation for the second floor where the family lives and to provide a future chapel location.

Jaye, yes we have Jaye and Jay on this trip - and the women sorted all the supplies for the children at Vacation Bible School (VBS).  Gallon bags were each stuffed with lead pencils, erasers, sharpener, 10 colored pencils, toothbrush and holder, toothpaste, pocket-pack tissues, and a Tootsie Pop.  These will all go in a back pack that the children will decorate during VBS.

 

After lunch, the bus took us to the National Monument honoring "The Father of All Cubans, the Father of the Nation", Carlos Manuel De Cespedes.  His home and properties were destroyed by the Spanish when he was fighting for the liberation of Cuba.  The bell that was rung for the fight to start hangs in the wall on the right.  It has been taken to Havana by Fidel Castro four times in the name of freedom.

 

We took a walk in the downtown area to see the central plaza with its lovely gazebo - the emblem of Manzanillo.  On our way back to the bus, we stopped at Los Alto Restaurant to preorder our dinner, shrimp, fish, chicken, beef or pork with rice or beans and rice.

 

 

The bus took us back to Hotel Guacanayabo for a shower, sorely needed with the dust from working with the sand on the roof and walking in the heat here.  We enjoyed our dinner out and getting acquainted with our hosts.  We were especially grateful for Dilver who is translating for us and helping with computer and Internet issues.  We've run into a bit of a snag with Internet connections, so you may not receive this blog until after our return.

 We thank all who have contributed to the support of our Mission Trip with funds and supplies.  When you see how little the people have, and how joyfully they worship, it is a lesson in expressing our gratitude for the many gifts God has given us and for the privilege of being able to share with the people of Manzanillo.       Submitted by Coralene (Corey) and Basil Bloss

A full day!

March 30, 2017

Lee and Rita Burt

 

Devotion: Jaye and Joan

Joan told the little known story of Buzz Aldrin's service of "The Last Supper" on the moon. Jaye talked about how God can use us no matter how imperfect we are. "God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called."

 

Once again, breakfast was a feast. Work hats off to the cooks. They went all out on every meal! After breakfast we went downstairs to find a recently slaughtered pig lying in the outdoor sink. Lee said, "Guess that's dinner." And it was! We all went to a camp on the ocean later that afternoon where some men were roasting it over an open fire. After a "getting to know you" meeting with the sizable church staff we all feasted on the pork and fixings. Absolutely delish!

 

Earlier though, Gary and Sweet Basil worked with the tile guy while Zack, Jay, Erica, Lee and Rita sifted sand and then filled and carried bags of it from the sidewalk in front of the parsonage up to the roof of the second floor to the tile guys. We were able to incorporate our varied political views into our work as we labeled "heavy or hard to carry" bags "Trump bags." Less heavy bags were called "Hillary bags." And the lightest bags we named "Ruth Bader Ginsburg bags."

 

Lunch consisted of "checharra", a ham, olive, chickpea, and potato like stew that was delicious. Pastora Mercedes said she and Pastor Miguel ate this every day in earlier years when times were tough. Lunch was so tasty that we all over ate and explained "food coma" to Pastor Miguel. He explained the Cuban version of food coma is "the land is calling me" (to lay down and sleep), and said that is the only place a dog does not follow his master. :)

 

John worked on the pinewood derby cars in preparation for the big race that night. Jaye, Joan, Nancy and Corey finished putting the kids' photos in the frames for VBS that night. Ann worked once again trying to find a good internet signal that would allow her to connect with the blog. Best of all, we all took time to "build relationships." 

 

VBS started a little late tonight since we were late getting back from the pig roast, but nobody seemed to mind. They just go with the flow here. It was the last night for VBS and, as usual, spirits and energy were high. Clowns and women led the singing, and the kids loved the parachute, snacks and craft. Erica did her usually great job of telling the Bible story in Spanish. The kids hung on her every word. Very impressive, Erica! The teenagers were especially thrilled when their "Not in Cuba" friend beat John in the pinewood derby race.

 

Clean up and then back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

 

A Full Thursday

Here is Thursday version of blog!! Do with it what you will.

Jaye speaking

Joan and I did devotion today, talking about communion in space, God equipping the called and singing our favourite, "Here I am, Lord".
The ladies finished putting the photo frames together and packing up all the extra supplies to leave at the church.

 

I was called downstairs to see what was going on, so that I could witness a dead pig being put in the back of the bus we travel in. You don't get to see that often in the states!!

Zack, Lee, Rita, Jay and Erika busied themselves hauling heavy bags of sand up three flights of stairs, Basil and Gary continued with the tiling. Apparently starting on the outside edges and meeting in the middle didn't work out as planned!!

 

We went to a church board meeting in a pretty park on the Caribbean. The breeze was incredible and the herd of cows walking through the meeting was just a slight distraction!

All our meals have been abundant to the point of embarrassing but totally delicious. Tonight was no exception as we were escorted into a meeting room at the complex which had been decorated so beautifully. There we were served the pig that had been roasting on a spit all afternoon. It was amazing.

As in other areas we have served time is not an issue. We were taken back to the hotel at eight to get changed and then on to the church at 8:30 for vbs which started at eight!! Thank goodness for clowns!! Two church members are trained clowns and they are so wonderful with the kids, it's a joy to behold. They had the kids singing and dancing and in the palms of their hands. If we thought there had been chaos the other nights, we hadn't seen anything yet! 220kids, more parents than we could count,and groups going in all directions so they were all mixed up. But you know what....the children all had a great time... so much fun, so much laughter,so many smiles and so much joy. HUGE thanks to all team members who helped so much.

 

The really bad news, though, during the pine wood derby, John lost his three years in a row champion crown....TO A GIRL😧😕😠😣😢

This has been an incredible experience with a group of really lovely people and I thank each of you for who you are and all that you contributed. You make me a better person.

Blessings on you.

A few more observations along the way.

When I was handing out tootsie to the workers one day, they lit up like I had given a valuable treasure and one man asked if he could take one for his wife. I was touched.

The honesty of Mercedes wanting to return the leftover money from the snacks.

Lee putting hearts on the blue team's nametags and then all the kids wanting one too.

Gary leaving his hammer with the tiler and how much that meant to both of them.

The dog pooping under the lunch table!!!

The extremely successful April fools trick played by Dilver and the bus driver to which we all fell hook,line and sinker!! They were so excited.

Emmanuel picking up "hi y'all....EH

Corey and her JOY when coconut ice cream was served.

Erika and Anna Rose and their sweet friendship.

Erika, Jay and Zack swimming with their clothes on.

There are so many precious moments along the way, smiles shared when language doesn't work, little gestures of friendship shared, God working and being present in really obvious ways and behind the scenes ways. 

I have been blessed.