Hospital de San Juan de Dios

On Saturday, I had the privilege of visiting Martin in the hospital. I took his mother in to see him. Martin is one of the men in Anonos that is addicted to crack. He had to go to the hospital because he had problems with his asthma the day after Rodney had taken him to rehab.

The hospital was definitely below my "normal" standard. It wasn't spotless clean, we couldn't find the room easily because there were no directions, and there definitely wasn't an element of comfort for someone to recover well.

While we were visiting, Martin reached into his hospital gown and pulled out a plastic bag. It contained all the money he owns... which probably amounted to about ten dollars. He gave his mother about three to help her out. It was humbling to witness this generosity. He had so little, and his mother was so thankful.

We took in some personal items for Martin and he was pleased to receive a razor to have a clean shave. I prayed for Martin and asked him what his plans were after recovering in the hospital. He shared that he plans to return to rehab for about five or six months. Praise the Lord!

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

I traveled to Nicaragua last week to renew my passport. In Costa Rica, foreigners are only allowed to be in the country for 90 days at a time, and then leave for three days before they can reenter.

The trip to Nicaragua was a great time, but I am not able to capture it in words nearly as well as Rebecca has. So, I will let her. Here is a portion from her blog (there is a link to her blog on the right, check it out if you haven't):

Nicaragua was a wonderful/eventful trip. The border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica has quite the developing world feel. There's this no man's land where old, tired dogs join you in the pursuit of the other side. The dusty ground hides the tracks of previous travels. Thankfully, we met a Canadian that had made the treck before, and helped us out. Scores of Ticos and Nicaraguans alike crowd around gringo travelers, such as Holli and I, hoping that their services would receive a tip. Sometime between getting in Marlo's car (not a taxi driver, but a friend of a taxi driver) and transfer from an overheated taxi to another non-taxi, Kia Racer for transportation, I decided this was by far the most adventurous experience I have ever had. We met a ton of European travelers and a few North Americans in the hostel where we were staying. San Juan del Sur is one of those little beach towns full of wanderers. One friend we made, Aoife from Ireland, was traveling by herself. She had just gotten stabbed by someone who robbed her. In a long conversation that started with the IRA, over dinner we discussed the church today. Her insights on the church in Europe, what she thought of Jesus, and her own life, pierced my heart. I value her honesty, as she did ours. Aoife is a woman that has felt judgement from the church. How wonderful that Jesus is love and frees us from the judgements we put on others and ourselves. He is the one true God that loves. He is love. Aoife told us that the church is dead in Europe, and I thought, "Good!" A religion for the sake of culture. The world has too much of that. My prayer for those dead church places is for the Holy Spirit to come for a people, thirsty and disilliosned. There are many people like Aoife that are resisting the culture of religion and wanting Jesus. We talked about Jesus and she responded, "He sounds like the best friend everyone wants." Amen, Aoife, He is. Thinking about Aoife makes my heart leap out, Jesus! Have mercy on us. Holy Spirit, come! Near the end of our three days in Nicaragua I was ready to return to Los Anonos. I love the people here. I feel at home here now. I want to be a part of what God is doing in this community.

I'm being careful.

With that said, I have experienced two incidents of attempted robbery in the past week. I'm fine; nothing was taken. Both occured when Rebecca and I were in downtown San Jose walking to the buses to go home.

Incident #1: I have a bookbag on with many components. I hear a zipper opening. I look back and no one is there... I guess they are fast. If they would have taken anything from the component they opened, they would have only gotten my glasses, deodorant, and some Q-tips.

Incident #2: I am walking along with my semi-new Cheers purse. I hear a knife cut through fabric. I look at my purse and find a slit in the side of it about seven inches long. Fortunately, nothing fell out before I was able to grab it. If they would have gotten anything this time, it could have been my wallet, digital camera, keys, or my coveted Spanish 501 Verbs book.

I'm lucky. Well, I don't believe in luck actually. I was fortunate, and perhaps protected. And I'll travel lighter now. Oh, and I sewed up my purse; it will survive.

Biscuit... aka Chicken Dog

While not human, Biscuit is a dear part of our team here at Harvest Hands. She brings us laughter every day. Biscuit sort of came with the house when it was purchased, and she does have a good bark that serves as a good alert when we have visitors.

She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback. They come from Southern Africa and are used to hunt lions. Part of her breed name comes from the fact that her breed has a strip of hair along her back where the hair grows in the opposite direction.

Now, Biscuit comes across as a normal dog most of the time. However, when it thunders (which is a daily occurence now that it is rainy season in Costa Rica), she becomes hysterical. And I don't mean like a stand-up comic. When the first crack of thunder strikes, she runs in the house, takes cover wherever she can find it, and trembles so much it's like someone is holding her at gunpoint.

Rebecca and I left her outside a couple of weeks ago when we went to a meeting. Upon arriving back at the house, we found her like this (see picture below). She was unable to enter the house when it was thundering and therefore tried to make cover in another way. She rearranged the furniture on the porch, knocked over a plant, and was a mess! We honestly don't know what gets into her sometimes. She brings us much joy though... and a good target for jokes.

A trip to rehab

Last Wednesday evening, we met a man at the gym that was homeless. Again last night, we saw him there. His name is Edwin. Edwin shared that he is addicted to drugs and had not eaten in almost four days. While Rodney had offered to take him to rehab several months ago, he wasn't ready then. He was ready last night. So, after we took him dinner, we made arrangements to pick him up today to take him to rehab.

We picked him up today and drove to Oasis, a Christian rehab center for men in San Jose. Upon arriving, two workers told us that they were full and could not admit him. We were puzzled for what to do. We deinitely didn't want to bring him back to Anonos to live in the streets. What else was there to do but pray for Jesus to provide a place for him?

Not five minutes later, the man who is in charge of the rehab center showed up. Rodney explained our dilemma and he said that he would make room. They took Edwin in, gave him food, and gave us all hope. I have much to learn from their willingness to make room for Edwin in their life.

Matthew 25.40 says, "... the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'"

Allow me to introduce...

I thought it would be good to introduce you to "my team" or my family here at Harvest Hands. So, unless something else pressing happens, you will be introduced to Rebecca, Cindy, and Rodney (not necessarily in that order). First Rebecca...

Rebecca Grace Dunning (aka Becca) is my roommate at Harvest Hands. She arrived mid-April from North Carolina. Rebecca is 25 and a graduate from Appalachian State University in international politics. She used to work in a refugee office in the States and would like to return working with displaced peoples upon her return next April. She has a passion for assisting others and putting herself in other's shoes while here learning a new language and culture.

On the lighter side: she is a lover of words, capable of driving a standard, wears fashion that I prefer over that of Sarah Jessica Parker, can make a killer chayote squash soup, has introduced me to Flight of the Conchords, and well basically... her hair says it all. We are a good team. She excels at teaching the children English in the Kinder and being brave enough to attempt speaking Spanish with everyone. I'm grateful for her contribution to the team and her friendship.