Surprises

I made it into Newark, NJ at about 1am on Tuesday. The pastor from Rodney and Cindy's church picked me up. I've been staying with their family and friends at the Vineyard Eastern Regional Pastors' Conference in Bushkill, PA. The conference has been great, and I'm enjoying getting to represent Harvest Hands here. Our hope is to make some connections with other churches that would be interested in partnering with the ministry long-term and/or through short-term mission trips.

While being here at the conference and in the States, I've experienced some surprises...

1. It is hard to break the habit of not throwing TP into a wastebasket. Flushing TP is a luxury that we in the States take for granted.
2. Fuel and fast-food are more expensive than I remember them being five months ago.
3. I can understand everyone's conversations around me. I am even noticing that I am understanding stranger's conversations/comments that pass by me. Oh, how I pray I don't lose what little Spanish I have acquired over the past four months!!!
4. Some worship songs are just better in another language... I prefer Dulcemente Quebrantado about ten times over to Sweetly Broken.
5. The church family from Rodney and Cindy's church feels like extended family. I feel so welcome and supported by them. I hope the relationship continues.
6. My grandma, aunt, and cousin surprised me at the hotel last night! They were driving through PA (about 8.5 hours from home) and made a point to see me. I was able to have dinner and spend a couple of hours with them after the evening session. :-) It was great to have a surprise visit from those that I love so dearly.

There are only five weeks remaining for my stay in Costa Rica, but for now I am looking forward to being back home in Anonos on Saturday.

Columbus Team

I'm sitting in the dining room right now listening to the youth team from Vineyard Columbus. They are in the living room going around the room and sharing what they are thankful for from each of the other people on the team. There is a lot to be said for each of them, and that is an understatement.

This team is led by Chris and Chantelle Traut, and Brett Evans. I am thankful to this team for a number of reasons. It was Chris Traut who last year invited me to assist him with leading the first youth missions trip to Los Anonos. It was through that amazing experience that brought me back here now. I am so thankful to have a team here from my home church... my extended family. Katie McConnell and Gabe Botkin are the only non-rookies on the team and it is sweet to see how God has given them so much compassion for the people in this community. I hope that there will be more repeaters next year.

Tomorrow, the team is traveling to Jaco for their one day off at the beach. I will be traveling to Pennsylvania to represent Harvest Hands at the Vineyard Eastern Region Pastors' Conference. I am sad that I will miss spending the remainder of the week with this team. However, I am pleased that I will have this opportunity to share with others the ministry that is occuring here.

To Vineyard Columbus: "I thank my God every time I remember you." - Phillipians 1.3

Grand Rapids Team

This past week, we hosted a team from Grand Rapids, in "that state up north." The team consisted of nine absolutely amazing people! They were great to have in the house to spend time with and the activities we were able to participate in with them was also wonderful.

Among doing work projects in the community, they also did work at a future Funda Vida center in Veinticinco de Julio. We hung out with teens at a teen center, assisted with a Fathers' Day event, played a serious game of basketball with the locals, and much more.

One of the things that the team had planned on doing while they were here was a skit. It is acting that goes along with a song. It was great because they didn't have to speak Spanish to get the message across. While we had originally only scheduled two performances, they actually got to do it four times! The first was at a Kids' Club for Funda Vida, then at a church service, after that at a rehabilitation center, and then lastly here in Anonos for our Wednesday night children's program. The skit was well received at all four places; people responded by crying, wanting prayer, etc. It was a great experience.

Grand Rapids Team - We loved having you here! You are each a blessing and we are grateful for your support and friendship. We hope that you will return to Los Anonos - each one of you: Mike, Lori, Courtney, Breezy, Naomi, Delaney, Jill, Chad, and Pete.

While their skit varied from this one, please check this out on YouTube if you haven't already seen it... I think it is worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA.

Mail time!

We got a post office box for Harvest Hands! Yay!!! I'm really excited about this... as you can see. I will only be here for another month and a half; however, my birthday is just around the corner, and I guess some of my family members wanted to send me a "happiest of birthdays, to you" card to me. :-) My new address is provided below (don't put my name on the outside... we'll figure it out). ATTN Family: If you do happen to send me a birthday card... please include a picture of yourself... I miss your faces!

Cynthia LaFrance
Apdo 1336-1200
Pavas - San Jose - Costa Rica
America Central

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.