The pace has really picked up here! Much of my once free time has been filled with other, more noble occupations. Here's an overview of what's been going on:
September is a patriotic month because Independence Day is on the 15th, so there are lots of flags and decorations hanging up everywhere. The colors here are also red, white, and blue!
The other two gappers arrived a couple of weeks ago - Charito from Xalapa, Mexico on August 21 and Gavin from Belfast, Northern Ireland on August 25. Now we are complete!
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A picture of all of us at a CEM prayer meeting
From left to right: Gavin, me, Alex, Charito |
The CEM university students threw us a welcome party on Sunday, August 28. Because we are all from foreign countries, the theme was “Safari/Dress like a tourist.”
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| The food table |
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| "Brecha CR" = GAP Costa Rica |
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| Victor, Fabi, Ana, Alex |
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| A "seriousness" contest |
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| The game Go-Ninja-Go is a worldwide phenomenon! |
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| They gave us cupcakes with candles and sang us Happy Birthday - I think because it was our "birthday" of being in Costa Rica |
We started our GAP training on August 29. This training we will continue to receive throughout the year and mostly consists of talks on a wide range of topics. During the first week, we heard talks on the vision of the GAP program, discipleship, being a servant, responsibility, humility, and working with adolescents, among others. We also went over what our general schedule is going to look like. We will be serving in many ministries of the Árbol de Vida community – the college group called CEM, the youth group called Shalom, the group for older high school students called CUM, and sometimes the children’s groups.
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| The place where we had our first week of gap training |
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| Schedule overview |
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| Where I had some of my prayer times |
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| Poinsettias were growing naturally! |
I am also going to be serving on the intercession team for a CEM retreat that’s coming up and the recreation team for a CUM retreat that will be in October. There are various projects that each gapper has to complete as well, so I think we are definitely going to be able to keep ourselves busy! During the gap training we were told to keep a schedule and make sure to include time for things like exercise and rest. Good advice, I think :) We are also receiving 7 Habits of Highly Effective People workshops, which contains great material!
On the last day of our first week of training, there was a special time of prayer for us and we made our gapper commitments! We had to read a short statement aloud and sign a paper affirming that we understood the purpose of the program and would commit to participating in it for the next year. Afterward we had a nice hamburger cookout at the house of Lucas Perez, one of the coordinators of the community here who works with the GAP program.
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| A gecko - they are very prevalent and useful because they eat insects |
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| Mati, one of Lucas Perez's grandchildren |
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| Sofi, the other grandchild |
That night the CEM meeting was an informal game and coffee night. I was playing Apples to Apples (with the cards in English!) and a game where everyone has to slap their hands on a table in a certain order. Afterward Charito and I slept over at my friend Ana’s house again and helped out a bit with the making of Challah bread that she was going to sell to raise money for the CEM retreat. The next day we stopped at Walmart before going to the community prayer meeting, where our GAP director announced to everyone that his wife was going to have triplets! After the meeting there was a special Lord’s Day ceremony and dinner for our “sector” – all the families in the community who live in a certain area.
After the dinner I was introduced to some American students who are studying abroad here and living with community families. For Gavin and I, meeting other English speakers is like eating cake! I’ve also met an American woman in the community who is married to a Costa Rican and lives here indefinitely. We had a nice chat, and she offered to help me with anything I need.
At some point, our neighborhood had a block party. There was music, food, and RAIN! I had forgotten my camera, so by the time I returned, this is what the party was reduced to:
Last Sunday, I got to go visit the Irazú volcano with the other gappers and the people overseeing the program:
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| The restaurant we ate at afterward |
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| The whole place was plastered with people's business cards and other forms of identification |
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| And money from different countries |
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| This was our contribution - a promotional card for the upcoming CEM retreat. The Bible verse is Revelation 3:20: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." |
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| Outside on the balcony |
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| View from the balcony |
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| On the way home |
On Wednesday, we gappers ventured to the downtown area of San Jose and did some shopping and sight-seeing:
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| Inside the oldest church in San Jose |
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| A central plaza |
At some point, my little brother Juan Miguel and I went on a little outing down the street in the neighborhood to walk the dog and take pictures of plants:
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| LOTS of ants! |
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| A little modification |
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| Blue-ish birds with long tails |
Currently we are in Nicaragua preparing for a youth camp that will take place here next week. My next post will be all about it!
God bless you.
