Different Culture

Three days ago, we attended a worship service at National Basilica, a Catholic church in Cartega, San Josè. Even though we went on Sunday, I have been reflecting on it ever since.
Before we went, I had to admit I was wondering how much I could get out of a service that was entirely spoken in Spanish (especially considering the most I got out of those six weeks of Spanish in middle school were "hola," "gracias," and the basic colors.) The second I saw the building, however, all worries disappeared. The church was a huge grey and white building with large columns, angel statues guarding the top, and wide open doors all the way around the building.

People poured from every door and out onto the courtyard in front of the church. We made our way over and stood in the entrance to the back of the church.

As stunning as the outside was, the inside was even more amazing. Every time I turned my head, I found twelve new intricate details to catch my attention. The upbeat modern music reflected the congregation that seemed to mostly consist of young families.

We stood in the back until the service before ours was over. We walked in to find pews as soon as other people started leaving, but the seats were already filling again. Our group ended up in two different pews.

Thanks to a little experience attending Catholic mass with my dad's family, I could tell what was going on during most of the service. In a way, hearing the Spanish-speaking voice over a microphone was soothing, even if I didn't know what he was saying. The church was so large, I could barely even see the priest, but this also gave me the ability to take in more and more details while Karla, one of our hosts, would occasionally point out certain aspects of the service.

One of the most touching points was towards the beginning of the service. We sat in a pew to the right of the center aisle. Karla nudged me and pointed to the aisle on our right. Dozens of people were on their knees, slowly making their way up the long aisle to the front of the chapel. I looked across the church to the aisle on the left, and saw even more people doing the same thing. I recognized this as an act of repentance, and it was amazing. These people, young and old, were demonstrating such a beautiful act of faith and love for God. It was so different from the religion I was brought up in, it really made an impact.

After the service, we headed outside and followed the crowd around to the back of the church, where a line was forming to tour certain artifacts related to the church and its history. According to the story, the church was built around a stone on which a statue was found by a young indian girl. After trying several times to take the statue home, it would always return to the stone on which she first found it. After the third try, she took the statue to a priest, who mostly ignored the story but kept the statue. The next day, the statue returned to its stone. The priest took it home again and locked it away, but the next day it was gone. Recognizing the supernatural qualities of the statue, he called other priests to discuss, and they decided that since the statue couldn't be moved, they would instead build a church around the statue.

The first thing we cane across were cabinets full of charms that were shaped like humans, animals, and various body parts. Each charm represented a person or animal who had been healed on the site of the church. For example, if the charm was a heart, the person had heart trouble that was healed. Again, this struck me because it seemed so different from the religion I know. There must have been thousands of charms, each representing a person who felt their life was changed thanks to the grace of God.

Another spot that stood out to me was a section of wall that had a small garden in front of it. The wall was in three layers, each one extending further than the last. Each layer had a different date, representing the years the church was remodeled. Every time, they would keep this section of the wall intact to show the various layers. The very last thing we came across was the original stone and statue, an amazing representation of the faith that this church was founded upon.

I never thought I would have gotten so much out of a service that I couldn't understand a word of. Instead, this experience was in one of the top five most amazing things I have ever witnessed. Part of my reasoning for coming to Costa Rica was to experience another culture and see a different way of life, and I achieved this the very first day here. I look forward to seeing what else I learn when our lectures start on Thursday!

Puravida!
Morgan

The work is done...

Having just completed the second and final day of the work part of this work/study trip, I decided it was time to write a little bit more. Our past 2 days have consisted of little more than eating, sleeping, working and fellowship. It has been an exhausting 48 hours. 

On Monday, we woke up bright and early and still tired from travel a day later. I made sure that I was awake and ready a bit before breakfast so I could continue the morning tradition I had from 3 years ago...enjoying a delicious cup of Costa Rican coffee while looking over San Pedro. It was just as delicious, beautiful, and wonderful as I remember it. After breakfast, the Methodists invited us to their morning devotion, which consisted of magic and the key of F. Before we started work that day, we were able to take a tour of the UBL. As part of the tour we learned that each of the buildings on campus were designed with a different cultures architectural style, ranging from Caribbean and Costa Rican to Mexican and Mayan. We were also able to see the murals painted on the walls of the school building featuring various theological and social rights topics. Also inside the school building is a library of 40,000 books in Spanish, Portuguese, English, and other languages. 

After our tour we began our work, which consisted of painting the front gate and entrance wall and demolish the old guard house. Our group was joined by two of the younger members of the Methodist group, one of which was high school girl training to be an MMA fighter who was pumped for demolition. I wish there was more to say about the actual work, but unfortunately it would not be that interesting to write or read. Some highlights include painting walls, dismantling the house instead of demolishing it, and fighting off large spiders.  Our second day of work was more of the same except with more touching up the paint, more demolition, and about the same amount of spiders. 

Both evenings after dinner, we had different groups of people who were studying at the UBL. On Monday we were able to listen to two students who were working on degrees here. The first speaker had moved here when she was 12 to live with her mother. She started going to a church while her mother was at work, and through out her life she has gotten more involved in the church, even traveling to the USA a and studying in Germany because of her involvement. Our second speaker that night was a former Pentecostal minister who at one point was suspended and partially exiled due to his study at the UBL. He now studies biblical sciences and is working on his thesis(trying to prevent the victimization of people by church leaders).

On Tuesday we had three members of The Latin-American Biblical Society speak to us. They were currently working on translating the bible from Spanish to an indigenous Mayan language called Achi. The translation has recently been finished and is looking to be dedicated in April. One of the members was asked why they feel these translations are important, his (paraphrased) response was: My grandmother used to memorize bible verses in Spanish even though she did not speak Spanish, so when she was able to read the bible in her native language, she now not only knew the bible in her mind but in heart as well. 

Pura Vida,

R Craig Poole

Work completed

We walk by faith, notes on days 2 and 3

On campus we are sharing residential space and meal times with two other groups:   A United Methodist Church work team from Pleasant Valley, Arizona and the Latin American Biblical Society (folks working to translate the Bible into indigenous languages).    We have been welcomed to join the UMC in their morning devotions.  Our first day we heard a devotion focusing on grace and forgiveness including a rap of sorts on the Prodigal son in F minor.  On Tuesday, the devotion focused on walking by faith and not by sight –taking risks of faith. 

We are here on a study-work trip; we doing work for the community and taking classes at the end of the week.   Monday and Tuesday were our work days at the seminary.  Our assignment was to tear down an old security building and paint the walls of the parking lot and entrance to campus and the area where the security building was.  Painting the ragged stucco proved to be quite a challenge requiring several touch ups and spotters to see where we had missed areas from the distance.

In the evenings after dinner on Monday and Tuesday we heard speakers – students from the seminary/university and translators.    On Monday we heard from two students who live in Costa Rica and attend school here.  In addition to attending school they both work and serve local churches in various capacities.  Because they are living in Costa Rica, it will take them longer to graduate since they are not in residence in the seminary.  Those students from other Latin and Central American countries that come here to live in residence usually come with many classes completed and only stay 1 – 2 years.  Brenda and Gustavo will likely take about 4 – 5 years.  In addition, all students have to complete at thesis.  The students spoke about what brought them to the seminary.   Our first speaker, Brenda, told us about how she and her sister came to the country from Guatemala to be with their mother when they were 12 and 14 years old.  Up until this point, she had never been churched.  Her mother worked and needed care for the children on Saturdays – so she ended up sending them to the catechetical school sponsored by the Lutheran church and that is how she became a part of the church.   She has come to the seminary to study and prepare for the future that God has planned for her.  She said her call right now is to prepare as best as possible, serve God now in her studies, and be present in each day – rather than try to guess what God has planned in the future.  This is especially poignant for Brenda because she is participating in a church that does not ordain women.  So her studies and sense of call is truly a leap of faith and taking a risk for God.

We also heard from Gustavo another student on Monday night.  He used to be a pastor in a large Pentecostal church from the Dominican Repbulic who sent him to Costa Rica to work.  However, they censored him for one year when he chose to attend the Latin American Biblical University not allowing him to keep his current call and sending his wife and family into a rural parish to live.  Once his year of censure was up, they told him he could not go back to school.  Instead, Gustavo left that church to continue his education.  He was invited to be a pastor for two years at a Presbyterian church.  Now as he continues his studies he works to create new churches with families and small groups of people.  Now his church is three families.  He is working on his thesis that focuses on churches, wealth, and power looking at how churches take advantage of people – taking their money and serving them.     He is focusing on Genesis 21:8 – 21 and how Sarah took Ishmael’s inheritance as an interpretive key to how churches use their power to take from people in need.

It was amazing to hear stories of people who truly follow God’s call and face the risks for losing their jobs or not having a call in place for them after they finish their education.  

Sights from first day

24 hours in...

NOTE: Sorry this is just now going up, we have been dealing with technical issues all day.

So after spending around 24 hours in Costa Rica, I decided to collect some of my thoughts. We did not arrive at the Universidad Biblica Latinoamerica until around 1:30 in Saturday night/Sunday morning. This was due to a bunch of compiling situations, but the short of it is travel being travel.

Once we arrived and met our hostess Margie Miller (individual volunteer in mission for the United Methodist Church) and our guide Karla Koll (Presbyterian Missionary), we were introduced to the campus, given room keys, sent to our rooms to drop off our luggage, and told to meet in the chapel/dining hall for a late night snack.  It was at this specific moment that I knew this week was going to be fantastic. After we were warned that it is super easy to lock your keys in your room...I locked my keys in my room the first time I left my room. Embarrassed, exhausted, and hungry I went to get a snack and inform our host and the rest of the group I needed my door unlocked. Luckily everything was quickly taken care of, and I was able to get to bed after our meal.

I slept some what poorly as I adjusted to a new bed, but was awoken by the sunlight shining through my window. After I got up and got ready, I went down to the dining hall to enjoy a delicious cup of coffee and the beautiful Costa Rican morning. We had a delicious breakfast (prepared by the amazing Doña Emma) and then embarked on drive through the countryside to the  Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles in Cartago. Once we got there, we attended catholic mass. This was very...interesting for me for two reasons: 1. Mass was conducted entirely in Spanish, a language I know very little of, and 2. I had never been to a catholic mass before. This led to me being confused and lost through most of the service. I did get a few thing out of it though. The music was fantastic, played on an acoustic guitar,  and sounded like a love song to God. The church was alive and full of energy. During mass there was everything from children running around beautiful giant sanctuary to people walking on their knees to the front for penitence, all why all of the church doors were wide open. Finally, the one part of the church service I recognized was the passing of the peace. We were greeted and welcomed by the other churchgoers there even though few of us even spoke Spanish. It was an incredible experience.

After worship we returned to Universidad Biblica Latinoamerica for lunch and then left via public bus for downtown San Jose. As soon as we got there we went to a festival/convention celebrating locally made/grown/produced/crafted/etc. Costa Rican food and products. There was everything from coffee, chocolate, and baked goods to beauty products, hand painted umbrellas, and cleaning supplies. It was very interesting to see all of the different things made in Costa Rica from Costa Rican supplies. From there we went sightseeing to the Statue of Juan Santamaría, Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, and Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, and eventually made our way to a small artisan market. We were able to stop and shop there for a short bit before continuing on our way. After we left the market we finished our trip through downtown San Jose by walking though a very commercial district to the National Theatre. We stopped there for a short bit to appreciate the building and to appreciate the parrots flying around the building and the trees nearby. I'm sure to locals the parrots are a loud annoying bird, but I was fan.

We rode the bus back to the Universidad Biblica Latinoamerica and prepared for dinner. This was the first meal we shared with the other group that is here this week, part of a Methodist congregation from Arizona. We also had another visitor at dinner, the President of the University in which we are staying. He welcomed us to both Costa Rica and the Universidad Biblica Latinoamerica, and thanked of for coming. Unfortunately he couldn't stay long, but it was nice to get to meet him. After dinner we relaxed, talked about the day we had had, hung out, then went to bed. And now you are caught up to when I'm writing this post that I did not plan on writing. Here's to a great first 24 hours and hopefully a great rest of the week.

Pura Vida,

R Craig Poole

T-Minus One Week And Counting

Well, there's less than one week until our journey begins, and Mother Nature has reminded us once again that it's still Winter in Morgantown, no matter how close Spring Break may be! After an awful lot of snow in a very short time today, classes at WVU are cancelled for tomorrow, giving me a lot of extra time to work on assignments (cough, read about Costa Rica all day, cough).

We'll be leaving Morgantown just as the sun comes up on Saturday to head to Pittsburgh for a 316 mile connecting flight to NYC followed by a 2,207 mile flight straight to San Jose! Approximately 6 hours in the air combined. Pray for friendly travelers, patience (for the other ones), good snacks, and lots of leg room. (Maybe say two prayers for leg room?) Craig, Tori, Morgan, Shelly, and I (Will) would really appreciate it.

Costa Rica is already an hour behind us in Eastern Standard Time; they're at GMT +6. Since daylight savings starts here on Sunday and they don't follow it, we will be two hours behind the US east coast all week. As far as weather goes, the temperature should be awesome - highs around 80, lows around 60. I'll try to coax some Sun to come back with us, but I make no promises.

While there, we'll be splitting our time between working on various projects (painting, construction, etc.) at the college as well as attending some lectures on Central American theology, etc. The luxury of having time to learn is a blessing. We're always writing papers, working on projects, and turning in assignments and it's easy to overlook how fortunate we are to be here. One afternoon, we'll also be headed to see the shore and part of the rainforest. Toucans? Yes. Poison frogs? YES. Bullet ants. ALSO YES! I'm probably too excited.

More info to come on the mission work we'll be doing, but we appreciate the chance to share this journey with you and would love for you to keep us in your thoughts and prayers throughout the week. Please comment and interact with us on here! That's why we're blogging.

Clear skies,

Will Armentrout

^^ That's where we're going! San José is closer to the Pacific coast than the Atlantic. ^^