Taking Costa Rica by Storm

We’ve arrived! Our first four days here have been a whirlwind, but God had been good to us. We won’t give you the blow by blow of every day of our lives here going forward, but we know that some are interested in what our first few days have been like, and it’s definitely a testament of God’s mercy, sooo here goes….

We landed on time, tired from the overnight trip on which only one of us (Jude) got much sleep. Kellie from the CFCI base, Ronnie (our big brother from the language school), and Steve (our missionary friend with iTeams) were there to pick us up. All but one of our bags made it, the one with most of Alden’s clothes being the missing one. We called the airline this morning, it had arrived, and we were able to give them directions to our house so that it could be delivered. Our neighbor received it for us while we were out playing today, so everything is accounted for!

On Day 1, our Tico friends Edwin and Zeidy fed us brunch, after conducting an investigation to find us! Edwin was supposed to meet us at the airport, but tried an alternate route that morning and got stuck in traffic. We were concerned about how we’d meet up with them for brunch (we didn’t know our address or phone number before arriving, so neither did they, and we didn’t have their Costa Rican phone number with us because we usually use Skype to talk to them). But within an hour, Edwin managed to get our number after calling mutual friends in the States to get the language school info, calling the language school, and tracking down our phone number with our big brother! We thought it would take a day or two to establish contact with them, so what a surprise it was when our first phone call was Edwin saying, with a smile in his voice, “Hola! Es la casa de la familia Sears?!”

We unpacked a lot, took naps, made a trip with Kellie to Hipermas (a Wal-Mart-like store), and had a great Costa Rican dinner at Steve and Elizabeth Peterson’s house. While our house is technically “furnished,” those furnishings are sparse and there are not many kitchen items, so Hipermas helped us provision ourselves a bit and get Alden a few clothing items. We feel very blessed that so many people have made themselves available to help us get settled in and feel at home. Organized Annabel got all of her things unpacked right away, set up her room and toys, and declared that she loves it here. However, she also added “Caroline and Annie” to our Hipermas shopping list. ;-)

While at the Peterson's on our first night here, God graced us with the most beautiful and brilliant rainbow we've ever seen! It was so bright, we couldn't believe it. What a welcome!

On Day 2, another CFCI missionary who just finished her second trimester at language school, Sunshine, gave us a walking tour of our area to acclimate us a bit. Our house is located on the southwest corner of a park called El Bosque, and there are several other parks within a 15 minute walk. We feel very blessed to have so many options for the kids to run and play! It has 3 small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a living/dining room area, kitchen, laundry room off of the back patio, and a small backyard (see photos on the “Pictures” tab). Two luxuries we weren’t sure we’d have are a small hot water heater (hot showers!) and a clothes dryer. Though we’ll probably still hang the clothes on sunny days to save energy (that’s the Tico thing to do), a dryer will be very helpful during the rainy season, which is just starting and goes through October/November. Every day people come by begging for food or money, and we've been advised by other missionaries to plan on buying extra rice and beans to hand out in ziploc packets. What a different world than Kansas City!

We stopped by the nearby home of some other CFCI missionaries who just completed language school, Mark and Marge Long. They are the directors of a youth program in our neighborhood, are a very sweet couple, and have teenage daughters (potential babysitters!). More unpacking, and another trip to Hipermas, this time with Edwin while Zeidy and their daughter Monica hung out at the house with the kids. We swatted a lot of mosquitoes (they like our backyard, too), and found some insecticide to help out with that. Seth went downtown today with Steve to find some mosquito netting that we can put over the beds until they let up.

Edwin also took us to a ministry called MANA, which is a residential ministry to rehabilitate addicts. They recondition school desks to sell and make other furniture to support the center and learn a trade skill. We were impressed with this ministry that has turned around the lives of so many, and has 30 men living there now. The leaders love the Lord and the addicts, want each one to come to know the Lord, and offer comprehensive services to help these people who have been oppressed by their addictions. Back home, we ordered pizza for dinner, since Andrea was not quite ready to tackle cooking in the kitchen, and it was actually pretty good!

On Day 3, we played at a small fenced-in park at the end of our block where we could let Scarlet off her leash to run around with the kids. We made our first trip to la feria (the market) and bought plenty of fresh fruits and veggies from the farmers who bring their produce to sell every Saturday morning. Andrea went to a support group meeting of Christian homeschooling moms in the San Jose area with Elizabeth, most of them missionaries, but some expats too. She felt so blessed to get connected with such a group right away! They will be good mentors and are intentional about circulating curriculum resources amongst themselves since it can be difficult to get things down here.

Yesterday, we went to church at La Iglesia Berea and agreed that it would be our home church. Their style of worship is similar to what one would find in many evangelical churches in the U.S., and the teaching is rock solid. Several other missionaries attend there as well, but it’s mostly a Tico church, and it’s where Edwin and Zeidy attend. We enjoyed the praise time immensely, the kids were brave about going to their Sunday school classes, and said afterward that they enjoyed it.

Edwin and Zeidy fed us a delicious lunch at their place and we visited with them all afternoon and started looking for used cars for sale on the internet, with Edwin’s advice on what to buy here, which cars have the most expensive repairs, etc. and his offer to be our ambassador so the price doesn’t go up when gringos show up to look at a car. Without us even mentioning our need, they also offered to give us a cellular phone line that they aren’t using, which is something that we wanted to have, but you can’t get right now if you’re not a citizen or permanent resident of Costa Rica.

Today, again without us even mentioning our need, our neighbor Don Juan (yes, his name is Juan and he is an older gentleman, so you call him Don Juan) came over and asked if we’d like to use a wireless network that he and several other neighbors share to use the internet. More users means less per user to pay per month for them, and saved us what probably would have taken several more weeks to get our own DSL service hooked up.

We have felt very cared for, and God has placed many people around us already to help us with every minor detail of starting a life here, including things we haven't even been wise enough to ask for yet. Ephesians 3:20-21 comes to mind, which says, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." We know that He is with us, and is providing us with everything that we need, whether we know yet that we need it or not! The kids and dog have all adjusted well to our life here, despite its transitional nature, and have cheerful spirits about what we are here to do. Praise God for His work in our lives!

We hope that each and every one of you are enjoying the new life of Spring back home, and avoiding the swine flu! We felt so loved by you all in our sendoff from the States, with so many kind words and parties and embraces. Already we can’t wait to see you all again!

Much love,
Seth, Andrea, Annabel, Alden and Jude