Building

 There was a lot of building going on the last week of July at Centro Emanuel.  A team of short term missionaries from Village Parkway Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas arrived armed with tools and a willingness to serve.  This church has been sending teams since 2007 and all except one of the nine members this year had been to Centro Emanuel before.

Building Walls – In six days five members of the team removed the old kitchen siding, installed a new support beam for the roof, and put up the new siding.  Paul had tears in his eyes when they gave him some pneumatic tools (used on the project) on our last evening together.  He could not have asked for a nicer group of guys to work with.

 

Building Skills – After more than a year of classes and exams 17 Cabécar women graduated from the Puentes de Vida (Bridges of Life) program.  The team from Texas attended the celebration and served the guests dinner. The graduates are trained as maternal and infant health promoters in order to decrease the infant mortality rate among their indigenous people group. The statistics of Costa Rica already show a 50% decrease in the Cabécar infant mortality rate since the health promoters started connecting people to services in the public health system.  As funds become available graduates will be hired as health promoters in the reservation.

Building Trust – The same week I (Bridget) was able to go into the reservation with our directors (Dr. Alekcey Murillo and Dr. Judith Dunteman), and three members of the Texas team.  We went with one of the health promoters to visit a mom and her new born baby.  Over the monthly visits through the pregnancy, and since the birth of the baby, the healthy promoter has built a relationship based on trust with the mother.  During the visit the mom was given a Moby wrap baby carrier and the health promoter demonstrated how to use it.  The wrap was a gift that a high school student had made and sent with the team from Texas. 

Building Relationships – One day Judith took the three women from the team to visit friends in a neighboring community.  They were all glad to rekindle their relationships.  Another day Judith, the three women, and I went to the Aroma de Montaña Restaurant.  In the morning we taught the four gals who run and own the restaurant to make apple pies.  In the afternoon we hosted a coffee for the ladies from the surrounding communities.  There was plenty of time to talk as we made a craft, ate refreshments, and discussed the Bible story about Mary and Martha in Luke 10. This day I realized that Judith and the women I have lived among in this community for the past two years have become my dear friends.

Building into Children’s Lives – This team from Texas always does something for the children in the community on their trips (built a playground, taught a vacation Bible school, hosted a community carnival, constructed a school cafeteria, etc.). This year four members of the team helped me teach my English classes at Sikua Ditsä School.  One of them read the Spanish version of our Bible story, in Genesis 24 where God provides a wife for Isaac.  Then the same story was retold in Cabécar and English.  After that we set up four stations: 1) practicing numbers and writing the time, 2) reviewing days, months, weather, and shapes, 3) using time flash cards to play memory, and 4) having short conversations.  The children all got so much more practice because of the team’s help. 

We are rejoicing the Lord could do so much through the team and are thankful for people willing to sacrifice their time to come and work with us.

Please pray for those who will view or have viewed the Jesus Film in the Cabécar language, that they will find a personal relationship with God through Jesus and give up their old religious practices.

Thank you for taking the time to read about, pray for, and give to the work that God is doing in Costa Rica.

Paul and Bridget