Making it sound easier than it was

Like a leaky faucet water droplets fall off the brim of my hat. The rain doesn’t stop for anyone or anything. Being in the outer rim of a hurricane’s wrath makes you wish you would’ve packed everything in Ziploc bags, including yourself. Being in Central America during the rainy season also alerts your body to some previously unknown facts. Realizing that there is truly no part of your body that has not been dampened by the unrelenting rains, you stop making fun of the silly looking Wal-Mart rain poncho that your teammate is wearing. Truly like a scene from a movie the islands in the gulf of Costa Rica are visible only a few times through the blankets of rolling fog. My imagination runs with the ideas of dinosaurs or King Kong peering through the dense forests watching our boat slip past the rocky shore. Somewhere on the island though is a school, where students are waiting.

Our day began with a painstakingly slow hour and a half drive across Costa Rica’s infamous roads. We finally arrived at a small river among the mangrove and palm trees where we got out of the cars. Where are the boats I asked; all I got in response was an outstretched arm pointing down the river. We secured the equipment in large garbage bags to protect from the looming rain clouds and we began our journey downstream. I chose wisely to remove my shoes and socks, although the thought of stepping on a crab or some shells was no consolation to my decision. As the mud climbed up my leg I soon realized that distance is a relative term depending on what country you are from.

We soon reached the boat and loaded the equipment; then we were faced with the difficult part of having to push the boat into deeper water. The water soon reached my thigh and the mud was coming up to the lower part of my knee, regardless of how high you roll your pants, you realize that blue jeans are not the fastest drying pants in the world. Soon we were out far enough that the driver could lower the engine. The open water awaited us.

We made our way across the water towards one of the islands. There are no cars or trucks on the island so we pretty much pulled right up onto the beach in front of the first school. We dropped off the first team and the film equipment, we then headed to the high school and breakfast, it was ten ‘til twelve in the morning.

Scrambled eggs, brown rice and black beans truly never looked, smelled or tasted so good. The coffee needed a lot of sugar but that was worth it also. After finishing my plate and wishing I could have about three more the students began coming into the room. About 25 in all they filled the small cafeteria we had transformed into a theatre that afternoon. Here in Costa Rica we are sometimes unable to hand out the Book of Hope in schools; however the GodMan film is widely accepted and used throughout the country to tell the students the truth of God’s love for them.

As I introduced the movie I told them that this was a story that has changed everyone’s life on our team. It was a story that they had to choose whether to accept or reject, they had to make a decision about what they thought about their place in the story.

After the film, the room sat quiet as we continued to speak about their choices in life and what the consequences for those decisions could be. Unable to give a salvation message to the kids we encouraged them to make good choices and live in a positive way. We told them never to forget the message they had just seen in their public school cafeteria.

We told them to remember that each one was created with a specific purpose and plan for your life, remember that God loves you and cares very much about you. As I made my way barefoot down the hill toward the boat I am comforted by the knowledge that one of the ladies we are working with will continue to follow-up with the kids at this school. In the same moment my mind switched gears to prepare for more ministry in the evening; the day isn’t finished yet as we still have two more churches to show the film at where about a hundred kids are waiting. Showers, rest and being dry will come later in the day than I was hoping.