holding babies...

Monday we visited Hogarcito San Juan Bosco for the second time since we have been here.  This place holds a very special place in our hearts already and we know that our love for the tias and children there will only continue to grow.  

We began our correspondence with Diana, the director at Hogarcito, through email.  I painstakingly constructed an email of introduction in Spanish.  It is very difficult for me to write in Spanish because I generally think in more complex sentences then my limited spanish vocuabulary permits.  Unlike Hogar de Vida, no one at Hogarcito San Juan Bosco speaks English.  We emailed back and forth and Diana invited us to come and meet her and see the facility first hand.  

Again, we nudged the kids awake for an early morning drive for that first visit.  We still had no expectations and only hoped to learn.  

Hogarcito San Juan Bosco is not as large or grand as Hogar de Vida, but it is bright, colorful, clean, and full of love.

We pulled up outside the gate and little eyes slowly started to gather to look at who has come to visit... I am not sure if they rarely have visitors or if they rarely have children as visitors.  Either way, their curiosity definitely had the best of them and they watched us carefully.  

Diana welcomed us warmly and Kyle and I began to describe the best we could what ROOM does and ask her about how her program works.  

She showed us around the facility and went into a room where a sweet girl, no older than 4 months, was sleeping.  She reached down and picked her up and handed that sweet, sleeping baby to me...I was toast after that.  Oliver Jack was smitten and could barely do anything else besides hold her tiny hand and kiss her cheeks.  

While we held that sweet baby, we listened to Diana tell us about Hogarcito San Juan Bosco.

She told us that PANI provides monetary support and that support covers the cost of the salaries of the 6 tias that they have to have there at all times and a large portion of their operating costs and food.  PANI's support is 60% of their monthly budget.  After that 60%, the tias use their own money for whatever needs the children may have.  

We asked her how she covered the remaining 40% and she responded that is was "por la gracia de Dios" and that He somehow made what they have grow and grow....They depend on Him to for daily bread to feed the multitudes.  

She also told us, with a twinkle in her eye, about a room that she was trying to build.  She talked of the room like someone speaks of becoming a doctor or owning a sportscar...like she knew it could be a possibility but also like she is slightly embarassed of having such a goal...but she bashfully described the room to us.  A local architect has already donated the plans for the additonal space that is truly necessary for this facility to be a healthy space for the kids there...they have a list of supplies.  They know the contractor that they will hire to complete the job.  They only need the supplies.

We asked her if she had any supplies yet and she lowered her head and told us no.  

They never have money left over.  And when it comes to buying food or building supplies for a dream addition, they make the purchase that any responsible person would make and they buy food.  

We asked her what her biggest need is month to month and she told us food.

We understand that!  We only have 6 mouths to feed in our home and food is our biggest expense outside of our home...I can only imagine the cost of feeding 17 mouths!

After that initial meeting we left and purchased chicken, baby formula, apples, and then Harper insisted that we also purchase Tang for the kids...Tang...of all the things :)

We left that day feeling a sense of purpose.  This is what God had put in our hearts...these are the faces we saw in the corners of our hearts.  We only wanted Diana and the others there to know that we are truly here.  

Those are the relationships that take work.  

We are all grateful when someone offers help, but help with relationship is much more powerful.

So Monday we visited again.  

This time, Harper and Calvary not only brought bracelets to distribute but they also brought rainbow loom bands to teach the kids.  All of the children were so interested in the bracelets last time that Harper thought they would love a lesson.  

We went and purchased more chicken and formula and headed to Hogarcito.  Even though we had made the arrangements with Diana to come again, her face when she saw us was so different than the first time we met her.  It was not like the face of someone that is suspect of meeting a new person.  It was the face of someone that was genuinely happy to see a friend.  

I am so thankful for that greeting.

The kids immediately set off to play and we immediately started talking with Diana.  

We immediately started find our place in the middle of their normal day.  

One little girl reminded me so much of a friend's daughter at home and we just giggled as we watched her live.  She was spunky and fun and everything she did was with a little smile.  She grabbed my sunscreen and began telling me, "pintarme! pintarme!"...how could I deny her?  

Harper, unsuprisingly, became the best rainbow loom teacher the world has ever known.  

Calvary, suprisingly, jumped in and did his best to teach a little girl how to use her fingers to make the bracelet.  However, his fine motor skills delay make that a more difficult job than it would be for most and he pointed her the way to Harper for further instruction.  Although he was exactly succesful in teaching her, I was just so proud I could pop at the effort.  

While we were playing with the kids, Kyle as working.  Calvary joined him and loved working hard sweeping and scrubbing the sidewalk.  

Finley and Jack...well, they played.  They raced.  Boys laughed uncontrollably at Finley's blue tongue.  They looked at books.  And they climbed and played on the play structures.  

Mostly, we were just there.

I noticed, much like at Hogar de Vida, the immense amount of love their.

Every little girl had their hair lovingly brushed and tied up in little ponytails.

Every child had outifts that were put together with care.

The boys would make bracelets and then run off to give them to their favorite tias...and then come back and say, "2 mas!".

While we were there, a few of the children had to get ready for school...they disappeared for a while and returned wearing perfectly pressed school uniforms.  It was funny to see these boys that were just moments ago laughing and roughhousing suddenly turned into proper students.  

It was sweet to see.  Every child that would come and sit beside me and listen to me speak my slow, Southern spanish was so full of life.  It was like I was looking into the face of hope.  

Our heart would be that each one of these children would have a home.  We, as members of ROOM and as Christians, would love that there would be no need for orphanages at all.  Our goal, in the meantime, is to help these programs run as effictively as lovingly as possible.  

We are so thankful for places like Hogar de Vida and Hogarcito San Juan Bosco that are doing their very best to love on these precious children.  

My personal hope is that ROOM can help make the room that Diana dreams of reality.  As Kyle and I continue to work on translating the list, we plan to offer those materials as an opportunity for everyone to bless this program that is already doing so much to serve and love these kids. Each item that is crossed off that list, even as simple as a box of nails, has such a profound impact on these kids but also on the workers that sometimes feel so alone in their service. 

Harper helping the children make rainbow loom bracelets...

Calvary helping....

Calvary working hard...

the biggest room for the kids.  

Meet Diana.  She is kind, warm, and hopeful.  We are excited to be partnering with her.

Hogar de Vida...

2 weeks ago, we gently nudged our children so that they could begin to dress for our long drive north. The clock said 4:00am...although this seemed early to us, the sun here doesn't seem to agree and it was already beginning to outline the moutains.  We loaded up with cups of cereal in hand and took off.  

We honestly had no idea what to expect.

Our purpose was simply to learn.  

I had spoken with the director of Hogar de Vida on the phone and through email the weeks leading up to our in person visit and I knew that he would be patient with us as we learn and, in his own words, "disciple" us as we become a part of the system in place here in Costa Rica to care and provide for their children.  But I also wanted to represent ROOM well, be a service to Hogar de Vida, and have my children behave perfectly all the while.  

We were late.

Of course.

Thus began our visit.  

Although we left our house in plenty of time to make it by 8:30, once we made it to the city we could not find the building...which is amazing in hindsight because Hogar de Vida is a large span of land, stretching 30,000 sqm, in the relatively (relative to what we are used to in the US) small city.  We asked several people and the directions we were given sent us up, down, and around...but never to Hogar de Vida.  I am not even sure how we finally did find it...I think a man told us "arriba! arriba! arriba!" and we couldn't miss it... We finally arrived a little after 9:00 in the morning.  

In spite of our tardiness, Tim and Hoover greeted us with such kindness and grace.  They quickly welcomed us and invited us to come and sit with them in the rancho.

I immediately began to survey our surroundings and I was truly in awe of what I saw.  Hogar de Vida is like an oasis...it is fitting that we had such a difficult time finding it for that reason!  

Tim shared his heart with us and his passion for serving The Lord.  Over and over he reinterated that all of this work is for the kingdom of God.  Hogar de Vida belongs to The Lord and that truth is evident in the love that is so clearly visible throughout the campus.  

I watched as tias gently guided children from place to place.  

I watched as a little boy fell and immediately turned and ran into the arms of a tia and she lowered herself to soothe him with a hug.

I watched as two young tias sat on a blanket out under the trees and played and cradled two sweet infants.  

The love pouring out is obvious.  And although Hogar de Vida is home to 35 children, it is a place of peace...it lacks the chaos and volume that I am accustomed to in my own home with only 4 children! 

The younger two wanted to play with the kids on the trampoline and they quickly enlisted the help of Harper to ask for them if they could play.  The tia assured them all that they were more than welcome to play and soon all the kids were playing and bouncing on the trampoline.  

During that time, Tim shared even more of his story and the vision for Hogar de Vida.  He desires transperancy, excellence, and a commitment to service...He desires these qualities in himself as well as everyone that comes to work alongside him at Hogar de Vida.  

Hogar de Vida represents all of these qualities.  

Tim's heart for service allows for hosting mission teams where groups can come in and work with the children and in the facility.  He knows that the time where teams can commit to service opens doors to understand the importance of living life as God has called us to live: laying down our lives, loving our neighbors, and loving God.   

In the time that we were there, Tim and Hoover taught us quite a bit about how PANI works and about how his organization works.  

Essentially, the goal of Hogar de Vida is to provide a safe place for children to learn about the love of God.  

On the grounds, there are several individual homes that create a home environment for the children.  The tias are passionate about what they do; it is not simply a paycheck for them.  In fact, the day that we were there we were told a story about a tia that just tearfully told the story of how she resigned from Hogar de Vida as a tia to become the caretaker of a little girl that came in as an infant with special needs.  Her love for the children led her to become a tia and that same love for these children led her to leave and become a foster mother.  It's beautiful, really.

Our hope now is that ROOM can help nurture the love that is already thriving there. Although we know that Hogar de Vida is not likely to be consistent for what we will find here in Costa Rica, we are so thankful that this is our first program because it will serve as a wonderful model for the other programs struggling to find a way to create a family atmosphere for these children. 

We would love to connect churches with this reputable program that is doing so much to impact the kingdom of God through their ministry to the orphans of Costa Rica.  

More information about Hogar de Vida can be found on their website http://www.homesoflife.org/our-program.htm .  

Please contact me if you are interested in connecting with Hogar de Vida for a mission trip, sponsorship of a child, or to sponsor their program.  

Thank you to Hoover for the pictures~

I love this picture above of the kids from one of the houses having dinner.  It speaks volumes to the safe environments that truly inspire to create for these children.  Such precious kids...

Devotion time for kids, tias, staff, and volunteers together...

We are looking forward to building a wonderful relationship with this home!

banana trucks and mountains...

We have now been here in Costa Rica for over a month.  I cannot believe it!  Every day we fall more in love with this country and the people that call this place home.

We are slowly starting to accept the differences in what we expected and what is reality.  Our expectations were not better, but they were different, so adjusting those expectations has been a real thing to deal with as we processed this new life.  

When I pulled out my phone to take the picture below I was trying to capture the mountains in the distance.  It wasn't until I was looking at the pictures later that I realized that I captured the house in the  lower right corner.  This picture is such a reflection of Costa Rica: the beauty of the natural landscape, the humble homes made of all sorts of materials, and the pride and care put into their homes and lives.

When I first noticed this picture, it was a couple of weeks ago.  My perspective then is not the same as it is even now...and I suppose that as each week passes by I will learn more about the intricacies of this country.  

I think this is why God uses foreign missions...it such a common sentiment to hear well meaning people say, "why go so far? we have hurting people in need here in our own backyard!". And there is so much truth to that...God needs us all to be looking for the places we can be serving and loving right where we are...but I also, obviously, believe that God calls people into foreign missions.  

Sometimes, when we are in our own cirumstances, we are either too focused on the beauty in the distance or too focused on the current situation.  

However, if we are not careful, when we come into a situation that is not our own we may only see the mountains in the distance or the banana truck house in the foreground...that is dangerous because we make assumptions based on just one perspective.  

There are several places within the Bible where God speaks of the importance of missions...one obvious example is the Great Commission where we are instructed to go and make disciples of ALL nations...but the verse that has come to my mind so much since being here in Costa Rica is, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him on whose feet bring the good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" (Isaiah 52:7)  I love to think of the mountains that we cross carrying the message of God's love & the fact that He not only has called us but also empowered us to do this work...

Foreign missions is about exactly that..

It is about taking your perspective and my perspective and every perspective in between and learning the truth of how we are all created to be His...

The moment that I no longer ignore the banana truck to admire the mountain...I've made a step.

The moment that I no longer focus only on the banana truck...I've taken another.

The moment when I no longer pity the people who live in the banana truck...I've taken even more.

The moment when I see beauty in the care made to make the banana truck a home...I've taken more.

The moment I am willing to live life alongside the occupants of the banana truck...I've understood what it means to see people as He sees them.

I've had a very difficult time explaining what life here has been like.  We visited an orphanage last week (which will be a post all its own!)...we've moved into a home in a mountain community just 10 miles south of the biggest city in southern CR...we have many conversations, in our limited spanish, with as many people as we can....we have watched birds and sloths and iguanas play in the trees...we have eaten fruits that would have never dared tried...I have driven by houses and marveled at how the ticos keep their floors so perfectly polished ( I am most definitely bringing the neighborhood down )...and the more we live here, the more I am worried that conveying life here back home will only present a limited perspective.  

I've learned that this country is not just a vacation spot...

but I also don't want to create pity.  

This country is amazing.  The people are amazing.  And just like people in our own backyard, there are people that need to know and feel and see the love of God.  God just wanted our backyard to change :)  

1 Corinthians 12:

"12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."
One body...In God's body the hand does not only look out for the hand or care for the hand; each part of the body cares and thrives based on the other parts wellness...
my prayer is that others will fall in love with Costa Rica as we share our experiences here but also, through that love, want to serve and meet their needs...because their needs are our needs.