March 7, 2012

March 7, 2012

I haven’t taken the time to talk about the people of Costa Rica that we have met so far. They seem to be a happy lot for the most part. Everyone will greet you as you walk by whether they have ever seen you before or not. Buenos dias, hola, or just plain buenas are the typical greeting along with a smile. This is all ages and both genders. How many people in the States will greet you as you walk down the street?

In this small town of Tambor, I have never felt uneasy walking down the street or being alone at the house. Even though according to the internet, petty thievery runs rampant in the country and people are told not to go to the beaches after dark. David and I were just at the beach looking at the full moon shine on the bay and there was no feeling of needing to be careful or wary. I think we are just away from the type of tourist spots that bring in the riff raff.

The people will go out of their way to help you with any questions you might have. The only problem is trying to be understood with a limited amount of Spanish, as for the most part the people we have been meeting do not speak English; unless they are tourists from the US or Canada. The only time people are a little bit rude is getting on or off of public transportation. Queuing properly is not a lesson that they have learned. But one politeness they have learned is young men will get out of their seat and offer it to me on the bus, they may have just crowded in front of me to get on the bus, but hey…it’s the thought that counts. And I can tell you I gladly take a seat as the buses are very rickety and hanging on for dear life gets old after a few stops or hills.

We went to church last Sunday and everyone was just delightful. Being typical we got to church early and I don’t think they quite knew what to do with us. But we were welcomed in and offered a seat. Everyone that was already there praying one by one came by to welcome us, the men with a handshake and the women with a kiss on the cheek, at least for me. And of course the Dios le bendiga (God bless you) from all.

The service was supposed to start at 10 but true to Costa Rican style people started arriving at a few minutes after 10 and kept trickling in for the next 20 minutes or so. As they came in they would greet everyone, including us, and then go and join in the prayer up front.

From the moment we walked in the door I could feel that this was a Holy Spirit filled church. There was much prayer, with many people going and kneeling at the front and also many being slain in the Spirit. Then there was some rousing singing and we actually recognized 2 of the songs. Of course it is difficult to sing in English when you are hearing them sing the song in Spanish. And then there was more personal prayer time up front with more being slain in the Spirit.

And when I thought the Pastor was finally going to preach, he said that the Holy Spirit had worked that morning and there was no need for him to add anything to what had been done. So with David and I looking at each other asking, do you think it is over, we had everyone come by and bless us again with either a handshake or a kiss. Finally after someone else went out the door we decided that indeed the service was over. I was a little surprised that the Pastor did not go ahead and preach anyway but decided it was probably because of the bus schedule. Most people that did not live right in town came by the bus which left at 12:30 and the next one wasn’t until 3 hours later on Sunday.

The one thing that struck me while at the church was that people are the same no matter where you are and these lovely people need Jesus just as much as anyone. The only difference is they seem to be able to fall on their faces before God more easily than we do. The other thing I kept thinking over and over, as most of the ones crying out to God were the women, is I would love to bring our Tiara Ladies message to these women so that they could more fully know the freedom that only the Lord gives.