Mission Trip: Costa Rica

Julie dropped me off at the church with about 10 minutes to spare. The group was gathered next to the mini-bus that the church was providing for our commute to Houston. I say “mini-bus” since Adam constantly used that term, but perhaps a better description was “airport shuttle bus”. That should paint a better picture for any of you that have ever been escorted from your respective hotel or rental car station to the airport in the typical “mini-bus”.

Our tour guide this evening: Pastor Adam.

We stopped for a short time in Flatonia for a bite to eat McD’s and stumbled upon Marlene and Matt, who were traveling separately. Fueled-up and filled-up, off we went. One caveat… no place to put my biggie-sized drink!

We got to Foundry a little after 10pm, and unloaded those that were staying at the church. Girls room = soft cushiony floor. Boys room = typical hard floor. Adam and I took those that opted for “no floor” to the hotel and came back to catch some Zs.

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Six o’clock in the morning came pretty quick, or not quick enough, depending on how you look at it. Many nights in a tent have trained me to sleep on an unforgiving ground, but “sleep” is a relative term.

Up and out of the church by 7am and at the airport by 7:30. We parked our shuttle and got picked up by a REAL shuttle (much softer seats, but still no cup holders). Check-in was a breeze and security was a snap.

Up next…. Costa Rica!!

My normal Thursday night for the last 4 months has been competitive open-gym volleyball in the new North Campus gym at UUMC. The response has been almost overwhelming as the attendance has grown from 8 to 38 within the last 2 months. I’ve been playing volleyball in and around San Antonio for the last 15 years and it is great to see some of those people come out of the woodwork, and meet some new faces as well. My new responsibility of running this new form of ministry has been a true blessing, and I love it. However, I had to forgo my commitment last night and this coming week to allow myself some time to pack and prepare for this trip. Pastor Kit, our Recreation Pastor, is graciously filling in for me while I’m gone.

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I pulled out the suitcase as soon as I got home. I’ve done all the errands I needed to do before tonight, and now it is time to pull everything together.

Passport… check. Rainsuit… check. Various small electronics to occupy my time during travel and downtime… check. Spirituality… ummm… check?

“Preparing” for this mission trip has no doubt been 95% physical and only 5% spiritual. That 5% consists solely of our group meetings where we’ve studied our workbook and had a little group discussion. On my own I’ve been too preoccupied to sit, focus and listen. I have a feeling that my 5% is going to get overloaded once we get in and around the community in San Jose.

Our last meeting discussion centered around our presence among the people in another culture, and specifically when on a mission trip. Many have the misconception they need to “put on a Godly face” and “tell the people all about Christ”. That along with speaking “Christianese” often comes accross as an “act” or “fake”, especially when it is not normal. In actuality, where we are going, many Christians have paved the path before us and already laid a foundation for us to carry-out. Our group prayer is that we show up authentically and learn more than we teach. In Adam’s words (paraphrased), “God, allow me to carry on the work you have already begun here, and not screw it up!”

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Our bus leaves from the church at 6pm today. We are driving to Houston, and most of us will sleep at Adam’s former church, Foundry United Methodist Church. Our flight leaves around 9:30am, so it will be an extra early morning to get through customs and check-in for our flight.

The next time I can post will depend on internet availability. At bare minimum, I will try to update you from an internet cafe when we get to San Jose. Any time prior to that will be icing on the cake.

-RB