Shaking in Costa Rica
25/01/13 05:24
Our congregation has a sister congregation in Costa Rica. I’ve had the privilege of visiting our sister church four times and feel like I have a sense of some of the people who participate in the church. Most of my news from Costa Rica comes from the dedication of a few volunteers who have kept the relationship going. Every year since 1988, our congregation has had lay members visit our sister church, usually during their annual Vacation Bible School, which is in progress this week.
Since we have these Costa Rica connections, I pay a little attention to the news from Costa Rica, mostly by reading the headlines of amcostarica.com and ticotimes.net. The articles don’t have specific information about the people, or even the neighborhoods that are most familiar to me, but Costa Rica is a relatively small country and San Jose is its major urban center, so the news I read has an effect on the people I know.
Sometimes it is interesting to follow stories that have parallels here at home. For example, our newspaper has regular stories about the devastation of pine trees caused by pine bark beetles and the efforts of private and government groups to combat the infestation. In Costa Rica there is a fungus that is destroying coffee crops. The fungus is spreading more rapidly than before in part because the weather has been abnormally warm and dry for a few years. Coffee plants and pine trees aren’t all that similar and the fungus isn’t the same as the beetles, but the sense of needing to manage crops to prevent their destruction is similar as is the sense that the situation may be part of a larger ecological picture.
Among the things I look for as I read the news, especially this time of year when we have members of our church sharing in the VBS down there, are stories about volcanic activity and earthquakes. Central America is filled with volcanoes and seismic activity is a regular part of life there.
I got the news of the earthquake that happened in the wee hours yesterday from an e-mail form our friends in Costa Rica. Later I found a news story about the shaking. A strong earthquake, measuring magnitude 5.2 shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, awakened thousands of Ticos. Tico is the local term for a native in Costa Rica. I’m not sure what they call us other than Norte-americano lor perhaps gringo. Chances are that there are other slang terms of reference that would never be used when I was within hearing. Costa Ricans are careful not to openly offend their guests. Even when the answer is “No,” you’ll never hear a Tico say it to you if you are a tourist.
The earthquake felt like two earthquakes to the people in Costa Rica. Seismologists, however, reported that it was a single earthquake with two different seismic waves. There was an aftershock about 20 minutes after the main quake and another about four hours later – all during the time when people would normally be sleeping. It is a little difficult to get a good night’s sleep when the building keeps shaking hard enough to wake you up.
A good night’s sleep is one of the things we pray will occur for our friends in Costa Rica. San Jose is a big city and people have learned to live with a lot of urban noise. Typical sounds of cars and trucks, people living a bit too close together and seemingly ever-present sirens and car alarms make it difficult to sleep for those of us who are used to the natural quiet of the hills. When I have visited Costa Rica, I have found myself waking frequently during the night simply because there are a lot more sounds than I experience at home in the hills.
But the Vacation Bible School team needs a bit of rest. VBS is hectic with a lot of work and a lot of flexibility demanded. Even with capable and energetic youth volunteers, the church is always a bit short of supervision for all of the children and a bit short of space. The adults who participate have to focus their attention to keep track of all of the activity and keep the program running according to plan. And our volunteers have the added challenges of working in a second language while trying to keep track of the names of the children which are every bit as confusing as the names given to children in the USA these days. Add to that a lot of walking – it is really necessary to get things done in the city. The result is tired volunteers. They give freely of their time and energy, but Costa Rica and our sister church seem to be capable of absorbing all of the time and energy you have.
Each day begins with a prayer of thanksgiving for the dedicated volunteers who are so generous with all of their lives. The connection between the two congregations is essential to the health of our congregation in Rapid City. A church can’t be a church if it focuses only on its own needs and concerns. To be a church requires constant outreach and connection with the needs of the world. Engaging with the concerns of the world and serving the wider community are at the heart of what it means to be a church. Without a strong sense of mission, congregations quickly deteriorate into social clubs and the busy people of our community have little time for social clubs.
It may be true that our Costa Rica sister church has grown a bit dependent upon the financial support from our congregation. But it is equally true that our Rapid City congregation has become dependent upon the work of our Costa Rica congregation. Feeding hungry people, witnessing for hope and faithfulness in a challenging environment, supporting education and reaching out to those with no church connections are all critical to our identity as Christians. The two congregations need each other in order to be complete.
So I read the news from Costa Rica every day. I pray for the people of Costa Rica every day. They are not far away. What happens to them happens to us. As I say over and over again, “We’re all in this together.”