Earthquake Relief

Last week was quite the exciting week.  It started off like any normal week here at YWAM San Jose; Monday morning worship, work, classes.  But come Wednesday morning, as we were about to pray nonetheless, we felt the earth start shaking…and not in the good way.  About 80 miles from San Jose there was an earthquake that rated a 7.6 on the Richter scale.  To give you a reference point, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti was a 7.0.  Fortunately, the quake happened about 25 miles below the earth’s surface (the Haiti earthquake was about 8 miles down), so with it being that deep the damage from the quake was not nearly as bad as the damage we’ve seen in countries recently.  They issued an immediate tsunami warning, which I think is pretty standard for any earthquakes that occur near an ocean.  Fortunately, there was no tsunami follow-up.

Two days after the earthquake the DTS leaders offered to send the DTS a town near the epicenter that had a family that was forced to live on the street because their walls had collapsed.  On Friday they told us to pack up our stuff and that we’d be sleeping in tents in this town because it was safer to sleep outside than in a house in case there were more trembles.  It sounded like quite the adventure to me!  So on Saturday morning a few people from another YWAM base picked us up, we filled up a 15 passenger van and we headed out for the 7 hour journey (Did you do the math? The epicenter, where we were going was 80 miles away.  It took us 7 hours.  Now have you done the math?).  On the way we met up with another YWAM group that would join us for the weekend. 

 

Jake and his tires...

After we met up with YWAM Nicoya, we got a flat tire on our trailer.   Thankfully, God was watching out and we got the flat tire just as we came upon a tire shop.  So we bought a new tire, then drove a few extra feet to have another tire shop install it. 

We arrived at around 2:30 at a local church that had sustained damage in the earthquake.  It was the church that told us about the family that was living on the streets.  Our leaders were talking with their pastor to come up with the work plan and about 10 minutes after we arrived there was an aftershock that rated a 5.6 on the Richter scale.  It was short, but felt much more powerful at the epicenter than the earthquake felt 80 miles away.  About 20 minutes after the aftershock came the typical Costa Rican thunderstorm, where thunder is so loud it is deafening and the lightening is stacked right on top of it.  Then the downpour.  When it started to rain, they started coming up with alternatives to us sleeping outside because we would have gotten soaked!  We split up into 3 different groups and 3 local families housed us (the pastor and his wife housed about 10 people…you got that Josh and Rose??  J).

Jake and I and another couple stayed with a family that offered us beds (all our friends had to sleep on mats on the floor) and made us an amazing dinner of fish, rice, beans and salad (our friends had to eat rice and macaroni and cheese) even though we were supposed to have gone to join our comrades.   We felt like royalty!

A wall that fell down at the church.

We woke up in the morning to the sound of monkeys talking in the jungles around us.  It’s a great alarm clock!  We then headed out to the work sites.  One group of us helped at the church and another group went to the family’s house.  Jake and I helped at the church, separating wood, cleaning things up, and mixing concrete so we could build a temporary meeting place out back.  We worked alongside members of the church and the women of the church made snacks, juice, coffee and lunch for us.  These were some seriously hospitable women!!  We worked for the morning and because of the large number of us, in about 5 hours we were able to get almost everything completed.  That’s pretty crazy to me!

The way home was just as interesting as the drive there.  We got a phone call that there was a landslide and part of the road was closed (it was actually a bridge closure due to the earthquake and the subsequent rain, which washed out part of the bridge).  We were told there was no way around.  As we were driving, a Costa Rican woman flagged us down and told us that there was a road we could turn down to get around it.  We circumvented that bridge, but it was followed up by another bridge closure for which we had to wait about 90 minutes on the highway because all traffic was stopped.  We were all exhausted from having done hard labor that morning and sitting in a full 15 passenger van in the heat of the day is not fun.  We just wanted to get home.  We finally did after about 9 ½ hours!

Macaws we saw on the way home

Even though there were several speed bumps it was truly an amazing weekend.  We got to provide emergency relief for people and while we were there we got to be taken care of  by a group of people with great senses of humor and huge hearts.  We got to work alongside other YWAMers and other Christians, united for the sake of taking care of those in need.  It was so great being able to leave out of consideration any differences in cultures or doctrinal beliefs because what was more important was that people were in need and that superseded anything.  It was great to see the body of Christ doing what it is supposed to be doing…taking care of those in need, like getting a family off the streets and back into structure they can live in, even if it is a temporary solution. 

Some people would call me crazy to continue to have hope in the Body putting aside its differences to do take care of others, but when I experience it firsthand, I know it’s possible.  It’s possible when we lay down our pride.  It’s possible when we decide that loving people is more important than being right.  It’s possible when our love for others is at least the same as our love for ourselves.  It’s possible when we don’t need to fit people into the boxes that we are comfortable with.  It’s possible when we lay down our religion and pick up our cross. 

Reunited...come on, you know you want to sing...

I (Michelle) finally made it down to Costa Rica! It has been so nice getting to be together again.  Seeing each other at the airport was a little weird for the both of us.  We both felt like we should have been SUPER excited but when we saw each other, it was more like...who are you?  Well, not really the who are you part, but it did feel weird since at that point we had been away from each other for 2/3 of our married life.  It took all of about an hour to fall right back into step with each other and has been blissful since.  


My first day here was laughable and I'm slightly embarrased to tell people 2 of the things we did that day.  First, I hadn't eaten on the plane and Jake skipped lunch since he figured I would have not eaten.  So our first stop after the airport was food.  And where did we go?  McDonald's.  Mostly because it was quick, easy, cheap and on the way to the base.  Still though, only Americans would make their first stop in a foriegn country be McDonald's, am I right?  Then Jake and I organized our room, put our clothes away, and started to get settled in.  We made a list of things we wanted to get for the room to make it more liveable.  It just so happened that, that night people were making a trip to another American destination...Walmart.  I had no idea they HAD a Walmart in Costa Rica.  It's one of my least favorite places to walk into, but when you need stuff and you don't know what else is around you do what you have to.  So yes, in my first 7 hours of arriving in Costa Rica I ate at McDonald's and shopped at Walmart, 2 things I MIGHT do every 7 months (if that) in the States.

The day after I arrived the DTS was having a "giving party".  The students were asked to pray about what they felt God wanted them to give up and who they should give it to.  They explained the significance  behind what they were giving and why they felt like they should give it to a specific person.  It happens to be one of my favorite things to do and one of my favorite YWAM things.  I was fortunate enough to be able to join the party and it was absolutely wonderful.  People were sacrificing things that meant a lot to them and encourage other students with their generosity.  Jake and I received a picture frame from Adrian who had been carrying it around for 9 months while he was travelling.  It was very touching and humbling to receive something from someone who wears shoes that are falling apart because he can't afford other shoes.  It's amazing watching God work in peoples' hearts through giving parties.




This weekend, Jake and I were fortunate enough to spend the weekend at our friends' house since they are out of town.  It is nice to be able to have our own space to talk and to hang out like we haven't been able to do for the past 5 weeks.  It's really nice to have my best friend sitting next to me again.

Please keep in your prayers our finances and our computer.  Our computer crashed 5 days before I left and it has been a huge uphill battle ever since, with HP sending things to wrong addresses and giving different sets of instructions.  I have no idea yet if it is fixed and won't know for a few more days.  If it isn't, our updates will be fewer than we'd like, but we are limited by the technology we have.  We also won't be able to skype with our families as much, which will be tough.  But we know that God is in control and we can make it through any trials that come our way.  We are so blessed by your support and blessed to be with each other once again.  Everything else seems to take 2nd chair to that.   

Love and blessings to you all,
Michelle and Jake

Our First Post

Welcome to our blog!  We will be using this to keep you up to date what we are doing as we are abroad.  


As you know, Jake left on Wednesday, June 27th to do his Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With a Mission (YWAM).  He has been getting acclimated down there and getting settled in.  Within a couple hours of his arrival, he was doing the Jake thing...working on a car.  He will be doing that for a couple of hours every day during the week because as part of the school he has been assigned to assist with transportation maintenance.  :-)


There are a total of 8 students in his DTS class. There is a 40 year old Canadian man, a 38 year old Swiss woman, Jake, a 23 year old Mexican man, a 21 year old San Diegan man, 2 18 year old women from Colorado and an 18 year old woman from Los Angeles.  Quite a wide variety of ages for a school.


Their schedules are packed with worship, studying, working.  This weekend they are prepping for entertaining kids for Vacation Bible School.  Jake will be playing King Nebuchadnezzar and Lazarus in a couple of skits.  Yes, Jake acting.  What I wouldn't give to see that!  :)  


Next week the class will start their training with "Character and Nature of God".   There is sure to be a lot of growth and revelation for the students.  
Please keep us in your prayers.  It has been very hard on both of us being apart.  We have been able to Skype a few times, which has been incredibly helpful, but it is a challenge not knowing when he will be able to make the time to call.  


Thank you to all for your support!  We are so thankful for the love, the prayers, the encouragement and the financial contributions you have made to help make this possible for us.  We are so blessed.