Camp Week!

Camp week was awesome!!!!!

Everyone went to a camp last week.  We were divided up into groups (some larger than others) and went to one of four camps.  I was in the group that went to a VBS at La Primera Iglesia Bautista de Turrialba.  (First Baptist Church of Turrialba)  Our group was by far the largest group.  Including Sonya and Hope, who were leading the group, there were sixteen of us.  We stayed in host homes at night and then spent the entire day at the church.  (Now I know what it’s like for the missionaries who come to the missions conference at my church.) 

I and my roommate, Allysa, were staying with a sweet older lady named Mireya.  She was so welcoming and showed a lot of hospitality.  Every night she would ask us if we wanted anything to eat or drink.  One night we stayed up talking with her and she let us try Agua Dulce and Leche Dulce.  Agua Dulce is hot water with honey in it.  Leche Dulce is milk with honey in it.

Every morning the pastor would pick Allysa, Paige, and me up and bring us to the church for breakfast.  (Paige is another of my roommates.  She was staying at a house that was between Mireya’s house and the church.)  After breakfast we would hang out for a while, pray together for VBS, do our quiet times, and work on things that needed to be accomplished for VBS.  That could include decorating folders, building a “wall” out of PVC pipes and tarps, making a craft for the kids to take home, or any other thing that needed to be done.  Around noon we would have lunch.   

 
 

Kids would start arriving at the church at 1:30 and VBS would start at 2:00.  There would be at least a hundred kids at VBS every day.  Only six of us would stay and help with VBS.  The others would go out and do some sort of outreach in the community.  I stayed to help with VBS the first two days and the last day.  Wednesday I went with people to go play basketball at the local university.  (They would just start up a game and ask people to join.  After the game, the pastor would share Christ with those who had joined us and invite them to youth group.)  Thursday we went to a home for kids who had difficult family situations and needed somewhere to go.  We played games with them, had a snack, sang songs, and the pastor shared about Christ.  It was great.

After VBS we would have a little bit of free time to hang out before dinner.  Every night there was youth group.  I love going to youth group here in Costa Rica.  While youth group was a pretty small group, (I think us GAP students outnumbered the Ticos) there were visitors every night.  That was great. 

After youth group, we would go to our host homes for the night.  Most people stayed up and talked to their host families.  I was always super tired, so most nights I went right to sleep.  Mireya was very sweet and understanding.  She always asked up when we got home if we wanted to go to bed and if we wanted anything to eat. 

Everyone at the church was so sweet.  Pastor Noé had three kids.  His older son was in his twenties.  Because he was more reserved, we didn’t get to know him as well.  He also had a nineteen year old son named Ruben.  We hung out with him a lot.  He was so sweet and was a lot of fun.  He had a major role in VBS and he was great with the kids.  Pastor Noé also had a fourteen year old daughter named Joy.  Joy was really sweet and we hung out a lot.  She is learning sign language.  In Costa Rica, sign language is called Lesgo.  She taught me Lesgo and I showed her a little ASL.  Both Joy and Ruben spoke English, so when I was talking with Joy, we had four languages bouncing around.  (English, Spanish, ASL, and Lesgo.) 

When I helped with VBS, I helped with the 4-6 year old age group.  I felt like I couldn’t do much.  It is really hard to be helpful when there is a language barrier.  L  I got to help some, though, and I got to get to know the kids.  One little boy talked to me for the twenty minutes before VBS started the last three days.  We had a whole conversation in Spanish, then, after a while, he decided to teach me some Spanish.  He taught me “Hola” “Buenos días” and “Buenas noches”.  The next day, we talked for a while, then we went over those phrases, then we went over the numbers.  He also taught me a song about gallo pinto (a traditional Costa Rican breakfast food).  He told me his numbers in English, “One, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”  It was cute.  J

After VBS, some kids would have a big, huge, random game of tag.  Others would have a tickle fest.  It’s a little terrifying when you have six kids tickling you at one time, and there is no way out!  It was fun, though.  I couldn’t help myself, every time I was tickled, I screamed, which, of course, encouraged the kids to tickle me all the more.  J

I am so thankful that we went to Turrialba.  I am thankful for the friendships we formed and hope that we get to see each other again.