Nathan Neighbors
Follower of Christ, Husband, Father, & Youth Pastor
Today is beyond words. But let me share the words of Carolina (the young woman I mentioned yesterday). This is one of the girls that Marian has been mentoring and sharing the Gospel with since she arrived in Costa Rica. Mariana’s heart yearns for this woman to accept Christ as Savior and Lord. Today as we were finishing her concrete floors, putting up walls, and bringing light to here room (through a clear sheet of corrugated plastic) she began to soften towards us. She was very thankful and began to believe us when we said we were here to help because Christ is in us and He would do this for her because He loves her. Later tonight during our debrief back at the house, Mariana received the following two text messages from Carolina:
at 5:57pm “De nuevo, demasiadas gracias por todo y gracias a todos. Nunca pense que alguien podia hacer lo que hicieron por mi. Estoy muy feliz!” (Translation: Again, thank you for everything and thank everybody. I never thought somebody could do what you guys did for me. I’m very happy!)
at 7:58pm (notice she must have spent more time thinking about it) “No puedo dejar de llorar y estar agradecida por todo lo que hicieron por mi. Todos me mostraron que Dios es bueno. No se porque me costo tanto entenderlo, pero ahora se que Dios ama, y ahora se que Dios me ama!” (Translation: “I can’t stop crying and being thankful for everything you guys did for me. Everybody showed me that God is good. I don’t know why it was so hard for me to understand, but now I know that God loves and that God loves me.”
Wow. God truly is good and Carolina is seeing Him for the first time in a real way.
Our second day is coming quickly to an end. I’m writing this from my phone as we ride home from a hard day of construction work. The days are shorter here in Costa Rica. It’s light outside from about 5:30am-5:30pm. It’s only 6:30pm, but feels more like 10:00pm.
Today we went to work at Carolina’s house. She is one of the young girls that Mariana mentors. We mixed, poured and leveled about 50 wheelbarrow loads of concrete to give her a floor. Needless to say we’re sore, but so full of joy after meeting her and serving the Lord together.
We also had a special lunch time today. We took a picnic up to the top of the mountain to a retired missionary widow’s home. We ate, visited and even sang hymns with her. What a major blessing. Her name is Ruth. She’s 78 years old and lives alone (her children all live in the States), so our visit was a blessing to her as well. Our students though we’re far more blessed by her. Keep praying for the team!
I’m writing this as I sit here in the dark looking out over the lights of San Jose Valley. Our team is fast a sleep after a long day of travel and meetings. We’re staying in a beautiful home that is part of the Out of Bounds Hotel here in Escazu, Costa Rica. Our flight was good, but delayed by an hour because Vice President Biden was traveling either in our out of Charlotte and security stopped flights for a short time. Either way we made it and are all settling into the “pura vida” life of Costa Rica.
Pura Vida is a common phrase here is Costa Rica. It’s used as a greeting or farewell as a way of saying, “live life” or “have a good one.” Literally it means pure life. As believers in Christ we know that we have a Pura Vida (an abundant life) in Christ (John 10:10). This week my prayer is that many will see our lives and be drawn by the Holy Spirt to come to faith in Christ so they too can experience true Pura Vida.
Nathan Neighbors 