First Day of School, A Great Hope (for a Living Room Too).. and "Anda"

And so it begins!  Day one of the real reason we have come to Costa Rica... Service Day Number 1... Lunes, 20 Julio 2026.  The CRSMT26 team got on the bus and headed into the Pavas district for the first time today for a short driving tour... and I mean short, because there are only so many areas that a vehicle the size of a bus can go into... paths must be carefully chosen or the bus will not be able to maneuver enough to continue, let alone turn around and get out.

The change in the landscape was startling to see.  It had been described to us, but nothing replaced the first-hand witness through the wide windows: the heavy concentration of concertina wire on businesses; the significant and highly visible law-enforcement presence; piles and piles of trash on the sides of the road because there is no service to pick it up.

But then... we drove by the former location of HOPE, where Allison (of this year's team) and  Matthew came in 2021 for this same type of mission trip... and this section was pretty.  The murals that were painted by CR2021 and others still existed... the extra paint was donated to the families of that Avenida on the condition that they work together with HOPE to paint their homes and plant trees in the median.  That rotunda, and the street that lead back to the main boulevard, had a distinctly different feel about it.

And that... is the effect that HOPE International is having here in Pavas.  One wall, one rotunda, one median, one street at a time.... More on that later.

Next we drove down a narrow street to the elementary school where we will be doing our service project this week.  HOPE has been working to beautify this school for some time now, painting their bright murals with encouraging messages in their trademark geometric patterns of varying shades of blue.  I look forward to showing you the finished product of our two assigned rooms later, but for now... let me show you what the children of this school have now.

When you look at these photos, remember that modern cell phone cameras do a marvelous job of adjusting exposure--believe me when I tell you the rooms feel darker than this.  The ceiling tiles really are in the conditions that you see.  There are broken window panes.  By the grace of God, this school just got a grant and is getting a complete overhaul of restroom facilities, and just got a new kitchen that is vastly improved.  But today, we are going to start prepping these two rooms for some new bright walls that will liven up the place and bring HOPE to the kiddo's hearts as they learn here.  So we sanded... manually... with elbow grease, and pulled screws, hooks, and other things out of the walls.  We scraped years of tape and other adhesives from walls and the whiteboards.  Afterwards everything was thoroughly wiped down with wet clothes to remove the sanding dust so the new paint would adhere.  And then the painting started, with the trim of the windows.

And with that, the first day of the service project was done.  The team had a sack lunch at the school, and then headed to the new HOPE building for the first time, where they were greeted by a raucous tunnel of HOPE staff and interns cheering us on, and we went into the main room downstairs for our first introduction to HOPE and a briefing on how our day would go.  We went over some instructions and guidelines for the camp we would be hosting, learned a "secret code word" we all needed to know (more on that later), and then got a tour of the facility, including the rooms where the various stations of the camp would be. (Education, Crafts, Games).   The new building is truly beautiful and functional, but as one of the directors told us tearfully, the architects listened to the parents and children of Pavas, and designed the building, the park & playground, and everything about the facility to remind the "ticos y ticas" of Pavas of a "home away from home."

Right down to a living room.  Wait, a living room?  Yes, a living room.  Why does a building like this have a living room?  Because the director who told this story recalled having to turn away a high school student in the past who knocked on the door and wanted a safe, warm place to hang out that night...and all the 'activity rooms' were booked up with smaller kids.  

Who among us does not love curling up in a comfy living room and doing our favorite activities, safe and sound?  Sounds awesome, right?

So, the Great New HOPE has a living room.  And it is for the older kids. Always.  Safe.  Warm or cool as needed.  Comfy.  

And the director says she is still holding out hope (see what I did there?) that someone will come along and ask for a "place to read", but that it has not happened yet.  As an avid reader myself, I appreciated that yearning.   She has the space, maybe God will bring her a "tico o tica a quien le encanta leer".

And now... ¡finalmente!  The real show, the ¡espectáculo!... ¡los chicos y los chicas del Pavas! At 2:00pm the gates opened as we waited in the playground.  The kids got name tags, team color bandanas and then joined us as we just played with them for a short while before heading inside for the first part of camp.  Inside it was truly an espectáculo as the staff lead the first worship song in Spanish.  The Director had warned us that worship songs were mucho mejor en español, and it was evident that we all enjoyed it very, very much. (And no, I do not plan to dance during the songs upon my return to FBC, thank-you-very-much!)

The theme of our camp is "La mejor decisión es seguir a Jesús." (The best decision is to follow Jesus), and our first skit portrayed Jesus choosing people to follow him, from his disciple Matthew, to Zacchaeus to Blind Bartemeus, and to just regular sheep like you and me.  Would that everyone would say "Sí" to Him when he whispers "sígueme"!  After the skit, we led the kids through the three rotations for an educational story, crafts, and then more recreation and a snack.

And then, back into the main room for one more song...and I have to give it to the director... "Praise" by Elevation Worship is mucho, mucho mejor en español!  As they used to say in they country Baptist church "If that don't light your fire, your wood's wet".  There is something deeply special about singing praise to the Lord with another culture and in another language.  I have been privileged to experience it in Diné with the Navajos and now with the Ticos in Costa Rica.  And then we hugged the kids one last time for the day and they headed home.

Oh, and remember that code word they taught us?  They said a kid might come up and touch us and say "Anda".  That is how they play tag in Costa Rica.  It is form of "let's go"... kinda translates to "it's on you, let's go".  When the kids first came into the playground, I was not one they approached very much... I am a very big man, and some of them do not have good experiences with big men.  I sat down on a bench and waited, trying to look harmless LOL, and waited for what the Lord brought my way.  Then Allison called me over, and said there was a boy over in the corner and could I check on him?  When I walked over I could see he was talking to (I presume) his mother through the fence, and when I asked him "¿estás bueno?", the mom walked off.... the little boy turned and looked up at me... he beamed the very best grin in the whole wide world, touched my arm and sad "¡ANDA!".  And he was GONE.

Game on.
The rest of this glorious week beckons.
Bring it on, Lord Jesus.
¡ANDA!