BirkeyBlog

6:30 AM
I am awake, so I quietly got up, showered, dressed and headed up to the main house to type this blog, while Steve and John Tanner were asleep in our cabin. I guess I am too excited to go back to sleep, plus I have to start preparing to change my internal clock again back to my usual 4:30 AM rising. It’s another beautiful morning here in Costa Rica - sunny and clear and cool up here in the foothills. Perfect weather for me.

Mark Edwards is already up here making coffee and talking with a youth pastor named Darrel, visiting from the US and planning a future trip to CR with his youth group. The main room is set up in a circle for our morning meeting right after breakfast. We will have a time of sharing, reflection and communion together lead by Pastor Bob.

MUSINGS
Things I’ve thought about or learned on this trip:
• Working with concrete
• Latin American culture and the ministry of Sonlife and International Teams
• Getting to know some other guys in a deeper way is really good for my soul
• God is a Master Architect and Builder, who has a plan, and has blessed me immensely by making me a part of it. I am a living stone.
• I need to personally focus on obedience to God’s plan for me.
• I love Pat’s jokes! He makes me laugh! That’s good!
• Christians around the world in different cultures believe the same basic doctrines (orthodoxy), but differ greatly in how that doctrine is lived out in their cultures (orthopraxy). “It’s not right or wrong - It’s just different.”
• There is a special bond created between men when they work together physically and hard, toward a common purpose and goal.
• The world is a very big place, full of people who desperately need to hear the Good News of Jesus the Christ
• Bob Boerman is my “Senior” Pastor. I need no other.
• I usually think more highly of myself than I ought.
• I can often take pride in my humility
• I have a long way to go in my spiritual journey to be more like Jesus
• It takes a lot of hard work to love people in a different culture over a long period of time.

7:15 AM
I hear more people and activity ramping up as I have been writing this. Breakfast is at 8 AM today.

8:45 AM
Breakfast is over and we are either packing or doing our “devotions.” I am reading and thinking about the scripture for today in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”

11:00 AM
We left the campus and drove toward the airport and stopped at a restuarant calledf Rosti Pollo for lunch. It was a good time of fellowship shared around a table. After that, we said our good-bye’s to Mark and Stewart who are staying on an extra week in CR, and our friends Mark and Karen Edwards. We also said good bye to Ken Bylsma, our foreman, who is staying on to oversee another work group next week.

2:30 PM
We made it through all the ticketing, taxing and security at the airport and waited for our flight to board. Some of us did last minute shopping in the duty free area. I picked up a Ken Follet paperback thriller called “Whiteout” and a Snickers bar. I ate it on the plane, and started the book. It’s good.

9:15 PM
We are in the air somehwere north and east of Charlotte, N.C. on our way to Chicago. The flight from San Jose to the US was uneventful. The connection at Charlotte was a bit nerve-wracking. Once we deplaned in Chalotte, we had to first wait in long lines and go through U.S. Customs, then pick up our baggage, then re-check it in on the connecting flight, then run to the new gate (which was far away) to board for the next flight. We were not sure if we would all make it because there was only one hour between floights in which to do all of this. However, U.S.Airways delayed the flight a bit and we all made it - even John Tanner, who was originally booked on a later flight! Eddie and Mike were seated in First Class for some strange reason!

I called and spoke to Deb a couple times about the delay and that we were in fact on the plane. She is picking us up at O’Hare tonight. Speaking of O’Hare, once we landed and taxied to the jetway, our captain notified us that it appeared that the jetway motors were on fire! We sat for at least 45 minutes while they scrambled to put out the fire and move us with a “tug” to a different jetway. What a shock top walk off into the subzero temperatures! Welcome to Chicago! It also took a whole to get our baggage. By the time Pat and I got ours, and Deb drove us back to Oak Park, we didn’t get to bed until 1 or 1:30 AM. A very long day!

I am so grateful to all those who supported me for this trip. Thank you to each one of you! You know who you are! I’ll post some additional thoughts in the next week as this trip soaks in more and I process it off-line. Thanks for reading. Feel free to post your comments.

7:30 AM
I wake up to a new day - sun streaming into our hotel room. Out on the balcony the air is already hot and humid - just what you would expect in a tropical climate! Time to go get some breakfast and hang out on the beach and around the pools until we need to check out at 2 PM.

MORNING
I spent a good extended time at breakfast with Steve Tanner and Ken Bylsma, just getting to know each other more. Following that, we wandered to the beach and in between dips in the ocean, pool and the sun, I talked more with Bob Boerman, Mike Rytanek, Pat Italia, Stewart Nelson and Mark Dodgson. I love the unhurried time to just talk and get to know others on the team in a deeper way.

Stewart came up with this photo of a lizard living on the grounds of the hotel!

12:00 NOON
I am at the center bar/restaurant area where the WiFi is, to update the Calvary site and my blog. I also download all of Eddie’s photos from his camera for him.

2:00 PM
Checkout time from the Fiesta Resort hotel. We pile back in the tourismo bus and head back toward San Isidro. On the way, we stopped at a town called Sarchi to do some shopping. I bought a mini-coffee bag.

Then we stopped at another town to eat at a Tico-Pollo (Costa Rican Chicken) fast food place - which was pretty good.

On our way to San Isidro, we got to talking about ice cream, and we asked the driver if he had time to stop one more place. He did, so we then stopped at a place in Heredia called “Pops Ice Cream.” After some confusion in ordering because we did not have a native Spanish speaker among us, we decided to put the order on Eddie’s credit card because they would not accept American dollars - go figure! I ordered a chocolate milkshake which was only okay. To be up to par, it needed more ice cream, a little more chocolate sauce (Hershey’s brand would be best) and some malt added. I think there is a great business opportunity for such an American ice cream parlor here in CR!

8:30 PM
We arrived safely back at the campus in San Isidro. It felt a bit like coming “home” even though tomorrow we start the process of going all the way home. Costa Rica and the experience here has been great, but I am looking forward to getting back home to my family.

ONE THING I LEARNED
One spiritual lesson I learned on this trip was from my friend Pat Italia, while on the Tourismo bus somewhere between Pantarenas and San Isidro. I learned God’s first name!

Forrest Gump died and went to heaven. St. Peter met him at the Pearly Gate, and said, “I’m sorry Forrest, but there has been a change in plans. You have to answer three questions correctly before you can enter Heaven.”

Forrest was at first disappointed, but made the best of it by saying, “OK, what are the questions?” St.Peter replied, “The first question is, how many days in the week start with the letter ‘T’? The next question is how many seconds are in a year, and the third is what is God’s first name?”

Forrest scratched his head and said, “Can I think about these and get back to you tomorrow? “Sure” answered St. Peter.

The next day Forrest came back to the Pearly Gate and St. Peter met him there. “Do you know the answers?” he asked. “Yes, I do,: said Forrest. “Well then, how many days on the week start with the letter ‘T’?” Forrest answered, “Today and Tomorrow!” St. Peter smiled and replied, “Well, that wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but you are correct and I’ll have to give it to you!” Then he said, “How many seconds are there in a year?” Forrest answered, “That was easy. There are 12: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd…” St. Peter chuckled louder this time, and said, “Well Forrest, that also was not the answer I expected, but you are correct again. I’ll have to give that one to you also.” “How about the last question? Do you know God’s first name?”

To that Forrest replied, “That was the easiest one! His first name is ‘Andy’! St. Peter frowned and said, “Forrest, where on earth did you come up with that answer?” Forrest replied, “Well, a song my Momma always sang and taught to me goes, ‘Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me…”

TRANSLATIONS
Language funnies we experienced in Costa Rica:
• While shopping for souvenirs in a gift shop… “You break it, You pay it”
• When offered a free sample of food we said, “No, Thank You,” to which the reply was, “You’re Welcome!”
• While shopping for souvenirs, Steve captured this sign…

7:00 AM
The alarm went off, but I was already awake. I headed up to breakfast at 7:30 and had coffee, Post Honey Nut cereal (with almonds), fresh papaya, strawberries, and scrambled eggs with cheese..

8:00 AM
Steve Tanner and I went to work on forming up our “circular” concrete form for a branch of the driveway. We had left a section of wood soaking in water overnight to make it more pliable. We were able to bend it to the radius we desired and stake it down in place. That took most of an hour, then we spent time cleaning up around camp and the shop.

10:00 AM
We had pretty much finished up our work and cleanup. We went to our rooms and started packing for our trip to the beach. I spent some time looking at our scripture for the day, 1 Cor. 3:9, “For we are God’s fellow workers,” and made a sketch of my thoughts.

11:30 AM
Lunch was served at the main house (Casa Grande). It was good food from our cook all week, Marlin. At the end of the meal, Donald and Erika Solano presented each of us with a hand painted piece of wood… each unique with some natural element of Costa Rica. Mine was of a tree frog. Beautiful! They are such a beautiful Costa Rican couple.

12:30 PM
We all gathered at the main driveway and loaded our overnight bags into a Tousimo van. We took a group picture including Donald & Erika because we would not be seeing them again. Then we drove through Costa Rica to the west coast and checked into a nice hotel for some R & R around 2:30 PM. I am writing this at the moment from an outdoor cabana that has wireless connectivity. Amazing!

6:00 PM
We gather for dinner at the Fiesta Resort in Pantarenas, along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Great food! It’s like a cruise ship on land!

7:45 PM
We gathered in Bob’s room for our evening crew meeting to discuss our thoughts from the day based upon 1 Cor. 3: 5-19. It was a good time of sharing and thought provoking discussion.

6:00 AM
The alarm rings. We get ready for a quick breakfast before the concrete truck arrives! I also eat “monkey brains” at breakfast!

7:00 AM
We are busy getting forms and areas ready for fresh concrete. I spend the morning floating and edging new concrete driveway and walkway sections.

11:30 AM
We break from work. I jumped in the pool and swam a few laps to cool off! Felt great!. Then I spent some time reflecting on Jesus as our Chief Cornerstone - Ephesians 2:20 - and drew a picture to illustrate my thoughts.

12:30 PM
We gather or lunch at the Casa Grande.

1:30 PM
We work on framing up additional sidewalks and another section of driveway. We clear out areas we are done with, and fill in gravel. I “marked” our sections of concrete with a cross and then Calvary 07 - as has become my expected job. While working, I had a nice chance to talk with Bob about the future direction of Calvary and where God is leading him and us as a church.

4:00 PM
We take a break and have ice cream sandwiches - they tasted great!

4:30 PM
We work on framing up a circular section of the driveway. We end by leaving one section of ripped 1×4 soaking in water in a drain overnight to soften up. We hope this will enable us to bend it easier and stake it in place tomorrow.

5:15 PM
Time to clean up for dinner and our evening crew meeting. I need a shower!

6:40 AM
Our alarm went off. I quietly and stiffly got up and went up to breakfast.

7:00 AM
Breakfast at the main house consisted of fresh fruit, pancakes, coffee and juice.

8:00 AM
The concrete arrived. We did another 18 foot section of the main driveway, and a couple sections of walkways. I did mostly hand “floating”, edging and a little framing reinforcement around some steps.

11:30 AM
We broke for quiet time of reflecting on our verse for the day, 1 Cor. 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” I drew a diagram to help me process these thoughts.

12:30 PM
I headed up to the house for lunch. It was spaghetti, Costa Rican style. It was good! Then I checked my email and am heading out to work again.

5:00 PM
We end our afternoon work to clean up for dinner.

6:00 PM
We leave in 2 mini-vans for a Brazilian restaurant that serves meat carved off of skewers! We arrived by 7 PM. The food was delicious! We then shopped at a nearby supermarket, and I had a Costa Rican, Choco-Bigger ice cream bar. I bought Britt coffee beans and Vanilla to take home. We had a great time of laughing and talking while traveling in the vans both to the restaurant and back.

9:49 PM
Bedtime. We get up earlier than normal tomorrow because the concrete is coming at 7 AM!.

POSTSCRIPT
One of the joys of this week are the campus dogs! Mandy is Brian and Stephanie’s dog, a mix of Irish Setter and Golden Retriever… a great mix! She has a sister here named Sydney, then there is also Donald and Erika’s Golden Retriever, Clifford, and the Edward’s dog, Puppy… and a black and white mix named Cassie. Here is Mandy enjoying a short siesta during one of the hotter days! Ah, what a life as a missionary dog!

7:00 AM
Our schedule varied a bit today. We had a great breakfast, then went right into our time reflecting on the idea of God as our Rock. After that quiet time, we headed back to the shop area and framed up an area to be filled with concrete, as well as a sidewalk area. Later in the morning the concrete truck arrived and we poured those two places. I helped with the finishing work using a hand “float.”

12:30 PM
After a lunch break of grilled meats and salsa and guacamole, we worked on framing up additional driveway and sidewalk areas for concrete pouring tomorrow. I did a lot of gravel transportation by wheelbarrow, and helped frame up some of the sidewalk.

5:30 PM
I am now getting cleaned up for supper at 6 PM.

Dinner will be followed by our “Crew Meeting” where we will share our thoughts today on God as our Rock. Which reminds me, I need to find a rock for our meeting tonight! That reminds me of an old Larry Norman song… Jesus is “The Rock that Doesn’t Roll.” And of course, the old hymn, “On Christ the Solid Rock” -

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

I found these in my iTunes library and listened to them… great songs!

7:00 AM
Another beautiful day in San Isidro, Costa Rica. Sun is shining and the temperature must be in the 70’s. I just finished breakfast, with lots of good Costa Rican coffee!

The night was a little rough due to the tingling in my hands and forearms from the hard digging yesterday. I have new appreciation and thankfulness for the principle of a “Sabbath Rest.” I REALLY need one today!

8:00 AM
In about an hour, we leave en masse for a local church service. Last night at our “Crew Meeting,” Mark Edwards asked us to observe and make note of cultural observations we have while experiencing the Tico style of worship and “doing church.” I am looking forward to the experience.

9:00 AM
We left for church and arrived at Cominidad Cristiana Hijos Del Rey about 40 minutes later. We were a bit late due to detours we needed to make in order to avoid the preparation for a parade which I will explain later on. The service had already started, and we could hear the praise songs from the street. The service was a very interesting study in cross-cultural worship styles and expressions. Here are my sermon notes and observations from the day (Page 1 and 2)

4:45 PM
We have just returned from visiting downtown San Isidro where we watched a parade, visited the Roman Catholic Church, and walked through the street viewing street art made of flowers, fruit, plants and sawdust, plus various other elements - all in celebration of the parade. Although we do not yet fully understand the meaning of the parade, we heard that it will help raise money for the local public library. I guess they have not heard about the separation of church and state in Costa Rica.

8:45 PM
We have just finished evening dinner and our Crew Meeting. By the way, the food here at the training center/campus has been very good. Dinner was preceded by a time of discussion in our room with Ken and later with Bob, about post-modern thoughts and trends in the church, and in culture, especially in light of the cross-cultural exposure we had during the day. At dinner we asked about the meaning of the parade we saw in town that afternoon. The explanation was that once a year, the townspeople have a parade to celebrate that Christ is the King of their town! The question that immediately came to mind was, “Then why did they appear so sad?” The music they played and the way they walked and looked was very-very sad… almost like a funeral dirge and procession. It still did not make much sense to us who saw it.

Today was our first full day of physical labor! I ended up working on a septic drainage pipe trench digging crew with Bob Boerman, Stewart Nelson, Ken Kool (Karen Edwards’ brother) and our foreman, Ken. We figured that we dug a ditch about 80 feet long by one foot wide and 3 feet deep. By my calculations we moved 9 cubic yards of earth!

BULL FIGHTS!
After our “Crew Meeting,” we went to a local version of a bull fight. The Tico’s had constructed something like a small town fair that I remember from growing up in Fisher, Illinois. In one area of the carnival was a large round structure… obviously temporarily built. We entered and went up the rickety, creaky stairs, and walked along planks we were not sure would hold us! After finding our seats, and watching the pre-show warm-ups, they released a bull into the center ring. Several “clowns” flashed the red capes to attract attention and the bull charged.

The whole idea seemed to be to antagonize and frustrate the bull, and gain much hilarious entertainment in the process. Men and boys from the audience would also climb over the protective railings and either enter the ring with the clowns, or hang on the edges to kick and worry the bull as he came by. The more drinking went on the more daring the men became.

All in all it was entertaining - especially when two of our “crew” jumped in as well! Mike (yellow) and Eddie (red) performed admirably, avoiding the charges of several bulls. They did look quite funny running away and hiding behind protective fencing!

THREE AMIGOS
Three of us went across the street to a local pub after we returned from the bull fights. The place was very busy and loud! A couple Tico’s recognized Mike as one of the Gringo’s who had been in the bull ring! It was fun to get to know Pat and Mike a bit more. We talked about our spiritual journeys, how we met our wives, about divorce and remarriage issues, as well as the good things God had done in our lives in spite of our immaturity and mistakes. It was a great way to end a long hard work day.

I went to bed very tired, with my hands and wrists in tingling pain from the workout they received during the day.

We made it to Costa Rica - safe and sound!

3:45AM
The day started at 3:45 AM, getting up and packing the van. Deb drove me to pick up two other guys, Eddie Alexander and Pat Italia. We met the rest of the team at 5:30 AM at the U.S. Airways ticketing area of Terminal 2. After checking in and going through security, we boarded the plane and left Chicago O’hare Airport at 7:30 AM.

10:30 AM
First stop was Charlotte, N.C. with a 1-hour layover. Next flight left Charlotte around 10:30 AM and we arrived in San José, Costa Rica at around 2:30 PM.

The process through baggage claim and Immigration went smoothly. We all piled into a smallish red van for the trip to the Multiplication Center in San Isidro - about an hour away.

3:30 PM
Arriving at the center, we had a chance to greet our hosts, check into our rooms, and take a tour of the facility, led by Brian Claus. After a short free time, we headed to the Casa Grande for dinner around 5:30 PM, and a time of orientation and fellowship afterward.

7:00 PM
At our evening Crew meeting, Mark Edwards shared how God had brought him to be serving in Costa Rica with his family, as well as what the vision and purpose of the ministry of Sonlife is in Latin America.

8:00 PM
We shared some good “Tres Leche” cake provided by Karen Edwards, along with coffee (decaf) before heading off to catch up on some needed sleep.

The highlights of the day for me were some good conversations with Mark Dodgson, Bob Boerman, as well as seeing Mark & Karen Edwards, and Brian & Stephanie Claus.

I look forward to sharing more with you all here each day.

I leave for Costa Rica on January 26, 2007 with a group of men from my church. We will be working at and around the Sonlife Multiplication Center near San Jose. You can get more details about it here, and view a short video put together by Brian Claus, one of the staff people at the center, for our benefit and orientation. We will be in Costa Rica about one week doing manual labor as needed. I am looking forward to this trip. Thank you to all my friends and family who participated in supporting me for this ministry opportunity. I will post updates here as I am able during and after the trip.