Rain Dodging in Naranjo

Today was our first day at the Pastor’s home in Naranjo. In the morning we went on a hike to Holy Spirit Mountain. It is a mountain that was originally dedicated to the Holy Spirit, but over the years the mountain has been used for pagan rituals. There was even Wiccan writing and symbols on the monument that was built there. One hundred years ago the mountain, actually a volcano, was showing signs of erupting. The people gathered to pray and to this day the volcano is declared dead. The Christians are now working to take back the land, so we spent the morning picking up trash and hiking down the mountain. The view from the mountain was beautiful. The group that hiked home had many different opportunities to try wild fruit that the pastor got for them. We have learned that most Costa Ricans are not able to estimate time or distance. Our 1 hour hike home turned into a 2 hour muddy flight from a pursuing rain storm. Some enjoyed it; others didn’t like the new experience.
In the afternoon we went to the local market and handed out invitations to the church here in Naranjo. The market had lots of interesting new fruit to try as well. There was lots of really cool interaction with the people there. We find the Costa Rican people to be very friendly and open to talking about The Lord. I wish the United States people had time to stop and talk to others even in the middle of their busy schedules. Tonight we are planning on going to a Fiesta in the center of town. Oh by the way the brave members of our group tried a new breakfast food. They drank raw turtle eggs in a juice. Some were brave enough to try while others chickened out. *cough* Mark *cough*. ( My personal opinion is that Mark may be one of the smarter people in the group.)  ha ha!
We have had some time to hang out as a group because of some rain storms that come and go. Life for us kinda depends on the weather. Pray for us to have good weather.
Proclaim