TeamDuggan

When I’m at my desk, time gets away and my accomplishments rarely match my plans.  But once a month if at all possible I take a personal retreat day….for prayer, relaxation, reading, planning, and most difficult of all, thinking without distractions.  This little building is designed and reserved for exactly that purpose.  Just ten minutes from our home is a Pastors’ Center that provides counseling, relaxation and a retreat for Latin pastors and leaders.  They graciously allow me to use this separate place for my personal retreat days for around seven dollars.  Today was one of those days, and I have returned home refreshed, renewed and having accomplished planning that was woefully behind.  I highly recommend this practice to anyone, no matter what your vocation. 

We are in the middle of the rainy season in Costa Rica. Up here in the Central Valley (4,500 foot elevation) that means chilly (down to 60 degrees) weather and huge downpours. Yesterday was no exception. Our fancy plastic raingauge showed two inches of rain…and that came in just two hours! Combine the frequent rains with rich volcanic soil and moderate temperatures and you’ll understand why Costa Rica is filled with beautiful flora this time of year. You can virtually throw a seed anywhere in the vicinity of the ground and it will grow and thrive.

As we approach the end of our third year in Costa Rica we find more and more to appreciate about our adopted home. Good friends, both foreign and Tico, relaxed and friendly culture, and beautiful surroundings. This gig ain’t bad!

One may easily forget how a annual tradition for many Costa Rican citizens can directly impact life. After four weeks of ministry opportunities in Haiti and varied locations across the US, we were ready to return home and get back into a routine. Reintegrating into a slower-paced lifestyle punctuated with Spanish is now as familiar as the taste of a freshly baked Nestle’s chocolate chip cookie or my favorite stateside craving, a Chik-fil-A chicken sandwich!
The first sight of people walking along the highway and Calle Vieja early one Sunday morning in late July made us wonder if there were a walk benefiting a local charity, but experience confirmed that it was the early arrival of the first of several million romeros returning for the annual La Romeria from points across Costa Rica.
The faithful pass through our tiny barrio to the old capital, Cartago where they pay homage to the patron saint, La Virgen de Los Angeles (La Negrita) in la Basilica de Los Angeles.

Larger crowds had been expected this year as government officials fearing spread of H1N1 influenza cancelled the festivities in 2009.
The last time we experienced this (2008), the kids and I hunkered down at home and made trips to the local pulperias for veggies, fruit and bread until the millions passed.

But this August 1st, Brian needed to be on the other side of town, and was scheduled to preach for both Sunday services–on the day when most pilgrims walked

right outside our front gate.
It looked like this Saturday on the hill past our town but by the time we returned Sunday many more crowded 100 meters from our gate where a Transito roadblock stopped us. We had made alternative plans should our access be denied, but a collective sigh of relief and a satisfied family contently remained inside our refuge for the next 20 hours…with occasional trips outside the gate for milk and snacks, for a glimpse at the swelling crowd; for as of 7 AM tomorrow, only the overflowing trash bins would indicate they had passed through.

Cakes don’t always come out the way they should, and the one for Ben’s 15th birthday had a cracking problem. But no worries…the boy who wanted a car crash cake for his third birthday got an earthquake cake for his 15th ….appropriate for this land of shakes and quakes.

You may remember the stories and photos from just after the earthquake when we followed up one of many unsubstantiated rumors about an orphanage with 56 dead and 60+ orphans who were in a pretty desperate situation.  Our hearts were broken by what we found, but thrilled when we were able to provide immediate help and connect them with others who have provided food, water, shelter and other help.

 
The changes since that awful time six months ago are significant, but the situation is still pretty difficult.  Mom Evelyn, the orphanage’s director, took us on a tour of what they’ve been doing and planning.  She has begun work in removing and repurposing rubble and the kids are being cared for well. 

 
As we were talking with the director I watched a little two or three year old boy who had lost a leg far above his knee.  He had a little child’s plastic stacking chair that he used as a crutch, and wow! that boy could move!  In seconds he had crossed over a wall, pulled his chair after him, came cruising up to me and reached up to be held.  He had the most amazing smile and didn’t let a little thing like a missing leg keep him from the joy of life.  

So what do you do to cool off on a sunny summer Haitian day? Go to the river and soak! Of course, river is a generous term, and we had to go upstream a bit to preserve others’ modesty who use the river for their bath. Don’t ask what might be happening further upriver…we sure didn’t. But we did rinse off once we returned.

Since I left Costa Rica in early June I’ve been immersed in Portuguese, Creol and English consecutively but very little Spanish. Today in Honduras I decided to try to revive the rusty Spanish and speak to the church in their own tongue. Either God gave me special dispensation or the people were very gracious, but the words flowed and they even laughed at a joke I told.

We are in Tegucigalpa where the fledgling Evangelical Free Church welcomed us warmly. What a wonderful place to be when you can travel with someone like Bob Werntz who spent 12 years here and knows someone everywhere we go. And tonight….big, juicy steaks for dinner!

It’s hurricane season, and most of the people in the earthquake impacted area of Haiti remain under tarps or in tents.  Keeping dry is part of the challenge, but keeping safe in high winds can mean life or death.  Each week teams are coming to help us put up shelters that provide protection even in hurricane conditions.  This week’s Google Earth snapshot shows how many have gone up in partnership with local Haitian leaders and Samaritan’s Purse (providing materials).  Even in the midst of this urgent work, building and nurturing relationships is key to success.  Pray that these relationships develop well, that Christ is central to the work, and that many will be blessed with adequate shelter before the first big storm.

With a summer schedule that makes our heads spin, we were particularly blessed to have our whole family together for 24 hours this weekend. Four of us came from Columbus Ohio, two from Rome Georgia, and we all met at my brother’s home near Atlanta where Glenn and Lisa provided wonderful food and relaxation for the six of us to enjoy for a short time. It won’t happen again until Christmas so it was a day we all will treasure.

Among other work TouchGlobal is doing in Haiti, we have been working with a local community of Gressier to build temporary shelters to get people out of tents and tarps and in shelter that will withstand Category 2 hurricanes and keep the family dry (no need to help with staying warm here!). 

This week we began documenting all the shelters in Google Earth for reporting purposes.  Amazing that large organizations are using this very user friendly approach!  So if you have Google Earth and would like to get our KMZ file to zoom around the territory we’re in, leave a comment and I’ll send it along to you.