Kids Travel Far to Meet Sponsors

(From Sunday, January 30, 2011)
Our time in Costa Rica is passing too quickly.  We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting the children and their families. Yesterday we interviewed the children from Moin and Nicoya.  The kids from Nicoya on the Pacific coast boarded a bus at 4:00 am in order to be her by 9:00 am.  And the children from Moin left the Caribbean coast at 6:00 to be here by nine.  Both groups were a delight.  After spending the morning together, we enjoyed lunch together and before the kids boarded the buses to return to their home communities.

One interesting thing we encountered was that the children from Nicoya have all been in the program since it started in 2004.  No kids have left.  Most of them are in secondary school, and what a bunch of outstanding young people they are.  We were so impressed.  The Children of Promise program has really built some wonderful qualities into their lives.

In the afternoon, we visited the Alajuelita Church of God.  This is the largest congregation with over 600 members.  It was especially enjoyable for me since our family began its ministry in Costa Rica in 1992 in this congregation, when it was a very small tin shed with a dirt floor.  To see the building completed, including a Sunday School wing, and a full children’s program in process on a Saturday afternoon was wonderful.  And, the worship leader of the afternoon was a young man who was in our children’s choir in 1993.

We encountered more children abandoned by fathers in this community.  Life is difficult for mothers trying to raise children alone.  Several mothers shared how helpful the sponsorship is in raising their children.  School fees are very high in Costa Rica, and most of these children would never go on to secondary school without their sponsor’s assistance.

The children in Alajuelita live in a very crowded urban settlement that began as a squatter’s settlement.  It is now packed with small concrete houses that share common walls.  No one has a yard.  The people of the congregation walk to church.  Nine children in this area are sponsored through Children of Promise.  We were able to meet and interview all of them.

This morning we worshiped at the Tiribi Christian Center Church of God in San Jose.  Rev. Paul Lund, a member of our traveling group, preached on being a child of God, while I translated.  The sponsor group had a unique experience as they worshiped in Spanish.

This afternoon we have some time free to sight see, and then we will have a concluding dinner together at the home of Harry and Julia Nachtigall.  (Julia is the Children of Promise director in Costa Rica.)  We will have a typical Costa Rican meal and enjoy a few last hours before turning in.  The time here is almost over, but the relationships and the connections are just forming.  It is hard to leave a place that finds a place in your heart.

Tomorrow, we board a bus at 6:30 a.m. for a day long ride to Jinotepe, Nicaragua.  We hope you will be joining us as we move on to Nicaragua. We will look forward to seeing you there.  Perhaps you will be waiting at the bus stop in Jinotepe along with Pastor Guillermo Herrera and COP Director Juanita Blanco.

Dr. Paul Maxfield

Executive Director