4-23-08

Costa Rica is bordered on the north by Nicaragua and the south by Panama. This beautiful country covers 19,650 square miles and is divided into eighty-one counties. Nearly one-third of the country is protected in national reserves, and Costa Rica’s 3.9 million people are concentrated in the Central Highlands, where the city of San José rests. In this small land area, there are fifty-one distinct climates, which enables farmers to grow most anything. Heading out of San José to the southeast is the village of Las Vueltas.

Las Vueltas gets its name comes from its Spanish meaning, “many curves in the road.” To say that Las Vueltas is a village is fairly accurate. There are two roads in the village, one store, one school, and several houses. Upon closer inspection, you’ll also find an auto-repair facility, but not much more. To get to Las Vueltas, you must navigate the “many curves in the road” that wind down and around the hills. The area is surrounded by mountains that at the highest point reach fourteen thousand feet above sea level.

As we made our way out to Las Vueltas, we stopped in the town of Tuqurique to visit the Church of God there. One of our hosts, Harry Nachtigall is a former missionary to Costa Rica. He has lived in Costa Rica for many years. Harry’s last project as a missionary in Costa Rica was to host a work team from Ohio. The group helped build the church building in Tuqurique in the late seventies. The church has now outgrown the building and is preparing for expansion. The church knew that we were going to be in the area with Harry and asked if we would stop by. They asked Harry to officially begin the demolition of the building, so during our visit, Harry struck the first blows to the church. The new addition has already begun, and the destruction of the old building is now under way.

After arriving in Las Vueltas, we met the pastor Noily Hernández, a wonderful woman of God who obviously loves the people she serves. We had lunch and then went to the site where the new church will be built. The church has purchased land about a quarter of a mile from the current church building. Our group will build the wall at the front of the property, which will provide security as the main construction begins. When we got to the site, we discovered that the materials had not arrived in the morning as scheduled. Some of the group stayed and moved rocks away from the area where the wall is to be built, and some of the men helped dig the footings for the walls as well as cut, bend, and put together the rebar that will serve as reinforcement for the concrete columns along the wall. Later in the evening, the truck finally arrived with the supplies we needed for our work. We helped unload the truck and headed back to the church for dinner. After dinner, we divided up into groups and went to the homes of our host families for the balance of the evening. The people in the Las Vueltas congregation were beyond generous, opening their homes to us and, in many cases, giving up their own beds so that we would have a bed in which to sleep.

As I mentioned in a previous update, the true beauty of Costa Rica can be found in its people. They are so loving and fun to be around; we have fallen in love with our gracious hosts and the people of the church that we have met.

Be sure to check back for more updates.

Logan E. Ritchhart
CBH Media Specialist