Independence Day!

Feliz Dia de Independencia, Costa Rica!!

Sharing about Costa Rica

One of the first presentations we did was to this group of kids during our second week at home in N.C. These pictures were taken at Kids Faith Camp outside of Smithfield, N.C. We were invited to share about our missionary lives and our ministry in Costa Rica. The kids were really inquisitive and asked some great questions! Of course, we came armed with the "cream of the crop" photos for kids that they all want to see; the tarantulas we have photographed at the camp, monkeys at the beach, the Macaw's, etc. Heather, Kyle and Jordan are dressed in "sort of" the national costume (the boys should have been wearing white long-sleeved shirts rolled up, but we needed to get back home to purchase those, and hadn't yet at the time of this presentation, but red is a national color). They performed a typical Costa Rican dance that you would see here at a parade particularly on Independence Day! And of course, we talked about "spiritual" things too. I explained that we don't have to really go far to be a "missionary" if we open are eyes wide enough! Seems even in the States there are plenty of people in need. You never know, maybe one day, one of these kids will be a missionary, if not at home, than another country. Thank you Kids Faith for the opportunity and the blessing of being asked to share with your kids!

"Dia de Ninos" y "Dia de Independencia" - A week of Celebrations!

I think I mentioned last week that this past Tuesday was "Dia de Ninos" or "Children's Day". This is a big celebration here in Costa Rica. While the children do not have off from school; they do get to have a very special day in school with most all classrooms planning a special day of activities, like going on class field trips, playing games throughout the day, having class picnics with ice-cream. Most special is that they do not have to wear school uniforms on this day and are allowed to wear jeans or shorts for the day of activities!

This next week in Costa Rica we also celebrate "Dia de Independencia" or "Independence Day" and much like the 4th of July in the United States, it is a huge celebration. Everyone has the day off from work and school. There will be fireworks and parades all over the country!

Today in church we celebrated both holidays since this is the only Sunday in between both of these special days. Last year on the blog I posted some pictures of the Youth and Adult Youth Counselors in typical Costa Rican dress and dancing. The dance is very historic and cultural in nature. All of the children are taught how to do these very specific dances in school and they are done in church to honor their country. Below is a picture this year of only Youth Group dancers in typical Costa Rican dress. I guess they figured they didn't need the "old folks" to help them out this year! They did an awesome job!

While we do have a worship leader in our church, rarely do we have leaders in the front doing hand motions or dancing while singing, but because it is "Children's Day" special music is learned by members of the Youth Group and the Children's Ministry Director complete with movements and dance steps. Everyone is encouraged to move up front to participate in the music. As was said this morning, "it doesn't matter if you are an adult, we are all children in spirit".

Here's a very short video of the Youth Group leading some of this music and Jordan participating in one of his favorite celebrations here in Costa Rica! And of course, no celebration here in Costa Rica happens without a pinata. Immediately following the church service which included a very special sermon just for kids, there was a pinata to be broken, ice-cream cones, and every child received a decorated bag filled with candy, just to make the pinata all fair ;)