Howdy ya’ll,
It’s been awhile since we have had Internet access as we have been away from our home at the Finca Educativa. This last week we went up to Alto Coen to help in the building of a suspension bridge. This bridge has been a dream for the BriBri families for many years-one that they have been working on for the past 6 years. It has been a long, difficult process for the BriBri as they have fought to find aid and funds to build this much needed bridge. For many of the families, they are unable to get to the nearest clinic and school as the only way of crossing is through a river that contains raging rapids. These ever swelling rapids have separated a village for years and this past week, a group of 7 of us had the privilege to be part of God connecting the two sides. As we arrived with clamps in hand and an excitement to build, one could feel the joy and elation that spread through the air as locals traveled from near and afar to be part of their long journey of building a bridge. Everyone wanted to assist in some way and in many ways it was neat to see the bridge not only physically join a community but also by bringing people together. The men of our team: Yon, Donovan, Monas, Ben, and Kory worked alongside the BriBri men: Abdul, Margarito, Moises, Cesar, and Arielle to name just a few as they began drilling holes in the planks and setting up clamps that would connect the two wires. As Americans and Costa Ricans worked together, with each plank that was laid and each clamp put in place, one could witness the formation of this long awaited project. While we finished the work we came up to do, more work remains to be done on the bridge however with each step the people are finding themselves able to finally see their dream take shape.
Team Costa Rica

*Go to www.experiencemission.org to sign up for one of Experience Mission’s trips in 2010.

Hey guys,
Team Costa Rica here checking in. Just wanted to fill y’all in on the rest of the happenings during this week’s mission trip. It’s been a busy week but God has been truly at work. Along with project Christina, the teams have also been serving the community in Costa Rica through two other work projects as well as VBS. The two projects consisted of the construction of a roof for a family of 6 as well as the laying of concrete for a kitchen. The teams worked hard through the heat of each day and the uncertainty of the rainy season in order to get as much completed for these families. They were a hardworking group as they hauled sand, mixed concrete, carried wood, and all the while intentionally interacting with the families they were serving to create friendships that would remain after the projects were completed. Teams worked alongside the Costa Ricans and found language differences to be of little barriers as they taught one another Spanish, English, BriBri, and a little Southern as well. Each day teams would return with tales of laughter and joy that was the fruit of the relationships between them and the families they had the pleasure of serving. While the teams have left Costa Rica, and the projects will be continued by future mission trips, the relationships that were formed will forever be remembered.
See y’all in the next blog,
Team Costa Rica

**To learn more about what Experience Mission is doing, visit our website at www.experiencemission.org.

This past week God worked in a mighty way while 13 members of the Illinois team made the long journey up to Alto Coen, a small village in the jungles of Talamanca, Costa Rica.  Their mission for the week was to continue work on a bridge that would provide the BriBri people a safe way to cross the Coen River in order to access medical services and school facilities.  Knowing that the long journey to Alto Coen, which had to be done on foot, would not be easy, the team only brought the bare necessities such as a change of dry clothing, food, and all of the supplies for the bridge project.  The team left early Friday morning, excited to see what God had in store for them. The journey consisted of long days of travel up the mountain and it required accommodations that most Americans would not find comfortable such as having no electricity or clean water, sleeping above cattle and being woken up by roosters that crowed from 2 in the morning until sunrise. As the long journey continued with 40 - 60 lbs. packs up the mountain, only encouragement from the team and faith in God helped us reach the village. Even though it had been a long hike up the mountain, the team members were excited to be there and got down to business.  As we arrived, people from each side of the village came down to the river to welcome us and were excited that a team was there to help them in the process of completing the bridge. The most important task while we were there was to help them connect a 1″ cable from side to side, which was about 400 ft. across a treacherous Coen River.  Since it was in the middle of the rainy season and the Coen River was higher than normal it wasn’t an easy task to get the cable from one bank to another. Margarito, the Alto Coen president in charge of the bridge project, was the reason we were able to accomplish this nearly impossible task. Since there was no communication from bank to bank due to the noise of the raging current of the river, Margarito voluntarily swam from one side to another to help communicate and execute the work plan. The river crossing was a difficult task on its own and the team was able to understand the necessity of the completion of this bridge.  It rained and poured while we completed this task and the BriBri people were impressed with the abilities the team provided. Due to the continual downpour, the river was rising and it would quickly be impossible to cross if we didn’t cut the trip short by a day. There were many struggles on the way down such as river crossings and weather related conditions but trusting on God made this trip a success. Not only did the team deliver the much needed bridge supplies but they also learned how to fully rely on God to get them through the hardest of times.

Yonathan Moya
Costa Rica Summer Staff

Note: Experience Mission has been working on the bridge with the Bribri reservation for several trips. To check out more exciting trips Experience Mission has to offer, visit our website at www.experiencemission.org!

2/23/2009

At 6:00 last night I left my house in Chimacum, WA and flew all night arriving successfully in San Jose at 12:50 pm. My plan was to meet former EM summer staff, Chris Salmon, who will be serving as a translator for the next few days. Amazingly, Chris and I ran into each other right away and in short order we were through immigration. Our bus driver Rodrigo and his friend Oscar were waiting for us. After lunch with Rodrigo and Oscar, we went straight to a hostel owned by Rodrigo. It is very nice by Central-American standards, so this is a good place for teams to stay in the future. Read the full story

I´ve been down in Shiroles since Monday.  I was able to make contact with Jorgeli, but wasn´t able to meet with him until Tuesday.  As I was looking for Benjamin, he was nowhere to be found, and Jorgeli didn´t know where he was.  Then I spoke with Commander Comacho at the US embassy, and found out that Benjamin was informed of the US Government’s intention to delay the transportation of the materials at the end of last week, and he left early Monday morning for Alto Cuen.

I can only imagine what is going through his mind right now.  He was told back in December that the U.S. Government would be able to transport the construction materials to the bridge sites during the dry season so that the bridges could be built.  And, yes, that was intentionally plural.  Right now there are 4 bridges that they have materials for and are trying to build.  We are here just for one this time, because the others can be reached by foot during the whole year.  Alto Cuen is only reachable during the dry season.  There is another way down from Alto Cuen, but I spoke with David Jones, a local missionary to the Bribri, and Cabeca indigenous groups and he said he had to walk that way after getting stuck once, and it took an extra two days to travel.  This kind of time addition is perilous when talking about EMS response times.  So at this point we are trying to build the one bridge, and protect the rest of the building materials from the weather until the other bridges can be built later during the rainy months.  The problem we´re currently facing is that since the U.S. committed to delivering the materials, the local government shifted their attention away from trying to find a way to transport the materials and on to trying to find other materials and people to build the bridges. 

If the US had said “no,” then Benjamin and others could have been working to provide for another transportation method.  They could have been coordinating with the helicopter that carries doctors to and from these villages to piggyback a few building materials at the same time.  They could have been searching for money to pay the helicopter themselves.  They could have been transporting the materials little by little with the police helicopter.  Unfortunately, the transportation has been delayed for the fourth time…and it was delayed until May 12th-16th.  And who knows if they will fulfill this promise. 

At this time we are hoping and praying for a miracle or for some better direction from the Lord.  If the concrete isn´t finished soon, then all the concrete, and the work to get it ready, and the work at the bridge site, and everything that has been sacrificed by our supporters and my family will be lost.  Perhaps now is the time that I need to start brainstorming ideas to help protect the concrete and the work that has been done from the rainy season so that we can build these bridges next February during the dry season.  I´ll be heading up to the bridge site tomorrow to speak with Margarito and the other residents up there, and to see what we can do to protect the work site so that we can finish this project and get these people the bridge that they so desperately need.  Please continue to pray for the success of the project, and to hold off the rains until the concrete is finished so I can get down from the mountains,  and also please send emails, phone calls, AND letters to all your senators and representatives so that the Secretary of Defense can understand what is at stake, and so he can understand that without the immediate completion of this bridge, it may take 10 years before they can try again, and many more people will be killed or injured by the river while trying to get down the mountain in the midst of a medical emergency. 

I´ll have more information and photos for you next week.  Adios!

- John Barry