The Green Plain

This weekend as a team, we went to the far north to Llano Verde which means green plain.  This is a small town which is not really a plain, but rolling hills.  They are green, however, vivid, spring green.  It's greenness is all the more visible because the dirt is a dark red.  The church there is pastored by Clint Wisdom.  He went there last weekend, and in fact most weekends.  It is about a 6-hour drive from San Jose.
None of the driving is freeway driving.  On the way there, we went along a very steep, windy road that is on very unstable ground.  The views were pretty, and would have been breath-taking had not the clouds been hovering about us.  After we got to the top of the switchbacks, we entered an area where the road winds in and out through steep hills. I don't remember exactly how long ago, but within the last 2 years, there was a devastating earthquake here. The Wisdoms were among those who helped in the disaster relief.  Several hundred killed, and many lost houses, and businesses.  Also the few undamaged tourist places, including the waterfall garden/butterfly pavillion are struggling as people are afraid to come up there.  There is an area where houses were erected for the displaced to live down at the bottom of the mountains. There were places where the road got down to one lane, where temporary bridges were in place, and where the road was flaking off into the deep gorges below.  The government as of yet has not decided to put millions of dollars into fixing this unstable area.
After a pleasant 5 hours of driving, we hit the end of the paved road,  from then on it is car rattling dirt.  You can't build up too much speed as it is easy to bottom out.  This area is all beautiful farms and planted forrests.  Lots of the peaceful looking cows, teak trees, other commercially planted trees, and small farm houses.  Many of the fences have living fence posts.  There is a kind of small tree that you can cut off a branch and stick it in the ground, and it will grow.  The farmers have place these in close-together rows and strung barbed wire on them.  In my opinion it is much nicer to look at than the usual barbed-wire fence.
It was about an hour on the dirt road to Llano Verde itself.  All of us had been there before.  There is one improvement since I last was there.  They have electricity now.  No more going to bed with the sunset and getting up at dawn.  Now they go to bed whenever, and still get up at dawn.  The first evidence I had of the change was TV antennas on the small wooden homes.
Renee, Katie and I attended and shared at the Saturday ladies meeting at the church.  The women are very shy with strangers and didn't speak very much.  I asked also if I could read some Spanish from the Bible as I needed the practice.  They applauded when I finished, but not because I was that good, but because they are that kind.  That night we had a service and a movie night.  Many of the people walk several hours to church, and stay the night with someone, so a Saturday night movie gives them something to do.  We ran a cord over from Victor and Aurora's house two houses down for our electricity.  The film was shown on a white sheet.  The church is open on two sides which makes it possible to get breezes in.  It also lets the bugs in.  At night when they are the thickest, they didn't bother us much, but flocked to the white, lit-up sheet.  It was a little comical to see the heroes faces covered with insects.  Better them than us, I say.
After church, we went back to our host's house to eat, beans and rice with spaghetti noodles also in it.  Not bad.  We also had amazing local pineapple.  Like candy.
The women put up a tent in the house and slept on their living room floor. This kept any mosquitos at bay.  The men had a tent on the wood floor of the church.
Sunday morning, we all got up and showered.  Victor and Aurora have gotten indoor plumbing since last we visited.  It beats a trip to the outhouse in the middle of the night, or a "shower" out of a tub in the yard.  No hot water, of course, but still great.  Their house is very basic, but has everything needed for a good living, and some for beauty.  They still only have 3 pictures of themselves from long ago hanging on a wall. 
The church service was great.  They have a very lively and Spirit-filled worship team.  They give their all to the Lord and it was great fun.  The sermon, in Spanish passed some of us by, but their were lots of "amens" so I think it was well received.
Two babies and a family were dedicated to the Lord in the services.  After prayer, we all went and changed clothes and went to the river.  There are many flowing in the area.  It obviously rains there a lot.  As it was very hot it was great timing for the baptism which occurred.  5 people were baptized, after which everyone jumped into the river pond and played or waded in the water to cool off.
We went back to Victor and Aurora's and ate lunch.  After a leisurly afternoon and showers, we returned home. 
The roads in Costa Rica can be tricky at night.  There are many winding roads filled with slow-moving trucks.  Often people pull out in front of you without warning, and bicycles abound, without lights.
We made it back by 9 PM and ate pizza and went off to bed and emails, etc.
We found it a good challange to try to use our Spanish.  It is a lot harder to understand and speak at the speed people normally do. 
We are going up again next weekend, I think, so will get more opportunity then.


A few of Victor's cows. He makes and sells great fresh cheese.  He gets up at dawn and milks his cows.




Family dedication in church.  We can look right out at the fields and palm trees beyond.



One of the baptisms in the river by Jerry and Clint



New Amigas




Victor and Aurora with their sons and Jerry and Carol



Gorgeous water fall on the way to Llano Verde. You can see how rugged the terrain is. There is a temporary bridge next to the car.

                                

The walk to the river

                                                               Fun is the same anywhere!!