The Lutheran Church of Costa Rica joyfully received visitors from Minnesota, Washington and Illinois in recent weeks, and a variety of communities of faith embraced their gifts of love and service.
Nombre de autor: Comunicación y Relaciones 

Sharing 'Faith' in Chilamate

In early July, Faith Lutheran Church of Coon Rapids, Minn., arrived with a group of 9 in its fourth visit to ILCO. Each delegation member brought a different talent to share in a variety of communities – from offering dental hygiene talks to children in Chilamate, playing with the ever-popular parachute with preschoolers in Casa Abierta, decorating foam hats with kids in La Carpio, and pulling out fence posts and stringing barbed wire in Chilamate.

But the group also returned to Minnesota with a number of new skills in their suitcases – for example, making Nicaraguan tamales from banana leaves, dough, chicken, veggies and a string to tie up the package. How to tighten a barbed-wire fence with a branch, and the right ratio of rocks, sand and cement mix to mix and pour concrete by hand. And of course, how not to fall off the roof of the church while doing major tree trimming!

ILCO recognizes Faith Lutheran for its gifts of friendship and love shown especially in the community of Chilamate, and thanks the congregation for a $5,000 gift to Casa Abierta, aimed to help improve the preschool's infrastructure.

Mixing cement, games and friendships

In August, ILCO received 10 visitors from Bethany Lutheran Church from Crystal Lake, Ill., another group that has made multiple visits to ILCO. This year, the group interacted with some 40 kids and youth during a three-day visit to Los Lirios community of faith in the Sarapiquí region, and also left an indelible mark on the church with the pouring of a new concrete floor and sidewalk.

Bethany's journey began with visits to Casa Abierta, La Carpio and ILCO's central offices. They learned about the negative implications of large, monoculture pineapple plantations in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica – a key issue in the area surrounding Los Lirios. The delegation visited the high school that serves several communities near Los Lirios, and chatted with all of the classes that share a large, multi-purpose community space. In the church, they played games and talked about the Creation story with children – and of course shared an intense soccer game with youth! The visit ended with a giant rain gutter filled with ice cream, and the 40 kids and youth gathered went absolutely wild. Not a drop was left!

Bethany also donated school supplies, backpacks, games, crafts and clothing to help ILCO's ministries across Costa Rica. Those supplies will make such a difference in ILCO's communities – we send our thanks and blessings!

For an article about the visit of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd from Olympia, Wash., to ILCO and Puriscal, please visit: A Visit of Faith and Love