Day 4 by Art Wasem

This is a blog post from one of our Costa Rica team members, Art Wasem:

Well today was our last day at the Coco Orphanage. We brought presents for the kids. We were able to spend about 6 hours there. We painted faces and shirts, played all kinds of games and just loved on them again. I didn’t realized how hard it was going to be. Of course the women were wrecks when we left. Jason and I are use to touring and saying goodbye to people. Myself I know that there will be another time in a better place called heaven when we will get to love them again. I look forward to that time. I hope we have made a difference in their lives, to know that someone would come thousands of miles to let them know they are important. Important enough that the God of the universe would die on a cross for them and maybe that we are willing to come and tell them that is enough to believe it. I know I do. I know they could see it in our eyes and heart it in our voices
So who are these kids?

Jennifer The baby. I called her Jen after a friend of mine. So sweet. The first day she just was looking around. Yesterday she was smiling and bubbling. She was there with 4 siblings. Her mother shows up and takes them then brings them back every couple of weeks.

Alexis, The blind boy. I hung put with him the most. Very funny and boy when he talked it was a blur of Spanish.

Katia, The oldest of the girls, such a beautiful young lady, She became very silent when we left and didn’t want to be in the picture. Please pray for her heart and body to remain safe. She is so full of joy.

Karen, a girl with I think MS. She was always in a chair and never talked to me but had a wonderful smile and eyes that knew.

Raul, we were told he was very protective of his space and he would lash out. He sat and didn’t pay attention to anything in the room. Whenever he was engaged he would play or take part in the crafts. I wondered if he ever ate. He was so thin.

Raphael the stud. The oldest of the young men. The last day he was visited by 3 Chiquita’s and became so typical latin cool. He loves football and has such a heart for the other kids in the home.

Ariele The littlest boy al typical always running always into everything smiling laughing boy

Antonio The skater. Loved the skateboard and fell perfectly. Scared the stuff out of Autumn

Mayury I didn’t spend a lot of time with her. Hopefully there will be a comment by someone on the team. She is the one I was pulling out of the pool when Jason squirted me with water and caused me to fall.

Maria I loved the way she jumped at jump rope. She totally did a heal grab kick type of move.

Jessica didn’t spend a lot of time with her either, OK team bail me out.

A funny Story

So I decided to take a walk on the beach at sunset. Nikki was on my computer and I knew I wouldn’t be missed for awhile. I walked across the street and down a 30 foot path strewn with coconut shells and leafs. There is a pile of driftwood at the high tide mark that hasn’t been swept out to sea yet. I remember from some discovery show that sea snakes sometime hide in there so I was careful crossing it. The water was amazingly warm. Mid 70’s and I love the black sand. I walked maybe a third of a mile to a creek that was running to the sea. The water was cooler and you could feel the texture was different from the salt water. I realized it was getting really dark so I turned back. As I took a step my feet brushed what felt like sticks in the water. As the wave receded I didn’t see anything. The next wave the same thing happened again. It felt as though I was walking over tiny little tree limbs. This time I noticed an outline in the sand. It was a crab. I wondered if it was alive and it stuck out its claws at me and made a jumping move and sound. The next wave I saw another one about a foot away from the first and then another one a couple inches from that one. As that wave receded I saw literally thousands of crabs with their claws raised between where I was and where I needed to be. Oh, did I ever mention that I was barefoot? All I could think of was. ‘Well, this isn’t good!!!’ There was no escaping what came next. It was dodging little pinchers not stepping on the crabs and running like heck to the drift wood pile. Didn’t see any snakes. Of course I didn’t stop to check anything out either.

Mental note, bring shoes to the beach.