our new best friend

The lady in the photo is our new favorite person (no offense to any of you who thought you were our favorite…you actually still are). Her name is Roxana and she is our maid and she is awesome. Roxana comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and works at our house from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. On her first day, we got back from class about 1:30, and the house was absolutely spotless. All the tile floors were cleaned, the laundry was done and put away, the bed was made perfectly, the dishes were washed, and she had lunch ready for us (in the picture is a Costa Rica traditional dish called “gallo pinto” which is rice, black beans, peppers, cilantro, and onions, and she also made zucchini, cauliflower with some sort of breading that was sooo good, and a salad of tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots and beets–it was a feast). Not a bad thing to come home to, after a long morning of classes. It is such an encouragement to have her help us, b/c daily life takes a long time here. You don’t just “run to the store” or “pick-up dinner” on your way home from work. Tasks such as shopping, cleaning, and cooking (or so I’m told–ha ha) all take longer. With Roxana coming twice a week, we will actually have time to do our Spanish homework, get enough sleep, and hopefully a little extra to email, read, etc.

Needless to say, we love having a maid. Missionaries are encouraged to hire one for a variety of reasons: as I mentioned, they can do a much of the work that would take hours out of our day; for very little cost to ourselves, we provide someone with a job, social security, and health insurance (we are her employers, so we pay the social security, health insurance, and of course her wages, and all that comes to about $2.80/hour!! Missionaries without a maid are sometimes seen as stingy and selfish because they could be providing someone with a job, but aren’t. We don’t want to offend, so I think we should get 2 maids! ha ha); we form a relationship with a Costa Rican; she can help us practice and learn the language and culture. All in all it is a great system where everyone wins!

It is very interesting learning about Roxana’s story. She gave us permission to pass some of it on to you. She is 58 years old, divorced, and has 2 kids and 4 grandchildren. She became a Christian 10 years ago during a season of major problems with her daughter. One of her grandsons just got out of the hospital last Tuesday. He is 18 years old and is paralyzed from the waist down. He has been paralyzed for 16 years, after having a tumor on the back of his brain when he was 2 years old. Roxana just found out a month ago that her son, who is not a Christian, has lung cancer and the doctors are giving him 6 months to live. He is 36 and has 2 kids. He is living a lifestyle of excessive alcohol, girls, etc. b/c, if he only has 6 months to live, he wants to “live it up” as much as he can. It is a really sad situation and Roxana prays that He finds salvation and healing in Christ.

There are 4 million people living in Costa Rica. Every day, walking down the street, shopping at the market, going to school, we see the beautiful people of this country. But all too easily they become just “Costa Ricans” to us–simply some of the millions who happen to live in the country where we are studying Spanish–unfamiliar faces that we forget as we hurry to catch a taxi. But each one of these people has a story. Every person getting in their car to go to work, as we walk to class, has a story. Each story is filled with memories, experiences, joys, pain, questions. Some stories have things like hope and peace, but many do not. This concept that each person has a unique, yet common story, is not a novel concept, but it is one that causes me to pause. Why? I think because I realize that each one of these people is, ultimately, just like me. To them, I am an unfamiliar face. I am just another “white missionary” who studies at the Institute. But I know that I am more than that. I have friends and dreams, and joys, and peace. God knows me by name. He pursued me and rescued me. And just as God knows me, He knows every one of the 4 million Costa Ricans. He loves, and is pursuing, every one of the adults and kids we see and He fills their lives with events, people, emotions, and circumstances in order to draw them to Himself. Had we not had the opportunity to get to know Roxana, she would just be another person we pass on the sidewalk, another unfamiliar face. But now she is our friend. We know her by name. She has shown up as a character in this chapter of our story, and we in her’s. And our stories are now, and forever, intertwined.

Although only knowing her for a few days, we are already very grateful for her, and sad for her b/c of her son and grandson, and happy for her, that she has found life in the salvation that God offers. Relationships, even relatively new ones, are powerful like that. They change you. They change your emotions, your thoughts, the things you talk about, and the way you pray. It’s like we were created for stuff like this. I think God knew what He was doing when He sent His son to live among us, and form relationships with us. God became familiar, became our friend. He walked down the streets and went to the market just like we do. As the Message says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14). God entered our story in a fresh way and everything changed.

Roxana told us today “I go to a Catholic church, but I don’t have a religion, I have a relationship with God.” She used to have empty religion but found new life and freedom in a Person. That’s cool. Lindsey and I can relate to that. We look forward to this relationship with our new Costa Rican friend and sister in Christ. We are thankful the Author has brought us together. We might only get to spend time with Roxana for a year, but it will be a rich year of learning, laughing, and growing. After this year, we will go on to Peru, then to who-knows-where, and Roxana will probably stay here, with her children and grandchildren, for the rest of her life. But both we and her will have been changed because of the other. And someday we will once again be regular characters in each others’ stories, b/c as followers of Jesus, all of our stories have the same ending.