Chirripo - From Ben's eyes

Hello Lakeshore or whoever may read this.

On March 10th 2010, a group of 4 Canadians, 3 Americans, and 6 Costa Ricans hiked out into the mountain region of Chirripo to a town called Sinoli to stay all day on the 11th and hike back on the 12th. Many in the group had done the arduous hike before but for some, it was their first experience. I was one of the people blessed enough to be on this team. Before the trip, people back home in Canada gave fair warning that the hike would be long and hard, but I thought, “It’s just walking, how hard could it possibly be?” I was mistaken; the trail was up, down and around. The trails were caked with mud and falling was an inevitability. Shoes wet from the rivers, clothes heavy with sweat, purely exhausted - I was loving every moment. Probably my favorite part of this hike was crossing the main river. As soon as we started to cross, the water was almost to our waist, waiting to pull one of us down stream. But everybody came together and helped each other across the river.

On the 6-hour hike, there are two things that are always present on your mind:

1. The scenery with God’s wonder.
2. That the native people in Chirripo have to do this hike throughout the week if not twice in one day.

Most of us weren’t even carrying our backpacks but hired native people to carry them for us – plus the medical supplies and materials used in the solar panel project were sent up a few days before, not to mention piles upon piles of rubber boots and shoes. But finally, about 1 kilometer from the main river, we all set our bags outside of a wood cabin that would hold the 13 of us for the next two nights.

The mountainside was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that every once in a while you could catch a native man or woman caught in awe of their homeland, looking out of the village into the valley. As soon as the team arrived in Sinoli, Tom went straight to work on setting up the lights in the church and working out the calculations for the solar panels to charge the battery. We managed on the first night to provide light for the evening service, which was being held because of our arrival. It was very interesting to view the service. I was tired from the hike and couldn’t understand any of it due to my inability in the Spanish and Cabecar language but it was an experience that will always remain in my heart. These people are praising God in their own tongue while God responds back in the same tongue and we are blessed enough to witness it.

I was informed during the service that on previous trips, the services were pitch black where you could not even see your own hand. It was then that I realized what a blessing these lights were to them so I would just like to thank everybody for helping make this a possibility for these people.

This experience of the Chirripo valley and its native inhabitants has shown me the worth of coming out to places like Costa Rica and serving the lord through the service of his people.