Earthquake in Costa Rica

I received this email from my Spanish teacher and dear friend in Costa Rica and thought I would help her out by spreading this message as best I can. She was an amazing teacher and mentor to me while I was in CR and is constantly using her gifts to give to others. The earthquake in Costa Rica seems to be a bit worse on the ground than the news is showing and Roxanna is raising money to help those who have been devastated by the quake. Read below (it is a bit confusing and heavy on the religion at points) if you are interested in learning more and donating, and if not, just send happy thoughts down South!

Hola.

As I type this, I'm riding an emotional rollercoaster. I realize that I'm physically very tired, which is probably adding to the waves of heavy sadness that keep crashing over me. I'm fighting off the attacks through forcing myself to remember the exciting ministry God has for us. The pain diminishes as I'm motivated by God's calling, my strength and joy return, but I fear this is only temporary as I can feel waves building on the horizon.

While it's extremely exciting to be used by God in this capacity, it can also be very challenging. The pressure and responsibility of being there for others can be very burdensome. Part of me would like to stay away of everything and everybody. However, I know that is the desire of my flesh and not my heart.

This is an ongoing battle between my flesh and my heart. My flesh longs and seeks physical comfort. My flesh believes that my personal pursuit for happiness is the most important thing. I can hear the lie, "it's all about me, I deserve it!" My flesh would rather be first, and it desires the praise of men. My flesh believes the lies of the world that claim that joy is found in physical wealth and beauty. However, in direct contrast my heart knows that my life is not my own, and it's all about Him. I need to strive to put God and others first, and greatness is found though serving. In my heart I know that joy is found in following the call of Christ; even if He is calling you to leave your comfortable life to help the less fortunate. Last year, we were able to visit the jail for women to bring them gifts and we were also part of a social project to help 35 poor children. It is amazing how much people want to help, but it is tiring.

Isn't that the battle everyday? I don't know about your experience, but I suspect it's the same as mine.

I don't think I'll ever understand why God called and how come people trust in me, but I'm humbled and honored by the calling. I know that He likes to choose the weak, foolish, and lowly things, so I know I'm more than qualified. However, it's my prayer that though His grace and power in my life that some day I can claim, as Paul did, that I fought the good fight.

I am sorry we haven¨t been able to get in touch sooner, but we always remember you, because meeting you has been one of the huge blessings we have gotten.

Yesterday, we lived once again a terrible experience with the 6.2 earthquake. It reminded us the esperience we had 18 years ago, when we lost our house in a similar disaster. However, Thanks God, this time we only ended up with some broken glasses, some cracks on the wall and the ceiling. The hard time is going to bed, because there is a great fear of being awaken up by another earthquake. The epicenter was in Poás de Alajuela, a small community, literally, dissapeared. They have confirmed 18 dead people, but they expect to find more as they continue digging. A small restaurant with 12 people and many other families who were in their houses or in their cars were buried, but the authorities haven´t been able to get all of them out, because of the weather and the difficulties of the surface. You can see houses, cars and buses hanging from the cliffs as the mountain melted. There are desperate people looking for their relatives and digging with their own hands the dirt, which denies to help them out. It is heart breaking.

We are trying again to gain help, more than ever before, we need good given hearts to be there for those poor people. Since it is very cold, windy and rainy, the Red Cross is asking for blankets and jackets. If you can share this information with friends and family, they may want to help us. I am going to be working hard on the weekend to see how many people I can contact. One of my friends in the States gave me an idea. He is going to buy 25 of the post cards my friend makes and he is going to sell them in the United States for $20 each, then he will send the money to us as soon as possible. Since we don´t know how long it will take him to sell all of them, I am going to invest the amount he tells me and then he will send the money to me. I know you three are very sympathetic with people in pain and need, and I really hope you want to be part of it. Any amount, even the smallest, will make a difference.

Roxanna