God+rice+hut=Blessing

I recently returned from Costa Rica. Eight students from IWU, two professors, two translators and I stumbled our way through the jungle for one week. We worked alongside an Indigenous tribe called the Bri Bri, who welcomed us onto their Reservation and into their lives. My time with the Bri Bri was incredible. It pushed me, stretched me, and taught me more about myself. Since coming back to my comfortable life in the United States, I've been trying to process all that I experienced in Costa Rica. Below is an excerpt from a paper I wrote for class. I hope that it gives you a glimpse into what I've been learning...

(Excerpt from "Finding God in the Jungle")

Throughout the week, I kept a journal. Several days, I wrote the phrase, “I feel so blessed” as I referred to my life in the United States. But when I look back at those words, they seem hollow. One of our last nights, Carlos stayed up late and told our group more stories. It was raining hard against the wall of the hut, which drowned out the hum of the bugs. His eyes were filled with pride and passion, as he retold the Indian tales. But the last thing he said has stuck with me and has continued to echo in my ears. “The Bri Bri are not a rich people, but we are a wealthy people,” he said, before scooting out into the drizzle and walking to his own hut.

   The Bri Bri are content. They don't need hot tubs and ipods and designer jeans and scented hand soap and Tivo and all six episodes of Star Wars and futons and the newest Blackberry model to feel blessed. I’ve sat in church for my entire life. I’ve heard countless sermons about how material wealth does not equal blessing. But with my American eyes, when I look at a meal of rice and beans and a hut with leaves for a roof, I don’t see blessing. God is teaching me to see things differently. Blessing is a relationship with Him. Blessing is the joy of family and friends. To be blessed is to know that you are loved. I am blessed, but not because I live in the United States and not because I attend a Christian university and not because I have a soft bed. I am blessed because God has loved me, and I have chosen to love Him back.

            I never thought that I would have to travel to a dense jungle to see God more clearly. But with the help of the Bri Bri, I have discovered Him in new ways. My everyday-American-Nike shoe wearing life is strikingly different from that of the Bri Bri culture. But as we stood together in prayer, and sang together in the field, and laughed together in a bug-infested hut, the differences seemed to disappear. The truth is, a creative and unchanging Father loves us. He loves the white college student from Indiana and he loves the tanned Costa Rican native. We are treasured. We are His. We are blessed.