To Hell('s Bay) and Back

I'll be honest, getting back into the swing of things was not the easiest thing, nor was it really what I wanted to do.  I had a blast during break with my family and friends and wasn't ready to say goodbye again for another three or four months. Over Christmas break I did miss my guys, but what I really missed, though I didn't realize it at the then, was my time with the Lord.  Upon returning home, I found that I quickly returned to my old habits and had a hard time of retaining those from the gap year.  Namely daily prayer and Bible reading.  Since Christmas, I've quickly realized that having time set aside to spend time with Lord is my favorite part about being here with LeaderTreks.  Subsequently, it was my favorite part of my time in the Everglades recently.  I went back to read one of my journal entrees and I said "I always feel better after prayer. Why don't I do it more often?" So that's what I've been doing, praying more often!

The trip started well, we were all excited to be seeing each other again and preparing ourselves for another crazy adventure.  We left Monday the 4th of January for the most southern tip of Florida, we could not have gone further south of Florida save for the Keys.  We embarked in snow and hopped out of the Silver Bullet in warm and sunny South Florida.   

As we set sail, two to a canoe, we were thinking mostly of the prospect of seeing the likes of manatees and dolphins and sharks (more to come on that later), but what we weren't expecting turned out to be what we say most of.  Bugs.  Hundreds and thousands of Mosquitos and no-see-ums swarmed as the sun dropped below the horizon and we were setting up camp that first night.  It was unlike anything I have ever seen.  Straight out of a horror movie.  Needless to say, we quickly learned our lesson and the rest of our nights we were snug in our tents before sunset and asleep as darkness fell.  It was the only way we could beat the bugs.  I'll spare you the gory details, but I will say that the inside of our tent looked like a battle field by the end of our Everglades adventure.  The thing was covered in blood and mosquito guts.  It was gross.  Writing this is bringing back memories I hoped to forget forever so I'm moving on.  

Our first few nights we camped on the beach. Sounds like a dream, right? Wrong. The bugs made the beach sites almost unbearable once the day cooled off a bit at night. Our first night, the "beach site" we stayed at was all muddy clay. I hopped out of my boat onto shore and instantly my feet we stuck in thick sloppy clay, far from the beautiful sand I was expecting. This was our worst mosquito night as well. Made for a bit of a challenging first night, but things could only get better from there! As I said, we learned our lesson quickly and did the best we could to beat the bugs the rest of the way out. Two more nights were spent on beach sites, though the final beaches were real sandy beaches, not the clay junk we dealt with that first night. The last half of the trip, we camped on things called chickees. I have no idea if I'm spelling that right, but they resembled decks in the middle of the water. These places were much better for bugs (save one horrifying morning) and made for a nice way to close out our time on the water. 

This was our clay site. Not the best. 

This is Corbin and I cooking dinner at Hell's Bay on our chickee. Each chickee we stayed at was the same and consisted of two sides like the one you see here behind us. 

As difficult as the nights were, our days on the boats were that much better.  I loved being out on the water and in canoes.  I mentioned earlier about manatees and sharks and things.  This is where I come back to that because we DID see each of those.  In fact, I saw with my own eyes and in the wild, manatees, a shark, dolphins, a flamingo, a flying sting ray (the thing jumped two feet out of the water!!) and a plenty of fish.  It was like being at an aquarium except we were in the wild.  It was amazing to be up close and personal with God's creation in that way.  I'm still pretty sure I called in the manatees with my rousing rendition of the timeless Veggie Tales classic, "Barbara Manatee". 

Little known fact: Manatees have horrible breath. 

One of the last days, I was put in charge of navigating us out of the most difficult portion of our trip to navigate, out of Hell's Bay.  This place is adequately named for how it felt to try and navigate.  Every turn looked the same as the last and every patch of glades mirrored the one before.  Somehow though, I managed to lead us out of Hell's Bay only getting lost once.  If you were sitting in one of our boats trying to get out of the place, you'd be a lot more impressed that you are right now. Upon finding our way out of Hell's maze, Corbin and I celebrated with a bag of cheez its I'd had in my be all week. It was well worth the wait! I love those things, especially after a week of wilderness food like backpacker's pantry and cheese and crackers. 

My favorite part of the trip was returning to the habit of daily prayer and Bible reading. I loved getting to see His creation through open waters and beautiful sunsets and misty mornings and giant sea cows, but nothing beat the time I spent one on one with Him. Quietly listening and being content in His presence. 

Ben Hershberger

Costache Rica

Costache Rica

Costa Rica was really really hot.  And humid.  Being one quarter Norwegian, the heat and humidity don't agree the most with me.  Don't worry though mom, I made sure to stay hydrated! The trip was kind of split up into three different sections.  The first stretch we were in a city called Alajuela (which is really fun to say) and is right next to the capitol city of San Jose.  In Alajuela we worked with a pastor named Rigoberto, which, as it turns out, is also really fun to say.  Rigo (as we called him) pastors many people who are extremely poor.  Most are coffee farmers who only have seasonal jobs in Costa.  It was an interesting experience for me because many of the "houses" we visited when we followed Rigo around a nearby village that he ministers reminded me of those in Honduras near the dump at AFE.  On that same tour, however, I felt like a spectator and was very uncomfortable.  It felt like we were just walking through these people's lives and treating them like museum exhibits or something.  While in Alajuela, we helped to pour concrete for a family whose floor used to be dirt.  The work was hot and sweaty but it felt good to get out there and get my hands dirty!

For lunch each of the three days we poured concrete there, the family that lives in the small house brought us lunch. The lunch was a traditional Costa Rican lunch consisting of rice, meat, and a salad, along with fried plantains. Good good stuff let me tell you. We also got to walk through the cities soccer stadium, which hosts LDA, the countries best team for many years. We got to experience the culture of the city by taking a walking tour around the city, stopping at museums and historical murals. 

On the first Wednesday at Rigo's church, we got to worship along with the congregation. I have been blessed with many chances to worship God in different cultures and countries around the world, and I love it every time. It's amazing to me that we get to worship the same God anywhere on this planet.  How BIG He is!! At that same service, I got to give a 10-15 minute "sermon" (again, for lack of a better word).  I was even able to introduce myself and start my talk in Spanish! I did, however, end up leaning on the translator for most of the meaty parts what I didn't know how to say.  It was a great experience to be talking in front of a congregation in a different country and culture. 

The second stretch we were in the capitol city of San Jose, which, in an answer to prayers, was much less hot as it was in the mountains.  The nights were nice and cool and days were less hot.  I use "less hot" on purpose as the days were still plenty hot. Being in the mountains also made for some beautiful views.  In San Jose, we worked with an organization called Casa Viva. Casa Viva is similar to the foster care system in the United States, but much more personal and Jesus oriented. Rather than running things like a "children's home" or orphanage, Casa Viva takes children who can no longer live at home for one of many reasons and places them in Christian families all over the area.  The couple that started it are from the US and went to Wheaton (that's where the connection with LeaderTreks comes in).  We got to spend three mornings with the wife of the couple, Jill, who taught us about what Casa Viva does and child development and how the two are connected.  I really enjoyed learning about kids and how important family is for children. I realized how blessed I am and was to have such incredible and loving parents and family. Thanks mom and dad. 

Okay, finally, our last stretch was spent on the coast (!!!).  The place we were staying was some sort of Christian missionary facility in a small town called Playa Azul.  It was a beautiful spot, maybe one kilometer or so from the coast.  There were two main buildings, the first full of rooms for sleeping, kind of like dorms, and the second was a cafeteria of sorts with a nice kitchen and a huge room to eat.  Between the two, was my personal favorite feature, a swimming pool! :P  Being back near sea level, the heat turned back up a few notches. 

This photo was taken from my devo spot each morning (below). On the right, you can see our sleeping building, in the middle, the swimming pool, and on the left, our dining hall!

The beach by our "compound" (for lack of a better word) was in really bad shape.  Full of trash and heavily polluted due to a big river coming in from the Central Valley, where the large cities of Alajuela and San Jose are.  One of the last nights in Playa Azul, Corbin and I walked out to the beach for the sunset. The beach, while riddled with trash, could not take away from the beauty that was the sunset. No matter how hard we humans try to ruin things, nothing can stop and diminish His beauty. 

For our work this last week, we traveled maybe an hour down the coast to Jaco, a major tourist attraction in Costa because it's a gorgeous place.  While there, we worked with a surfers ministry, which meant we got to work at a professional surfing competition!! It was just like the movies, complete with the giant judges stand, hot sun, and dudes with dreads running to the water with boards attached to their ankles. Classic.  We worked with a local pastor who founded a church near the beach he dubbed "surfer church". Surfers are often not welcome in churches in the area due to their appearance and laid back lifestyle. For this reason, Dennis founded Pura Vida church, which we had the pleasure of attending one Sunday. The church was set up in a school in town (think Blackhawk Fitchburg on a smaller scale) and Dennis proceeded to give the sermon in shorts, a pink polo, and flip flops. We had a blast there!

The last day, we hung out at a national park called Manuel Antonio where the rain forest met pristine beach.  This place was unbelievable!! While on the beach, we had to have one person stay with our stuff the whole time because monkeys would come out from the jungle to steal our food! I'm serious! Those buggers were ruthless. 

I apologize for how late this post is... I'm going to do better about staying on top of these posts as the next few months unfold. Right now, as I put on the finishing touches here, I'm on the road headed for the Everglades and an eight day canoe trip!!  I've never done anything like this before, but I'm stoked!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. Even if I can't be with you in person, I'd love to stay in touch. Whether you're in Madison, off at college somewhere or anywhere around the world, the Internet is an incredible thing! Shoot me a text, comment on here, an email, or an owl Harry Potter style. Whatever it is, I'll be excited to see it! Of course, during a number of my trips, I'll be in the wilderness and thus out of touch and away from technology, so give me a couple days. 

Ben Hershberger