Earth Angels

Two Cups of Tea at Hope’s Cafe

This is a true story of hospitality.  In 2010 Terry and I prepared to go to Costa Rica to learn Spanish at the Costa Rica Spanish Institute.  We arrived at the Atlanta airport ready to begin our journey only to discover Terry had brought old passports.  The airline employee who had been starting to check us in told us we had time to go back and get them.  Not so!  The current ones were of course at home in Chattanooga, a two hour drive at best and we had come on the shuttle.  We had no vehicle.

We went home, having booked the same flight for the next day.  I called the Institute to tell them of our delay and were told they would inform the host family. 

The next day we arrived in Atlanta with the correct passports.  We flew to Costa Rica and then rode a bus for four hours to our destination, arriving well after dark.  We looked for our host family.  There was no one.  We were in a place we didn’t know and didn’t speak the language.  It appeared we were in a “sketchy” part of town, adding to the sense of anxiety. 

One taxi stopped.  He didn’t speak English. We showed him the address we had for our host family.  He just drove off.  We had a telephone number but saw no pay phones.  We had our cell phones but no international plan and had no idea how to reach the family we were intended to stay with. 

Another taxi stopped and drove off without us.  We had traveled all day long and were very weary.  I don’t recall praying but I must have.  Suddenly a car pulled up and the American driver said “Do you need help?”  Yes!  Do we ever!  We showed him our card with contact information.  He called the family.  They had not gotten the message about the change in our arrival.  The staff at the institute had left the message with the young teenage son who failed to relay it to his mother.  Our “new best friend” knew where the family’s home was located and drove us there.  We were welcomed and at last were bedded down for the night after our long and stressful trek.

I considered that we were rescued by an Earth Angel, a fellow who had come from America to settle in Costa Rica twelve years before.  That he arrived just when we needed him is still a miracle to me.  This is a powerful reminder of the impact one act of kindness, one bit of hospitality, can have. 

The invitation is open to share two cups of tea anytime at Hope’s Café or anywhere you share companionship and conversation.

May we bearers of hope, the “wait staff” at Hope’s Café, for each other and all those we encounter.  Shalom, Kate