Day 5 (pictures of our last full day)

Headed back to the States...

More pictures to come but until then here is our crew on the Catamaran yesterday. 

Our team is headed home today. We had an early rise at 4am to get to the airport. Our JE guide, Edwin, didn't want us to get caught by any traffic on our travel day. We have our first leg to Houston and then off to San Antonio. We should be arriving around 3:15pm. 

Thank you to all our families and friends who have supported us and prayed for us! We are extremely grateful for you and the opportunity we have had!  We will continue to share pictures and stories over the next few days! 

Day 5 from Jackson

Today was our last day with Gavello. He was our bus driver and he undoubtedly saved our lives on multiple occasions. Despite him only speaking Spanish, he made us laugh and provided some extra joy to the trip. Costa Rica has been one of the best experiences in my life. Both for my faith and as a generally enjoyable experience. It has shown me that even just a smile to a kid can spark a conversation and even brighten up someone's day. While there is a huge language barrier between us all, we have been able to communicate through our limited knowledge of spanish and have taught some kids a few english phrases as well. It has truly been an eye-opening experience as I personally have never seen this kind of poverty before. We went down to a house, or more accurately a metal roof being held up above a dirt flat. Our fearless leader, Edwin, led us down a steep hill being held up by a few planks of wood. We gave them food and Edwin prayed over them in spanish. While I have almost no idea what Edwin said, I could tell that we had provided for her family and showed her God's love. I also brought a soccer ball down and gave it to a young boy who jumped a bit in a fit of excitement. It almost brought me to tears as we left because it was certain a wake up call as to how blessed we are in America. We take so much for granted and we don't realize how little other people have. We could likely provide for an entire family just with the food that we throw out. As a whole, this experience has brought me closer to God and has allowed us to hopefully bring others to Christ as well. Thank you Joshua Expeditions and New Braunfels Christian Academy for allowing us all to go on this eye-opening experience.

Day 5: Story from Brennen (and picture)

Today was the final day of our time here in Costa Rica. We got up very early in order to take a bus to the coast, and from there we went by catamaran to Isla Tortuga. We spent a few hours enjoying ourselves on the sunny beach, getting the opportunity to snorkel and swim before heading back to the mainland. Despite the great experience we had on this island paradise, I think I speak for myself and everybody else in our group when I say that we really received the most joy this week when we were able to interact with the kids at the church, getting to know these children and sharing God with them; these are certainly the memories we will cherish forever and never forget.

Day 4 (Pictures Part 2)

Day 4 from Rachel

Today was the last day working with the church. We started the day off clearing the grass off the lot where there will be an Awanas Club. Then, after eating an absolutely delicious lunch of fried fish, rice, and beans prepared for us by our extremely generous hosts, we spent our last day with the Costa Rican children. Over the last few days we have grown close with some of the kids and saying goodbye to them was hard. Every one of the kids radiates so much joy and love. Their attitude and character impressed me so much. Many of them live in houses composed of mismatched pieces of tin and don’t know when their next meal will be. Despite the uncertainty in their lives, they always showed up happy and ready to play. When it was time for snacks, they would wait patiently in line and offer to share their food even though many of them may not have eaten that day. Their love and acceptance of us “gringos” was something I hadn’t really expected. It sounds silly, but I have always been a little bit wary or anxious around little kids, but these kids completely took away those feelings. Despite the language barrier, we really connected with them. The way they acted towards us would make one think we knew them their entire lives. They have given me a renewed perspective on life. After spending days with them, I realized how blessed I am and how little the “problems” in our lives that I care so much about really are. They have certainly changed us for the better and I pray that our time with them will leave just as much of an impact on their lives. This trip seems way too short and I can only hope some of us can connect with them again. I am so grateful to have gone on this trip and pray the best for these kids that we have come to love.

Day 4 (Pictures Part 1)

Our last full day of work projects and playing with the kids! 

This is the pastor's dog

The man holding the dog is the Pastor of the church that we helped this week. The lady in pink is who prepared lunches for us during the week

We helped Edwin (our JE guide) bring groceries to a family in need.

This is a precious single mom and her five kids we got to meet and delivery groceries to. 

Day 3 from Matthew

Today was the best day so far. It was a hard and tiring day, but one that I will never forget. The day started out with my roommates (Jackson and Jack) and I sleeping in and subsequently missing breakfast. Yes, we all did have alarms set, but for one reason or another they didn’t go off! After all three of us got ready in what I believe is a record breaking time of just fifteen minutes, we left to go back to the church. As soon as we arrived we immediately got back to work clearing the field. Julius Caesar would have been proud because we saw, we came, and we conquered that field. 

We were able to clear the vast majority of it and were able to remove most of the rocks with the help of the truck driver who hauled the rocks off. He was a really nice man and had two little chihuahuas that roamed the field. 

After our conquest of the field we went back to the church where we had lunch. This was of course after we had used all the wet wipes to wipe away all the dirt that seemed to be everywhere. We all wanted to take an afternoon siesta. When the kids arrived at around two Mr. Sugg and Edwin helped organize and lead us in some songs, like the all time favorite The Papaya Song. Paige and Jackson also brought the praise band to Costa Rica and did an awesome job today when they lead us in the Spanish version of "Oceans". We had the lyrics printed out in Spanish so the kids could follow along as well. They truly seemed focused and wanted to hear what we were singing. 

From there Mr. Sugg and Edwind told a story and then I did a brief rundown of the gospel. I have to say that this was out of my comfort zone and I can’t remember a time where I have done that. I prayed before hand that God would just give me the words to speak, and I am continuing to pray and trusting that the seed I helped plant will continue to grow. This was a great experience for me, because stepping out of ones comfort zone is important, but it is so much important when you have an opportunity to tell others about Christ. 

After this we broke up into some games, we also had face paint and arts and crafts going on as well. It was all going great, the kids especially enjoyed freeze tag. I have to say, those kids can be fast and exercise some great teamwork. I got herded straight into another tagger so many times. From freeze tag we played soccer, or really just pass the ball as hard as you can. It was during this time that I cracked my head open on some re-barb that was hanging down from the wall. They don’t necessarily build for six foot three people, but it’s only a flesh wound. 

One of the most heart wrenching things a kid has asked me was when they were going to eat, because a lot of them don’t have lunch or even just a lot to eat. I’m constantly reminded how blessed I am, and that I shouldn’t take those blessing for granted. The problems these kids face don’t seem to drag them down, they are nearly all happy and energetic. They have a joy that is just infectious. This trip so far has been a great reality check for me. I know that there are definitely things that I need to make right in my life, so that I can have as much joy as those kids. I feel incredibly honored and humbled that I was able to share the gospel with them today. I don’t enjoy speaking in front of people, and especially when there is a language barrier, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t. I’m just so blessed to be able to go on this trip and met everyone. They have had such a large impact on my life, and I hope and pray that I have had an equal or greater impact on theirs.

Matthew

Day 3 from Lauren

For the third day in Costa Rica, we came to the lot we’ve been working on after breakfast that morning of papayas. Afterwards we all head down to San Jose to continue are work on the lot next to the church. The second day spent on it goes by longer, especially for me and the few that stay to help on loading all the rock and dirt. When we finished our faces said it all, when we left looking like we were coal miners leaving for our lunch break. Lunch was good and we were thankful to the women that have dedicated their time to prep lunch for us for the third time. When the kids came, I helped first a little in prepping arts and crafts. Mostly though I helped on playing activities with the kids. When we left we said are goodbyes, and a boy around two years was in tears as Ethan had to put him down and leave. Dinner was good, and from there we said our prayers and had our meeting and discussions of how it all went today.

Lauren

Day 3 (Pictures)