Final thoughts on Costa Trip

On this final morning in Costa Rica i wanted to remember some things that were really special to this trip.

The devotions each morning....this was done by out team...Paul talked about Gideon and being bold in our faith, Jacob talked about how much Veronica's testimony meant to all of us--how she is so bold to share the gospel everywhere she goes and how so many have accepted Jesus ---why dont we share???--....Reid talked about pouring yourselves our and finishing strong and not growing weary...... and we did that yesterday :)

The devotions in the evening....Mark led the first and last night, Arriel shared his testimony about being part of a gang and being led out of that into the arms of Jesus and how he is now part of the leadership team. Last night marked shared some words of wisdom with us. How we have to go back and follow this up at home. How the team here has gone into difficult and dangerous areas where God has led them and he asked where is our difficult area?? is it at school at the other lunchroom table where the "other" kids sits. Why cant we go share there????
God is not going to excuse us from not sharing in Thomasville just because we went on a mission trip to Costa Rica to help people.
Reid shared that we have to continue the Acts 1:8 challenge at home--we have to do something!! as "good" as it makes us feel to help the poor in Costa there are poor unreached people in Thomasville. We will be missing the whole point of missions if we go home and do not do something to keep this going.

Prayer circles......we gathered around Arriel and prayed for him after he shared his testimony. We prayed for him to have strength and supernatural power especially when dealing with other gang members and working in his home place. The kids loved it when he took out his guitar and we sang while he played.
We also prayed yesterday in a prayer circle around Rafa who is the architect for the La Finca project. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and was heading for the hospital for tests. The power of prayer is so strong. It is awesome to see our youth be a part of this.

Mark and Meg are just awesome! They have our team of 23 plus three other teams overlapping. Everything is so smoothly run you know that God is in the middle of it. The mission house was great, the food was delicious and we so enjoyed the fellowship!

The other teams that worked with our youth were so complimentary.....the yes maams and no maams, the extra hard work, the great attitudes, and the way our whole team got along.....each person on the other team had great things to say.

Praying for clear guidance for the next steps for the youth.....let God open the door wide in Thomasville that he wants us to go through.......

COSTA RICA DAY 6

What a day :)

It has been a long long time since i have done so much physical work as i did today---the youth worked incredibly hard!!

i think it will be a very long time before any of the youth want to hold a shovel or dig a hole! Again they worked to build the foundation for the gym/multipurpose building. It was hard physical work but no complaints were heard.

We started the day with pancakes, eggs and fresh fruit--yummy :)

Then we headed to La Finca around 8:30 and worked till 4:30.......

Thomas and Paul tied rebarb for two days--they made 6 on day 5 and 13 on day 6!!! they worked nonstop for two days--i am so proud of them.

Reid, Brooks and Nelson dug out a second trench and Jeremiah jumped in and helped today.

Brooke painted....and the rest of the team dug out the dirt hill and then after lunch today we dug another trench for a drainage pipe.
I saw kids swinging axes, picks, shovel, and haul dirt in wheelbarrows(not the kind you have at your house).....you cannot imagine how hard they worked or how proud i am of them :)

Tomorrow ....home.......we leave a part of ourselved here in Costa Rica. I pray that God will allow us another trip to see the continued progress on the building. I pray that God will let the youth see the purpose for their hard work.
I pray the God will bless the Louderbacks and their mission here and in Panama.
It is such a joy to see them so happy and so close in their walk with the Lord..... but my heart is heavy tonight as we say goodbye to them....until the next visit :)

Pray for us as we fly out at 1:11 (Costa time) tomorrow. orlando at 6:30---then a 4 hour bus ride home:)

COSTA RICA DAY 5

Day 5 started very early ---breakfast at the pink mission house at 6:30....devotion on finishing strong by Reid. What an awesome message.....

Then we headed to La Finca where the youth worked soo hard all day--digging a trench, and picking dirt out of a hill and shoveling it into wheelbarrows and then
dumping it out over the hill.

We took water breaks, lunch and snack breaks but for the most part we worked
all day until the much needed rain about 430 :)


Supper at the pink mission house was chicken and rice with brownies and ice cream for desert.


What a great day!!! The kids and adults will sleep well tonight :)

pray for us that we would finish strong tomorrow. To God be the Glory!!!

THOMAS TURNS 17AND JACO

Today we had two firsts--our middle boy turned 17--happy birthday Thomas and
the cone ministry went to the beach for the first time ever on the mission field!

The day starte really early--6am--for breakfast and a surprise SUPERMAN birthday cake for Thomas. It was a delicious cake :)

The we headed to Jaco a beach that was 90 minutes or so away. we had a great busride and stopped to see the biggest crocodiles ever. we had to walk out on this bridge to see them---look at the pix......

Then on to the beach---everybody spent the day playing in the BIG waves, shopping and eating. The Louderbacks joined us and we really enjoyed visiting with them!!
Thomas, David, Reid, Jeremiah all got up on the surf board. what a great day:)
God is soo good!

After a bus ride home we are heading out shortly to eat at Tim and Tina's fav pizza place. This is where Tim has a pizza named after him :)

Tomorrow and Wednesday we will work on the house at La Finca.....

Please pray for rest and strength for us. This week has been so special. The team has really bonded and Lord please let us finish STRONG :)

EASTER IN COSTA RICA

WHAT AN AWESOME DAY :)

The day started with breakfast at the pink mission house---pintos de gallo--black beans, rice that is delicious with sour cream and salsa!! bread and fruit!

Then Jacob did the devotional...about being bold in our faith like to tico girls are.....Mark encouraged us not to be sad about what we saw today --their hope is in Jesus.....

Next we headed to La Carpio ..... what an amazing place....so many people in such a small place....and so unreal.....and on the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we got to be HIS hands and feet and share HIS love in La Carpio!! what a great way to spend Easter :)

we passed out candy, and bags with toothpaste and toothbrushes and soap.....you would have thought we had gold.....everybody wanted what we had and lots of it...
you can never have enough stuff to give out.
The place is so overcrowded and people everywhere and no sewage or sanitation and everything just runs to the river--how do people live like that?

Lunch of burgers at the mission house then to La Finca after a change into our Easter clothes. The Louderbacks stopped by for a while :)

At La Finca we had a worship service. Jeremiah and Lauren played and sang.. They did an amazing job. Stacy Ezell shared her testimony. She did a great job! Mark preached a message on heaven and hell. The tico kids did a dramatic presentation of the resurrection. worship was so good. Trinity and Noah hung out with us too.

we had pollo con arroz--chicken with rice--it is my favorite meal in Costa--yummy:)

Then they built a bonfire and we helped the ticos make smores. They hardly ever get chocolate here because it is so expensive. It was breezy so the fire actually felt good. Look at the pictures--their kids and our had a wonderful time.

We headed back to the mission house then the kids went on a field trip with the Louderbacks to the MEGASUPER store to get a snack :)

what a day--i feel so blessed to have been here and to see all the today held.

tomorrow is a first--on a mission trip and i get to see a beach :)

Continue to pray that God will help us to be bold in sharing Jesus and that we
will see those divine appointment.

COSTA RICA YOUTH TRIP DAY 2

What a wonderful day!!!!

Started at 6:15(8:15 Ga time)....headed to the pink mission house for breakfast. Delicious pancakes, fresh fruit and eggs :)

After a devotional by Paul Brewer on Gideon and being confident in sharing Jesus with people, we headed over to La Finca. The youth were awesome!! The groups divided and some painted the entire inside of the house and outside. The others dug a trench and then mixed and poured concrete. Some kids hung out with the tico kids and played soccer. The kids worked soo hard today. Trinity hung out with us and worked really hard too!

Then at 1230 we stopped for lunch. It was delicious--black beans, rice and chili! The church leadership kids held a bakesale to raise money for band instruments for the praise band--yummy sugar cookies and brownies :)

After lunch we did kids club for about 100 kids. The youth made balloon animals and bunny puppets with the kids. The tico kids loved it so much and our kids were so blessed working with them. Tina, Tim, GL, Eden and Noah came and helped us with the kids club.


Supper at the mission house was chicken, potatoes and rice. YUmmy:)

Veronica a tico girl shared her testimony about accepting Jesus--she is part of the disciple leadership team and now knows about 500 verses---amazing :)
Mark shared about the way the kids from Los Guidos are discriminated against and made to feel like they are nothing! He encouraged us to go home and to be Jesus to the kids/people/neighbors that dont have Jesus and are different from us.

In the morning La Carpio--excited for the youth to see that place!!

Pray for our safety, rest, strength and for our families at home.

Happy Easter!!!

COSTA RICA DAY 1

We are here!!! God really watched over us today--gave us traveling mercies, helped us make our flight and we arrived 15 mins early to Costa Rica, Mark was waiting on us at the airport and we all have had a great afternoon.

After a delicious sack lunch we headed to La Finca ---we painted a building and played with the children--they are precious :) They come from horrible home situations. Mark emphasized if we can just give them joy and Jesus this week
we will have done our job.

Supper was delicious and we shared it with the Louderbacks. Tina looks great and she is walking perfectly ---praise God!!!

The weather was wonderful--overcast and breezy.

Tomorrow we leave the mission house at 6:15 (8:15 GA time) to go work on the building at La Finca.

Keep praying for us and our families back home :)

Happy Easter weekend