Hudson Community and Guanacaste Water Project

I haven't written or posted in a while. Life's been pretty busy down here. Over the last few weeks, so much has happened that will undoubtedly shape my life for many years to come. A week and a half ago I said goodbye to a fantastic team of students from Hudson Community Chapel, in Hudson, Ohio. 19 students and 2 adult staff came to Costa Rica with a passion to change the world. I have never, in the last year of working alongside student led trips, seen a group so fired up about the mission set before them. They took Jesus' command to change the world seriously, and it was seen in the work they accomplished. In just 10 short days, these students put together an amazing VBS for children from a church in Pavas, which is an extremely impoverished suburb of San Jose. They put their whole hearts into the games, crafts, skits, songs, and they even taught in Spanish, which was amazing! They led with the love of Christ and it was seen through their actions every minute of the trip. Children came each day, so excited to see our students, and the ninos were welcomed with open arms and huge kisses. I have uploaded a video of one of their VBS days. Enjoy!

On top of all this, the work they accomplished for the church was fantastic. They repaved much of the failing basketball court so that children could use it for afterschool activities, painted the entire outside of the church building, and built a new wall alongside the border of the church's property that will be used as a foundation when the church expands it's building to make room for the ever growing body of Christ that now finds itself worshipping within those walls. It was an amazing experience, building a wall as we read through the book of Nehemiah, who, in being called by God to bring his people back to the Lord, also built a wall. In constructing a wall, we were able to show the love of Christ. How awesome is that!!

The wall before

The wall almost completed

After Hudson left, Laura and I said goodbye to Russell, the other intern from Texas University, and then took off alongside a full time LT staff and his intern-Phil Krause and Bob Furlong. With the help of Olman Alvarez, our missionary partner down here, we drove 5 hours from San Jose to the mountains of Guanacaste, a large county of Costa Rica in the north-western region of the country. Teaming up with another LT team in the small village of Esperanza, (translated means Hope) we assisted in the installation of a running water system.

In Costa Rica, just like the United States, education is mandated for all youth throughout the country. However, in order to provide schools and teachers for every child, the village seeking education must provide running water to the potential school building. For a village of 100 residents living off of agriculture in the mountains, saving up the money to pay for a running water system is a bit beyond their ability. And so the system of poverty continues in this small village, for without running water that is free from disease, no school can be built, thus depriving the children of Esperanza the very hope of a bright future we in the states take for granted.

But students can change the world and they decide to every day. In just 6 days, students from Honey Rock camp in northern Wisconsin dug trenches a foot deep for over a kilometer and layed pipeline throughout the trenches. With the pipes in place, they then connected the pipes from a local fresh water spring, tested for purity, to the water tank that would hold all the water being pumped to the new school building. With a system of air pump to provide added pressure and good old gravity, water flowed into the tank. Below is a video showing the moment the valve is turned on for the first time, allowing fresh water to bring education to a small community and end a system of injustice. Pretty amazing!

On top of all this, below are some more pictures of the project and the beautiful area in which we were working. God is good. One more trip after this week. Keep praying I will finish strong. I miss you all.

Rachel waiting in eager anticipation for the water to come.

The view from where we were staying in Guanacaste.

In honor of Buddy, the horrible little demon bird with which I live.

Quite possibly the greatest sunset I've laid eyes upon.

Me and Olman. So cute.

The view from the spot of my morning devotions!

Doorway into the beach at Guanacaste! (Not an actual doorway)

Small caiman we saw on a boat tour in Tortuguero.

Sweet spider waiting for dinner to arrive.

Sunset over San Jose.

Tour of Costa Rica: Two Weeks at Least

Well, I am finally able to upload some photos of my time here in Costa Rica! Enjoy the pictures.

In Memory of Dan Stenson

Dan Stenson, a great man and the trip leader for my current trip from Grace Arizona in Tempe, AZ, died a month ago from a sudden stroke. It has sent huge ripples through that community as they are learning to cope with the loss of such an amazing man and developer. On Monday, I sat by myself and wrote these words as I was thinking about the impact Dan has left on this world.

I sit here in Fraijanes, alongside a group of 16 teens and young adults. I am perplexed as I ponder the life I have lived so far, the impact I have had on this planet. Have I been a man of change and aciton, or a man who has simply watched his days go by him? Will the imprint I leave on others lives last or will it fade as a footprint in sand is washed away by the waves? 16 young hearts surround me, all grieving and in pain. A great man has died, and I feel I am not worhty to carry his sandles, let along take his place. Dan lived a life valiently as a man of action. His legacy is alive in the smiles on faces, the games we play, and the tears we shed. I barely knew this man, yet my heart was changed because of him. He made life joyful for so many, especially in times of heartache or struggle. His joy was rich and deep, and was truly from the LORD. I do not know, I can not comprehend why God would take Dan now. Why now, when it was clear so much life lay before him? I have thought about this so much the last three weeks. In my tears, I have cried out to God, questioning his decision. I have yelled at my Lord, wondering why on earth would He remove Dan now. And I am exhausted. I am tired from being angry. I am tired of yelling at God. I do not know why Dan is gone, and maybe I never will, but I now he is loving where he is right now. I can picture Dan in heaven, dancing around the golden streets(if there are golden streets), singing praises to God and hugging everyone in sight. I see Dan playing his silly eye tag games with St. Augustine, or his finger circle game with Martin Luther King Jr. I imagine Dan sneaking up behind St. Peter, burping as loud as he can in his ear, yelling Schultz, and then smacking him across the head, the whole time laughing. And I can see Dan, aftere all these fun and games, sitting down with his Savior, just to talk. Jesus and Dan. A beautiful picture. It's how he lived his life here and it's how he will live his life forever.
Will I ever live a life with as much impact as Dan? I don't know. I can try. Try to measure my life against his, hoping beyond hope my days will be filled with as much purpose as Dan's. I know Dan lived his life on a mission and I want to as well. But I also know he didn't do it for his own glory. Dan's life was spent in communion with Christ, so anything he did, was done for Christ's glory. Jesus and Dan. It's how he lived his life. And it's how I want to live mine.

Willow Creek Dupage...First Trip Done

Well, the first two week trip of the summer is done....and I'm exhausted. I think for the first time I am finally starting to realize how hard this job is. Waking up at 6:30, cooking breakfast, devos, 5 hours on the worksite pouring cement or digging trenches 9 feet deep, then 2 hours of VBS with little kids, then cooking dinner, then a shower(maybe), then 2 hours of teaching in Team Time, and then in bed at 11pm. Wake up the next day and repeat it all again. I just got done with my first ever two week trip that I was leading completely on my own and I am exhausted. Our next team comes in tomorrow at 2pm after the first team left today at noon.
I'm so tired. How do people do this? My interns are looking to me to lead them and I am confident in what I'm doing, but really? Two weeks straight of leading is exhausting....and I have 8 weeks left. I've been taking it one day at a time, because I think I would drive myself crazy if I didn't. I think I am finally realizng what Christ said when he told us he would give us enough grace for today, so don't worry about tomorrow. But it's still hard. I find myself daily praying through the armor of God in Ephesians 6 as I feel constantly attacked with lies that I'm not doing a good job or that I'm failing. And it's good. I mean, as tired as I am, I feel good. I know the work we are doing this summer in Costa Rica is having a Kingdom impact and it feels amazing. A girl on our trip, Rachel, who had struggling with some real pain in her life and the inability to trust people, wrote me a note today. She wrote, "Dan, thank you so much. You said that if you could change the life of one student, the trip would be worth it. Well, I plan on changing my life when I get home. I'm not going to believe lies anymore. So thank you for your impact.--Rachel." Reading that note made me believe in what I was doing. It reminded me why I do this. I do this to bring Restoration to the Kingdom, to Fight For the Life That Was Stolen. And it's working. We're taking ground. Keep praying. Thank you.
-Dan-

Costa Rica....The Beginning

Well, I'd have pictures to add to this blog, but I couldn't load any onto my laptop, because my computer has been stolen. Yep, that's right. Four days in Costa Rica and my computer, my wallet, my backpack, and a new novel I just started got stolen out of my van in a guarded parking lot while my interns and I went grocery shopping. Fences, guards, and security cameras didn't keep the thieves from breaking into the van and stealing every backpack....ten feet from a guard. We're all a little shaken up. I just realized today, almost $2,000 worth of equipment were stolen from me. Please pray for us. Our first team comes tomorrow and our spirits are low. Pray we would be uplifted and ready for the team to come for us. We're excited in the midst of pain. It's just stuff, but it hit us pretty hard. Thanks everybody.

-Dan-

Kentucky Springbreak Mission Trips 08'

A persistent story of poverty continues, which is both familiar and endless in sight. Over the last three weeks, I with two other LeaderTreks staff, worked alongside two groups of students from across the country to bring relief to the people of Knott County, Kentucky. Poverty in the Appalachian area is not really news to anyone I have come across. So in light of the
danger of familiarity breeding contempt, here are a couple pieces of information to awaken the original fervor some of us might have had upon hearing about this poverty in America. In Knott County, Kentucky:
¨ 40% of children live below the poverty line,
which is twice the national average.
¨ What is the poverty line?
For a single mom with 2 kids: $1300/month
For a family of four: $1666/month
Our two groups immersed themselves in the community by working on individual homes and got to know the people that live with this poverty everyday. Working alongside a local pastor, Rick Franklin, our students were able to not only serve the people, but to learn their stories and
enjoy life with them. Twice during the weeks we were in Kentucky, we experienced a local bluegrass night with community members. We danced and ate fried apple pie while the students got to know complete strangers. Plus, I was finally able to have real “Kentucky Fried Chicken” when a family made dinner for us the last night after our work day. Trust me, the restaurant has nothing on that woman’s chicken.
Both groups worked extremely hard and accomplished a lot. All in all, we scraped, primed, and painted an entire house for a family that lives two houses down from Rick Franklin’s church. We dug out trenches at a home to prepare for flood season. We built an 80 foot long, 10 foot high fence along the church’s property to block the sight of a school bus graveyard. We stained two decks, one for the church and one for a woman in the community. And students learned they could change the world just by changing the world of one person. It was a fantastic three weeks!

Dominican Republic Student Article

Just wanted to let all of you read an article that one of my students wrote about her trip with me to the Dominican Republic. Her name is Dani Abinion and she is a Freshman at Wheaton Academy. Enjoy!

"Over Winterim at Wheaton Academy I had the most amazing opportunity to spend two weeks in the Dominican Republic, doing mission work. At the beginning, I didn’t exactly know how I felt about going to a third world country and leaving everything I knew to go to a place where I didn’t even speak the same language. I have to admit I was scared and I was definitely
carrying an immense amount of fear with me, but I toughened up and was ready to do what God was sending me there to accomplish. By the time we arrived in the Dominican Republic, several challenges were already thrown in our path. As a team we worked through it together. Over the next two weeks the team got a ton accomplished by working together and relying on each other. The two aspects that I think our team grew drastically in were compassion and trust. Many of the girls, including myself, had our hard times, but no matter what argument was going on, five minutes later we were there for each other. It’s a really great feeling knowing there are thirteen of your peers that you can trust and go to if you have a problem.

I’ve been a Christian all my life. I grew up in a Christian home and went to church every week, but going on this trip really changed every prospective I had on life, the way I was living and the relationship I had with God. I remember the start of the second week when we moved into the orphanage and we met all of the kids. I remember that night hearing about their own personal stories and why they ended up in the orphanage, and I was blown away. I couldn’t believe what most of those kids went through and even though they had horrible past experiences they never showed it. It really made me think about how people at home, including myself, make a big deal and fear the things we do, but compared to these kids’ lives, it’s nothing.. At that moment I did an overlook on how I was living and decided I wanted to make a lot of changes. I wanted the changes to reach past the trip and affect how I was living at home.

This trip really made a huge impact on my life and I have twelve other Wheaton Academy girls, three LeaderTreks leaders, and twenty Dominican orphans to thank. Over the two weeks I was there I grew as a leader, as a friend, and as a person. I think that God sent me on this trip for two reasons: to help change and to be changed. He sent me to help change the lives of those that are less fortunate than I am and to help provide them with a better, safer place to live. He also sent me to be changed, by sending those kids into my life to help me realize how great of a life that I have and how grateful I should be. I also believe that he sent three amazing leaders (Dan, Matt, and Lauren) to encourage me and to help build my confidence and faith to become a better leader. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express how grateful I am for the people that God sent into my life while I was on this trip and for being given this amazing opportunity.
David says to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:20, “Be strong & Be courageous and do the work, do no be afraid or discouraged for the lord God, my God is with you, he will not fail nor forsake you, until the work in temple of the lord is complete.”
When ever I get discouraged, I refer back to this verse in the Bible and it reassures me that God is with me and that the things I do, I do for him and to glorify him."

Hungry For Change, Hungry to Serve, Hungry For God: Dominican Republic 08'

Well, we're finally back! And we all survived two weeks in the Dominican Republic! The trip was amazing. Our thirteen girls from Wheaton Academy worked so hard and accomplished a ton at the orphanage, Casa de Monte Plata. They acheived so much more than we ever thought was possible. In two short weeks, the girls leveled by hand mulitple huge piles of rock, dirt, and solid clay with just shovels and pickaxes. They poured a new section of a basketball court and laid new sidewalks with concrete. And they led a VBS for a group of 20 Dominican orphans who did not speak a word of English! The girls poured their hearts into the work and into the lives of under priveledged children, leaving that small orphanaged changed in real ways. Throughout the trip Jesus' words from Mark 9:37 rang in my head: "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." These girls saw the face of God in those childrens' eyes. Thirteen girls from the suburbs of Chicago left everything they knew for two weeks and entered a world unlike anything they could have imagined. It rocked them, broke them, and hopefully....changed them.

Here's a photo collage of the trip. Enjoy!