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.
