Day Five Pictures.

Day Five took us to La Carpio. A community built on a trash dump- the poorest of the poor. It was a day that we were able to see how God provides and be reminded of His faithfulness.

God has provided in miraculous ways for His people that we worked with on this special day.

Our day start d with service lunch to the children in the community.

Next it was moving up stairs to play games!

First led by them- then us! Fun for all!

Next it was a lesson on how Jesus calms the storm taught by Kristen and Gabby!

Next it was a craft to help demonstrate the lesson they had just heard!

Following the craft, it was time to get our hugs and say our good byes. Pictured below is the pastors wife who is currently attending seminary. I promised to pray for her!

On our way out we drove through the community to get a full picture of where these kids live. Thankful for the day and praying this day is forever in our hearts, that we never take for granted again the things the Lord has given us.

Day Six.

The day starts with the ever so bright sun peeking through the windows at the early hours of 6 AM. After waking up, we are followed by our cup of coffee (which I've only started drinking this week), the world's best bread and jam, and the unusual breakfast food of rice and beans, which is typically scattered on our plates to look eaten. We load up the van and head over to the children's home at the Abraham Project for an exciting day.

At the children's home we have brought over every game and toy imaginable and the kids are loving it. We had jump ropes, face paint, soccer, coloring, and "making bracelets" (aka cleaning up all the beads dropped on the ground), and so much more. Seeing the joy on the faces of the children as they played was a priceless experience that I'll never forget. The kids were full of so much love for everyone, not to mention patience for our struggling Spanish. Having prayed for the kids just days before during our devotional it was incredible to see the kids in person and see God's love for them. Following the play time, was a frozen t-shirt contest, where many methods were used in trying to unfreeze the t-shirt and attempt to put it on. Once the t-shirt was thawed out, it was even more of a challenge to convince one of our team members to put on a freezing cold shirt. Our time at the children's home came to an end with pizza and soda.

After the children's home we headed off to watch the Spanish edition of Boss Baby with the kids. If you can't picture how that went with our minimal knowledge of Spanish, it was a rather confusing hour and a half for those of us who didn't take advantage of the time with a nap. However, it was so worth it to see the kids reaction to the movie and how happy they were to see it.

After the movie, we headed to Walmart to practically buy out the entire aisle of Costa Rican coffee. I remember hearing people laugh at the amounts of coffee we all had piled up in our carts. Afterwards, we headed back to Franco's and then went to church.

Church was really an incredible experience getting to hear people singing songs of worship in other languages. After worship, we went to the youth group and heard a sermon by the youth pastor and then got to worship with the youth group. While we may not have been able to understand all the words, it was clear that the Lord was overflowing in their hearts. After youth group, we were warmly greeted by a girl with hugs and wanted to talk to us. Her English was so incredible and she was so joyful and friendly towards us. 

After church, we went to the Taco Bar, an amazing restaurant. The time was filled with good food, bonding with our team and missionaries, and most importantly Bruce's cheesecake. We loaded the bus one last time that day and headed back to Franco's to sleep. The day was incredible and filled with so much of the Lord and His joy and I can't wait to experience everything else the Lord has in store for us in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.

With love, Becca 

Day Five.

Getting an extra hour of sleep for most of us was the start the day. We had a nice change of pace with breakfast as we were given pancakes -which was a nice treat - to go with our eggs, rice, and beans! 

We then headed to La Carpio with the missionaries Kendra and Stephen. Throughout the drive we got to listen to Kristen Meeks's many versions of Father Abraham and Stephen taught a song to the people in the back of the bus that was interesting. We drove through San Jose, Costa Rica into La Carpio a community that resides on a trash dump. 

When we got to our destination we walked into a little kitchen. The smell was a little hard to take, but we persevered. We then walked upstairs to where a beautiful church was. The church was so nice for the community it was in. They had awesome equipment, purple and white walls, and more. We got to listen to the story of the church starting, a testimony from the church starting, and the pastor's wife's testimony. Through it all you could hear of how much faith Gods people have had and how God has answered their prayers.

Within that time the interns, Bruce(another missionary) and Kenny (another missionary) came in. After that we hung out for a bit and then went down stairs to serve food to the kids of the community. Bruce asked 5 people to help feed babies and I was one of them. I kept making the girl I was feeding smile, but it got to the point where she would smile while chewing her food and it would come out of her mouth and she wanted me to keep stuffing her mouth with food without her chewing the other stuff. We had no napkins for them so I felt really bad when it got all over her face, clothes, and hands. She tried putting the rice back in the bowl that came out of her mouth but it didn't work so well. 

Then it was time to go back upstairs. When we got upstairs two ladies were starting a snake dance and were going around in the middle of the circle. One lady was holding the other lady's waste. Then, they pointed at me first out of everybody in the circle to join them, which at the time I didn't think I was suppose to join them. I didn't know what to do so I looked at the projector showing the dance and it had people going through the legs of the people in this line that was slowly forming. The lady at the front of the line confirmed what I was suppose to do by pointing through her legs. I think that was one of the most awkward things we had to do on this trip to some degree for everyone. They continued picking people from our team to join the line, then they starting picking children. By the time we were done we all formed a snake. Then we did some more dances. 

After this we played four corners and Gabby Nutt and Kristen Meeks taught a lesson. Then we did a craft with the kids based on the lesson. After all of that, all the kids left. We cleaned up and went down stairs in the mini cafeteria to eat lunch. 

Once we were done we got back in the bus we toured La Carpio. The church we went to used to be on this side of La Carpio that the trash dump is on. We were able to see the old church and see God's faithfulness. It was hard to see the houses that sat on the edge of the trash dump and see the poverty that this community lives in and see where the children that we ministered to live. Yet, seeingg the joy on the kids faces at the church in La Carpio through all their troubles really shows how the Lord has been working in their life, through us and all the love they are given at the church. No matter what the circumstance, the Lord is always there for His people. 

From our tour, we made it to the market. I got a super good deal on head bands and we were convinced that since Shannon was speaking so much Spanish to the guy, he gave a great discount, 3 headbands for 4 dollars. Everybody got nice souvenirs. Once we got back to Franco's some of us went to a store and bakery across the street. We then took a picture with glossy man ( a statue). We got back and had dinner and hung out together. 

Through out this week I have been on a fun journey trying to listen to the Lord through many ways. I feel the Lord is trying to show me plans for the future and about myself right now. I am excited to see how this will continue to go on through the rest of the trip. :)

 By FaithAnn Bagley

Day Four Pictures.

Our morning needed a quick walk to the bakery! Thanks Bruce for making it happen!

Yay for Coca Cola!

Day Four brought out the scaffolding! Our crew did great and got over any fear of heights they may of had! 

One leader needed a trip to the infirmary for bug bites- but she is much better now. 

On that road trip they had some awesome sights!

Team recreational time!

Team devos by Kenny!

The afternoon led us back over to Phase two! We were led ONWARD by Kendra!

While over there the rains came and came and came. We were soaked to the bone, but the team did great, never complained and kept on working!

Dinner time at Franco's!

Evening card games!

Our missionaries came over to Franco's to hang out with us for the evening and it was such a beautiful evening!

Day Four.

I woke up this morning on a mattress on the floor, because I decided I was hot. Breakfast was at 7:00, just like the previous mornings. There was the same amazing jam, bread, fruit, rice & more. By this morning, all of the kids, even the ones that didn't like it, were drinking coffee, which was a sad day for the coffee drinkers that now didn't get as much coffee as they originally did (aka me).

After breakfast, we went to the Abraham Project, & I instinctively searched for my favorite dog at the project, Matcha. I'm a part of the B team (team Bruce), so we went to the daycare to teach the children about the Lord's Prayer. We made crafts with the different classes full of familiar faces hugging me, asking the children their names, & convincing them to roll their glue sticks back down. 

After helping in the daycare, we headed to the multipurpose center for our daily devotional. This devotional was definitely the most impactful one for me personally so far. We divided into groups of four with one leader per group, & analyzed a passage of scripture, John 7:53 - 8:11, where it talks about the woman caught in adultery. We read over it, then summarized it. Within our groups we observed both man & God, but we could only describe them by what the passage said about them, not using any prior knowledge. This way someone who graduated seminary & a non believer were in the same playing field, with no advantages. We were able to see great things in the scripture. 

After the rest of the exercise, we ate another fantastic meal, played volleyball & basketball in the multipurpose center, & finished our devotional by praying for the missionary families in groups & their specific needs. 

After all of this, we headed over to phase two, where we continued to clear land for future children's homes. While we were there, rain started pouring for the first time, & we trudged back in the rain, or in Becca's case, hopped through the puddles. 

Once we dried off, we headed over to Franco's where we took showers & played cards viciously. After dinner, a few of the missionaries came over to talk with us & tell us their testimonies. This was such a sweet time of fellowship, getting to know one another in a way we haven't before. I am so grateful for this team & what God is doing in & through us.

By Kristen Meeks