Catch Up!

The team has arrived!

Concert in Grano de Oro

So, I have not been able to blog much recently because once the team got here we have been very busy! On Saturday the 21st, we had our concert in Grano de Oro and it was a major success! We were blaring music, dancing around screaming our lungs out for the Lord. After multiple worship songs the team did their skit and it was very moving. Even with the music in spanish I got chills watching, so I can not even imagine how much it touched all the locals who speak the language. The concert concluded with a long time of prayer and I was very touched at how many people were brave enough to go to the front and be prayed over by Marlon and Jessica. A lot of us from the team went up and Marlon prayed over us as a group and I knew God was speaking through him. At this point, I knew God had amazing plans already set out  for this week and I was very excited to see what happens next.

Sunday church and VBS!

On Sunday we had a normal church service and it was so awesome seeing all the team members experience this worship and sermon for the first time. The worship here is so different compared to what we are used to in America and everyone loves how they do it here. People are constantly dancing and jumping around proclaiming their love for God. They have no shame at all in living their life for God which is exactly how it should be. These people are very inspiring and although we are here to make a difference in their lives, they are impacting ours just as much. After the church service we had some VBS activities and served lunch. We made hot dogs and served them with some papas (potato chips) and cookies! Pretty American style lunch, but they enjoyed it! Once everyone was done and left we cleaned up and changed into some sporty clothes because the kids in Las Nubes asked us to come play futbol (soccer)! Playing soccer with Costa Ricans is probably one of the most fun/scary things I have ever done. These kids are not afraid to run a girl down or kick them in the shins.. However, I still loved playing and we are actually going back to play more today! After just two days here God had done so much for our team and plans to do more.

VBS in Grano de Oro

So Monday and Tuesday of this week we drove to Grano de Oro and the youth did a puppet show acting out Daniel in the lions den for one day and a skit acting out David and Goliath the next. The kids LOVED both of them. After the show we set up 5 stations and had little activities for the kids to do. After bring here for three weeks I´ve learned enough spanish to communicate some with the children so that was definitely new and excited for me as compared to last year. However... I am no where near to fluent yet! The kids were a variety of personalities from extremely shy to yelling every word they say. They had so much fun both days and that alone made the long drive and all the stress in preparation worth it. God calls us to let everyone know He loves them and that is exactly what we did for those children. We played games, laughed and spoke spanglish... always making sure to say "Dios te bentiga" (God bless you).

Here and now

So it is now Wednesday and it is our "off" day. However, we are still doing tons of work preparing for tomorrow in Plantanillo, doing laundry, cooking and cleaning. So even though we have a day to spend at the house, we take any spare time we have to take care of things that need to be done. While this morning has been all work... we have later today at 3 to look forward to for play :) We are going back to Las Nubes and playing soccer with the youth! I´m very excited and a little nervous because these kids are seriously intense. Either way, I know it is going to be fun. So this is all the basics of what we have done so far; however, I honestly couldn´t put all the amazing things God has done into words. The best thing is that I know God has so much more in store and I am so excited to see what else he does and our lives and these kids lives. I will post again at the end of the week and let ya´ll know how the trip concluded and all the amazing stories that happened.  Until then, Hasta Luego!
Also, below are some pictures from the past few days!