Sunday: Church and Surfing

Well, it's not every Sunday that you get to surf after church. But that's exactly what we got to do today. We worshipped together with Casa Vida church and Riley shared her testimony during the service. Some of our girls helped with the babies in the "nursery", which was a small open tent in the shade. Some others helped with crafts during children's church. We fellow-shipped and ate together with the congregation after services. It was a great chance for our team to experience church in a different cultural context. Afterwards we went to Playa Grande beach near our lodgings and learned to surf, well sort of. Several of the students seemed to get the hang of things real quick whereas it was a bit more challenging for the adults. Everybody had a blast at the beach. Surfing is a big draw in this area of Costa Rica and in fact, Casa Vida church began with a group of Christian surfers.

Saturday: VBS/Work day

We had another awesome day in Costa Rica. The dads spent another hard work day at the church continuing to construct the storage/bathroom building. It is amazing how fast these guys have put this thing up. I know it will be a real encouragement for the church on Sunday when they see the progress. The students coordinated and pulled off a great VBS for the kids in Matapalo at the community center. We had about 35-40 kids show up and we began with some games and then a big group program of skits, puppets, and testimonies. After that we divided up all of the kids into groups that rotated through stations making crafts, games, face painting, and water balloons. We wrapped up the event with The Heart skit and a testimony from Allie before handing out more treats to the kids and saying goodbye. It was the coolest time and we were very blessed. I love seeing the students doing ministry like that and the children's faces lighting up. Tomorrow is a church service at Casa Vida and then trying to surf at the beach.

Friday: Work Day

Today we spent all day at the Casa Vida church working on a couple different projects. It was a FULL day of work. The students and our wonderful moms sanded and painted the fence around the church property while the dads worked digging footers and pouring concrete for the bathroom/storage building that is a part of our project. Everybody worked hard and put in a long day. I'm very proud of our team!

Casa Vida Church

Before

After!

Lunch on site at Casa Vida. Awesome fresh food

After dinner Bible study

We have arrived!

After a LONG day of travel we have arrived in Matapalo, Costa Rica! We ate dinner at a nearby cafe and checked in to our lodgings near the Pacific ocean. It's funny how sitting all day on planes and buses can wear you out but we are all tired and looking forward to a good night's sleep in our cozy apartments.