Well, we´re now into our 2nd week of outreach and the time has gone so fast. Costa Rica is a beautiful country, what we´ve seen of it! We had a day off today, a little rest from all the hard work we´ve been doing. Yesterday, the time was full...our backs are physically feeling the pain. We jumped in yesterday with a community project in the neighborhood of San Miguel, its a community about 20 minutes out of San Jose. A concrete street is being poured in response to the people´s questions to the government. The municipality responded with giving materials to this community but required of the people to build it themself. Its a good way to get the people themselves involved, however the response has been few. We just about doubled the team of mostly middle aged men that are working diligently to see this project completed. Its a neighborhood, most Nicaraguans that have migrated to Costa Rica, not having proper papers. Some don´t own the land that they´ve built on but are like squatters, claiming land on this side of the mountain. The common problems that plague this neighborhood are drugs and young people being pulled away from families. They´re are a number of single mothers....

The first time JUCUM (YWAM) joined the man leading the project, he was confused by the kind regards of the missionaries. He didn´t understand why people would come and help and want nothing, no payment to do this hard work. He seemed especially intrigued by foreigners giving of their time to come to this place and do this work. It´s a real story of the love of God, having the opportunity to serve selflessly. Yesterday, we almost fully completed one side of the road, although there´s more work to do. We hope to join these guys one more time while in Costa Rica.

We´ve also had the great opportunity to serve the homeless, one night bringing food to people sleeping on the streets and also serving in a homeless shelter. This is downtown San Jose, the stories are numerous of how they ended in these situations. Some were educated professionals, others alcoholics and drug addicts...the possibilities are endless. I met this one old man, a precious grandpa type, with joy in his eyes. He has 4 children with grandchildren but only sees them every couple months. When I asked him why, the answer was because he´s an alcoholic. I know there´s so many stories and people all over the world are similiar, holding things more dear than what their priorities should be. In our eyes, sometimes it seems so simple, ¨Just STOP!¨ But we don´t function like that, its in our sin that Christ died for us and I see that so clearly.

I ask for your prayers, on Sunday we head 4 hours south of San Jose...the team will be participating in an outdoor wilderness adventure called NIKO. Its hardcore, very particular and we´ve heard pieced but the full experience can´t be revealed to us. Pray that God gives us strength emotionally, physically and spiritually. We will be joining the DTS group here and a youth group from Costa Rica. There will be a lot of challenges...ones we´ve never seen before...ahhhhh!!!

Love you all...

oh Costa Rica

Hi guys...
We're coming along fine in the cool air of Costa Rica. The team has been working hard, helping the YWAM base here to move to a different location. Its been long days and lot of paint fumes, cement dust and general fixing up of an old art school building to morph into the new home of JUCUM San Jose (that stands for YWAM in Spanish:)

The team is doing well, good attitudes and hearts to really serve. Today we spent our time in the sun, gathering the leftover garbage from the yard and organizing so the base could make their "final" move tomorrow. We are part of the craziness, so please be patient in our communications for this coming week.

Its been really fun to be a part of this team...some students have barely been outside of Belize. Its experiencing the "firsts" with them that's so cool. One young man, Kevan, rode on an escalator for the first time at 17 years old...its awesome that he can have these memories attached with his heart to serve God.

Thank you for all your prayers and support...

We're Here!

Hey Everyone,
We're here, arrived safely in San Jose, Costa Rica. Kind of had a day of daze, recovering from the night and day of travel...had the morning off today to rest- had some Costa Rican coffee- and jumped in this afternoon.

The San Jose base is moving locations this week- they are moving to an old coffee mill, it has since been owned by a poshe art school. Its an awesome space but in need of a lot of repairs, work, cleaning, painting and renovation to house the classrooms and staff/students. Today Omar and Kevan worked on one of the houses that the base is moving from- disassembling a small house,patio structure to use at the new base. The rest of us painted at the new base and cleaned out storage containers that will house students and team to come in the future...let's just say the bathrooms were much to be desired!! The staff really appreciates our hands right now...
So, this will be most of our venture this week- the base needs a lot of work and everything has to be moved by Friday...

We will be posting on our blog future updates, so make sure to be checking from time to time.
Please pray for our team relationships, sometimes its easier on outreach to put team relationships on the back burner as you meet all these exciting new people.
Love you guys!
Omar, Alyssa and DTS (Daniel, Carilyns, Florence, Kevan and Camela)

Lili- please pass this on to Dupe...we're missing you Ms. Dupe!

So long, Farwell

Hey all,

Time is quickly approaching and we will embark on our adventure to other Central American countries: Costa Rica and Panama.

Our group of 5 students, with the possibility of one joining us in October, will leave Sunday evening to Guatemala City. We will bus from the Belize border to Guatemala city and fly to Costa Rica on Monday afternoon.

We will be in Costa Rica for almost a month and then head to Panama, via bus. We are excited and looking forward to this experience and challenge. It will be different cultures and new perspectives. We hope that from this time, God will show Himself in ways that we've never seen before. We go to be a blessing and to partner with others in living the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20, "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

When we were in Belize City for a week, working with different groups of children and young people in rough neighborhoods (rough is an understatement), a comment by one of our students was made. He said, "We should just spend our entire 2 months here." Why do we need to go elsewhere if there's people that need God right in our own country? This is so true, it made me think because I've heard this perspective so many times and its true, people that live in our neighborhoods, our communities, our schools and at our workplace, they need to know the Truth. I totally agree with this and I want to highlight Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." We are called to our neighborhoods, our communities, schools and workplace and we're called to other places, other countries as well. This is a partnership...we are all called to be lights in "our world and the worlds of others." We are called to do this together.

Thanks for partnering with us in being lights to our "worlds."

Love and Blessings