August 4th

Today was an amazing day in many instances, but we had to say goodbye to Joan and Evan Smith which was a difficult experience for many. Today we spent the whole day playing with the kids! One group hiked on a trail with the children 9 and older and the other group did arts and crafts with the younger children! Everyone had just an extraordinary time with what ever we did ! The Hikers visited the pig farm, a river and played with a slip-n-slide, it sounded like they had an excellent time! It was raining while they were doing the slip-n-slide, which made it even more slippery. Everyone was covered from head to toe in mud! The other group set up arts and crafts in the gym, which included: Beads, coloring, painting, reading, board games, bird-houses, and stickers! Let me just tell you the kids were so excited and the mom´s of each house were glad to have a little time off! The little kids had lunch at eleven so the crafts group was free to take a little time off until the other group got back, so most of us went to the computer lab, it started raining so hard, there were water falls everywhere and a river running through the road! Not knowing where the hikers were we really couldnt do anything about it and when we got home from the computer lab, they were home soaked from head to toe!! It was raining so hard it started to come into the house, it was very scary! Now we are off to go to a english speaking youth group! That should be really a great experience!

More pictures to come, camera problems

Until next time,

Costa Rica Mission Trip

****Hanna Oimoen****

August 2, 2007- Day 6

This trip has been amazing! Last night was such an inspirational and eye opening night for everyone! It was around nine o clock and we were all sitting together singing worship songs and reflecting on the day when Jonathan asked us to share a moment where we saw God in the trip so far. Each person shared a moment, there were 26 different sightings of God that made each of us bond closer together, laugh, cry, and truly understand the meaning of this trip! Through the children´s faces and the love and passion for their faith keeps all of us in awe. And strengthening the relationships between those within our youth group has been awesome! Today was our last work day (we have all worked hard but the adults on the trip have definately taken much time out of their schedule and given up a lot to come here and they deserve a ÿou rock for all the effort and time they have put into this trip! you have worked so hard, thank you!) and there is a carnival for the children set up by another group from California. But the excitement in the children´s eyes and desire to get their face painted was adorable! It was very generous of this other group and for us it was fun talking to them, finally a group that speaks english! However I have found myself beginning to think in spanish! It´s really crazy! We all (even back in the house) with just people from the youth group have started picking up spanish words and speaking them to eachother! We have all grown together in our faith, in our sense of self, and in our relationships with others! Thank you God for all that you do, this trip has truly been a blessing to all of us!

*Marisa*

We have now been 5 days away from our home at Ascension, yet the spiritual richness continues to grow. The Roblealto children are constantly hugging us, kissing us, stealing our hats, playing American Football and smiling. They seem to be truly happy that we are here, and their outward affection is fueling our own spiritual growth and motivation to work. The food that is fueling our bodies is almost as satisfying. Beans, rice, meat, what more could you ask for? Believe us we need the energy for all the construction and painting we are doing. We had to repaint the house a different color than what we used the first two days, but that didn´t damper our spirits. The construction team is going strong. We are ripping off old metal siding and replacing it with nice boarded siding. Our group has grown so much on this trip and we can not wait for more.

In His name,

The LYFE Team

The Painting Crew

We made it!

I can´t believe that we are finally here and all in one piece. Our trip down could not have been any smoother. We arrived at the airport bright and early or should I say dark and early since it was 3:30 am when we got there. Many of us had yet to sleep since we were so excited or we lived with someone who was so excited. The flights were smooth and although we arrived about 45 minutes late. Pam our coordinator was there waiting.

We arrived at our worksite in Herredia around 3 PMish. Right away we received a typical Costa Rican welcome... Papa John´s Pizza. Exhausted from our trip we spent the evening getting to know our hosts and the Roblealto campus. Tucked away in the mountains just outside San Jose, Roblealto sits in what seems to be a second eden. I have never heard so many people say "Oh my God!" at the breathtaking view that God has created. We have a lot to praise Him for and yet we find ourselves again and again taken back by the His creation. This was all before the kids even arrived.

The Roblealto children arrived at 5 pm Monday since they did not have school due to a Costa Rican holiday. Monday night we broke up into groups of about 3 or 4 and had our evening dinner with the kids in their houses. There are a total of 7 houses of which there are anywhere from 10 to 15 kids. Each house has house parents of which the mom stays at the house all day and the dad has a regular job. The rest of the week we will be having breakfast with the kids. Each group of our team has been assigned to a house and will spend every breakfast and every dinner with that same house.

Please continue to pray for us as we continue our work with the Roblealto children. We are in high spirits here and are excited to get to know the kids more. Their faces are what give us strength to continue our work each day.

We're almost there..

I can't believe we are almost there. It seems that we have waited so long and now we find ourselves right around the corner of what felt like a fantasy. Now we have one thing on our mind and that is the ministry set before us. We have been called to serve and share God's love for His children.

It's funny how God allows tough situations that we have a tendancy to question. We agonize over why God would allow such hard times and confusion. His silence demands our patience and leaves us with no other choice but to trust Him. Sometimes it's the only way we will truly trust Him. By His grace He allows those times so that when we are off on our own we have NO DOUBT that the God we serve is FAITHFUL no matter what!

God has shown himself again and again to be faithful in leading up to this trip. Now as we leave, we go with the assurance that God is not only sending us but is leading the way. So praise the Lord for the turmoil that He sometimes allows because it is in those moments that we are brought into his presence.

Praise the Lord!

Amen

Here we Go!

Well, here we go. I can't believe we have come this far and are less than a week away from our trip. You know sometimes it's only in hindsight that we see the Lord working but it has been a joy to see Him working in our students and in me as we have been preparing for this trip.

God has been so good to us, I just can't wait to see what He does in us and through us. Join us in praising Him for the God we serve is good beyond what we deserve.