Today is our last day in Costa Rica! This week absolutely flew by and was filled with so many unexpected blessings. This morning, we began our day with another yummy breakfast. We had several options which included cereal, oatmeal, and yogurts with fruit and granola. 

We then prepared for the arrival of mothers that could not make the previous baptisms in the week. Over 30 people were able to attend! First, we welcomed everyone to sit and began with the girl's dance again. It gave us all goosebumps. Then as a group, we sang "Poderoso" and "Waymaker" for the mothers and their children. Two more testimonies were shared. 

We split into groups again where some of us took the children to play and the rest of us blessed the moms by painting their nails. The kids especially love playing with bubbles! 

After the moms left, Bernarda made us our last meal and we had to say goodbye. :( We got our COVID tests and they all came back negative! We are celebrating an amazing week by going out for pizza! 

Although this week has flown by, we are so blessed to have been able to meet our brothers and sisters in Christ. See you soon in the States!

For more photos and video insights from our partners, head to their Facebook Page Mission To Costa Rica - PreEscolar Pescaditos del Salvador and check out their website at missiontocostarica.com!

Today, we began our day with a team devotional. Joe led us in a time to reflect on how we trust God by submitting ourselves to him.

It was our second day of ministry to bless Nicaraguan families. As they arrived, we shared our photo books with them! Similar to Monday, there were confirmations of faith and baby dedications; there was worship, dance, testimonies, and fun activities with the kids. Like last time, we had the privilege to serve the families a delicious lunch!

Later, we had the chance to bless John and Jill in appreciation for their incredible ministry and hospitality. We gave them extra team t-shirts, Hershey's chocolate, team photos, and a donation to the preschool. We had the incredible opportunity to pray over John, Jill, their daughter Maddie, and other ministry staff, Mariana and Bielca.

At the end of the day, some of us took a walk to a local convenience store and others stayed at the base to relax. We had chicken/chick pea soup for dinner! We ended the night with team bead ceremony and debrief time. :)

For more photos and video insights from our partners, head to their Facebook Page Mission To Costa Rica - PreEscolar Pescaditos del Salvador and check out their website at missiontocostarica.com!

 ¡Hola! This morning, the boys began their daily fruit testing at the preschool with some juicy clementines. Then, Carlos took us back to the base. ¡Gracias, Carlos! For breakfast we had some delicious eggs and gallopinto. 

After our breakfast, we took the shortest bus ride of the trip to a local coffee farm (check out the website BestCoffeeTour.com). On the trip we learned about the ins and outs of coffee and coffee production. Gabrielle, our guide for the coffee tour, was surprisingly honest about the moral nuances of coffee production. Essentially, he attempted to explain the balance required between capitalism and environmentalism for farming. 

We then began our tour through his farm. We had many tropical fruits and plants on the tour, such as, cacao, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, mimon, tangerine, and passion fruit. Afterwards, we sampled different coffee roasts produced by the farm. We attempted to determine a favorite roast of coffee according to our pallet by tasting three different roasts alongside pastries. We then returned to base for lunch, where Bernarda made us alfredo pasta (delicious as always)! 

After redecorating for the next baby dedication happening on Thursday, we did a run through in preparing for the youth event as the students would be arriving any minute. We welcomed them into the base and spoke the best in Spanish that we could. When we could not communicate well, we would use hand gestures until something finally clicked. When something clicked, we would celebrate and hug each other. It was a beautiful thing to be able to communicate without even being able to speak the same language. 

Two of our students used their gift of dancing to bless us once again with a beautiful expression of worship. Our team also prepared two songs in Spanish and one in English to sing with the youth who came. Kyle preached a meaningful message about hope. We then began to lay hands on one another and pray over individuals who shared about their current struggles. It was amazing to see our team and the youth from the community come together to pray for one another. It was a night filled with vulnerability and authenticity. It was emotional and powerful. Our team was greatly impacted by their passion for Jesus which influenced our group tremendously. We saw the Holy Spirit move in ways that we had never imagined before! 

It was then time to say "adios" to our new friends and we finished our night off with an amazing chicken, vegetable, and potato dinner made by the master chef herself, Bernarda. (Oh! and ice cream :) )

For more photos and video insights from our partners, head to their Facebook Page Mission To Costa Rica - PreEscolar Pescaditos del Salvador and check out their website at missiontocostarica.com!

Today, following a delicious breakfast of rice, beans, and fried plantains (yum!), we had a blast blessing around 10-15 Nicaraguan families with a day of fun activities, worship, dance, baptisms, child dedications, and of course...more amazing food! 

And they're off! This team of 19 will be serving this week doing Relational Ministry, Prayer Ministry, Construction, Child Care, and Food Distribution. Keep praying for them and we'll post an update here when they have arrived safely!

UPDATE AS OF 4:45 PM

The team has arrived in Costa Rica and are headed to their site. All of their luggage arrived, too, and everyone is doing great! Keep praying for them as they get settled and get a good night's sleep tonight!

Today the team woke up and met to eat a breakfast made by our cook, Barnarda. Then, around 9:30 we headed to church, which was about a 20-minute ride down the mountain. There we were greeted with open hearts and surprised by a translator who blessed us by translating the sermon for us. 

Worship was incredibly lively and powerful, with people dancing and expressing their hearts in whatever way they found fit. We were also blessed to have learned two of the Spanish songs in preparation for the trip that we sang during the service. The message was about going from creation to being a child of God, which is a strong reminder that those in other cultures have similar struggles as American Christians in their faith journey. 

After thanking the pastor and his wife, we were fortunate enough to meet the translator who shared how God had been working in her life and through her ministry. Then, we traveled back to our base where we had an amazing lunch of burritos and salad. 

Soon after that, we were able to meet a family that Jill and John (our mission partners) have been ministering to, and supply them with formula and diapers. Then, a potter named Romeo from Nicaragua came to visit us and shared with us his beautiful work, which some of us purchased. Later, we decorated the school building on site, which will be used tomorrow for child care while babies are being dedicated. 

For dinner, we were yet again blessed by our cook, Barnarda, who made us beans, mashed potatoes, hamburger patty, and a beet salad. Then John and Jill instructed us on childcare and how we will be serving the mothers from Costa Rica and Nicaragua. 

We wrapped up our night with ice cream cones and a debrief that included affirming each other through our bead ceremony. We are looking forward to what God is going to do in and through us tomorrow as we serve the mom's and babies/kids.

Thanks for all your prayers!  

For more photos and video insights from our partners, head to their Facebook Page Mission To Costa Rica - PreEscolar Pescaditos del Salvador and check out their website at missiontocostarica.com!