Photo #1 - Sunrise Picture: Costa Rica greets us with a beautiful sunrise to start our day!

Photo #2 - Cement Picture: Our team is very sad to be leaving Hugito and all his help on the job site. 

Photo #3 - Game Picture: Isabella came with us to the work site today. She helped us play a new game one of our team members taught us. 

Photo #4-5 - Group Picture and Communion: We were once again blessed with a lunch prepared by some of the church women and we were surprised and grateful to receive communion from Pastor Luis. 

Photo #6 - Before and After: Everyday we got to the site we took pictures of the progress. The first picture is from when we arrived and the second is from when we left today. We were pleased with the progress we made over the past four days!

Photo is #7-8 - Farmers Market: This afternoon we got to experience the San Isidro farmers market and taste some local food. 

Submitted by Cindy & Jansyn

We started our day in typical fashion with devotions and an awesome breakfast by the ladies on the kitchen staff.  After that we hopped on Daniel's bus and took our beautiful 30 minute ride to our worksite in Santa Marta.  The views along the way are stunning where we see sugarcane and pineapple fields and lots of gorgeous mountains.  It is sugarcane harvest season so a few times everyday we get slowed down by the tractors pulling loads of harvested sugarcane.  

We continued working on the church building today and were once again blessed by a delicious lunch provided by the church ladies.  Part of that included fresh from the field pineapple, tangerines and mangoes.  The fruit here is the best.

Today also brought our first rainfall of the trip which is very rare for this time of year.  The cooler temperatures and breezes that it brought were very much welcomed as the workdays can become very warm.

After dinner tonight we attended the local Methodist Church in San Isidro for a prayer/healing service which was very unique to all of us who come from our style of worship.  Quite a few members of the church would go to the altar to be prayed over and it was a memory that will not soon be forgotten.  After the service we headed back to Pops - the local ice cream store - for a sweet treat to end the day.  We look forward to more adventures tomorrow.

Today at the work site we got to meet Pastor Luis who is the Pastor of the church we are helping to build. His wife, Ada, daughter Patricia, and her son Leon blessed us with fellowship and a wonderful lunch. After lunch they allowed us to pray over them in the middle of the soon-to-be sanctuary. It was a very moving moment not only for them, but for our team as well.

While helping on the site today we did many of the same jobs we did yesterday, however, we added painting and sealing boards into the mix today!  We are all looking forward to another awesome day tomorrow and what it brings.

Submitted by Cindy & Jansyn

Today was our first day at our mission site.  Upon arrival some of our team started connecting with local church members over pictures of their pets. 

To get the day started we had to mix our own concrete, wheelbarrow it over to where it was needed, and then pour the concrete into wood forms to prepare for the final floor to be laid. Other jobs included filling the joints of the walls with mortar and installing additional concrete panels to make the church walls. To make four batches of concrete our team had to shovel 320 scoops of gravel, pour 40 buckets of water, and 400 pounds of concrete mix but did it with joy!

To start off our day we attended the Iglesia Gracia Methodist church. During the greeting we were warmly welcomed by those around us. We got to experience a powerful worship and prayer at the church. For part of the service our group got to sneak away with Wil to learn more about the history of his mission here in Costa Rica and the importance of building relationships over building things. Following the service the wonderful ladies at the church made us lunch. The church blessed us with a traditional meal for lunch called Almerzo Campisino. This is a typical worker's lunch that is a mixture of rice, beans, eggs, pork, and plantain wrapped in a banana served with juice derived from sugar cane.

Photo #4-5 - Tree Pictures: Later in the afternoon several of us went for a walk to explore San Isidro and came across a unique tree that grows like a double canopy. We put into practice what Wil emphasized about building relationships and learned from a local about this beautiful almond tree. 

Submitted by Jansyn & Cindy