Pictures from feeding center...

Feeding Center

I am about to leave to go to the feeding center here in Costa Rica. There are about 25 to 30 people that attend regularly. It is open monday, wednesday, and friday for lunch. It is for the people that are drug addicts and alcoholics. Most of them sleep on the streets and the meals that they receive at the center are some of the only they eat all week. The people are dressed in ragged clothes, smell bad, and look like they could have used a shower a week ago. But they are some of the kindest sweetest people that i have meet in costa rica. I love them! They give me hugs and are so thankful for everything. They tell us that we are the only ones who show them love and give them hugs. People just walk past them and are scared of them. When you get to know them you see how beautiful they are!

Last time I went to the feeding center, a guy named Memin (pronouced: may-mean) old me hey beautiful you didnt know it but you are my girlfriend. I explained to him for 10 minutes that i wasnt. He is really nice (i dont want him to be my boyfriend, though haha). Pray for him he struggles with drugs and alcohol. He needs a place to live. Pray that he sees the love of God and that he turns to him for all he needs.

team arrived yesterday.

I am in Costa Rica still and now we have another group here from University of Florida. They are all excited and we have a really great week planned for them. This morning we are going to a local school that is really poor and run down and we are going to paint the outside. We are also going to teach the kids english. It is going to be great because the kids love to have people to play with them and care care about them. Yesterday we went to visit a lady who used to be a witch. She used to cast spells and was feared by many people in the community. Now she is old and has lots of health problems. She has diabetes which cause ulcers on her legs because it goes untreated. We brought her food and prayed for her. She is really sweet and always begs us to pray for her. She makes me think about how much we all need prayer and when have I felt so in need of prayer that I would beg strangers to do it for me.

Oh the places you'll go (speaking spanish)

One thing that I do a ton of working for 6:8 ministries and doing teams is Interpret. I like it because it gives people the ability to communicate and understand each other that would other wise be impossible. Interpreting has brought me many different places in life... from the intensive care unit to today which was interpreting a wedding. Jorge and his wife Marisol who live here in Costa Rica decided to renew their wedding vows, but also get married in a church which has always been Marisol's dream. Jorge is the pastor of a local church so he obviously couldnt marry himself. Duke the president of 6:8 was asked to do the ceremony. Since Duke doesnt speak spanish and the whole congregationa and Marisol dont speak Spanish I was called in to interpret. I felt really inadequte to say in spanish repeat after me. I thought what is i make an error, then they will repeat it back as an error or correct it ahhhh. It was actually all fine though. It was so interesting to be such an integral part of a ceremony like that. I have got to see some cool things interpreting and be a part of expierences that I wouldnt otherwise get to do if I didnt speak spanish. People told me I did a good job after but what do they know, because they could only understand one side, they dont know if I was interpreting correctly or not. Haha.

PS- in case you are wondering... Translating is what you do when you write out a document from one language to another, interpreting is when you are speaking.

Just an update on what I have been up to lately...

I have been spending my last couple days in Guatemala City trying to get cargo out of customs. A team had it shipped because it was a bunch of school supplies to give away and they couldnt fit it all in suitcases to bring down. I have been to the office 4 days in a row. I met this guy who works for DHL (yes it is in business here and they are a company that helps with customs stuff) whose name is Erick. He has been extremely helpful and I am so impressed with his work. Last night at 12:00am he helped me type up a letter that we had to present today to the supervisor to try to get them to release our stuff (after even paying $300) but it looks like its not going to happen. I dont know when we will ever get the stuff, but lesson in it all... dont ship things to Guatemala. It is just so silly... we just want to donate them to some needy kids in Buena Vista!

We had money donated so a girl named Jovanna could go to the private school here and get an education. She is Carolina's daughter... if you have been keeping up with my blog there is a post on Carolina. Jovanna is very timid but it was so cool to see her eyes light up when she found out she was able to go to school with her sister who is also sponsored at the private school. I asked her mom if she had made any friends in the three days she has gone. Aparently all the girls fight to play with her, which is awesome cause at her old school she had very few friends. I went and picked up all her school supplies and spent some time with the family today. They are just a sweet family that reminds me of what really this is all about.

Those are the two biggest things that I have been running around doing these days. Pray for both situations. I would really like us to have the school supplies to hand out, the kids really need them. I really hope that Jovanna will continue to be able to go to school, but she will need a sponsor every year cause her family cannot afford it.


Some Buena Vista Kids:

Video

Hey everyone Brock made a video for me. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRCkZ8irkNY

Indy Metro Church

We have a team here from Indianapolis. It has been a great week so far. The team's focus has been the local art school. We are installing a bathroom and a wall and lights for the kids. It is looking great and I hope that we just have one afternoon left of working on it. The team has also made 2 murals that look so awesome. The team has a great attitude and are really great to be around.

We gave little goodie bags out to the kids that go to the art school. They were filled with pencils and crayons and a sucker, just general stuff. We visited one girls family afterword and she said that she was going to share her things with her sisters. It was really sweet to see this young girl share when she has so little.

We have had beautiful weather these days... sunny and no rain. It gets really cold at night, but the days are beautiful. Dave and Leisa who are missionaries with 6:8 in Costa Rica are staying at my house and helping me run this team. I love them and enjoy spending time with them. It has been a blast to get to know them more and lead a team here in guatemala together. I had done teams with them in Costa but here its different. They had never come to guatemala before and I think they are liking it. It is also nice to have someone staying with me in my house! I love the company.