Well the one week team left earlier today and now it is just the five of us at the apartment about to have dinner. The other two girls will arrive around midnight tonight!
Our last few days of the one week trip were so fun. The last day we went to Lady Gladys's School in the slums of San Jose. Oh my gosh. What an experience. The man who made this all happen is named John and he is from Birmingham, England. He gave an incredible testimony of growing up in poverty and ending up in a lucrative business that allowed him to give back to Costa Rica (his retirement location). He has built an amazingly beautiful and supplied school for the children who would otherwise never have another chance to get out. We spent our time in the pre-kindergarten classroom and they were precious. They knew a lot of English already so we sang lots of American songs with them and then built fruit loop bracelets.
I met a precious girl named Racheyll who was four years old. All she had for lunch was a pack of crackers and a juice. I asked the teacher about it and she told me that her mom was in jail, she didn't have a dad, and that she lived with her grandmother who couldn't really support her so this was the lunch she usually had because her grandmother couldn't afford the two dollars a week it took to feed her granddaughter! Talk about a heartbreaking story. This little beautiful girl who had a huge smile was living a life I could not imagine... The hope though comes through the fact that John is giving this girl an opportunity to get out of poverty. I wish I could explain what a humble, gracious, giving, and amazing man John is; I really hope we get to visit the school again this summer. Also, you can check out the school's website by searching Lady Gladys's School online.
So now we are here at the apartment hanging out. I'm so glad to be unpacked and relaxed in a place we can call home for two months. The apartment is so beautiful. First off, we are living on a volcano, volcano paso to be exact. Never fear Mom, it's inactive (I think). Our balcony has an incredible view of the whole San Jose and Alajuela communities. You can also see three volcanos from the balcony. Our apartment (the girls' side) has two bedrooms. The one I am staying in has a queen bed, and Steph and I are sharing it. The living room and kitchen is a lot bigger then I expected so we decided the girls' side will be the hangout side since it is a decent size bigger then the guys.
Background info: Carl and Katia are like our tour guides/parents for this trip. Carl is a preacher in Florida and has been involved in missions here for several years. He is a great guy with a great heart for the Costa Rican people. Katia is a local here that helps Carl when he comes down with groups. She is basically our Mom this summer since she will stay with us this whole summer. She is very helpful with the language too. Today they took us to the grocery store to teach us what to buy and how to shop here. It wasn't all that different but we learned the local brand of things and all the other little tricks. Tomorrow I hear we are having a major orientation day to learn all the ends and outs so I'm sure that will be an adventure! :)
Sorry this post was so scatter brained, I've been trying to post, talk, and listen to music... probably not a good idea. Anyway, We leave next Sunday for a short trip to Jaco, but I'll be available for fb chat, skype, and all that fun stuff this week incase you wanna fill me in on your lives!
Oh, one last thing. I figured I would post prayer requests so you could be a part of this team also!
1. Prayer for the team, that we would just be filled with the fruit of the spirits as we interact with one another.
2. Prayer for me, that I would continue to have the desire to try the food and that God would take away my somewhat hypoglycemia for these two months. I've struggled with that a little bit and it's really frustrating to not be able to give it all.
3. Prayer for team, that we would adapt to the culture and lifestyle here. We are not really good at the tico time thing here yet. Costa Ricans don't have a schedule which is a foreign concept to us.
Thanks so much! I love and miss you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment