Tuesday

Today was a very good day! Prior to heading to class with the children, Ugo, Denise and Drew helped with the construction and painting at the church along with David, Ronnie, Kevin, Kelly, Avery and Ian; while Alice, Cindy and Tanya put together the gift bags for the youth and women ministry nights. As a team, Kevin, our team leader, says we are doing a great job. He motivates us by making deals! He’s pretty cool!

Children’s Ministry:
The classes today were better; the communication about the same; and God, remained in control. We interacted at the school with the children, the teachers, and the director. It was an honor for us to embrace this group of people; and we were allowed to teach for an hour and a half each day.

The excitement of the children when we arrived at their school just gave us a glimpse on the impact that had been made with them from previous days. I pray more than anything that our impact was one in which Jesus Christ was the center of our presence. My Spanish vocabulary amongst the other team members expanded. The newest word is “Pelucha” which is Spanish for toys. This was the biggest request at the end of the day from the “ninos” children who left class with a huge smile on their face.

Today there were some kids in the older class that really had my attention, Douglas, Heydi, Laurina, Luis and Nathanael (youngest, most sneaky but very loving). Douglas spoke some English and helped a bit when I got stuck on a Spanish word. Luis is a very bright lad who knew all the answers to the bible questions and was not afraid to challenge anyone who thought he was wrong. Heydi appeared to like order and would always shout “silencio” when the children got too loud during our teaching session. Laurina made sure Nathanael behaved and let me know if I needed to correct him.

The good news concerning today, there were 7 children who prayed the prayer of salvation today. It was such a transformation from one day to the next. We knew this would be a missed opportunity if we did not introduce the children to Jesus Christ and give them a choice to make the decision to accept Jesus Christ. These names were left with Pastor David so that they could be followed up with for discipleship.

It was only God who could have planned this opportunity so perfectly in terms of timing. These children were obviously ready and our prayers were and are for the Lord to reveal himself to them, protect them, grant them understanding in their hearts of their newly found salvation and finally that God will help them to grow in their relationship with Christ. A seed was planted amongst the older children and we are hopeful that it will take root and spread amongst the younger children and community.

Construction:
As we came onto the work field at the church, our hearts were encouraged by the grace God had given us to get off to a great start the day before. This day, one of our main concerns was the rain coming too soon and it affecting our productivity. We prayed to the Lord to hold off the rain and to keep the day sunny and dry until we were done working. Today we knew our goals consisted of getting the 500lb. sink positioned for piping, plumbed, and as much of the concrete poured on the level foundation. We had to move the sink sideways roughly a foot and back against the wall to align it with the existing rough-ins. Scrapes and cuts were experienced by lifting such a heavy sink by some of the team members, but it was nothing too serious. Once the sink was positioned– the cement crew went to work led by Edgar who is about a 6’-4”, man about 53 years old and as strong as an ox. Edgar led us in mixing and pouring 32 bags of concrete in the hot sun that beat down relentlessly on us; so drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated was extremely important. This was no walk in the park and our work consisted of a lot of lifting, pulling, pushing and bending. This is how the people of Dominical, Costa Rica get their work out and stay in shape – from natural labor and eating natural foods. We mixed a batch of 12 bags of concrete and then poured. After the first batch, we mixed another 12 bags of concrete and poured again, 3 quarters of the level ground was filled with concrete. By lunch time we were pretty exhausted, thirsty and hungry. After lunch, the piping crew which consisted of Kevin and Ronnie, had finished piping up the sink. To take advantage of the good weather, Kevin encouraged us to push through and finish the last three quarters of the cement mixing and pouring, so we dug deep and pushed it out. So the cement crew was finished . . . or at least we thought. The main frame of the roof extension was hoisted up and ½ the frame was welded together. The front of the church was bleached, cleaned and also painted. We were all pretty muddied and exhausted at the end of the work day, but excited because of how much God had graced us to finish in one day and for holding off the rain. Our opportunity to minister was not done yet, because the children at youth night were awaiting our arrival.

Children’s Night:
The evening ended with the youth night. This night was dedicated to the youth who do not have choices of activities like we have in the US. So this was an opportunity to offer them something new. The message of Jesus Christ was presented to them by Carlos a member of our team, of which 11 of the youth gave their life to Christ. This was another witness to how God moves through a community that is in need of him. The youth night was ended with a sketch involving some of the team members and one volunteer from the youth to display following and trusting God in the midst of peer pressure. If just one young person was touched by the sketch then the message was not in vain.