Beach Day~Villa's~Thursday

Beach day....and everyone is so excited! We are leaving in about fifteen minutes to meet the kids. It is drizzling rain right now so we are praying the sun will come out. Jaylen and Caleb said, "Don't worry about it, we're just going to get wet anyway!" They are just awesome. Valerie, Jaylen's mom, and I have been amazed watching our teenage sons with the little ones. Each of them has a tremendous gift and it is a true blessing to have them on this team. Ironically, Jaylen has six-year old twin brothers and Caleb has 18-year old twin brothers so they have a lot of stories to tell being the singleton in the family.

The beaches here are beautiful. The beach across from where we are staying is called Black Beach because it has black sand. It is just like regular sand but black. And not black like the oil in the Gulf. (My family knows how passionate I am about the oil spill and its effects on the Gulf Coast. FYI...I am going to have to catch up with Anderson Cooper and see what has been happening while I have been gone.) The beach where we are taking the children has white sand and a small tributary (not sure how to spell) also.

I can't wait to get lots of actions shots outside today and I will try to post them when we get back. It's tiime to meet the bus.

Praise God....I just looked up and outside and guess what? The rain has stopped and the sun is coming out!!! Let the fun begin....

We had a change of plans. The kids came to us today. They arrived so excited about 15 minutes ago and are already in the pool playing and having fun. They are laughing and splashing us all. The pool is sooooo cold because of the rain this morning but who cares? Look for more fun photos to come...

Day Two ~ Villa's Photos~Wednesday

Day Two ~ Villa's~Wednesday

Today we went back to Villa's. This orphanage is so much more open and spacious than the one at Cocos. Our bus driver has to part at the bottom of a hill and we walk up to the house. There is a long concrete drive leading up to the house and the kids love using it for riding the skateboard or scooter. In fact, they love it so much the last skateboard only had three wheels and no bearings. But that didn't stop them from trying!

The children were so excited when we got there. It was easier going in today because we knew what to expect. As we get to know more of the stories of the children and why there are here, it is heartbreaking.

Tomorrow our plans are to take the kids from Villa's to the beach. Last week, the team took the children from Cocos and had a great time. We are praying that the rain will stay away so we can go as planned. This was one of the highlights of last week's trip. The kids enjoyed being away from the house and running around and playing in the water and sand. Kim W (who was here last week also) and I were talking last night. She made the comment that the day at the beach was so awesome because it seemed like the children were allowed to be just children. They forgot about their worries/problems/cares and laughed and had a GREAT time!

Our group has talked about that we can only do so much during our short time here, but when we are gone we leave with the assurance they will be in God's hands and care. It is not going to be easy letting them go tomorrow.

Day Two ~ Cocos Photos~Tuesday

These pictures tell the story much better than I could.

Day Two ~ Cocos~Tuesday

Praise the Lord.....we woke up to a beautiful, sunny day so we were anxious to get back to Cocos to finish the mural. Yesterday, the children kept wanting to help us paint so we came up with an idea for them to do. We (mostly Caleb and Jaylen) painted stems and grass, then let the children use their handprints for the petals. They loved getting their hands all painted and slimy. In fact, the more paint the better it seemed so butterflies were added. Mrs. Noland was able to finish the mural and it is breathtaking. At the end of the day, we took a group picture in front of it.

Since it was pretty, we were able to air up the balls and play outside. Some of the team even took the kids to a park close by and let them run off some pent-up energy.

My assignment of the day was to print photographs for each child. We had taken the photo printer and I never knew it would be such a hit, especially with the teenagers. I spent literally ALL DAY taking pictures and printing them out. Someone else had brought small photo albums for each child and I think they wanted to fill every page!

There was so much going on today it is hard to list everything. The hardest thing about a mission trip to me is leaving the children and tias. Each child has his or her unique set of circumstances. Some may be here for a day, a week, months, or years. Today was difficult for everyone as we left because we knew that many of us would never see each other again. Hopefully, we left a lasting impression about the love of Jesus. I know we left a gorgeous reminder on the back wall!!

Day One ~ Cocos Pictures~Monday

Never underestimate the power of the iPod or music! Jaylen (the 16-year old on our trip) was a huge hit with the teenagers as they listened to music and played games. In addition, he speaks Spanish!! What a great addition to our team this week. We are so glad that he and his Mom are with us. Even though he is missing work-outs for football he is staying in shape. This morning he got up at 5:30 AM to run on the beach. A few of us also got up to run and/or walk but no one came close to keeping up with him.

ALL of the young people have been a hit at the orphanages. They have done such an amazing job helping and doing whatever was needed. Each one has such a giving spirit and it is a joy having them on the trip. I know God will use each of their experiences in a special way when they return home.

Day One ~ Cocos~Monday

Oh, what beautiful children we had the pleasure of meeting at Cocos! It has really helped us that the team was here last week. The tias and children have been looking forward to another week of fun and fellowship. This orphanage is smaller than the one we visited yesterday and more closed in. There is a small, fenced-in playground in the back of the house and the houses in this area are mostly gated like the orphanage is. Last week's team had painted the block walls in the back and it was our job to paint a mural. The weather was NOT cooperating as it rained the majority of the day! The artist of our team, Mrs. Nolan, was a real trooper and braved the elements to draw the mural on the back wall. This was definitely a team effort because while she was drawing, other team members were holding the umbrella over her and the mural. Chino (our guide and interpretor) went to get a tarp that we rigged up to keep the rain off. After that, progress went much faster. Mrs. Nolan chose to paint a picture of Jesus and a small child to correspond with Matthew.

The rain finally let off enough to fix the swings on the swingset. Like all kids, the swings are a popular spot on the playground and they were very excited to have them fixed. Jaylen and Caleb spent many, many minutes playing with them on the swings.

The newest member of this orphange is little girl named Marilyn, who is only one month old. One of the tias told me she arrived when she was only fifteen days old. I don't know how much she weighed when she was born but she was a preemie baby and is still so small but so perfect in God's eyes. Her story, like so many others, is so sad. The good news is that her mother chose to give her life...but for some reason the mother did not feel she could take care of her so she left her at the hospital. There were also other issues that are so sad and I will just say that this little girl is a fighter. She is so beautiful and we all thought she was a doll lying in the crib! We were so impressed that she was so peaceful and slept all day but one of the tias, Maria, said she makes up for it at night. Like most children, she has her days and nights mixed up but it still amazed me that she could sleep though all of the activity and noise we made. From what I could gather from the tias, the Panis will work to reunite Marilyn with someone in her family. Until then, she will be at Cocos. Please pray for her continued health and welfare.

It is amazing how God has coordinated this team with different talents. I think we have all been stretched out of our comfort zones and realize how blessed we are! Hopefully the rain will hold off on our second day so we can get outside and play and also finish the mural. It is so hard to leave, but we rejoice in knowing that we will have one more day to share the love of Jesus!

Day One ~ Villa's~ Sunday

We woke to a beautiful morning today. After devotional and an excellent breakfast, we hit the road to visit Villa's. It took us several hours ride some interesting roads. Many of the roads have holes from so much rainfall and there is not always a lot of room to go around them. We also crossed many one lane bridges. From what I can tell, the vehicle that gets there first and "honks" the horn has the right of way. We are blessed with an excellent driver and guide. I wish you could see all of the luggage they had packed on top of the bus the first day. Caleb said we looked like a scene from "The Goofy Movie" and I tend to agree!

We spent the afternoon at Villa's with the children there. Since a group had been there the week before, it made our transition much easier. They recongnized Kim W from that group and were soooo excited to see her! After a wonderful lunch prepared by the tias, we got to know the kids. We had bubbles blowing, bag painting, picture frame making, and stickers going everywhere!!! But it was fun and a great way to break the ice and get to love on the children.

On Thursday, we will take the children to the beach to play in the water and the sand! This is very much a treat for them and the tias and I am so glad that our guides were able to work this out. In just a few hours, with very limited Spanish, I learned something very interesting. Love is the same in any language, laughter is the same, joy is the same, happiness is the same, and many other emotions are the same that we saw today. Isn't God an awesome God? This has been a very humbling experience for many of us. These children are God's children also!!!

Our Journey Begins

Praise the Lord....we have all made it safe and sound to Costa Rica! There are 14 people in our group, including several children. Our ages range from 9 to...let's just say...NOT 9. We got into the airport late last night, drove for about 30 minutes, and arrived at our hotel ready for a good night's rest. Last night we could not see much as we were driving in, but we woke to a beautiful sight outside our rooms. Right now we are in the Cabana area by the pool in a pavilion waiting on our breakfast. We had our devotional and talked about scaffolding and how God wants to change us...on the outside and inside. I can tell you from personal experience and from already talking with the others that God is working on this trip!

We will board the bus after breakfast and make the 3 hour trip to our first orphanage where we will spend a few hours visiting with the children and the tias. After lunch, we will again climb aboard and travel to the second orphanage and spend a little time getting to know them. We will get to our hotel tonight, check in, eat dinner, and get rested for another full day.

This is such an exciting journey already and we have only just begun!

Kim and Caleb

Countdown

We started our day going on a swamp tour. Our guide, a true Cajun, showed us around the swamp on a boat. We saw alligators, big and small. The guide said that if the oil entered the swamp, the microscopic organisms would die within 24 hours. If this happend, the food chain would be messed up and a lot of species would die. Also, if the oil got on the tree truncks and stayed on them for 7 days straight the trees would get a rare "sickness" and die out. The swamp tour was great and we had a lot of fun!

We have our flight information, and we are leaving New Orleans at 1:30 P.M. The plane should land in Atlanta around 4. We should arrive in Costa Rica by 9. We can't wait untill we get there!

Kim and caleb