AACS Short Term Missions- Costa Rica

Hola, Hana Hoitt here telling you about my experience I had today. In the past few days we all  have helped with the church that we were with. Today I experienced the joy I had of actually working and helping the church. God has set a place in my heart where that church and where Costa Rica will always be. I worked today with Emma Mori with putting liquid cement around the church with covering holes around the trim. When they called us in for lunch, I was soo close of being done with the work so, I was determined to finish. All of the guys from the church asked me if I was sure that I didn't want lunch and wanted to finish. I of course said yes! After finishing the work I was happy and proud but also I wanted to help more. I want to bring more to the church and more to the people. When we got to the children's ministry I had asked Renate (the ministry leader)  how I can get into and be a apart of  Metro Ministries. The first day of working with the kids, I had met this gi...

Hello from Costa Rica! This is Danny here, telling you guys what we all did today! We started the day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel, rice, chicken, and beans! I think that the food here is better than in the U.S! We took a an hour long bus ride to a local church and finished our work from the past 2 days! Some of these projects included building stairs to their soccer field, mixing and gathering materials for concrete, building furniture for the church, planting flowers around the church, painting their bathrooms, and entertaining the kids. Then, we went to a site of Metro Ministries, a relief system for children in impoverished neighborhoods. We led them in singing, dancing, arts, crafts and of course, face painting! After that we took a three hour bus ride to a "local" market, where we ate dinner and shopped. On the bus ride home, Mrs. Graustein shared a beautiful devotion and out JE guide shared with us that we have to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow, wow! Although...

Hola from Costa Rica! This morning we woke up around 7:00 and headed downstairs for a yummy breakfast. After we finished breakfast we hopped on the bus and drove up to the church for our second day of work. Today some of us were planting the garden, some were digging in order to create stairs out of dirt, and others were preparing for our afternoon with the kids. We had to stop our work a bit early due to a rainstorm. Around 1:00 we sat down for a nice lunch which was pizza. Then we got back on the bus and drove down to the other ministry site where we spent time with the kids. Today while we were with them we got to lead the VBS. Some of the activities we did with them were face painting, music, and games. We were able to put some of the Spanish we've learned over the years to use. Lastly we drove to a local restaurant to end our day with a delicious dinner!

Hey everyone! Today was a very tiring day. We woke up at 7:30 am and headed out to help fix up a church with Metro. Some of us gardened, made stairs out of dirt and painted their outside bathroom. We all sat down around 1:00pm to eat lunch and to watch a short video on how the church was made. Right after we headed out to another town for the VBS. We weren't able to run the VBS today but we were able to watch and observe how the leaders led and see how the kids behave under the church roof. They were the cutest ever and loved to just be around us even if some of us didn't speak Spanish. We ended the day with all chicken and headed back for the hotel. We all gathered for a quick devotion and we got to prepare for tomorrow! Overall we had a pretty fun day! Enjoy these cute little photos Kiley Fenn took of us working:)

It is currently hour 18, and we are all going strong. Today was a long day, full of plane rides, trips to a local mall in San Jos é for lunch, scenic bus rides, and a tour of the Starbucks Coffee Plantation (which was the students' favorite). After all of our sightseeing, we successfully checked in to the Country Inn and Suites Hotel. All the students enjoyed the colorful sunset over  San Jos é, while swimming in the courtyard pool. We all finished the evening fellowshipping together over authentic Hispanic food- cheesy quesadillas and burritos (and ice cream of course)! To end the night, we all gathered together for a devotion in the hotel led by Mrs. Woody, and our Joshua Expedition Guide, Jeff. We talked about Luke 15, and were challenged to spend time in prayer tonight asking God to reveal one child that we can build a special relationship with throughout the VBS.  Luke 15:7 " I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who...

Dear  Friends and Family, We are heading out for San José first thing tomorrow morning, leaving BWI at 6:15 a.m. (asking students to arrive 2 hours before). We covet your prayers as we prepare to do the Lord's work. During our days in ministry, our students will be challenged to find one child and build a relationship with that child so they can share the gospel with them. Please pray for each of these: Students Annie Anderson Kelley Atkinson Leah Boardman Kaylee Brookes Ashlyn Carlisle Gavin Cho Nolan Cote Maddie DeVries Skylar Emert Kiley Fenn Jeremy Grant Anna Graustein Grace Hall Olivia Hall Laila Harley Braedyn Heckert Emma Hoitt Hana Hoitt Ellie Lenhart Melissa McCollum Anna McCue Anna Olbrich Emma Mori Emily Powers Grace Raspa Hannah Thapar Brianna Walters Danny Weikert Emma Williamson Grace Williamson Sam Woody Chaperones and others Vicki McCollum Jen Graustein Jon Woody Chelsea Woody Erica Pearson Elena Woody Julianna Woody As ...