Yesterday in South Bara we had stayed at the Drisas del mar hotel a 4-star hotel as per Bara standard but a 2 star North American standard hotel.  Breakfast was delicious with home- made toasted coconut bread, scrambled eggs, beans and rice with a side dish of papaya, water melon and bananas.
 
After breakfast we sailed on a motor boat to North Bara at the other side of the river.  There was a church where 17 women engaged in arts and crafts.   The program ‘Virtues Woman’ organized by Moviendo Esperanzas. Along the side of a wall on a table was a display of hand- made beautiful jewelry.  I was quite impressed with the creativity of working with recycled materials such as newspaper, pop cans, CDs, bottles, wires and egg cartons.
 
After Vincent’s presentation the women showed us the basic steps in making Carribean dolls. It was amazing.
 
We had lunch at a home – restaurant where they served Carribean chicken, fried plantain, coconut beans and rice.  I have never tasted chicken like that before.
 
After lunch we came back to church to help the women clean CDs so they can use it for mosaic artwork.  Later in the afternoon we celebrated birthdays for some women.  There were 2 large birthday cakes other women baked; one red colored vanilla cake and one green colored vanilla cake.  There were ham and cheese sandwiches plus bean on tortillas and coffee.
 
Before sunset we played a balloon game which everyone participated in.  We all had so much fun.  It was a blessing to see women happy, joyful, confident and successful.  Our team supported ‘Virtues Woman’ by purchasing items.
 
The team came back to South Bara for dinner which consisted of barbecue pork, fried cassava, carrot and pineapple salad. The day and evening ended well.  I will never forget this day.

Thursday was a travel day as we shift gears from our ministry work in the more developed San Jose area, to the isolated community of Barra del Colorado in the North Eastern corner of Costa Rica near the Nicaraguan border. 

The break was nice as we had worked very hard the day before disassembling old wheel chairs for parts in one half of a fastener factory; while more skilled workers put wheel chairs together again and fit them for 21 needy people that day.  It’s hard to imagine for those of us in Canada, but in Costa Rica there are many disabled children and seniors in need of wheel chairs who simply don’t have them, or have ones that don’t fit properly, which can be very painful and even cause permanent back injury.  It was really quite special to see those people wait patiently for hours, and then leave in a “new” chair fit just for them.

The change in climate and flora is dramatic when you pass the summit and start heading down toward the Caribbean side; lush forest becomes dense jungle almost immediately.  In the low lands approaching the river, many farms have been cleared to graze cattle, but here even the fence posts sprout shoots and need to be kept under control to keep the jungle at bay!  It’s like the entire place is alive.

Part way through the journey we stopped for a brief canopy tour on zip lines.  On it we saw a toucan, and a number of large bullet ants which one of the workers told us had a sting ~3 times more painful than a scorpion and lasts for about 2 hours.  He knew this having been stung by both in the same week once!  Mostly they stick to the trees, but Sonya saw one exactly where my foot had been a moment before…  Fortunately we made it out of there with nothing but some exciting memories!

After many more hours in the trucks on windy and bumpy roads we arrived at Puerto Limon where we caught the local water bus to Barra, ~45 minutes down river.  We all scanned the shore for crocodiles, but they eluded us for now.  There were several stops along the way and the captain effortlessly manoeuvered the large boat into position so the locals could jump on or off.  Ours was only one of several in Barra itself as the town is divided in half by the large river. 

Before dinner, we went for a short walk to see the ocean, but the path was still underwater due to the recent flooding, so we looked for a way around.  It wasn’t long before we came to a small house with a couple of kids playing outside.  We stopped and asked if they knew another way, and the grandfather came out and invited us to walk through his property; however, it turned out their path was flooded too.  They offered us fresh coconuts off a tree in their yard and I cringed while the young boy chopped away at the end using a machete as long as his arm while his small fingers held it in place an inch or two away. 

They mentioned they had a farm nearby and I asked if they had vaca (cows) or pollo (chicken), but the young girl answered, CROCODILES!  She said there were also sharks and bofeo (pink river dolphins) there…  I’m still not sure what they actually grow, but the boys and I are sold!   We talked a bit longer and the grandfather showed us his injured and swollen foot.  Not being doctors, we did the only thing we could and prayed over it.  The children followed us back on bikes, but the boy’s had no brakes.  I chased him down and took a look to see if I could fix them – unfortunately they were damaged beyond repair; however after showing interest he mentioned that they had parts at home but didn’t know how to install them.  We promised to come back tomorrow and fix it and I pray they’ll have what we need so we can return their kindness and make his life a little brighter. 
​
And that’s what this whole trip has been about, doing and giving what we can, but receiving back in abundance.

A la derecha
A la izquierda
Dando vueltas, dando vueltas
Alabando y saltando, es una fiesta
esto es una fiesta
Una mano arriba, una mano arriba
y todos gritando (Hey!) y todos gritando (Hey!)
Una mano arriba, una mano arriba
y todos gritando (Hey!) y todos gritando (Hey!)
A la derecha
A la izquierda
Dando vueltas, dando vueltas
Alabando y saltando
Es una fiesta, esto es una fiesta
A la derecha
A la izquierda
Dando vueltas, dando vueltas
Alabando y saltando
Es una fiesta, esto es una fiesta
Un salto adelante
Uno para atras
Un aplauso arriba, Un aplauso arriba
Las manos a un lado, las manos a un lado
Un aplauso arriba, un aplauso arriba
Un salto adelante, Uno para atras
y todos gritando (Hey!) y todos gritando (Hey!)
Las manos a un lado, Las manos a un lado
y todos gritando (Hey!) y todos gritando (Hey!)
A la derecha
A la izquierda
Dando vueltas, dando vueltas
Alabando y saltando
Es una fiesta, esto es una fiesta
A la derecha
A la izquierda
Dando vueltas, dando vueltas
Alabando y saltando
Es una fiesta, esto es una fiesta
Esto es una fiesta
Un salto adelante uno para atras
y todos gritando (Hey!) y todos gritando (Hey!)
las manos a un lado, las manos a un lado
​Esto es una fiesta

Today we had one of our later days (in terms of when we left the house and had breakfast), we had breakfast at 8:00 instead of (7:15-7:45) and then left for the TGJ (The Greatest Journey) graduation! The Greatest Journey is a program to teach people about Christianity, so when we goth there, we got to watch some of the kids speak in Spanish about what they learned! I really enjoyed that when it was time to graduate the kids, we were able to shake their hand and give them a bible! (or in the case of the kids who could not read yet, a booklet with more pictures) After the graduation, the kids had a lunch break so we got to spend a bit of time with them before we left.
 
Then we had lunch and went to a Christian family center where we were going to get to hand out the shoeboxes! We played with the kids who came here, and tried to teach some of them how to make an origami paper crane. After playing, someone came to tell them about Jesus, and then we gave out a small booklet about the bible, and the shoeboxes. Later we handed out some snacks to the kids and then the kids were allowed to leave or stay and continue playing until their parents came to pick them up. While we were doing this, we handed out some of the bracelets and keychains that were given to us to give to the kids!
 
Tomorrow will be one of our early days (with breakfast at around 6:30-6:50) so I hope we will not be too tired in the morning!
                                                                                               
- Gavin

Hola everyone!

Today we woke up to another delicious breakfast (like usual) and practiced our origami for hours before leaving for the high school where we would hand out Tom’s shoes. It was our first and only shoe distribution so I was hoping to make it a memorable one. When we arrived, at first, I’ll admit I was a little nervous to be helping people older than me to try on their shoes. This anxiety quickly evaporated once we started and I realized that they were nice people just like the rest of us. It is a very unique experience to be kneeling down by someone and removing their shoes for them, and then proceeding to help them test out another pair of shoes. It is very humbling and especially so if you don’t understand what they are saying.

When the last of the students were served, we packed up our boxes and headed out to see an important Catholic church before driving to the school where we would do our second OCC (Operation Christmas child) distribution. When we were introduced and the kids learned that we would be painting faces and nails, blowing bubbles, and just playing with them in general, they were so happy that they screamed and jumped up and down. It made you feel so special to know that they were happy you were there and excited to play with you.

After out free play time was over, it was time to hand out the shoeboxes, the children had their eyes closed until everyone had received a box and then they all opened their eyes together. As soon as they saw what they had in their hands, they were so excited and wanted to open them right away. Some of them were so excited that they actually ripped open the cardboard boxes before we had a chance to help them open it!

Throughout the whole experience, I was surprised at how happy the children were doing things that we take for granted. It reminds me of how blessed we are and makes me want to share more of what I have with people who are less fortunate than us.

See you soon!
- Reid

The one thing I love about taking teams on short-term missions trips is putting them into an uncomfortable situation and watch them thrive, or at least enjoy themselves.  In our first distribution site today, I had the opportunity to see that. And it made me smile.
 
With God’s help, we always seem to find a way/will to do things that we thought we cannot do or at least never thought we would ever do back home.  Because of the small space, our interaction with children was limited to bubbles (which really meant we blow bubbles and the kids pop them), nail painting and origami.  But somehow, the children are at least content, if not having fun. And yea, the children didn’t sing or dance along with actions, but the team did, from the front facing the children. I’m so proud of them.
 
I love seeing teams discover new things. I love seeing teams break down their pre-conceived ideas.  I love seeing teams wrestle with tensions.  All things that point to God doing something in their hearts.  And today is only day 1 (of ministry).  I can’t wait to see how things progress.
 
Over the next few days, we will have different team members share about their experiences and thoughts.  We are expecting to continue with more shoes and OCC distributions, attend a TGJ (The Greatest Journey) graduation, wheelchair distribution and make a special trip that requires travel of almost 6 hours (each way) by bus, some 4x4 off-roading, and boating through crocodile-infested waters.  Stay with us and be blessed to hear stories from the front-lines.

- Vincent
​