power of prayer.

exactly one week from today i will be ready to board my plane back home to the states. its insane how quickly this summer has flown by. i remember getting out of classes in may, and thinking can i just get to costa rica already, and then how quickly my time came. you can even ask my mom, i had no idea i was going to costa rica when i was sitting in the airport back in june. i kept saying "i just dont believe that i am here to go to costa rica." and 6 weeks later i am in awe of the idea of approaching my final week.

it has been interesting being here all by myself as the only american in the house. i have more alone time than i think anyone could dream of. we finish projects and i get back to the house sometimes around 6 or 7 and just kind of hangout alone. its hard, because as awesome as this family is, when we get home at night, i have dinner, then everyone goes in their rooms. i guess for them its hard to have alone time with their spouses, so you know here i am, just sitting. with that being said, i have been reading a lot and am a good ways into my second journal after being here. i write so freaking much.

and i will be completely honest, it has been extremely hard these past 2 weeks, but at the same time humbling and such a growing process. i have learned so much by being here and its so incredible to see how the lord uses these times to show you what he wants to show you.

so the other day i was with pastors family...always an adventure there, but this time we picked up 2 women from his church and went to this other lady's house. ill go ahead and share that the places smelled awful, the walls of the house were pieces of tin with holes all over the place (like a lot of places) and they did not meet the roof, letting anything and everything in the house. it was tiny, and windows did not exist, only blankets to "cover" what was inside. but we went to her house to pray for her, her family and their home. her son, 24, was accidentally hit by a bus down here and has been in the hospital basically as a vegetable. i didnt follow along with the spanish well enough to know if he was going to be able to "come back" or remain in the state, but i think i heard that he opened his eyes and looked around. with that being said, the doctor does not believe there is anything left to do, so the woman wants to bring her son home, but her living conditions would not support that. we prayed for her for a while and it was one of the most incredible things to experience.

prayer. with people you dont know, with people you do, in other languages, its so simple, yet fascinating to see and hear how unimaginably powerful prayer can be. it is speaking with the lord of the universe, who not only is this huge creator of the entire world, but also a best friend who knows every single thing about you. but so awesome, literally leaving you in awe, that he cares to hear what you have to say to him, and listens, and responds in powerful ways. i dont know what is going to happen with this women and her son, nor will i ever most likely, but i know that god was so present that day, that i dont doubt what he is capable of.

so long blog post short: prayer is incredible. never underestimate its power and the lord you are speaking to when you do.

love.

when you bring a camera to school...

so today i went to a new school and taught a few english classes and really just hungout with the kids. they love having someone that is willing ot give them attention that they so badly crave. and with me to the school, came nigel (my camera for those of you who dont know).

and when nigel comes to play, you get every type of kid in the world ready for a picture. for instance, you get kids doing handstands.

kids who like to pretend they are hard core and fight for the camera.

you get kids who like to blow bubbles with their gum for you.

kids who think they are graduating from high school in the US and need a senior picture.

kids who like to throw up gang signs for the camera and act tough.

kids who think it is raining outside, when the sun is shining.

and more :)

but please dont get me wrong, i LOVED today. and i loved taking pictures of these kids. i simply thought it was hilarious and i just wanted to share with you some of the funny pictures and kids i met today. hope that you enjoy them...

however, i saved my favorite for last. something we girls always do in the states i made girls do here.

ONE

TWO

THREE

JUMMPPPPP!

love.

paints trains & automobiles.

hello dear friends. update on my life:

today began the day of painting the newly purchased indoor soccer place. the "arena" is currently all grey and black which is far from what Jherson would like in this place. So we went to the paint store and i actually got to pick out the colors used. there are offices upstairs that will eventually being the offices for conexion that all need repainted, the actually room where the field is, and another very large room that will hopefully be used for parties and such.

day one: first coat in party room.

many many many days later: mission complete

the place is going to be incredible and has such great potential, but holy crap it is going to take some work to get the vision out of jherson's head and onto those walls. im excited to be apart of the starting team and cant wait to see how it all ends (or course that will be via pictures since its going to take a while). so in all honesty i think that is what i am going to be doing the rest of my time here, plus a few trips to quepos and cocal.

some exciting news on my end is the new meal selection i have been given since i am not the only gringo left in the house. they were constantly asking me what i eat for meals in the states, and i just thought they were curious, but ohh boy, i was so wrong. just this morning i had a pancake and scrambled eggs. now let me tell you about that pancake, when you first looked at it, you would think this is going to be great, but in reality, the bottom was completely black and that thing was a dry as any pancake could ever be. but dont you know i ate every last bit of that thing, because i was so excited and grateful that they cared to try and make me feel more at home. i had a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner tonight and tomorrow jherson said i would have carrots at lunch (in case you dont know, i love eating just the big carrots plain and simple as that). he said they are trying out new things with me. and i love it! this family is so great and hospitable and im so gracious for their kindness to me.

also, i updated my background in 4th of july theme, because i miss my country and familiarity, therefore i wanted to see that when i clicked on my blog. i hope you like it.

conrado fun facts of the day: he LOVES trains. our project at the soccer place has train tracks that run right beside it, and i kid you not, EVERY train that went by, he would run outside like a 5 year old to see this thing go by, and would drag me out paint rollers dripping with paint and all to see the trains. i told mama that they could never live by a train station because even in the middle of the night he would most likely get out of bed to go see the train.

also, he knows 3 english words. 1: chicken 2: (a phrase) shut up. needless to say, conrado tells me to shut up at the most random times and i crack up.

thats about it for now. promise to do a better update soon, just a tad bit tired now though.

love.

ciao tiff.

literally right now, tiffany, you are sitting in the plane about to take off from SJO. its crazy that for the first time since i got to costa rica that i am the only american in the house. im sitting in the room, by myself (still on the top bunk of course) and just in awe of this idea of being alone. i dont have anyone to watch dr house with, or go to the puparia (spell ?) and now i especially cannot go anywhere alone, no one to laugh ridiculously hard with at the pjs lis gives us, nor play uno with. no one to eat chikys with, or share mangos since i cant eat the whole thing. tiff this is WEIRD!

but you, my friend, where such a blessing to have. im so glad i got to have this experience with you and so thankful for how you challenged me in ways you never knew. hope being home is the greatest thing and cannot wait to skype with you!

chapas forever :)

love.

crocs!

After a day of translating lots of articles for the website we headed out on an adventure with pastor’s fam, which also turned into a surprise sleepover. Love them. They are great. Just so you can get a picture in mind, this is Tiffany with the fam: Bryan, Pastor and Lis.

Today was another bright and early start to head to Quepos. We also have to leave early to get to projects and get them done before the rain comes since its rainy season here. This go round we had a group of middle school girls, all girl scouts, and I loved it. Made me miss my little wyldlife girls form blowing rock. Kylie: I swear there was a girl here from california that was an exact replica of you (but since I know you would as, you are cooler im sure). Miss you girls a lot though, and seeing this other middle schoolers made me want to be sitting on the parkway bright and early eating chickfila breakfast.

Anywho, in Quepos we did more of the painting project in the church, trying to add extra coats to what the group did on Monday. It wasnt nearly as hot today which was pleasant and the girls were all really hard workers. We got most of the rooms a second coat and that puts us one step closer to finishing the church up. Im excited to be here another 3ish weeks and hope to see the final. I know all the local kids have been stopping by to see what we have been doing. I love knowing how excited they are for this, which is always great encouragement to make things look well.

On the way how we stopped at this bridge over the river to see the infamous crocodiles that Jherson and Conrado and Jossel have been telling me about. Those things were huge! So these are some of the pictures from them.

For other news, Conexión just made a huge purchase that is truly going to advance their ministry here! No, it wasnt a church or anything like that, but an indoor soccer field! In reality, its the turf under a tin roof, but this is going to be incredible. Soccer is such a big part of their lives here in Costa Rica and this is going to be a great ministry tool. They want to allow schools to host P.E. Times here and to use it as a Christian evangelistic sports camp area too. So something to be praying about is that funds will be provided to reemburse the organization after such a big purchase.

Its been awesome seeing the faith conexión has. I think one of my favorite things about being here is getting to hear different testimonies from around the world. Jherson is a man of HUGE faith and it has been so encouraging to hear what he has to say. Like with the soccer field thing, he just said I know God wanted us to have it, therefore I know he will provide the funds. That is how Jherson works. They always start with nothing and simply watch how incredible the Lord is and how He provides all that is needed for each project. Ive been learning a lot just by listening here.

And I suppose I will end tonight with fun times with Conrado:

Today we were working on the project, and since Conrado is close to 80 he kind of just hangs out, which is good, so occasionally I will go and sit with him. Today we danced. Which was hilarious. And he growled at the middle school girls. I also discovered he is ticklish. OHHHHH BOY. Love him.

Thats all for now.

Love.

la cumbre

Sorry I havent had internet for the past few days then wasnt feeling to great, but here is the latest update :)

Wednesday was the hardest day I think I have had since I got to costa rica. We had the opportunity to teach some english classes so that the kids got the chance to hear native english speakers. We were thinking telling a bible story maybe 2 or three times, but no, we taught, count them, 9 english classes to kids all under the age of 11. I lost my voice halfway through the day, and if yall know me, that only happens when I get swine flu. But it was a good experience and was a definite confirmation that I am to teach high school kids, not elementary :)

Thursday morning we got up and headed out to an adventure came called “la cumbre,” meaning “the summit” although it was in a valley. Tiffany came here 2 years ago, so she wanted to see some friends she had at the camp, and I tagged along. We got the chance to do a lot of rock climbing in their gym and hiked to a waterfall, where the others got to go down behind it. I had to wait because they didnt know if I had experience doing these kinds of things. So you know, I just sat down and read and finished my book, “the Help.” I thought it was incredible, so if you are looking for a good book to read, go grab it :) But, yea, I did discover that I really like climbing, so friends, when I get back I want to go, even though im no good at it.

We also did a little bit of work at camp, to help them get ready for new groups to come. They dont exactly have a lawn mower for the huge areas of grass that they have, so instead they use weed eaters. And me and tiffany’s job: raking grass. Yes thats right, we raked fields of grass on hills, on flat lands, on rocks, raking. It was fun though. Just to be outside and the weather was beyond beautiful. I think it was the first day I was here that I did not see any rain. Literally I have been here for almost 4 weeks and it has down poured every single day. We took a slight nap in the grass outside of Tio and Tia’s house (the aunt and uncle of the camp I guess you could say). And one afternoon we did a deep cleaning of a campers cabin to get everything ready for the groups to come. At night we would hangout with Tiffany’s friends Vince and Efrain and watch movies and drink hot chocolate. I may have forgotten to tell you that this camp was about 8000 feet in elevation so at night it got down to about 40 degrees. Efrain gave us a little heater after the first night. And I think besides the times we were outside cleaning up around camp I did not feel my toes for 4 days straight. I slept in 3 pairs of socks one night. No joke. Hot chocolate was my best friend this weekend.

Overall though we had such a fun time. We rode there and back in a little pick up truck with our luggage in plastic bags in the back so that they could stay dry. But as you can tell, me and small backseats dont like each other. A little thing called claustrophobia. It was so great being back in the mountains and out of the city for a few days. Here in Tres Rios we cant just leave the house and walk around whenever we want because its not necessarily the safest place in the world for 2 gringos to be walking around, so it was nice to be able to go for a walk at camp.

Sunday when we came back I started feeling kind of sick to my stomach and had a really bad headache, so that was no fun. Being sick is not fun, being sick at school is really no fun, and being sick in another country just stinks. Mom gave me a hug over skype though. Monday was a hard day of working since I really couldnt eat anything. Jherson told me I could just hangout so I kind of did, but thats awkward when everyone around you is working, so I did a little work too. Monday was our day trip to Quepos (pronounces KAY-POS) where we met up with Outward Bound and their group of about 20 kids who were backpacking around Costa Rica for different amounts of times. We painted a church and Tiff and I went on a little photo adventure of the island we were on.

But a little about the island we were working on, its name was Cocal. Here is a beautiful island on the pacific coast that is under a lot of poverty. The people that live here, simply live here because its where their family lived, and so on for generations. No one really owns the land, but they have lived there for so long, that they basically take it as there own. But the government came by recently and saw that this place was no an acceptable place to live. They were given a certain amount of time to fix everything up or the government was going to not necessarily take over the land, but basically something like that. And when we were walking around taking pictures I just cant get this voice out of my head asking us “when is the housing exam?” The lady thought we were from the government or something. And its just crazy that these people are trying to fix their homes and still dont know if it will e good enough. But seriously, I can shake that voice. Cocal was a beautiful place but the beaches were completely empty and people there just had faces of desperation when we would walk by. It was a hard place to be, but there wasnt much I could do.

Today has been a fun day in the office just translating things for the website since Jherson likes things to be listed in English and Spanish. We have just been helping out with that and are getting ready to go over to Pastor’s house to have dinner with him and his family. Sunday was his birthday and we made him chocolate chip cookies and a great card that said “feliz cumpleaños pastor” love, your favorite chapas (since thats what he always calls us. So thats all for now!

I also may have forgotten to mention a dog at the camp that let me do whatever I wanted to do with it, like climbing a boulder and pretending it was Pride Rock from the Lion King.

Love.

fun facts about conrado, which make me love him even more:

1. he says "suave" every time you get in the car, multiple times.

2. his driving skills are awful

3. he loves to sing to me in the car, also at completely random times

4. his car itself (it shakes like crazy, which makes for a bumpy ride)

5. his love to make fun of my spanish accent

6. he openly tells the guy at the meat shop that i am a gringo with no shame.

7. conrado loves to whistle

8. him and his wife used to be dance instructors, so i have set up a time to have dance lessons with conrado 101

9. he likes his headlamp.

10. when he walks out of the bank, he likes to walk like a macho man

11. and last but not least, he has been married to his wife for 57 years in september and it is the most precious amazing thing ever.