Student Ministry Costa Rica 2019

Today was our second to last day of VBS! Our team is doing absolutely amazing with keeping the energy up and staying engaged even though we are SO TIRED. They always say that the third day of VBS is the hardest, but our team is totally rocking it! Our door to door has also been awesome. Here's  a cool story from Caleb: God has been working in my life. My biggest fear when on the trip is saying something wrong and ruining the idea of Christianity for them. That puts me in a place and often it gets in the way of me trying my best to open up and share the Gospel. I can speak Spanish but choose not to going house to house because fear held me back. Normally I intro house to house in Spanish but stop when it comes to the Gospel. However, when I was talking to a house, my translator Fabio stepped back and said “No man, you are doing great continue.” Fabio pushed me out of my comfort zone and I shared the Good News in Spanish and then today the family I talked to was at the VBS! Not onl

Today we asked our team to share 2-3 sentences about their highlight from the day.  Here are a few of their stories: Captain’s log. Stardate 3310.6 Today’s VBS was better than yesterday’s. The kids seem to be more open now. They are becoming more friendly and less nervous. I was part of the Movement and Music crew, and I spent every ounce of energy to make it fun and interesting. Looking forward to tomorrow to see what God has in store. \ - Thomas ---------- Going house to house fo sho. We went up the mountain to where not a lot of people have evangelized, they were super gracious and open to whatever we had to say and met some pretty amazing people. - Erin ---------- It is so cool to see God working through these kids only 2 days into vbs!! they were so open and seemed to be actually listening to the bible stories as well as interacting with each other and with us, even though it was our of their comfort zone. - Julia ---------- Being a photographer this year has really

Dia uno en Costa Rica!! Today was our first day of VBS and door to door! When the kids first arrived at VBS, we had many stations of games and activities like soccer (sorry, futbol), face paint, bubbles, and a parachute. The kids were then sorted into groups. Most of the kids in my group were 9-10 years old. We learned about Gideon and how he was a superhero in Bible time. In the movement and music rotation, we were all messing around with the instruments, and we all got on to the beat on BOOM BOOM TAT (like in “We Will Rock You” by Queen. It was so funny, and one of our team members had the song downloaded on their phone, so we all played along to it! We then went to crafts and made “lanterns” and we played capture the flag in games. I am so amazed at how easy it is to communicate and play with these kids. I know a little spanish, but it is so crazy how you can have such a connection with kids you’ve never met, people that don’t even speak english! It is truly the power of God and the

It is funny how God moves sometimes. In the peripheral of life we sometimes miss things God has for us to see. Today was our first day of VBS in Costa Rica. John Lowman had a conversation with some Abuelos who had brought their grandkids to the VBS. They had come to know Jesus at a VBS many years ago but were not walking with Jesus. He went out of the way to have this conversation and introduced them to one of the leaders of the church. Please pray for them to come back to an active relationship with Jesus. Pray their grandkids will come to know Jesus at VBS. My role today seemed to be in watching the perimeter. I had many opportunities to speak with mamas who were watching their ninos learn about Jesus.  One moment stood out for me today. It seems in so many places those with disabilities are overlooked, but God used a few items from our music and movement to show one young man with palsy we saw him and God loved him and sees Him. He shook the bells and the rhythm sticks. His mama Bea

So it was my first time on a plane. It was kind of exciting since I’d never done it before, and I got to do it with with lots of friends on the mission team. While waiting to take off I was joking with Jared, and told him I was a better Christian then he is. The flight attendant walked by at that moment and was like “oh really?” Then we talked with her for a minute and then she turned around and loudly told the whole plane that I was the best Christian on bored. It was pretty fun joking with her throughout the flight and after we landed she sung me a special song on the speaker which was “I am a C-H-R-S-T-I-A-N”. I was able to talk to her about her church after the flight and it was just a super cool experience getting to meet a fellow believer not ashamed of her faith. It was encouraging and got me excited to be bold for Christ through the trip! -Luke Byrd The plane trip to Houston was uneventful and fast. I was sitting next to Luke Byrd and Jared Coe. It was Luke’s first time

Last Thursday, our team had our pack and sort. The pack and sort is a time where we took all of the supplies that we were going to take to Costa Rica and split them among each missionary. It was a great time and we each got the opportunity to learn more about each other and get to meet up one last time as a group before going out into Costa Rica. We also got the chance to practice our motions and songs for movement and music, the worship for the ticos out there. If those songs and dances have taught me one thing, it’s that learning Spanish is much more difficult than I would like it to be. But still, even with that language barrier, God moves in incredible ways and will always make a way to carry His plan out. And that’s one of the infinite ways that God is a beautiful, mighty God. Costa Rica is so close, we can barely contain our excitement for it. Thank you all so much for your continued prayer and support, and please keep us in your prayers for a safe journey and an amazing ti