Sunday Sharing

We got a chance to share all about our trip on Sunday. It was great to be back home at Butteville Community Church and to be able to share all of our stories with our Church family. The kids did a great job helping out with the music. Julie was excited to be able to lead some of the songs in Spanish, which helped to sort of recreate what we experienced when we were with Eduardo's church in Costa Rica. It was cool so sing "Trading My Sorrows" (since they did that one while we were there), and it was fun to hear everyone attempt to sing "Worthy of My Praise" and "This is the Air I Breathe" in Spanish.

The sharing time was neat for us as a team, now two weeks after returning, to be able to solidify our memories, and to also hear from our church family. It was neat to realize that while we were there in Cosa Rica, we were not alone. Marilyn shared about how she popped out of bed at 5am every morning (no alarm clock or anything) and she just started to pray. To see everyone in the church raise their hands to express that they had been praying for us as well was quite moving. It's neat to see a community come together around a common purpose. Thank you again for all of your support.

Here's a slideshow of some of the photos from our trip we played at the service.

We're Home!

Well, we made it home safely. We are certainly exhausted, and the Sun on Saturday didn't help our cause much, but we're happy to be home. We were pleasantly surprised that for both legs of the flight back (from San Jose, Costa Rica to Phoenix, and from Phoenix to Portland), our entire team got to sit in first class! We all made it through (Hannah was even able to keep her bottle Aloe Vera, though it was WAY over the 3 oz limit. I think everyone had pity on her because she was moving slowly after her Saturday Beach Sunburn.)

Thank you all for your support and for making this trip possible. We created some lifelong memories, and were able to serve in some areas where there was much need. We can't wait to share more of our stories, so please ask us!  Thank you all again for following and supporting us.

Day 7 - Eduardo and Company

Here we are visiting Pastor Eduardo's Church
(That's him in the white shirt with his wife). In the back is Frank,
the youth pastor, and one of the students who plays
drums on the worship team.

While some of us recovered from sun exposure, the rest of us were able to head to a Spanish-speaking Church Sunday morning where Greg delivered the sermon. It was a fantastic experience to see a church (very much the same size as Butteville) in a completely different culture. The church actually met at the home of the pastor, Eduardo, who had a vision for this specific community. The community is in an economically struggling area. Eduardo bought a lot of land that is more like a compound where they built a home for his family and his wife's family. There is a lot of undeveloped land behind them where their vision is to build a community park for the local youth. There is also another lot adjacent to the church where doors are opening for Eduardo (resources-willing) to purchase and expand his vision for the community recreation center. It was neat to see his vision and dedication for this community that is in dire need.

The church service was a great experience as well. They were quite welcoming, and though the service was entirely in Spanish, they did an English song, "Trading my Sorrows" and had the words in English AND Spanish, so we all could sing in our own language. At times, it was neat to sit back and even though we didn't understand the words being said or sung, you could get a sense that we were all connected and part of a family with a similar purpose.

Greg gave a great sermon on the Hope we have in the resurrection. Fitting, since it was the first Sunday of Holy Week leading into Easter. Greg did an excellent job considering he didn't even know he was preaching until the day before (it pays to be prepared!). I was able to share my testimony as well about my journey discovering hope. It was very encouraging to be able to be with this community of believers, and knowing that at the same time, our community in Butteville was also meeting, and praying. What a great way to end the week!

Here's a welcome video they played for us at the church (Frank, the youth pastor, put it together). It was so thoughtful of them the way they opened their arms to welcome us. It was also encouraging to see that they included Marilyn as part of our team. Even though she wasn't able to make the trip with us due to family illness, she was still very much part of our team, and we coveted her prayers for us while we were there.