We're Home

We are home safe and sound. What a wonderful week each of us had. Our lives have definitely been changed by seeing how God worked through each of us during this trip. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and encouragement throughout the week. It was greatly appreciate.

And The Ground Shook

Today was a fruitful and restful day. On our way to Jaco, we had the opportunity to stop at one of Costa Rica's national parks and go to the beach for a short period of time. The ocean here is breathtaking. After our ministry time we settled in to our new hotel rooms and headed out to do our final ministry project here, a childrens' festival at one of the local churches.

Many of the people in the village were waiting for us when we arrived at the church. We started the evening with a  quick Bible study, and then continued with face painting and recreational games for the kids. People young and old had such a great time, the team included. It was wonderful to see the faces of the children to whom we were ministering light up with such joy. Even the adults were getting their faces painted. What a way to end our ministry here.

During dinner this evening, God allowed us to experience an earthquake. It measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, and was felt down the entire length of the country. The epicenter was just north of San Jose, which is about 2 hours from where we are staying this evening.

This is the first time many of us have ever experienced an earthquake. For those of you who haven't experienced an earthquake it makes you feel uneasy. Like the ground is going to fall out from under you. Once it is over it feels like the earth is still shaking, I would compare it to having sea legs when you leave a boat or ship you've been on for a few hours and/or days. It definitely threw many of our equilibriums off kilter. The tremors after the quake lasted about an hour.

Tomorrow our work in Costa Rica will come to an end. All week our driver, Alfredo, has faithfully and very patiently been driving us from place to place and taking care of what we''ve needed. He is such a godly man. In the morning, we'll be having our last breakfast at the home of he and his family. Alfredo is truly engrained into our team and each one of us is looking forward to meeting his family and thanking them for allowing him to be with us this week so that we could accomplish the work which God called us to do during our stay here.

After breakfast, we''ll head to the airport. Our flight leaves at 3:05 p.m. Atlanta time. Please pray for travel mercies and continued team unity, that our luggage will arrive in Atlanta with us, and that God will speak clearly to each team member about the path He'll wants us to take next. Also, please continue to pray for our Costa Rican friends and that God will bring great revival in this land.

Leaving Dominical

Yesterday was a wonderful day of ministry. When we arrived at the school the children came running to us. We were each welcomed with hugs. What a way to start the day, hugs from children. God's gifts are always right on time. The children were all very receptive to the programs we presented and really enjoyed playing games during the recreation time.

Last night we presented our final men's and women's seminars. The church was filled. It has been a great experience for each of us to be able to worship along side our Costa Rican friends. Praise God for the seeds which He is planting in these people.

This morning we've packed our bags and will shortly begin our journey back to San Jose for our departure on Saturday. During the day we'll go to one of Costa Rica's national parks and see some sights, and this evening we'll put on a children's festival in Jaco. We have great anticipation to see all that God will do in and through us today.

God once again showed us that He is in control of this trip and our schedule. Today He blessed us with the opportunity to share His love with 60 children instead of the 20 we had orignally planned. The children are always so excited to see us and are very receptive to hearing the Gospel. Please pray that God will nourish the seeds that were planted today, and throughout the week.

During lunch today we were given the opportunity to go to the beach for a few minutes. What a great treat this was. After lunch, we went to the church where we'll be holding our men's and women's seminars tomorrow evening. The pastor of the church has been very busy caring for his church members and was unable to clean for the events. So, a few of  the team members helped him clean while the rest of the team prayer walked and did home visits in the community where the church is located. We invited the community the the event tomorrow evening and let them know that we would be working with their children during the day, as well. 

Please pray for the seminars we will be holding tomorrow evening. Pray that bondage and strongholds will be broken and that many families/individuals within the community will come to the event to be filled with God's love, and to learn of His grace and forgiveness. Also, pray that all will go well during our time with the children in the morning.

Praising God

This evening during our dinner time instead of sharing what our favorite part of the day was, we praised God for what we saw him do today. Here are some of our praises:

1. That He's enabled us to recognize when the Holy Spirit is speaking to us to change the program, assist another team member, or to speak to a student/teacher/church member.
2. His grace is sufficient.
3. His Mercy today when He gave us a few hours of rest, which were unplanned.
4. Sending His love to the Costa Ricans we are reaching.
5. That He's been giving more than one team member the same message.
6. That He's used the team in the salvation of several people since we've arrived in Costa Rica.

We look forward to sharing many more praises with you over the next few days and when we return. Below are a few pictures from yesterday. Thanks for your support and prayers. Please continue to pray for the people in Costa Rica that we are reaching, especially Charlie, Senia, and Eduardo who've accepted Jesus as their savior.




This is  one of the mudslides that we drove through. This is actually the road.




A man and his donkey. He walked by one of the schools we were at.




A few of the kids in the first village we stopped at.



Busy First Day

Today God showed us many things, including a monkey and cow that decided to hang out in the middle of the road and block traffic.

God's work has been so evident in all that we've done today. We started out the day with God showing the team that He is the one in control. The teacher at the first school we visited today was out sick so the school was closed. This enabled us to go to each house in the village to call the children, and pray with and witness to the parents and other villagers. How fun. We were also able to give several of the villagers In Touch Messengers. This is the first time the these villages/schools we are going to have been visited by missionaries or have had the Gospel shared with Him. We all feel humbled that God is using each of us to share His great love in such a capacity.

After finishing at the schools we went back to the place where we are staying and prepared for the Women's Seminar we held this evening. What a wonderful time of worship. In Costa Rica when they pray, they all pray out loud instead of having one person leading the prayer and everybody else praying silent. What a powerful experience it was to hear prayers in Spanish and English being lifted up to the Lord at the same time. There are no barriers with God, not even language differences. While the ladies were helping with the Women's Seminar, the men prepared doors for painting. All in all it was a very fruitful day.

We've Arrived!

After an aborted take off in Atlanta we finally arrived in San Jose about an 1 1/2 hours late. The instant we arrived it began raining. Apparently, the rain was so heavy in the area during September that there are mud slides, which have closed three of the four routes from San Jose to Dominical. Because of this, we had to take a longer route. On the drive to Dominical we saw God's awesome hand through His creation in the mountains. Also, His provision in overseeing our safety as we encountered many treacherous spots on our drive, which included several mudslides.
Our time from San Jose to Domincal was a great time of fellowship. During our drive we practiced songs we'll sing during our worship time at some of our events. We also sang many TV them songs and also tried to think of as many songs as we could that included rain. So, for all of you following this blog, what are your favortie TV them songs and do you know any songs that include rain in them?

Tomorrow we will start our day in one of the local schools doing VBS-activities.

We Leave In The Morning

Our day of departure is just about here. I can't believe we leave in the morning! Today team members have been packing their personal suitcases and putting the final touches on our ministry items for the trip.

We'll meet at FBA at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning and will head to the airport shortly thereafter. We'd love to hear from you during our trip so be sure to leave us posts and/or comments on our blog. I'll be blogging every evening to update you on God's work in and through us, and the beautiful people God will bring across our paths during our journey.

Please pray for team safety, health, energy, unity, and that all things travel, including luggage arriving with us, will go smoothly. Also, please pray that speaking Spanish will come to us easily.

Answered Prayer

God has been seen in many things that we've been doing so far for our trip. When our teammate Sean couldn't find his passport, we came together and prayed expectantly that God would show Sean exactly where to find it. According to Sean, at 3 a.m. the next morning he found his passport in the bottom of a box that was in one of his closets. We are praising God for this answered prayer and are very excited that Sean will be able to join us on this great adventure for our Lord and King.

Prayer Card

Packed & Ready To Go!

Tonight we spent the evening putting the final touches our the ministry items we'll be taking to Costa Rica with us. We had a great time. Once we finished we packed it all up, weighed the bags and stored them until we leave. Our supporters should expect to see our prayer cards in the next few days. Please continue to pray that we will have clean hearts, team unity, and communication.

Carla, Freya, Rhetta & Graciela are making las frutas, which will be given to the children.

The puppet theater, which will be used to teach children a Bible lesson. It's a farm.

Preparing to pack the bags.

One of our filled bags. We're bringing Dr. Stanley's  Life Principle Bibles and In Touch Messengers

10 Days Until Take Off!

WOW! Ten days until we head to Costa Rica. Time has flown by so quickly. All of the seminars are planned and we are ready to go share the Gospel with our Costa Rican friends. We'll work in the schools during the days and provide men's and women's seminars in the evening. What an exciting time it will be. Our team prayer cards have been created and printed and will be given to us this Saturday during our packing party. So, be on the look out to receive your card. You can also pick one up at FBA's Mission Mall, which is located near the Central Rotunda. We can't wait to see how God will work in us and through us during our time in Costa Rica. Please pray for the team as we prepare our final details. Pray for team unity, that God will purify our hearts, and that once we are on the plane we'll put ourselves aside and let Jesus use us as His vessels for the duration of the trip.

Final Preparations Underway

Our trip is just around the corner, which means we are putting the final touches on the details for the seminars that we will be providing the people in Bahia. During our meeting last Sunday, we had a facepainter teach us some simple facepainting designs. We all had a great time, especially Sam, Freya and Rhetta as they were our team testers.

In addition to our face painitng lesson, Greg Smith, from In Step International, Inc., went over our itinerary for the trip and gave us our airplane ticket receipts. We were also given our roommate assignments. The count down is on. Only 18 days before our departure!

Facepainting supplies

Rhetta checks out her new look.

Freya waits with anticipation to see her transformation.

AnDrea shows off her newly decorated arms.

The team listens intently as we are told about brush shapes and sizes

Airplane Tickets Are Purchased!

So, our airplane tickets to Costa Rica have been purchased! There's no turning back now. The team is preparing for the seminars we will be holding. We'll be doing men's and women's ministry during the evening and will be working in the local schools during the day. We've got some great things planned. We can already see God's hand in all that we are doing. Our next meeting will be on September 12.

Team Meeting August 8

On Sunday, Aug. 8, we had our second team meeting. All members were in attendance. The meeting began with Kristen sharing a devotional on Ephesians 3:20-21. It was about not putting God in a box because He can do immeasurably more than we can even fathom or imagine. Pastor Greg Smith shared our tentative itinerary with us. He'll be heading to Costa Rica the first week in September to confirm and finalize the trip details. AnDrea and Carla, spoke with Mario, who will be hosting our time in Costa Rica. The team is extremely excited about the projects we'll be working on. We've split up into sub-committees to divide the tasks we have at hand. Theses tasks include crafts, Bible teaching for the elementary school students we'll be working with during the day, recreation time, and worship and songs. The women will all work on the women's events and the men will all work on the men's events. We will spend most of our time in Bahia and the remainder of our time with be spent in Jaco. A fun day has also been planned for us. Stay tuned for more details!

AnDrea

Sam

Carla

Freya

Graciela

Rhetta

Sim

Sean

Team Fellowship at Mt. Pilon Cocina Dominicana

Sean, AnDrea, Carla, Sam, & Sim.

Seven of our team members were able to attend a team fellowship meal at Mi Pilon Cocina Dominicana in Norcross, Ga. The food served at the restaurant is supposed to be similar to the food we'll eat during our time in Costa Rica. In addition to experiencing new cuisines, we were able to enjoy a fun time of fellowship and sharing our desires are for the trip and what we'd like to see God do through us. Time flew by quickly and before we knew it, it was time for us to part company. This outing brought us closer together and was great for team building.

Cuisine similar to what we'll eat while in Costa Rica

FBA Short-Term Mission Team Heads to Costa Rica

God has opened the door for a short-term mission team from First Baptist Church Atlanta (FBA) to share the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ in Costa Rica. Our nine-member team, consisting if Graciela, Sean, Rhetta, Freya, Sim, Samuel, AnDrea, Kristen, and Carla, will be going to Bahia. Bahia is located in the Dominical Region of the country.

During our time in Costa Rica, we will be working in parternship with InStep International, Inc.,  and Pastor Mario and Cecilia Gutierrez who will serve as our hosts and coordinators of the team’s time in the region. They have planned prayer walks; children’s, men’s and women’s events; and light construction such as painting and minor repairs for our team while we are there.

Your prayers for our team are greatly appreciated as warfare occurs the minute God calls us to do His work. If you are interested in being part of our prayer team please follow this blog or "Like" us on Facebook, FBA Costa Rica 2010, as these will both be updated frequently with our prayer needs.

Each team member is responsible for raising our own support for the trip. The cost of this trip is $1600. This includes my airfare, food, lodging, transportation and any supplies that we’ll need to accomplish the work God has called us to do. We each need to have the first half of this total raised by August 1, 2010, with the remaining due by September 20. If you feel led to support us on this trip you can make your donation online by clicking here. Simply select Costa Rica from the “Trip/Project” box and select the individual you would like to support where it says “Select An Individual”. All donations are tax deductible.

Your support means a great deal to us. We look forward to seeing how God will use the team to reach all people with whom we will come in contact throughout our entire journey.