and the work begins...

sooo i started the intern stuff on wednesday and its been okay so far. we dont have any groups for another week about but we've been doing team building stuff. i really like the other interns and am looking forward to getting to know them better.

right now we're in puerto viejo which is one of the work sites we will be bringing groups to. we spent today doing some basic scheduling and then visiting some of the sites. all i can say about this place though is that its HOTTTTTTT. im praying that i get to work in coronado. i just wasnt meant to be in this hot of weather and in this intense of sun.

looks like we're doing lots of interesting things this week. going to a boys ranch to hang out for a while, hiking for 2 hours to go visit some indian tribe and do VBS with the kids, visiting the children's home... etc. should be fun stuff.

right now im just having a hard time transitioning from not being with the ponce's. its so weird to me to have a job where i like... cant visit people. where they say i have no time to do anything other than the job. im excited about these 10 weeks but im also excited about after when (hopefully) ill have a normal job and a normal routine where i can work during the days (or whenever work time is) and then spend my time hanging out with friends and such when im not.

right now im just praying for an open mind. whatever God has in plan for me these 10 weeks, i pray that i am able to be okay with it and learn something from everything i do.

love you all. hopefully ill have another chance to write soon.

la semana mia

Sorry I havent had time to update much on here. I've been trying to use every second I can to hang out with the Ponce family before I leave to start my internship.

These days have been filled with hanging out with the family, hanging out with the kids, running a lot of errands, and things of that sort.

The church had an all night prayer vigil thing on Friday night from 7pm- 5 am and it was TIRING but AMAZING. Hopefully I will have time to put up some videos and such soon to show you guys but its just amazing the energy that these people have and the love they have for God.

Yesterday we had a lot of car problems and it was probably the scariest time of my life, but after a lot of praying, a lot of standing outside in the pouring rain and things of that nature, everything turned out greatly.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with Ray and Allie, one of the interns that is working with the group too.

I'm also going to give some more information here about the feeding program that the Ponce's have for the kids of Los Guido in case anybody is interested since right now the program is in danger of being shut down:

Okay the feeding program has about 100 kids that attend the feeding program and they feed them breakfast and lunch, Monday through Friday. (so 10 meals per week per kid).

What they need is $35 per kid per month, which is $3500.

What they are still receiving from the US is $2100 per month, which leaves them down $1400. 5 months back a church donated $9100 to them and so they have enough money to cover the $1400 for 2 more months but after that, they have nothing.

So I think what they need per month is $1400. Two churches that were helping them out with money randomly stopped sending it about September of 2009 and they have not heard anything from these people.

If nothing else, I ask you all to pray for this situation. I know they run across problems all the time but God always finds a way to provide for them when they need it the most.

Love you all.

So Far, So Good

Hey guys. I'm at the mall right now with Daniel and brought my lap top so I can update you guys just a little bit.

So far everything has been really good. I've spent the last days just hanging out with the family and with the kids around Los Guido.

Yesterday I spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon playing with the kids outside. We played with water balloons (I got soaked) and, of course, I spun them all in circles and things of that nature. I was a lot of fun to just hang out with the kids and just love on them a bunch. I have met a LOT of new kids and have seen a lot of the old ones too. There are definitely more that I hope to see before I leave but considering I've only been here a few days, I'm pretty content.

You can definitely tell that the economic situation here is difficult. I've heard theres a possibility that the Kids Feeding Program might have to close down because Edgar hasnt gotten the money that he usually gets from certain churches in the Unites States. It's so sad and something that I really wish I could do something about. I guess for now though we'll all just continue to pray and trust that things will fall into place.

I love you all! :-)

On My Way

Sooo, as you can tell I didnt exactly have time to make a post on here until right now. I am so bad with packing and all that stuff that I of course waited till the last minute and had to spend all of my time working on that. Not to mention, I had a lot of people to see!

So just a quick update of whats going on for anybody who doesnt already know. I have been to Costa Rica four times before this on various length mission trips and have absolutely fallen in love with the country, the people (especially the kids), the language, etc. Because of this, I have decided that I am going to go down to Costa Rica for an extended period of time to do missions. This first week that I am here, I am going to be spending my time with my family in Los Guido, playing with my kids and just having a good time. Starting next week, though, I have an internship where I will be a group leader and translator for mission groups that come in from the United States. From what I have heard, there are 6 of us in all so I am really looking forward to getting to know these people.

During these 10 weeks, I will have to make a decision about what I want to do next. If i absolutely love what I am doing, it is possible I might stick with this organization and just keep translating and leading groups. Another thing that I really want to do, though, is work at the bilingual Methodist school that is right down the street.

I do have to leave Costa Rica every 90 days since I do not have a work visa and that is all they allow with your passport. Some of those times I might come home but other times I will probably go to Nicaragua or Panama for the 72 hours before I come back.

I have so many mixed emotions right now as I'm sitting at the airport in Ft Lauderdale waiting for my second flight which will take me to Costa Rica. I am SO EXCITED!!! There is not doubt about that. I know this could be difficult for me at points because I am going to miss my family and friends soooo much. I feel like I have always been pretty dependent on my parents and still rely on their advice and such so much. This will be a challege to get to the point where I am okay with the fact that I can only talk to them once or twice a week instead of every day like I was doing before.

BUT mostly right now I am just excited and happy and anxious. I know this is where God is calling me to right now and I can't wait to see where this takes me and how I will grow over my time here. I love each and every one of you so much and I want to thank you for all of your love and support and advice, etc.

Hopefully I will be able to update this thing often enough. I'm thinking once a week might be as often as I might be able to do it, but maybe more. (Hopefully not less).

I know some of you wanted an address for where to send donations and such so I will let you guys know what that is as soon as I figure it out myself. Haha.

Los quiero a todos! :-)