as the summer comes to an end...

Soo we are in the middle of the HUGE work group right now. They had 78 people last week and have 77 people this week. Having that huge of a group where about 66 of them are high school youth has definitely been a new and interesting experience. There is never a dull moment!

As this week comes to an end, though, my internship is coming to an end also. This is the last group we will have this summer and then its time to say goodbyes to everybody. We will be taking a intern trip to the beach Sunday through Tuesday so that will be fun but then on Thursday of next week we will have to say goodbye to each other too. I think that’s the part I’m most sad about. Saying goodbye to the interns. I know I will see the Ticans frequently while I’m here. But this will be the last time I see a bunch of the interns for a really long time. I’m so thankful for each and every one of them and am amazed at how quickly we became like a family.

So, as of now, I actually did find an apartment where I am going to be living once the internship is over. It’s close to Los Guido also which will be handy. I don’t know exactly what kind of work I will be doing though because I have not gotten a chance to sit down and talk with the boss man. Right now I’m just learning to trust in God and trust that I will find and choose the best thing for me.

As soon as the time with the interns is over, I head off to a camp for 3 days and then Nicaragua for a week! I’m pretty excited about those things…

I also wanted to share with you guys a little story about some things that are going in Los Guido, my “home” here in Costa Rica. So as most of you know, Daniel’s hand-made cross business is part of his ministry to the people in Los Guido. It is his way of helping some of the youth in the community who have spent their entire lives in gangs, doing drugs, hurting people, etc but who have now found Jesus and decided they want to come to the church and change their lives around. It’s a way to give them an honest way of making some money, keep them off the streets, provide for their families, and for Daniel to get the chance to minister to them and witness to them and help them in their journeys with God.

The problem as the summer months come to a close, though, is that the missions groups stop coming. They might possibly get a group every month or something but that is usually it. Because all of the funding for hiring the young men and such comes from mission trips coming and visiting los guido and buying the crosses that they have made, they are worried about the coming months and being able to keep working with everybody. Daniel is thinking he is going to have to let go the most recent person he hired go because he simply wont have the funds to keep him hired. This guys name in Jose (Chepe is his nickname) and he has been going to the church for not very long now. Hes a guy that has spent his whole life on the streets doing really horrible things, but is slowly and surely changing his life around for the better. He also has a few kids and is trying his best to raise them to be good people. At this point in his journey, I just cant imagine what it would be like for him to lose this job and be back on the streets so often. The temptation is everywhere on the streets of Los Guido and I know that working with Daniel and the Ponce’s is something he really needs right now to continue on her journey with God.
SO, heres the part where I ask ya’lls help. I was thinking maybe there might be some of you guys out there reading this blog that might wanna help. What he pays Chepe right now is $50 a week ($200 a month). If any of you guys would be interested in helping this man out and helping him be able to keep his job and continue on this straight path with God, that would be incredible. I don’t know exactly what that might look like for different people but really any donations that you guys can make would be more than a blessing. Maybe just a few dollars? Maybe you would like to sponsor him for a few months? Anything really would be amazing.

Email me if you would like to help: emma.s.hall@gmail.com

Or for you church people if you want you can give money to my parents and tell them what it is for and they will make sure it gets to me.

I love you all so much and I know that with prayer and with trust in God that something will happen and we will be able to keep working with Chepe and helping him change his life forever! (below is a picture of a few of the guys that are working int he work shop with Daniel. on the left is Spanky, a guy who is 17 year old and started in the gangs when he was 5 years old. The one in the middle is Brian, also 17started young and has a 3 year old daughter names Eypril. And then the one on the end is Chepe. This picture was taken during the all night prayer vigil that the church in Los Guido had back in May).

dont lick the frogs...

... i suggest just using the traditional ways.

hahaha apparently some people find the red posinous frogs and then lick them to get high. the tour guide on one of the things i went on with a group gave us that advice. "stick to the traditional ways... dont lick frogs!" haha such good advice.

soooo i know im a slacker. and i know that aunt sue wants me to update the blog :-) so here i go! (at least i didnt go OVER a month without updating, right?)

things have been pretty good here. we've had groups in and out every single week and, for the most part, the groups have been awesome.

we had one really rough group thrown in the mix filled with people who didnt wanna listen and who liked to have control of everything, but i can definitely say it was a good learning experience.

i got to spend one week at the other worksite in coronado, working on the children's home they are building there. it was a fun week and DEFINITELY amazing weather (nice and cool) but i missed all the people i work with here in puerto viejo.

then my first week back to puerto viejo was amazing because we had all my favorite ticos with us! abraham, javier, johan, roberto... and then a new guy who is really cool named felix!

this week we have a group from highland park, texas with 78 people in it. i counted the night they got here and there were introductions and there are about 12 adults and then 66 youth. needless to say, its going to be a CRAZY 2 weeks. this week im working with the group who is going into the schools and doing VBS all day. because of that, we end up coming back to the hotel around 4:00 (when most get back around 6:00) which is why i have time to do this little update right now.

plan for after the 2 weeks with this group... i think we're taking an intern trip either to the beach or to a volcano and a last horrah before a bunch of them have to go back to the US to start school again. then, im going on a 3 day retreat thats being held by the methodist conference in san jose. they formed a band with people from around san jose (daniel is the lead singer) and i went the other night to listen to them perform and they are AMAZING! im definitelt excited about that.

after the retreat im going to be heading to nicaragua for about 5 or 6 days since i have to leave the country. should be fun! (although ive heard its really hot!)

just a little example about how amazing God is sometimes (and speaking of the retreat), a few weeks ago this group decided they wanted to give us interns a little extra something for our time with them and ended up giving us each $40. later that night, daniel came and talked to me about the fact that a few of the boys that work for him really wanted to go to the retreat but just couldnt afford to go (since it costs around $52). so in the end, that money came at exactly the right time because i used it to pay for one of the guys to go to the retreat (and daniel is paying for the other). yay God. :-)

as far as what my work is going to be once this internship is over and all, i have to say im still not positive. there are a few things in the works and so im just praying about them and trusting that i will find the thing that i am supposed to be doing.

i love you guys so much and thank you so much for all your prayers and support!