From Kris Paulino

The last few days have been pretty crazy here in Costa Rica. Friday was a very emotional draining day. We started the day by going to an old folks home in Heredia. It was a very different type of ministry than what we had been doing in the previous days. It was actually a lot of fun just to hang out with them and love on them. I danced with a lady in a competition and we came in 3rd place. Even though we got out, she still kept dancing which was really funny. It was cool to see a really practical way to serve God and I realized it was somethng I could do at home. Later in the afternoon we went to an orphinage for handicap children. This was one of the more emotional ministries we did all week. It was hard for me to see the older kids and adults there because here I am, about to go to college and start my real life, and for them everyday is a stuggle to live. Seeing this truly inspired me to live my life to the fullest and to use all of the talents God has given me for His kingdom. After the orphinage, we went to Pastor Arthur´s church and hung out with their youth ministry. It was fun to play soccer with them and just be kids.


On Saturday we got up early and went to the JHOLY theatre where we met up with Hector and his wife. They showed us a PowerPoint of their plan and mission for JHOLY. I was extremely suprised how strategized the whole program is and how much dedication is put in to the show. Some of the actors put us through some excersises that they do to get ready for the shows. They took these excerises really seriously which showed their passion for the JHOLY ministry. I was kind of bummed because we weren´t able to feed the homeless due to the heavy rain. After lunch, we went over to Pastor Rudy´s church and visited their Mother´s Day Hoedown. It was hilarious because we did some dancing and they had some of the moms model for everyone. That night we went back to the JHOLY theatre to see their prodection. It was amazing. I had know idea what it was going to be like but it exceeded any expectations that I had. It was awesome to see how they shared the love of Christ to packed theatre even though the show had nothing to do witha bile story or anything like that. That to me was one of the best parts of our trip because it was put on by students for students.


Now were leaving for Jaco tro work with some river kids in the slums which should be very intresting. Bye Mom I´ll see you in a few days.

From Phil

Lots of late nights and early mornings over the past few days have lead to a lack of suitable moments to blog! Sorry for the lack of communication!

Without spoiling the students opportunity to share what they've been experiencing and learning, let me fill you in on the last few days...

We visited a Retirement Home, an orphanage for disabled children. We spent time at J'Holy which is an incredible theater ministry. We have taught Sunday school classes and enjoyed the most fun Mother's day church service ever!

I am so proud of how your students are growing and serving. They are a pleasure to lead! I know that they are being challenged and I can't wait for you to hear their stories!

From Megan & Emily Rohde

Today our van group went over to JHoly Theatre and met Pastor Rudy. He talked to us about his church (their ministries and outreaches). They do so much for their community! They minister to the homeless, the terminally ill, youth, street performers, pregnant teens, and so many other people. After he talked to us about the church he took us to a plot of land that they had just bought to build a new church. It was beautiful! We hiked down to a stream that they plan to do baptisms in once they clean it out. There was a huge waterfall down the path as well. Everything is so lush, they care about the environment so much! After that we went back up the hill to pray over their new church. When we started to pray as a group a huge wind kicked up and it started to rain (it was crazy! God was definitely there). Then we hiked back to the van (lots of ant hills and pokey grass! Some creepy jumping spiders,too) and headed to downtown San Jose. Pastor Rudy gave us a little tour of the City Hall & the loal Catholic church. At the city hall we climbed up to the top of a 3 story military tower that was built in the 1840s. The view was gorgeous! You could see so much of the city (lots of colorful roofs & palm trees). Pastor Rudy and George (one of our translators) also pointed out some volcanoes to us. Costa Rica is an amazing country and I can´t wait to spend more time with the people here!
-Megan

okay bear with me here because im really tired and this computer is reall hard to type on. after we took a tour of the city we then went to lunch at an auhentic costa rican resturant. we had a choice of eating chicken or beef, rice, beans, salad and mashed potatoes. i think that out of everything weve eaten ere o far the rice has been the absoute best food of all! for drinks somee of us in out van group chose to try juice. our translator george told us that there were two drinks one caled cas and another caled mariyana that were on the menu. kris, kelsey and emily h decide to be adventureous and try them. brittney megan and i just decided to stick with coke and iced tea. we al tryed the juices though and they were delicious. after we ate we we went to a local private school to teach kids ages 11 to 13 about a parable in luke 8: 5-15, the parable of the farmer scattering seed. the first group of kids listened as we spoke through a translator about how we should be the seeds that are firmly planted in soiland rooted in God and others who follow and believe in him. it was difficut to speak through a translator but it was a good experience for all of us. then we played soccer!!!! it was difficult to communicate verbally but we played and had a great time!!! with the second group of kids we played soccer and basketball first and then we shared a short version of our testimonys. later today after dinner we had a team debreifing and we shared what we all had learned after our first day with the people. ive learned that all of the people here are very joyfull and friendly. theyy all give so much to their community and church and even though they have little materially, spiritually they are fulfilled and complete with themselves and god. im so blessed to have the opportunity to be here and i hope that god will teach us all more asd we continue to minister to the peope here! keep us in youre prayers!!!!
emily rohde

Blog By Tanner Donnels

Day 2 in Costa Rica

Ever since i have arrived in Costa Rica I have been excited to do God's work. This morning i felt revived because of the amount of sleep i got compared to the previous days in L.A. For breakfest we had biscuits with jelly and lots of different fruit. After we loaded up the van we were off to Pastor Giovanni's church to meet his staff and the people that were going to help us during the day. The car rides in a packed van are very scary because of the style of driving compared to the U.S. The first day we were here the lady driving us ran a stop sign and i have been nervous in the car ever since. The streets are packed with cars and everyone loves to use their horn here. Giovanni's church was colorful and had the same idea of the churches back home except it was much smaller. A big auditorium for the adults then each age group got a classroom. Beneath the church there is a river that floods when it rains a lot so they have some days where they have to take buckets and walk them up a flight of stairs to throw it out. The people that were apart of the church were all extremely friendly and thankful we were there. There were mostly elder people at the church with some of their children celebrating mothers day in a big group. Next we drove to a private high school down the rode where we were going to give a lesson about respect and morals. As we pulled up i was unsure on how the language barrier was going to affect our lesson. I was in charge of the bucket of soccer balls and games. We walk in the principal greets us as we get our bags checked. Then we get ready outside in a covered court area as the students come in and sit down. We introduced ourselves and tell them what are plans were for the day with the translator. We started out with a couple of games one being the human knot which is a group of people cross their hands then grab some one elses hands across from then while trying to untangle and form a circle. It was difficult at first because we could't understand eachother, but we got out using example and hand motions. After that we played the impossible shot. I was the hoop holding a bucket over my head while all the students tried to shoot a ball into it. The easy part was over, now the girls teaching the lesson had to face their fears by speaking in front of a crowd with the translator. The lesson was going great when me, Mikaela, and Sammi were pulled aside and told we have to tell a salvation message when we weren't expecting to talk in front of the group today. So as the girls are finishing up their lesson we had maybe five minutes to organize the basic story of God and Jesus. We got three notes down between the three of us and were called back to the group to present. I introduced the group nervously and began by telling them that God sent his only son, Jesus, down to earth to die on the cross for our sins. The next person talked about Jesus performing miracles to prove who he was. Also, that Jesus lived a perfect life and never sinned even when he was tempted with all the sins we are tempted with in our lives. We wrapped it up by saying that God will love you know matter what all you have to do is accept him into your life. All in all our salvation message on the spot turned out great. It felt good afterwards to preach in front of a group of people like that because it was the first time i have done that. I didn't know if it was the first time they had heard that message or if they were strong believers, but it felt like we introduced Jesus to them or changed their beliefs about God for the better. Next we had about 15 mins left so we all got the opportunity to talk to the students in small groups with no translators. I had remembered some basic questions in spanish from school. I walked around until i recognized a guy i had introduced myself to earlier when we arrived. I asked him if he played sports in spanish and he said soccer and swimming in english. I told him I play baseball and asked if baseball was popular in Costa Rica and he said that there are some teams but very few in english. From then on i talked in english and learned that he was almost fluent in english which was cool. I then asked him how long he has been studying english and he said ever since 7th grade, he was 18. I told the guy and his friend who walked up that i was 18 and they didnt believe me. I was only a couple inches taller then them, but i think it was because i had about 20 pounds on each of them. I found out that the guy had family in miami and wanted to visit them very soon after he goes to college. He told me he wanted to be a doctor, his friend who i was also talking to was apparently the best soccer player in the school. He also told me his favorite american athletes then we left and were on our way to lunch. We went to the mall food court and got tacos which were good. Then we went to a middle school. We were told not to talk about God there because it was more of a public school. We walk in and the kids are doing a huge jump rope with 10 people at a time. I jumped in one of the games and got out quick because of how fast they go. I ended up getting the hang of it and won the next game and all the kids thought i was really cool. they spoke very little english so it was hard through out the day to communicate, but it was still fun. We come home around 5:30 and i was really tired. We had dinner then went through each van group and said what they did today. Then Phil talked and it really reminded us why we are here and that each one of us need to get serious with getting prepared. I am glad he told us this because now i am writing in a journal what i did each day and what im taking out of this experience. I also am reading the bible more. I am still tired and have been typing for a long time so im going to sleep. Keep praying for us, to whoever is reading this. To the Fam I love you and ill see you soon.

They're here!!!!!

Team 2 finally arrived!! They are tired and in need of a shower but happy to be in Costa Rica!

We are just waiting for some much needed lunch!

Phil

Not long now...

From Phil...

I just left the team heading through security at the Airport in San Jose. Their flight is currently scheduled to leave on time so they have a few hours before they are on their way (I am remaining in Costa Rica to welcome the next team tomorrow morning).

Here are the flight details...

LACSA (part of TACA international Airlines)

Flight 640

From: Guatemala (our team stays on the plane while they board new passengers)

To: LAX Terminal 2

Departure Time: 5:35pm Sunday August 7th

Arrival time: 12:05am Monday August 8th

Your students have been INCREDIBLE!! You should be so proud, I can't wait for you to hear all the stories! They can't wait to see you and tell you all about it!

From Ashley

Even though the days are long, time is flying. The past couple of days have been incredible. Today we woke up early and went to met up with leaders from a church in a local community near San Jose. A man named Arttro runs the church and it is modeled after Saddleback which is kind of cool to see.They showed us a video of all the ministries they have going on at the church and it just blew my mind. They are doing so much to reach their community. They recently bought new land to build a church and they took us to go see it. It is super exotic and grassy and they were bugs everywhere, we trekked through this land for about ten minutes. Going into it, i didnt really understand why we were going there. It turne out to be super gorgeous and we walked down to this little river. It is one of the only clean ones left around that area. We then followed to a waterfall that was breathtaking. There is so much natural beauty in Costa Rica that I have to stop and thank God for constantly throughout the day. We walked toward the center where there were some huge big trees and they told us their vision for the church. God had put it on their hearts to buy the land to build His house. They had so much passion for it and I definitely had to check myself today for doubting the importance of us being there. We encouraged the leaders in their investment and prayed over the land and what God has in store for it in the future. We had some delish Costa Rican food for lunch an headed over to one of Arturo´s minitries called the Rock. It is an after school hangout place for kids and teen moms. We loved and played with the kids. I talked to a little 12 year old girl, painted nails, and colore picturs. A five year old named Tiffany and I exchanged drawings that say "i love you" on them in spanish. In the van before we rached ither location we read ephesians 6 as a group and prayed that we would be covered with the Armor of God. This barely covers how my heart felt about today, but it is something. I miss all of you! Please keep praying that God uses us in our last few days here and that Satan is cast away out of our hearts and minds.

Love you all a lot.

Back From Jaco...

A great few days in Jaco. I'll ask some students to post their stories tomorrow.

In case you heard, we had a small Earthquake tonight. Most students didn't even notice so no need to worry.

Still having a great time, prepare yourselves; your students have grown a ton!

Phil

heading out to Jaco....

late night last night roller skating. We were at an outreach event for local youth and it was so much fun!!

heading out to Jaco overnight, can't wait!!

Phil

What A Great Day!

From: Logan Altman

Today was an amazing day out at the churches. Groups 2 and 4 visited Pastor Giovanni´s church, and Group 1 and 3 visited Pastor Rudy´s church. At Giovanni´s church, Kevin and Carol´s groups had a huge task ahead. The vans had to split everyone up in order to fulfill what needed to be done for Sunday school. A bunch were able to lead the 3-6 year olds in some great crafts and an incredible story on Daniel. I came in and lead a few songs of worship with the kids, who had a blast with every activity. A few were down leading lessons with the teenagers, engaging in great conversations and topics. Lastly, Ryan Acosta and I had the challenge of engaging with the college students, where I lead a sermon on serving in the church and community. Ryan shared his testimony, which lead into the entire classroom sharing their stories. Every aspect of the Sunday school services, for all ages, went incredible, despite straying from the original plan.

Pastor Rudy´s church had quite a treat with Vans 1 and 3. With the group energized, people split up into the different age groups of either elementary or jr. high and high school. Both participated in fun activities, games, worship, and fellowship. "I´ve Got the Joy" was among the worship songs sung, and Four Corners was one of the games the kids took part in. Great testimonies, stories, and much more took place during the Sunday school services.

Lunch at various authentic Costa Rican restaurants took place for the vans, where everyone dug into delicious, curltural foods that melted the palate from the amazing tastes. Beef, pork, rice and beans, and tons of scrumptious foods laced the plates of the high school missionaries. Was definitely a highlight.

Everyone headed back to the Hostel for an entire group debrief, great chicken dinner, and hang out session. Groups prepared for the long day that lay ahead tomorrow, putting together goods needed for the different trips.

All in all, one of the most challenging, yet rewarding days on the trip. Many more are to follow!

Blessings,
Logan Altman

Text updates....

If you would like to receive text updates about our trip text: HSM CRPARENT to 39970

From Ashley

This morning we got to sleep in a little bit, which was wonderful. It´s crazy how tired we all are, and it feels like we have been here for three months, not three days. For breakfast they serve biscuts and some fruit stuff every morning. I brought a box of Honey Bunches of Oats to enjoy. We headed off to Pastor Rudy´s church, which is about 40 minutes away from Hostel Toruma, where we are staying. It is mold really similar to Saddleback. We listend to the worship in the main service and then headed off to a classroom to teach a Daniel and the Lion´s den. The kids were ages four to six-ish. We told the story by acting it out with masks of the lions, the other men, king Darius, and Daniel himself. The kids were so so cute and wonerful. I led the craft, which was making lion masks like the ones we wore in the skit. It was really successful. It has been so cool to get to know an love everyone in my van group and work and grow with them. The people here are so nice and welcoming. After our VBS we drove to this awesome authentic Costa Rican place. It was our fist authentic mal here and we all loved it and ate so much. It was so delicious. Our time here has been challenging and tiring, but so great. I am so stoked for what is coming in the next few days! Thank you for your prayers! I love you very much and wish you could be here with me!

HELLO USA!!!

Costa Rica official day one! Van groups 1&3 went to a school with little kids and sang a Justin Bieber song!!! whoot!! Then we played four corners, all the kids really enjoyed that game. We spoke on respect and how to show respect towards others. The kids seemed to really enjoy us being there. After the lesson we sang I´ve got joy in my heart but all the van members learned it in spanish so we got to be on their level, all of us together which was really great. After the song was done, we played over under with rubber balls and the kids really got into it. Once we left we went to Pastor Giovvani´s church and helped setup for the Youth Conference. Then off to lunch we headed. We had subway in the mall which was good. Then we came back to the hostel and we are getting ready to set up for the rally later on tonight!!! It´s going to be so fun!!

--Autumn Van #3

Today van groups 2 & 4 went to meet with Pastor Hector and his wife Hailey. They then proceeded to explain their ministry to us. It is amazing what one person can do and how many can follow! We then drove (on a very bumpy & pot holed road) to a school. We played with the kids for a while. We played soccer, jump rope, and frisbee. They are sooooo good at soccer! Then Taylor and Anna gave their testimonies. Hailey translated for us. After that we sang some songs and then played four corners. The kids LOVE four corners. Though there is a language barrier we still communicated efficiently. Most of the kids spoke a little english which helped a lot. For lunch we had authentic Costa Rican food! Everyone is safe amd enjoying themselves. I have only had one experience with a dog so far... I wanna take him home! I named him Tim. So Cute! He just curled up in my lap and layed down (and he´s not a small dog)! Well that is all for now!

-Phoebe <3

The end of a very long day!

Our travel was long but fairly uneventful.

We arrived in Costa Rica at about 10:30am local time. It took a little while for the vans to reach us and transport the team and the luggage to the hostel because of a protest in town that blocked the main road to the airport. The hostel is great, basic but super comfortable and the students spent the afternoon recovering and planning for the next few days.

Tomorrow we start some ministry in local schools and are running a youth rally in the evening!

Everyone is safe and well and excited to get started! Keep praying for us, it's only just beginning!

Phil

They´re HEREEEEEEE!

WE ARE ALL SAFE AND SOUND AND HAPPY TO BE HERE!!!! NO WORRIES!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS! WE LOVE YOU ALL. We had a fairly stress-free and easy flight. Description of the hostel: "There´s a TV! This is, like, nice." --Emily Martin
WARNING: The following is an overexhaggerated and somewhat sarcastic mock letter to an imaginary family..not that I don´t have a real family...because I do!

Dear Mom, Dad, and the cat,
So far, there has only been one death on the trip. I would say that´s successful, wouldn´t you?? May he rest in peace, poor mosquito. He really had it coming, though. Anyway, it was a long flight, lots of sitting. I had no idea that could be so exhausting! Blame it on the turbulence. Anywho, we arrived safely in Guatemala, it was gorgeous..the airport, that is. After an hour of sitting and an hour of delays (more sitting) we finally departed to back to L.A...what a fun trip! I am a changed person. Just kidding! Fooled you guys...you´re so gullible..did you know that baggage spells gullible backwards? (it actually doesn´t...awkward.) After another sleepless two-hour flight this morning, we finally landed at 10:30 in San Jose, Costa Rica. We had some close calls in immigration...I probably shouldn´t have brought the baby. Oh well! And who would´ve thought that customs and bagggage claim would´ve been so exhilirating. A bunch of us had to carry these giant hundred-pound tubs full of VBS-type supplies. But with a lot of teamwork, 12 bins, 40 people, 40 pieces of luggage, and an infant child sleepily made it to the Hostel Tocuma and it is wonderful! We had lunch at KFC to get the real Costa Rica experience. That about sums it up. We are all really tired, but happy to be here! Thank you so much for helping me get here!!!
Love,

Your beautiful, responsible, charimatic, friendly, patient, witty, kind, brilliant, and Christlike (dare I say Christlike?? I say Christlike) daughter.

24hrs and counting....

The first HSM team leaves the church in less than 24hrs!!

Who's excited?!?!?!

Only a few days to go....

The Junior High Team are already in Costa Rica (you can catch up on their adventures here) and we will be joining them in just a few days!

All those prayers and meetings and raising support is about to pay off and soon you will see what God has in store for us in Costa Rica!! I hope you're excited!

We will update this blog with our news while we are away but for now...

Get packing!

Phil