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.