Day 5
Today, we woke up early and left at 7 AM to head out on a long bus ride to the Punta Leona resort. On the way, we stopped at a bridge where our guide Raymond told us to beware of the crocodiles and their capacity to bite off the toes of unsuspecting tourists. He also told us that Steve Irwin once did a demonstration at the bridge and captured a 3 meter crocodile! We admired the crocodiles from a good safe distance on the bridge, and also came across a snake and iguana along the way. Four hours later, we finally arrived with our faces pressed against the windows taking in the awesome view of the ocean. After eating another huge and delicious SCORE meal, we spent the first three hours at the Playa Mantas beach soaking up rays, exploring, picking up shells, swimming, and playing beach soccer. At 2:45, we checked in and moved into our AIR CONDITIONED rooms that were named after various South American countries. After a quick 15 minute rest, we headed out to explore the other beach: Playa Blanca (the white beach). Right away, we were in awe of the gorgeous scenery: clear water, rolling waves, and rock formations with all kinds of crabs and slugs to investigate. We were reminded, once again, of how incredible our God is by what He has created! We did a lot of body surfing and definitely got our fair share of sodium for the day. While the water was clear, it wasn’t necessarily the best tasting! To finish off at the beach before dinner, we watched the beautiful Costa Rican sunset just as a few drops of rain fell on us. We were definitely blessed with great weather during our time at the resort, because those were the only raindrops we saw! We made it back to our rooms with plenty of time to prepare for the dinner feast, which Raymond and Tom had been talking up all week. They definitely weren’t exaggerating; they had everything from fresh fish to muy bueno leche cake which only some of us were lucky enough to taste before it ran out! At any rate, none of us left hungry. After dinner, many of us went our separate ways. A lot of us headed back to the beach for a night time stroll or just to sit and relax, listening to the crashing waves. All the while, we were being stalked by the fearless raccoons, but thankfully poppy pep was on guard and protected us all. Others of us were exhausted from the day and went to bed right away with the intention of getting up early to watch the sunrise. To conclude, we were all thankful for a fun and relaxing day to unwind and have some quality team bonding and to get a restful night sleep in a cool, comfy bed! Dios tes bendigas! –Alicia, Jami, and Aani

Hey there… well after a few days in the cloudy mountains we were finally heading off to the beach. Yeeeeeeah!!!!!!!!!! We rose early and we had a long drive ahead of us, but we didn’t mind because that just meant we had a lot of time to play mafia!!!!!!! Many games of mafia later we emerged from the hills. We had finally reached the ocean. Before we knew it we were on the sand playing beach soccer. A few of us went exploring down la playa Blanca and found a bunch of hermit crabs. After moving into our rooms we all went to the southern beach to watch the sunset and oh what a sunset it was!!! After a long day we returned to our rooms and ate some dinner. We were dead tired afterwards, but adventure still called us…so a bunch of us walked down to the beach to just relax, chat and stargaze. Day five was one to remember.
-anonymous
The fifth day of our mission trip served as a needed day of rest, reflection, and relationship building. We used the opportunity to explore God’s creation and to continue to grow the God-glorifying friendships throughout the team. It was great to see a mix of forty young men and women all sharing in beach soccer, body-surfing, shell scavenging, tree climbing, conversation, relaxation, and plenty of GOOD eating!!! Most amazing of all was observing the sunset from the beach. The splendor of God was clearly visible as we explored the rocks and swam at the beautiful beach. We stood in awe as the sun slowly broke from the clouds and descended behind the distant island positioned opposite the beach. The sky grew orange in contrast with the bright green vegetation surrounding the water. Cliffs loomed on the right, while rocks jutted into the see on the left. Mere minutes from sunset, a soft rain began to fall. It brought forth a rainbow behind us—arching over the palm trees too completely render us speechless. What more is there to say? God is beautiful, his creation amazing, and he is graceful enough to reveal it to us!
-Dan

Day 6

Day 6 has arrived and passed before we knew it. We woke up at varying times at the resort and headed to breakfast. One thing for sure is that I know it’s nice to wake up to air conditioning. Yesterday and today were necessary to recover. I know personally I slept for 12 hours and could have gone for much longer. Some of the players decided to wake up for sunrise and to get to the beach one last time before breakfast. After breakfast we headed off to our last game. It was not to far from the resort and the humidity showed. Once the game had started we were all soaked like we had just walked out of the shower. The clouds eventually covered us up and cooled down a bit. The girls won 4-0 and the guys won 5-0. this was not what was important however. Randon was able to share a part of his life to the kids and Kantor was able to share the gospel. After this Raymond, who had been traveling with us the whole trip and was a part of Score International decided to share the gospel himself. It was very promising to hear the passion in his voice and body language. Even though he had never met this group of kids you could see the love of Christ in him and hear it through his voice and that is what this whole trip was all about. Many of the kids ended up accepting Christ on the spot. We learned later that many of the kids parents were drug users and the families were very poor. This was one of the more powerful times of sharing personally. After all of this we headed back to the Score villa and on the long bus ride had some extremely intense games of mafia. Day 6 was an amazing day and was filled with times that I will remember.
-Josh Miller

As many of the other players have suggested, after spending the day at Punta Leona I am convinced that there is no better apologetic answer to God than His creation around us. No matter how well we present our theology or the amount of time we spend formulating our opinions, none of that will ever compare to the magnificence of the breath taking beauty around us.
It’s hard to leave such a wonderful paradise and know that you will soon be returning to a life that can often times be plagued with chaos and deadlines. But I am excited to return to Bethel and begin to live out some of the lessons that I have learned while here in Costa Rica. The one thing that has revealed itself to me more than anything is the fact that we as Christians do not have to go to a foreign country to change lives. Often times it is in our everyday lives that we encounter instances wherein we have opportunities to show Christ’s mercy and love to the people around us. Even in the most simplistic ways, whether it be starting a conversation with a complete stranger or serving someone who is in need of assistance; it is those moments that we perpetuate the Kingdom of God and fulfill the work to which we have been called. And as I reflect upon my life and the hundreds of instances that I have in a given day to be a blessing to someone else, I realize how important my life is. Not because it is mine…but because it is God’s and there is so much that He can do with me if I allow him too.
There was an evening on this trip where a Score representative was giving a devotion and he asked our group how many of us were planning on going into full time ministry and in response a handful of us raised our hand. But as I sat there and listened to the remainder of his devotion, it dawned on me that if we are truly going to live the life Christ has called us to then all of us as Christians should be raising our hands. We all are part of a full time ministry because our lives are continually ongoing, and it is our lives and our actions, rather than our words that convey to the people around us what it means to be apart of God’s Kingdom. And having spent the past week with 40 young adults who are all aware of this I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in the upcoming season.

-Anonymous

Day 7

Wow! Being a part of this trip has truly shown me the power of God. As coach of both the men’s and women’s teams it is sometimes hard to keep things in balance. This week was great proof of God’s place in all of our player’s lives. I have been so honored to be involved with such great player’s who are willing to give it all up for God. More to come…………………

Day Five (Josh Blog)
Day five seems almost over, but we still have a lot to do. Today we got to do some zip-lining around the rain forests of Costa Rica. Amazing.

This afternoon we purchased food for a homeless shelter and after dinner we will be preparing food and then helping distribute the food. If I were to try to put a finger on what God was trying to teach us this week I would guess that it is humility. It seems to be the reaccuring theme in what we have been discovering in our devotions as well as what has been coming up in our debriefings in the evenings as a group. There have been a lot of unexpected tasks that God has used to reinforce what we have been studying together in our evening devotions.

Let me again encourage you to pray for our bus driver from this past week. His name is Guillermo (William) and he doesn’t know the Lord. There have been a lot of opportunities to talk with him, and seeds have been planted. Unfortunately I don’t think we will see him after today. We have left him with ways to contact us as well as a team shirt, because we have really come to care about him. You can also be praying for the town of Los Guidos that we have been able to work in three of the days we have been here. We have done many different things there, working with a pastor and his church. While we were there yesterday, we had many opportunities to talk with people from that town about why we were there, again, seeds were being planted. Also, yesterday we were able to hand out over 800 tracks in a central market place in the capitol city. There were about 5 major converstations that our group was able to start with different peopel through that exercise, so please keep those planted seeds in prayer.

Besides that, there are various sicknesses and whatnot floating around. No one is down for the count, but a few are not feeling %100 on a daily basis.

We covet your prayers and support. I hope that you are recieving joy from our reports! God surely has been blessing…

RE:Costa Rica - Day Two (Josh Blog)
So… day two was really interesting. It didn’t start as I had expected it to. The weather was great, and everyone had caught up on the sleep the so desperately needed, and I was really excited to get out and do some ministry amongst the people of CR. My friend who works with SCORE was supposed to meet us on the bus, but he didn’t show! Oh well… no biggie, I had an idea of what we were supposed to be doing for village work. We drove for over a half hour (and still didn’t make it out of the capitol) and ended up higher in the hills in an area that reminded me of the slums of northern Mexico. I was getting excited about all of it… we were finally here and finally going to be getting to meet some people. But little did we know that all we would be doing was sorting recycling out of garbage and cleaning. Honestly, I was disappointed. I was hoping for more. But God was only setting the stage for us to come back to that community later in the day and get into the schools to work with 3 (or 4, I’m not really sure how many showed up) of the grades and do songs, skits, music and some speaking with them.

My attitude in the morning got me thinking. Did I think I was too good for helping that community with their garbage? Did I not think that this was still missions work reaching out to them? Well, obviously I didn’t. I’m so selfish and prideful, and God knew what kinds of things I need to break me of that. I look forward to those kinds of stretching challenges God has in store for me this week.

In our group devos we are working through Philippians and have talked about our need to endure the circumstances of life for the Glory of God, and tonight we dealt with the need for unity to actually live worthy of God’s calling in our lives to Christlikeness. I’m excited for our group and what we are going to learn in Philippians.

You can pray for our group too. There is some homesickness, as well as some of our team not feeling well. We are praying for our bus driver William (Gillarmo) and his salvation, the seeds that were planted and watered at the school we were at today, positive communication amongst our team, postivie/christlike attitudes… we have a long list.

Because of the weather patterns, (sun in the morning/rain all afternoon and night) we are splitting our free day in half. Tomorrow we are visiting a big tourist trap in the area… a volcano. We will get to go to the top and walk the rim. Pretty exciting.

RE:Costa Rica - Day Two (from the Sauders)
This is Terri Sauder. Today we arrived at a church in the morning, all dressed up and ready to do some ministry! Then we got to clean! Haha it was pretty much awesome… separating recycled stuff in a dress! Got to love that! So we did that for a while and it was fun! They have this one type of milk (milk here is in small card board boxes like juice boxes but a lot bigger) that apparently a lot of people drank because we had our own separation just for that brand of milk! We met two ladies, one was named Elizabeth and they are paid to separate recycling from the government. Then we came back to the villa and ate lunch. The food is amazing! So that is a huge blessing! Then we went back to the same church. Next to the church is a public school. When we came we had no clue how things would go, but in the end they worked out really really well! So praise God for that! When we got there they were having recess so we gave out our tracks and brought out the soccer balls. Then it started to pour. Every day it rains here for like a couple hours. Then after our program we did a service project by sweeping, mopping and picking up trash all around the place. Then we when we were suppose to be leaving, some of us were still picking up trash out of the gutters in the rain. As I was the bell rang and all the kids came out of their class rooms. They were all wondering why we were picking up the trash in the rain. Then a kid talked to me in Spanish and I said si, not understanding what he said and then he started helping us pick up trash in the mud in the rain! I just thought that was the coolest thing! God is teaching me a lot! I’ll fill ya in, in the next blog! Lots of Love, in Christ Terri Sauder

Hey Ya’ll Greetings from Costa Rica!!!
So currently we are staying at a seminary place that is about ten minutes from the actual villa of Score, because there are so many groups. On Friday we are suppose to go to the villa and stay there for the rest of the time. So I know you all have heard a lot about our day so far but in the afternoon we did a program at the school we went to and we had only about a half an hour. The pastor of the church that we worked with told us that we had to really wait on the principal and see what mood he is in order for us go into the school. But in reality he didn’t really let us just do our ministry stuff he let us because we said we would clean which was cool too. But the school is different because it is set up as class rooms that are open to the out side with an interesting gutter system. Back to the program, it was really interesting we got to do two of our skits and sing songs and Katie Ewing and Jordan Schaeffer gave their testimonies. We ministered to a lot of younger kids so we had their full attention for only a short time but I think the message was plainly spoken out, so I think they understood, so only God knows if seeds were planted or watered but I’m sure they were. I have definitely been opened to the culture down here and just wish I knew more Spanish…I mean I took two years in high school so I know basic things but not enough to carry and full conversation. When we were sorting trash this morning for recycling we really didn’t have a translator it was basically here walk down the street and sort the trash, it was hard in the beginning but we made it through! The seminary that we are staying at is bigger than the villa and has an amazing view of mountains that surround our complex so that is really cool to wake up too!! Well I have to go but tune in next time to blog with Katie!!!

RE:Costa Rica - Day Two (Team Blog)
Today we actually got into the work part of the trip. we went to a mission that a pastor uses for children’s ministry and such. They split us into two groups. The first group of five of us cleaned the mission. We washed the floors and cleaned the bathrooms inside. We also scrubbed the outside walls. Manuel (a man from the SCORE Villa) took us over to work with Pastor Gabriel and some other people. We also had some great discussion with Manuel afterwards. He has been in Guatemala and Argentina as well as Costa Rica and it was very interesting to hear the differences between them. I have to say that the way we cleaned was very different than the way we do it at home. To mop the floors, we actually just sprayed the floors and then swept them. The other group went and sorted recyclables. So that was our morning!
Hasta Luego,
Kaylin

Greetings Calvary Monument family and assorted other persons. So far things have gone amazingly. Today we went out in the the villages for our first immursion into the actual Costa Rica culture. When we arrived at the village, and we got split into two groups. Unlike Kaylin, i was on the other team, the one that went and sorted the recyclables. At first I kinda looked at it and thought, “we’ve traveled this far to come and sort Costa Rican garbage?” But then I thought about it, and I remembered that Jeff had told us. He said we should be F.A.T. (Flexible, Avalilable, and Teachable), and I thought about it this way, “if this is what they want us to do, then that’s what we’ll, and I personally will do it to the best of my ability because that is what God calls me to do.” So long story short, all I needed to do is change my mindset into one of service. I have a feeling this isn’t the only lesson God wants to teach me, but I think I’m ready to learn the rest.

In Christ,

Jon Gouge

RE:Costa Rica - We are here!
We have arrived and are safe in Costa Rica. And what a long day it has been. For most of us… it is just a continuation of yesterday. Sunday and Monday have blended into one long, tiring day. Everything went fine getting to BWI and making our connecting flight at JFK. All our luggage arrived and we had no problems making it through immigration and customs. God was really gracious.

We did have an exciting landing here in Costa Rica… we basically came out of the clouds and were on the run-way. It is winter here, technically the rainy season so it rains a good part of the day, and there is a lot of beautiful cloud cover that comes over the mountains that brings lots of rain.

–
In His Faithful Service,
Pastor Joshua Vaughn

Pastor of Youth and Single Young Adults
Calvary Monument Bible Church
1660 Mine Road
Paradise PA 17562

“There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice”
– John Calvin

Sunday, August 10th - Geneva Men’s Soccer (Costa Rica)

Today we woke up at 7:30 AM to a wonderful breakfast. After eating, we eventually left for church where we learned about how we as christians need to show God’s love publicly. We then ate lunch, which was great as usual, then we were able to see same breathtaking sights from a viewpoint that overlooked the mountains and the valleys. We then went to an orphanage where we were able to show them God’s love by playing and hanging out with them. It was a blessing to see how we can brighten their days. After returning back to the Villa and eating dinner, we prepared bags of food to hand out to people in the local city. It was a very good experience to see how grateful people are for such a small gift. We were able to show them that God loves them and that through Him there is always hope. After this, we returned back to the seminary where we went to bed after a full day of learning how we should show God’s love publicly, and practicing what we learned at the orphanage and in the rough part of the city.

Friday Aug.8, 2008 Geneva Men’s Soccer

Today, we had the chance to travel to a local elementary school and hold a soccer clinic for nearly 100 kids. While playing with them in the mud, and teaching them was great, what was even better was when one of our players had the chance to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the kids. That afternoon we took our bus to a facility owned by Score where we painted and varnished in preparation for the facility to be used. To end the day, we had a very nearly unreal experience. We drove into the countryside and had to walk up a steep hill because the bus couldn’t make it up. At the top we found an amazing turf facility complete with nets, lights, and stands. We were able to play futsol with some locals, and 3 of them accepted Christ after a testimony and gospel presentation was given by one of our players. Over all it was a great day of learning, service and new experiences.

Saturday

In the morning on Saturday, we got up early to drive to a local school and put on another clinic. The kids ranged from 6 years old to about 14. We put together drills, but mainly goofed around and had many good laughs with them while playing. Directly after the clinic we played our first real 11 v. 11 game against a Costa Rican team. We played sloppy at first as we got used to the field, and style of play. Our Geneva Team then got our act together and controlled the attack for the majority of the game. We tied 0 to 0 in the end, and Sam got to share his testimony with the group. From there we traveled to the market place and had some fun times. Then it was Jeremy Glovier’s birthday, so we took him out to a nice dinner. It was great day.

8-12
After an early and tasty breakfast at the Nazarene Seminary, our team headed to the Saprissa Practice. It was a beautiful morning and we were privileged to get to the go into the stadium and watch the training session. After that we got to go down and see the players up close, get a couple pictures with them. We also got some autographs and got to meet the coach. It was a lot of fun from there we hopped on the bus and headed for the beach. Score packed lunches for us and we ate those on the way. The drive was long but enjoyable and we got to see some beautiful mountain vistas and some big crocodiles. We arrived at the beach with enough time to take a swim and enjoy the view. We then had an amazing buffet style dinner. After that we went and had quite times on the beach at night. Some of the team even enjoyed a midnight swim. The evening concluded with a good night sleep had by all. Sam McCracken.
8-13
Today was our second day at Leona Beach. Breakfast was a good experience for the team. Not only the food was terrific, but there were several monkeys that joined us to eat. After breakfast, we had the opportunity to go on the beach for a few hours. Most of the team was out playing volleyball and swimming near the pool. After all that the team ate lunch, got on the bus, and began to get ready for the game. The game we played today was intense. Not because of the team we played but because of the field conditions and the heat. Regardless, we ended on the winning side of a 4-0 victory. After the game, Monty Seaman spoke to the team about Christ. He gave a brief testimony that impacted both teams. After the talk, both teams spent some time together and we ended with a group photo. Tonight we will spend time together, eat dinner, and enjoy our last night in Costa Rica.

Today started at approximately 8:00 A.M. We left to go back to “El Hueco,” the village below the church we attended yesterday. Pastor Gabriel had arranged for us to deliver meals to some of the families in the community. The area is very poor and many of the people are immigrants from Nicaragua. The houses were put together with lots of random sheets of metal. Each house is about the size of a freshmen dorm, but they didn’t get a tuition discount for having 4 people in the room! It was such a blessing to help some of the mothers in a tangible way. One of the mothers made everyone simple cloth bracelets which she makes to sell for an income of $4.50 a month! Another mother is 23 and providing for 2 young girls. Some of the guys were able to deliver food to other houses in the community that were also in need. The pastor shared the gospel with one of the young boys (about 12) who accepted Christ!
The guys played another game today at 12:00 after the most amazing lunch ever! However, we were limited to how much we could consume…except for the goalie. The boys started off with a bang as Matt Polding scored 2 early goals. The rain started coming as the game went on and we had to end early because of the raging monsoon (aka lots of water). We ended up winning 2-1 after which Kirk Darling was able to share his testimony. It was hard to tell which boys truly heard due to the rain pouring on the metal roof, however we think the message got across. – Nick Kantor, Chris Dirks
Hola, chicas here… sooo after standing and cheering (very wonderfully) at the boy’s game despite the flash flood downpour we headed back to score to get into some dry clothes. After changing we loaded up in our trusty bus and were off to the markets for some good old souvenir shopping. Some of the favorites on the purchase list were bracelets, candy, t-shirts, coffee, and a life’s worth of Disney ponchos. One amazing thing that God decided to do with our shopping experience was to introduce us to this amazing woman. Sara, Tori, Alicia and I (Kylie) walked into one store in particular to hear Hillsong United (a worship group from the states) blasting over the speakers in the store. Since we were the only ones in the store at the time we all (including her) began singing these worship songs at the top of our lungs, sometimes all in English, other times us in English and her in Spanish (which is a beautiful and moving thing). When we had all finally decided on our purchases we went up to pay and decided to leave our change with her and told her to put it towards her Hillsong concert tickets (she had previously informed us they were coming to Costa Rica and that she had been saving). At this she happily proclaimed “Gracias a Dios,” and asked to pray with all of us. We grabbed hands and circled up while this amazing woman prayed this passionate prayer in her little corner store, we probably only understood half of it but it was so powerful and at the end there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Its truly amazing how God can use any circumstance for His glory alone and how much meeting fellow believers, especially ones who have a passion and joy for the Lord like this woman does, can really move everyone involved. So after hugs and blessings we left to meet up with the group and pile back on the bus. We drove back to the villa for a quick “snack” (which was more like a first dinner) and waited for the word on whether or not the ladies game would be on. It was so we loaded up again and drove to what ended up being the most gorgeous field ever. The sun was just setting and the view across the fields was the city with the mountains, just breathtaking. The sun set, the lights came up and we began a mud bath of a game against some very feisty 15-18 year olds who put up more of a fight than we would probably like to admit but ended in a 3-0 win (goal credits to Krista Polding, Rachel Chavez, and Kelci Schedler). We headed back for dinner number two, some good showers and as always an awesome devo time, which was led by Coach Murchie. But its time for the attack dogs to come out and we’re all very sleepy so goodnight and this is Katelynn and Kylie signing out.

by Derek Schmitt, SWU Volleyball Head Coach
Monday, August 11, 2008

11 p.m. (Local Time) – We just wrapped up our final full day in Costa Rica and like all the others, it was a great day. I found out earlier tonight that Heather Craker, Monique, and Annika made it to Atlanta safely and were on their way home. We missed having them around today.

This morning, we held another volleyball clinic. It was supposed to start at 9 a.m., but as is the case with most things here, the times are flexible. The bus full of high school students finally arrived at about 9:45 a.m. There were about 20 “chicas” and 4 “chicos” who participated in the clinic.

As we did in the last clinic, we ran through each of the skills and then allowed some time at the end for each group to scrimmage. The “chicos” played first and since there were only four, eight of our players stepped in to play. A couple of the “chicos” were very athletic and showed great promise as volleyball players. The “chicas” played next and after several service aces and service errors, we decided to just initiate the point by just tossing the volleyball to both sides. They seemed to have a lot of fun. A couple of the “chicas” showed they’ve already worked on their volleyball skills.

After lunch, we headed out for our final ministry of the trip, food distribution. We stopped at a grocery store and purchased 11 identical bags of food. The bags included rice and beans, of course, tuna, milk, drink mix, spaghetti, vegetable oil, a giant loaf of bread, and a few of other items. (As a side note, I bought two cans of Mountain Dews and tonight, I drank my first Dew since prior to leaving on the trip and it was AWESOME!)

From there, we traveled back to the same neighborhood we went to for VBS on Saturday. We met up with Pastor Gabriel and some of the people from his church. We didn’t go down into the ravine, but stopped at two houses and then hit three more houses. It was the last of those five houses that provided a couple of stories. After giving the mother in the last house her bag of food, she showed all the girls beautiful earrings that she makes and sells for $1.00. She said she wanted each girl to take one pair of earrings as a gift. The girls were very reluctant and wanted to pay for the earrings, but finally decided to graciously take her up on her gift.

We went back to the bus and the girls wanted to get some money so they could buy more earrings. This is where the plot thickened. There were three young men who were hanging out by the house. Some of us men stayed outside just to keep an eye on things. Eventually, some of the guys from the church gave each of the young men a loaf of bread. I think they were ready to give them a bag of food when one of the young men displayed his anger with Americans being in the neighborhood. I’ve had a lot of difficulty understanding the language down here, but I was familiar with the language he used. He had ended up with two loafs of bread and as he voiced his displeasure, he slammed both loaves of bread to the ground and walked away. Needless to say, we loaded up the bus quickly and hit the road. We were never in danger and the staff did a great job of getting us away from any potential danger as soon as possible.

While this encounter didn’t turn out so well, every other encounter we’ve had with the people of Costa Rica has been extremely positive. I thought I was prepared for everything on this trip, but as I reflect on the past week, I realized there were many things I wasn’t prepared for. One of the things I wasn’t prepared for was the special friendships I (and we) would build with the staff here at Score International. They have been so incredibly warm and friendly. Here’s a quick rundown of some of our new friends:

· Marianella: She’s been with us just about the entire week; she has been incredibly sweet and friendly to all of us.

· David: He’s Marianella’s husband; he was with us the first few days and was a lot of fun. (David, I hope you finally got to enjoy your tiramisu!)

· Noel: He was with us both days we were in the “tough” neighborhood. I’d want him on our side and he’s a great singer, but I’ll tell you about that a little later.

· Cesar: He is just volunteering at Score for the summer and served as a translator for us during the week. He’s wants to go to college in the States, although he wants to go to a university that is in the SSAC, but now SWU. (We’ll think about forgiving him!)

· Guillermo: One of our two main bus drivers…what a gentleman! Personally speaking, he was so warm and friendly with my daughter Annika this week. Annika started off just calling him “bus driver”, but once she learned how to say his name, she’d say it over and over again. Finally, Guillermo got out the microphone on the bus and said “Annika”. When Annika left today with Monique and Heather, Guillermo and Annika gave each other a hug and a kiss. It was so precious. Guillermo has also been incredibly friendly all of us; he is one of those men you just can’t help but love. He’s taking us to the airport tomorrow so we’ll get to spend a little more time with him. I will miss everyone here because they are now my friends, but Guillermo, you are my Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. (Sappy I know, but so true. I think I’ve shed more tears in the last 24 hours than I have in the first 37+ years of my life.)

We were able to do some last minute shopping before coming back to the villa. (I hope the airplane can handle all the hammocks we will be loading tomorrow!) After supper, we had our final team devotions of the trip. I had challenged the team earlier in the day to talk about how God changed them this week. Needless to say, there were lots of great testimonies and lots of tears, even plenty from the coach. (You are invited to hear the girls share their testimonies on Thursday, September 11th after our match with Reinhardt College which begins at 7 p.m.) While we were all sharing, Noel came out and asked if we would mind if he sang a song for us. We said sure. He brought over a boom box and played a CD. It was “Find us Faithful” and his voice is incredible. There weren’t many dry eyes in the group. God has been faithful with us in the entire process of this trip, from the decision to commit to this trip to the fund raising to the trip itself. It was such an appropriate song.

We finished the night sitting around a table playing a couple of card games. It was a blast! We were so loud; I hope the other groups in the villa aren’t mad at us.

To me, the number one goal of this trip was to minister to the people of this beautiful country. Mission accomplished! My second goal was for us to grow close as a team. Mission accomplished!

Tomorrow, it’s time to pack up, head to the airport, and make our way back to the States. Our challenge now is to make sure the changes that have happened in each one of us get on that Delta airplane instead of leaving them here in Costa Rica. I’m so excited to see what the rest of the season has in store for the SWU Volleyball team. (Whitty and Maegan, we’ve missed both of you and we’ll see you in a couple of days.)

We’ll be leaving the villa at 9:30 a.m. and then our flight is scheduled to depart at 1 p.m. and arrive in Atlanta at 7:15 p.m. Can’t wait to see everyone at home, but I know we will all miss the new friends we’ve made in Costa Rica.

Adios!

Today was our last day in the Dominican Republic, and perhaps the best too. The day got off to rough start with our bus breaking down about 1/2 mile away from the hotel, luckily it was before we were picked up and not after. Not that a bus breaking down is a rare occurance. This was the fourth time one of our busses has engine or tire problems which is very common here.
We waited for another bus to arrive and arrived at the game 45 minutes late. Again, a common occurance here. Everyone of our games started late, it is refered to here as “Dominican Time”. Even when the game was nationally televised our game was 45 minutes delayed for the anticipated crowd. They simply cut into whatever program is airing and televise the game.
The game today was against the entire national team and we played much better. Up until the 3rd quarter we had a small lead most of the way until the final five minutes when our stamina failed us and we ended up falling 66-60. The highlight of the game was in the closing minutes when Elgin Bailey hit 3 consecutive 3 pointers. I’m not sure what the Dominican team thought of the 6′8 265lb center pulling up from way beyond the arc.
The afternoon was spent at the local market. The guys got a good lesson in negotiating and bargaing with the local crafts people for soveniers to take home. Once they realized that their price wasn’t what they really had to pay they got into the art of talking the price down. I think some of them may try this next time they are at the walmart.
Tomorrow we fly home, but all will atest that trip was a success on so many different levels. The friendships that have been forged will serve them well as these teammates face each other this basketball season.

Today is when our real ministry began. We were all anxious to begin God’s work in Costa Rica. We distributed 700 tracts in downtown San Jose. This was a new experience for some, but for others it was old hat. Even though there were some rejections, many accepted them with a smile. In the evening we assembled food packages with a tract included for the homeless and distributed them also in San Jose. The emotions felt by some gave them a lot to contemplate and pray about. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s ministry and what God has in store for us.

Monday, August 11th
Today we woke up and went to the Score Villa to pick up some group leaders. From there we went to MasXMenos supermarket to buy food for 11 families. We took that food to impoverished areas around San Jose. We were doing this through a local church called Los Guidos. Later in the day we painted and varnished at the new Score Facility. In the evening we played a match against a local team. In all, today was a very successful day and another great day of learning in Costa Rica. It is raining a lot, and we had to move the game indoors for tonight.

Day 1

Hola from Costa Rica!

Coach Chavez here and I just wanted to share with all what a wonderful day that we have had here in San Jose, Costa Rica.

It all started yesterday at 2pm with cultural competencies, and a great meal at the Global Market in Minneapolis. We had a great time with campus associate pastor Matt Runion who shared some valuable missions tools with us, as well as let us sleep in his church, what a blessing.

We were out and in the bus at 3:45 am for the long journey to CR. After rushing to make our gate in Minneapolis due to the 42 travelers we found ourselves soon rushing again in Atlanta to hop on the plane to San Jose. I am so proud of all the players as they represented the Lord and Bethel beautifully. Oh, and we all made it:)

We were greeted at the airport by an entourage of Score officials who loaded all of our gear and us as we headed to the Score villa. The trip through the city was great and we got our first glimpse of the beautiful culture that we are so honored to be serving.

We were amazed when we arrived at the villa and were taken to our rooms. Super bueno! Our rooms are beautiful each with its own bathroom, incredibly clean with fresh linens and towels. We moved in as you can see from some of the photos and got comfortable for an orientation.

In orientation we learned a bit more about what we will be doing this week and were able to pick up some valuable information on how we would be serving the Lord through Score’s mission team here.

The player’s just returned from enjoying a basketball game where we were supporting another Score mission team as they battled with the local talent. We will have our first battle tomorrow morning with the Men’s team playing at 9:30 am, and the Women’s team playing at 1:00 pm.

Your continued prayer and support is appreciated as we reach out to spread the Gospel to the nationals.

Look for more updates to come tomorrow after our day.

Blessings,

Pepe Jon Chavez
Head Coach Bethel University Men’s & Women’s Soccer Programs
Instructor Health & Physical Education Department
Owner Pepe Jon’s “Happy Feet” Complete Soccer Education
pepejon-chavez@bethel.edu
pepejonshappyfeet@yahoo.com
HYPERLINK “http://pepejonshappyfeet.com” \t “_blank” pepejonshappyfeet.com

1(612)987-5607 (cell)
1(651)638-6024 (office)
“Happy Feet” With Coaches That Care!!!

Day two-

Today we woke up around eight, and wolfed down some breakfast and headed out for our nine thirty game. We played a group of all star high school players. They ranged from fifteen to seventeen years of age. Although they were quite younger than us they still put up a good fight. In the end Bethel still prevailed winning 4 to zero with goals by Randon Sommars, Eric Johnson, Andreas Scott, and our very own Pepe Jon. We added two bethel hall of famers to our roster in Tyler Murchie and Pepe Jon Chavez.
After the game we got the awesome opportunity to share the gospel with the team that we played against. Matt Vanbenschoten shared his testimony while Josh Miller shared the gospel. Pepe Jon cleared up the message with his superior Spanish skills. We also got the opportunity to hand out a tract and share with the players on the other team.

-Kirk Darling and Josh Miller

Ladies here! We spent our morning cheering on the men. They played great and were good examples to follow. After their victory, we loaded onto the bus and traveled up to an even higher elevation where we played our first game. The clouds were looming over us the entire game, but luckily the rain held out until the final whistle blew. The women on the other team ranged in age from 13 to 30. They were a good team, but we managed to pull off a 5-0 victory. We had goals by Krista Polding, Alli Kishaba, and Bre Posey. It got to be a little bit of a physical game toward the end and we were worried about how the other team would receive our testimonies, but overall it went very well and it even seemed like a couple of the girls were especially interested in the story of Jesus.
After a full day of soccer we were ready to get out on the town! We loaded the school bus and headed to a local “mall.” We were able to buy things like coffee at the grocery store, ice cream, and other basic necessities. : ) Surprisingly, the stores weren’t all that different than what we are accustomed to. We are very much looking forward to going to a more authentic market tomorrow.
After an AMAZING dinner of spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread we were preparing to hear a message from a Score team member when a power line outside the villa fell and started on fire. We lost power, but luckily nothing is damaged and everyone is fine. We are hoping to have power and warm water in the morning. Our night is coming to a close with a lot of laughter and games that don’t require too much lighting. We are enjoying spending time together and serving in this beautiful country. Talk to you soon!

-Nicki Luehrs and Charli Sorensen

Day 3

Kylie Dirks gave us an option for a 7:00 am run to which many of the ambitious ones joined. We ran through a near University of San Jose and it was simply beautiful…palm trees, blue skies, barking guard dogs, and encouraging neighbors…just the perfect running conditions. We returned for a delicious breakfast.
Church was amazing! We drove the bumpy drive to a squatter community in San Jose. The church service took place in a garage, but the exterior did not match the passion for Christ that was inside. The service consisted of three sermons by Pepe Jon, Pastor Gabriel, and a missionary couple who plan to travel to Honduras. Our team sang “Father I Adore You” in Spanish to the congregation. We all agreed that one of the most passionate moments of the service was when the congregation sang in Spanish and English “Our God is Mighty to Save.” It was testimony that two different cultures worship the same God.
After a quick meal at a local mall food court, we headed back to the villa where we met up with Kristin Kishaba. (WHOO!!) She finally arrived after spending the summer in New York City working with Youth Works. United as one team we traveled to an orphanage a good distance. Our spirits never dampened even when the bus stalled due to the engine overheating. At the orphanage we saw how the language barrier was no longer an issue. The kids sought only love. Some of the activities included soccer, volleyball, skateboarding, swinging on the playground, and just hanging out.
We then went to a different mall food court and ate another wonderful meal. After that we came back and had the opportunity to debrief as a team. This was led by Christine Osgood, and this was a time where we were able to break down the past couple days, discover frustrations, share God-sightings, and encourage each other. This was a powerful time.
Tomorrow we’re going to support Pastor Gabriel in a food distribution in the morning. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated so that they could not only be blessed with the material things but that they will be able to see the Lord through our times and services. Also pray that we could be a witness as both the men and women have a soccer game tomorrow. This trip has been a time where we have really grown together. Pray that we would continue to be unified.
-Kelsey, Kelci, Randon, Tim

SWU Volleyball Mission Trip Blog – Day Six

by Derek Schmitt, SWU Volleyball Head Coach

Sunday, August 10, 2008

9:19 p.m. (Local Time) – Wouldn’t you know after my comments on the rain yesterday, it didn’t rain at all today! We had a beautiful day and it worked out great. We went to church in the morning and fortunately, we had Cesar there to translate for us. Another first for me though during the service, they take an intermission. A gentleman spoke on Apocalipsis (Revelation) chapter four and then after the intermission, the pastor led a Bible Study. We got to sing songs in Spanish, which was neat.

After lunch (they had pizza delivered), we headed out to an orphanage. We were going with the men’s and women’s soccer teams from Bethel University and they were a ways behind us so our great bus driver, Guillermo, took us sight seeing. He took us to a scenic lookout and it was an amazing view. During our drive we also passed a volcano which hasn’t erupted since 1963. We also saw the ruins of an old cathedral, which was destroyed by an earthquake, and the new cathedral which was massive, white, and beautiful.

We finally arrived at the orphanage and had a great time. There are over 100 children of all ages that live there. They were so excited to see us. We were able to do a bunch of different things including:

· Played around with volleyballs or soccer balls.

· Played “Duck, Duck, Goose.”

· Gave piggy back rides.

· Played on the playground.

· Played jump rope.

· Took lots of pictures – they loved having their picture taken and then wanted to see it right away on the digital camera.

It was a lot of fun to play with the children, and it was really hard to leave…four of the children came down to the fence right by our bus and were waving goodbye, blowing us kisses, and sticking out their lip, giving that sad face. (I think that was the hardest one to take.)

We finished the night having dinner at Friday’s…Cesar, Guillermo, and Marianella were able to join us. It’s the first receipt I’ve ever signed that had a six digit number. Fortunately, it was in colones and not dollars! We got back to the villa and took some time to debrief about our experience. Many of the girls had really neat stories about their interactions with the children.

Tonight was the last night we’ll all be together. Heather Craker, Monique, and Annika fly home tomorrow so Heather and Monique can get back for some of the Resident Assistant training that is currently going on. As for those of us who are remaining in Costa Rica, we’re leaving at 8 a.m. to do another volleyball clinic and then after lunch, we are going to distribute food. We are expecting God to bless our ministry tomorrow as he has during our entire trip.

Adios!

Sunday - August 10
We arrived in Costa Rica saturday with no real travel problems. After getting settled in to our rooms we had dinner and devotions with Jeff Hackett. He spoke from John 9 on seeing what God sees.
After our devotions we headed right to bed.
Sunday was a beautiful day as we went to church at El Lugar Church. What an awesome time of fellowship. We even met a two couples who are Mainers! They ar her at language school before they go on to their assignments in Central America. What a great time.
The afternoon gave us an opportunity to visit the souveneir stores. I think we all found some good deals. After that we stopped at a grocery store and enjoyed the experience. After dinner we received a challenging devotional message from one of the Score missionaries - Pastor Hubert. I know that God is preparing us for a great week. The team has wonderful unity and really enjoy each others fellowship and prayers. We will keep you up to date as we serve here in Costa Rica - Pura Vida!

SWU Volleyball Mission Trip Blog – Day Five

by Derek Schmitt, SWU Volleyball Head Coach

Saturday, August 07, 2008

2:30 p.m. (Local Time) – The words of the popular contemporary worship song by Delirious come to mind right now:

Rain down, all around the world we’re singing,

Rain down, can you hear the earth it’s singing,

Rain down, my heart is dry, but still I’m singing,

Rain down, rain it down.

For the fifth consecutive day, it is raining! I’m not really shocked since I looked at www.weather.com before we left and the 10-day forecast was pretty much the same every day – highs in the low 80’s with a 60% chance of a thunderstorm. They’ve been on the money so far. Today was some of the hardest rain we’ve had yet, which was after lunch while most of us were napping.

This morning, we traveled to Los Guidos to help with a Vacation Bible School. For those of us, like me, who thought we were just going to a church to sing some songs, play some games, and listen to someone talk about Jesus, we were WAY off! We arrived in the community about 9 a.m. and the VBS wasn’t scheduled to start until 10:30 a.m. We used those 90 minutes to walk through the community to meet families and invite the children to Bible Study. We split into two groups and my group went down into, I guess you would call a ravine that was filled with hundreds of homes made with scrap metal. The majority of the people came to Costa Rica from Nicaragua to live a better life, which if you saw how they lived, you wonder how much worse it can be. I can only speak for myself when I say I have never in my life witnessed poverty like I saw in that ravine.

We met a 16 year old girl, Maria, who is seven months pregnant and the baby has a tumor in its kidney. Her sister, Janet, who is 14 years old, wants to be a missionary so she can help those who are starving. We probably visited 8-10 homes.

After we got back up to the street, we walked several blocks to the church. John, who was dressed as a clown (Seinfeld fans, good thing Kramer wasn’t with us!), joined us as we invited children to come to VBS. One child wanted to see him and when John walked towards her, she ran back to her family. We finally got to the location of the VBS which was a decent size room. Pastor Gabriel showed up with a mini-van jam packed with children. During the course of the event, I would say there were more than 50 children in attendance.

Once things started rolling, we played a couple of games. The first game was “Clumps” or “Groups” where everyone walks around the room and someone yells a number and you have to get that many people into one group. They also played a game similar to “Simon Says”. If the leader said “enano” (dwarf), you had to squat down. If the leader said “gigante” (giant), you had to stand straight up. If the leader said “gelatina” (gelatin….aka, Jello), you had to wiggle like Jello.

After the fun, the pastor talked using the examples of colors (just as David had at Thursday’s volleyball clinic) to explain sin and that Jesus died on a cross, so we could be forgiven of our sins. A lady followed that with a Sunday School type lesson and then they educated the children on different countries missionaries could go to, that they would be learning about in the following weeks. To close, our team led everyone in singing “This is the Day” and “Jesus Loves Me”. It was a great morning and definitely the most unique ministry opportunity we’ve had so far on this trip. It’ll be interesting to hear what everyone has to say about the experience during our team devotions tonight.

I’m sure everyone took advantage of our two hour break to grab a nap and now, we’re getting ready to head out for our last volleyball match of the trip. The girls have played really well this week which hasn’t been easy because each day has been long and tiring before they even stepped on the court to play.

9:45 p.m. (Local Time) – Back at the villa and we came back to an interesting situation, but I’ll get to that a little bit later.

We got to play two teams tonight, with the first being just two sets against a high school club volleyball team. They played a match against another club team prior to our match. I was impressed watching them play, they had a couple of really solid players. However, when we stepped on the court to play them, we took control right away and kept it for the majority of the match, winning 25-10 and 25-21.

Our second opponent, made up of college age players or older, plays in the top division of the region (I have no idea what that means, but it sounds good). Anyway, we came out in the first set and built up a huge lead early before winning 25-18. The second game didn’t go so well as we lost 13-25. We didn’t start off too hot in the third and final set, falling down 0-5. But as we did earlier in the week, we came storming back to win the third set 15-11. We finished up the trip with a 4-0-1 record.

As we were approaching the villa, Noel, one of the workers for Score International, told us a power line right by the villa had fallen to the ground and left the area without electricity. Sure enough, as we approached the villa, there was a fire truck in the middle of the road, blocking all traffic. We had to get out of the bus and walk up to the villa and wait several minutes before they could open the gate for us.

So we enjoyed a nice, lantern-lit spaghetti meal together and then closed the day with team devotions. It was great for everyone to share their perspective on the experience at the Vacation Bible School. I think it had a major impact on many of us.

Well, it’s 10:01 p.m. and still no electricity so I guess, there’s only one thing to do…GO TO BED! (I hope we have electricity by the morning so I can email today’s blog for the website.) Sunday should be another great day as we’ll be going to church in the morning and visiting an orphanage in the afternoon.

WU Volleyball Mission Trip Blog – Day Four

by Derek Schmitt, SWU Volleyball Head Coach

Friday, August 07, 2008

9:28 p.m. (Local Time) – Today was a fun day for everyone, highlighted by the zip lining this morning. The 11 players and my wife Monique hiked up a mountain and then rode the zip line down. (I was hanging out at the villa with my daughter Annika.) My wife was able to share some of the process with me:

1. The adventure started with everyone climbing up rocks along the river.

2. Eventually, everyone had to cross over a suspension bridge with Marianella jumping up and down to make the bridge rock a little bit.

3. Next, it was time to put on all the gear – harness, gloves, carabineers, and everyone already had their helmets on.

4. Training – how to hold on correctly and how to brake.

5. Time to climb up the platform and GO!

6. There were five different platforms that everyone took off from…way above the tree line.

Since I wasn’t there, it would be hard for me to describe the players’ reaction so let me let them tell you all about it:

Keni Abercrombie: “Amazing! And a great workout.”

Stephanie Alexander: “It was an amazing experience. I loved the feeling of flying through the air with nothing around you. I would love to do it again.”

Jessica Angeli: “I’m going to quote our crazy tour guide. Referencing that the area we were in was a limestone quarry, he said, “if a siren goes off, everybody hit the ground…they are blowing things up.”

Katelyn Barnes: “Totally worth it! I highly recommend that everyone try it.”

Heather Craker: “Breathtaking experience…first time I ever felt close to flying.”

Michelle Hayes: “Muy, muy, bien!” (Translated “Very, very good.”)

Michelle Outlaw: “Breathtaking. Lots of fun.”

Megan Thomas: “It was such a great experience for the team to share together…it felt like you were flying from one mountain to the next…amazing!

Lindsey Torgerson: “It was an out of body experience…especially hanging upside down.”

Lane Wallace: “Du du matenga. That was a phrase they used which meant ‘an unforgettable experience, don’t give up, or keep going.”

Kaitlin Wolfe: “I love flying! I wish I could do it whenever I wanted!!”

Monique Schmitt: “I’ve always wanted to fly and this was pretty close.

Tonight, we played a match which two different teams played against us within the match, another first! We won the match in three straight sets, but played two extra games and won both of those. The scores of the first three sets were 25-11, 25-20, 25-22. I’ve been really impressed with the way the team has played this week, going on just two practices on Monday and four long days during the trip.

After the match, Michelle Outlaw and Stephanie Alexander shared a testimony with all the players. It continues to amaze me (a word used in today’s blog very often!) as I see everyone on the trip sharing the love of Jesus with others. I’m sure many of the people have heard of Jesus and some of them already have a personal relationship with Jesus, but we are hoping at least one person and ideally a lot more people, will invite Jesus into their hearts as a result of our ministry.

It is time to get some sleep! We will play our last volleyball match of the trip tomorrow night at 6 p.m. In the morning, we’ll be helping at a nearby Vacation Bible School. We appreciate everyone’s continual prayers for the team and this trip.

Adios!!!