3rd Day Working

      Our morning schedule was the same as the past two days. When we arrived to the Abraham Project a few of us went with the day care kids to the local movie theatre, while the majority of us went to work in the mud pile, a.k.a the future yard. At the theatre we helped teachers keep the children in order, watched Hotel Transylvania 2, and got to know a couple of the kids really well. After the movie we went to the food court to eat lunch. We got back to Abraham Project around one and the whole group went to go see the property that is set aside for phase 2, but sadly, we weren't able to get there.
      On the work cite we leveled the ground in preparation for placing the grass, dug trenches, and planted little bushes all around the edge of the side walk. We ended up working until five and then returned to Franco's. After cleaning up we ate supper, had devotions, and then wrapped the Christmas presents for the kids in the Children's home at the Abraham Project. And that was our day! :D

2nd Day Working

We woke up and ate at Franco's house and then left for the Abraham Project. Some of the girls left to work at the daycare while the rest of us began to work on several jobs. Our goal was to prepare sections of land for sod to be laid. We had to dig up extra dirt and dump it over the edge of the bank of a river. We raked the ground so it was even and the ground was loose. We ate lunch at 12 and then continued the projects in the rain. We worked until 4:30 and then returned to Franco's for supper. After supper some of us walked to a nearby grocery store for some snacks and drinks.
We met up for some worship and devotions before heading to bed.

First Day on the Job

Our first full day in Cost Rica was full of being immersed in the Costa Rican culture. We started our day out at 7am with a delicious breakfast to give us fuel for the hard work we had ahead of us. At 7:30am we headed to the Abraham Project, and met all of the Costa Rican workers that we will be working with for the rest of the week. Our main goal this week is to finish the courtyard/garden which is central to all of the buildings at the Abraham Project. We were all assigned to various tasks. Some of the tasks included mixing cement for the pathways, ripping out an old brick sidewalk, preparing trenches for PVC pipe, leveling the top soil for sod, relocating a palm tree, mowing, and weed whacking. There are a few girls who are helping out in the day care by doing some crafts and games with the kids. We finished working at around 4pm, and headed back to Franco's to get cleaned up and have dinner. After dinner, we went to church at The Abraham Project for some worship and a short sermon that was all in Spanish. This was difficult for us seniors since we speak very little Spanish, but it was definitely interesting to see how believers in a different culture do things differently than we do. We finished off the day with meeting as a class, and discussing the experiences that we had on our first full day and experiences to come. We are all ready to get some rest for a day full of hard work and new experiences. We appreciate you keeping us in your prayers, and we will continue to post updates on our adventure.

The Adventure Begins in Costa Rica!

We began our journey to Costa Rica at the very early time of 1:15 a.m. Before departing for Reagan Airport in Washington, DC, our class and advisors prayed with the parents and Dr. Flood. Once at the airport we proceeded to our terminal and boarded our 6:00 a.m. flight to Atlanta, Georgia. From Atlanta we then had a four hour flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.  Once we arrived at 12:00 p.m. (Costa Rican time is 2 hours behind EST), we met up with our team leaders, Bruce and Angie.  After getting settled in at Franco's house, the place we will be lodging for the trip, we went to the Abraham Project for a tour. While we were there, Bruce and Angie gave us a lot of background on how this project started and became what it is today. They showed us several buildings including the daycare center, children's homes, multipurpose center, and medical center. We will be getting the opportunity to work in many of these buildings in the upcoming days at the Abraham Project.  After the tour, we went to Bruce and Angie's house for a Costa Rican barbecue. It was a great time of fellowship as we got to enjoy their culture's food and meet several missionary families that help run the Abraham Project.  It is a huge praise that we did not encounter any problems during our transit to Costa Rica.  Many of us are feeling rather exhausted from the long day of travel, and our looking forward to getting a great nights sleep.  We ask that you continue to pray for us that we may make an impact on the Abraham Project as well as the people we minister to in Costa Rica. We're very excited for the doors that God will open for us during our missions trip! P.S. we apologize for the late update, it was meant to be posted last night and have pictures, but due to the slow Wi-Fi that proved difficult.

The Time Is Coming...

The anticipation is building as we will soon be departing on the Class of 2016 Senior Missions Trip! Many of us are already packing for our departure from Shalom at 2:00 a.m. on October 27. We will then fly from Washington National to Atlanta and then San Jose, Costa Rica!

2015 Sr. Missions Trip

October 27 - November 5