Back home in Iowa

I'm sorry I have been so horrible about writing on here. The last week in Costa Rica was very busy and we had limited access to computers.

The final week of VBS went very well. We were told when the last group left the first week that they would be bringing up to 40 kids and they would be between the ages of 10-14 - much older than we had the first week. This meant we had to revamp the VBS a bit to make it geared more towards older kids. Sarah found a couple of new songs that we thought older kids would enjoy more and Rose and I came up with some new crafts that were a bit more challenging.

Picking up supplies from Orosi.



Cutting out crowns - the kids learned about becoming a Child of the King.



I was very nervous for the kids to come Monday morning, but of course, everything went fine. I think we had about 30 kids on Monday and most of the kids were older, although some were younger and there were even some kids that had come the week before!

The most kids we had last week was about 35. It was a lot but the kids seemed to behave much better because they were older so it wasn't problem. It was just hard to plan for the next day because we never knew how many kids would show up. We just had to be ready for 40 even if only 20 would end up coming.

I think one of my favorite parts of the whole VBS was hearing the kids memorize Bible verses! We had a new verse for each day that we would teach them first thing in the morning. We would then review it about 4 times during the remainder of the day. Although we would try to get the kids to say the verse together by saying "uno, dos, tres!" they would all speed through the verse and it would just be jumbled mess. But, the most important thing is that kids learned the verses very well. Hanzel, a Costa Rican who came to help with the VBS, usually led the memory verses and he did a great job.



On Monday, during craft time, I heard a huge crack - it sounds like a tree falling. Sure enough, 3/4 of the huge water-apple tree at the camp broke off. I think it was because of the weight of all the apples. We were very grateful that none of the kids were under the tree picking apples when the tree fell. A bunch of us helped cleaned up the tree which made the work go quickly.
The result of cleaning up was this:



During the last week we went on two hikes. The first hike was halfway up a mountain for a great view of Orosi. It was a very steep hike but the view was amazing!
The second hike was to a waterfall up in the mountains. It took us off the beaten path and through coffee trees and a long a banana plantation (I don't know how those trees could grow on the side of the mountain - it was crazy!). We then had to climb up the side of rocks while holding onto a rope. It was a fun hike! the waterfall was amazing. It was kind of like Dunning Springs only much higher and about straight up. We had fun taking pictures in the water and trying to stand up underneath the waterfall.




The last night we were in Costa Rica Ken took us out for supper so that the cooks could have the night off. We went to a restaurant up on the mountain. Because the Dundon's van was not fixed yet, we took the city bus up the mountain (it cost 410 colones, which is about 70 cents to ride the bus). We then had to walk at least a mile to get to the restaurant. Tico's (Costa Ricans) walk very slow so when we walked back to the rode to catch the bus, Ken, Sarah and I made it to the bus stop first (which was a 3 foot long yellow line on the side of the road) just as a bus was coming. Ken jumped on that bus so he could go pick up his van and we waited for the next bus because the Tico's that had come with us were too far away to catch the first bus. Although we had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus to come, we had fun as we stood in the dark and rain. We were attempting to hitch a ride from people driving past but no one stopped. It was humorous!

When we got back to Orosi, Sarah and I bought some pastries for a trip back. They very large but very tasty! We had to be up at 4:45 in the morning so that we could leave by 5:30. Ken flew out at 9:00 to go back to the States for a couple of weeks to see his new grandson. Sarah and I didn't fly out until 12:50 so we had a lot of time to hang out in the airport. We raided the free coffee samples and ate our pastries.



The first flight was uneventful and in Houston, we made it through customs fine. However, a storm that came through just as we were supposed to be leaving delayed our flight by almost two hours. Because of this, we didn't get into Minneapolis until midnight so we didn't get home until 3 a.m. whew...that was a long day!

Overall, the trip was very good and I am so grateful I was able to go to Costa Rica and minister to Orphans. Thank you all for your prayers and support as I went on this trip. God Bless!

Week one: Done!

Hey everyone!

We just completed week one and are having our daily 3:00 coffee break. I thought I would take a few minutes to do a quick update.

The kids continued to come each day around 10:15. We never really knew when they would come, or how many there would be. Yesterday, we only had about 21. Today, we had like 30 some! Some come in pick-up trucks, others take the bus to Orosi and we have to walk to go get them. Because we do not know when they are going to show up or when we are going to start, the schedule that we worked so hard at making kinda went out the window (we wrote that in pen...no erasing! lol!). We did try to follow the time frames even though everything was pushed back about an hour. I was actually glad they did come an hour late each day because we still got everything that we had planned done and I do not know what we would have done if we had another hour!

Yesterday, it rained almost all day. Actually, it was more like a torrential downpour. There was standing water and huge puddles everywhere. Even though it was raining, we still all went swimming since it was not lightning. That was an experience! The crafts went really well and we did not have left over time or anything. However, after the pool time, we had about an hour to kill, and man was it a killer! Because it was raining, we had to keep the kids inside. I guess I will call it organized chaos......

Everything went very well today as well, except it did not rain which allowed for more time to be spent outside. We actually went about 15 minutes over time!

Over all, this week has gone well. It has been very tiring and I think we have all learned a lot - which is good because next week, we have between 25-40 kids ages 10-14 coming! We will have to change a lot of things because most of the kids this week were 4-10 and even a couple of babies.

Tomorrow we are having a work day around the camp and will be cleaning up from this weeks VBS to get ready for next week. Saturday, we will get a chance to sleep in a bit and then will do a bit of site seeing. The oldest still functioning church in Costa Rica is in Orosi, only a 10 minute walk away so I think we are going to go see that. At least that is the plan for now....

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Dacia

a pencil with a big eraser!

Hola!

Today we learned what it means to use a pencil with a BIG eraser! That has become Ken and Sherri's motto since moving here to Costa Rica two years ago. Today was the first day of the VBS. We were supposed to have 25 kids. We were supposed to start at 9:00. We ended up having 10 kids. We ended up starting at 10:30.

There were transportation problems, which is no surprise. The kids ended up riding a public bus to Orosi and then we had to walk about a mile to go get them. The camp is on one side of the river and Orosi is on the other side of the river. There is a walking bridge that cross the river just up the road from the camp, and there is a vehicle bridge about 3 miles from the camp. The kids could have taken a public bus all the way here, but because of an incidence that a few months ago, the buses can't cross the bridges anymore so the people have to get off the bus and walk across the bridge and get on a bus on the other side of the river.

Anyway, once the kids finally got here, everything went really well! The kids were pretty well behaved and we had no problems. It was really hard not being able to communicate with them, but we have plenty of translators so it's not really a problem - just a nuisance. The only thing that went wrong today was a run-in with a bee's nest. Thankfully, it was two of the team members that got stung and none of the kids. But, with my wonderful nursing training, I fixed them up as good as new. Ok, so not really, but they are both fine. :-)

Well, it didn't rain today and we are done preparing for tomorrow so I think we are going to have a bonfire that we have had to take several rain checks on.

Hopefully we will have more kids tomorrow! And maybe they will be on time...we shall see!

Adios!

Coffee and the Homeless

Hi Everyone!

We had the spaghetti supper for the homeless on Thursday. It was such a neat, humbling experience!! We made TONS of spaghetti - like a whole cooler full. Yes, we just dumped spaghetti into a cooler and filled it full! We also served them bread with butter and some juice. They were very gracious that we had brought them food. After everyone ate, they had a church service. The place were we went is more like a rehabilitation center where the people can come and hear about Jesus and get away from drugs and alcohol. It was amazing watching people who had nothing worship through song. While some of the men just sat in the back, there were many that stood right up in the front of the church singing with all their heart and clapping very loudly - I think we clapped for about 15 minutes straight! After the singing, Sarah, Jason and I gave our testimonies. Sarah gave hers in Spanish, but Jason and I had Kyle and Heather (the Dundon kids) translate for us. The four of us also did a drama for the men. We played the Hallelujah song by Michael W Smith and did a little skit type thing. It was neat. Afterwards, we shook hands with lots of people and because Sarah can speak spanish, we were able to talk to some of them. It was a very humbling and encouraging experience. We didn't get home until about 8:30 and then we had to wash up the huge pots and pans we had used to make the spaghetti. After that, we sat outside out cabin talking and Sarah played her guitar. It was a good day!



On Wednesday, we had a day off and we went to the Britt Coffee Plantation. Some of the best coffee in the world comes from Britt! We had a very good tour with very fun tour guides and then bought a lot of coffee. We learned all about how they pick and process the coffee. The reason why Britt is so much better than anything else is because they hand pick the coffee so there are only ripe beans picked. The beans are ripe from December-February and they pick from each field every day during that time. The coffee is picked in the morning because it has to be processed the same day. They wash the outside layer of the bean off and then the bean has to dry for 7 days in the sun and it has to raked every 30 minutes. The coffee is then roasted in an oven that is 450 degrees for 15 minutes for light roast, 20 for medium, and 25 for dark roast.

They also have decaf, but, as they explained, there are two different ways to decaf coffee - with water, or with chemicals. They do theirs with water - the safer way. They ship it to Germany to have it done. The coffee beans (before roasted) are put in hot water and steamed until the caffeine is "washed" out of the bean. The bean is then roasted, though it takes a bit longer because the flavor is not as strong anymore. I had always wondered how they made coffee decaf.

Yesterday, we cleaned the camp and then played some soccer in the mud. It was a lot of fun! Last night we went to youth group and did our drama there. Today we made the final preparations and ran through what a normal day of VBS should look like. We have the puppets ready and Jason made a puppet stage while Henny, Tamra's mom who came to visit for a couple of weeks sewed the material we needed. The puppeteers do a great job! We have been practicing the Spanish songs and I think we have them all down so that we can sing with the kids. Pray for us tomorrow as we have our first day! Pray that we can keep everything under control. We have been told that the orphans that will be coming can be quite rowdy.

Well, I hope you have all had a wonderful 4th of July!

Dacia