East Hill Christian School arrives in Guanacaste

Saturday evening we welcomed our good friends Janene, Pam and Cristina and the kids from East Hill Christian School. Months ago, we began planning for this weekend and it came upon us quickly and sadly, passed just as quickly. We will cherish the memories we made together in two and half days with the team forever. We look forward to seeing the full effect of their efforts over the weekend as we go about following up from the one-day VBS they held. The team held this VBS in a little village literally 'just across the river' from us where there is no Christian evangelical presence. To our knowledge, this was only the second VBS ever held in this village. The story of how we were able to get the use of the community center alone is evidence of the enemy's desire to foil the plans that had God had for that day. (And a little glimpse of how seemingly backward things can be in a country different than our own).

The area has about 1500 people in it, from our best guess after talking to several residents. We found God's favor on Friday when we went with another mom in the area and her kids, our family and a young lady from the church to pass out invitations. It was the last day of school before their winter vacation (it is rainy season or winter here now) and all t he kids were in the school for their party. We were able to hand an invitation to all the kids as they left the school that day and talk with many parents. It was wonderful. There are roughly 100 kids in the little school.

We are praising God for the VBS, for those who are excited about learning more about God and studying His word in a discipleship group and are very honored to have partnered with EHCS in sharing the gospel and now in making disciples.

You can read the team blog from the weekend below.




July 1-5

Thursday morning brought a very early start for the members of the EHCS
Costa Rica mission team. We met at 3:45 a.m. at the Pensacola Airport and
sailed through our flights with no difficulty. We landed in San Jose in
the afternoon, where Mark Kuzdas and Cori (our fantastic bus driver) were
awaiting our arrival. THe bus took us to the mission house and we ate a
delicious hamburger lunch after we unloaded our luggage. THe team was
overjoyed to be re-united with the other two member of the team, Kristen
and Pam Keller, who had arrived in Costa Rica earlier in the week.

At 4:30 p.m., everyone headed to La Finca, the church area in Los Guido,
so that we could meet with the leadership team from the church there. THe
team helps us out during the various Bible Schools. The returning EHCS
team members got to see all their old friends, and the new team members
made lots of new friends. After a classic Costa Rican dinner of rice and
deans, we explained how the Bible Schools would work and passed out blue
VBS shirts to the Los Guido leadership team. Afterwards, we played until
nighttime and then rode back to the mission house for some much-needed
sleep. We were completely exhausted from our day of travel and fun!

We did not get a break on Saturday morning; we were up and ready by 6:00
a.m! We grabbed a quick breakfast of pastries and Mrs. Keller's famous
muffins, then hit the road for Arenal. Along the way, Cori took us to all
the best shops. One souvenir shop housed a colorful toucan and a
butterfly garden in the back, and another shop was located in an area
completely surrounded by dozens of gigantic iguanas! we pulled into our
resort hotel in Arenal around lunchtime, where we were welcomed by a
fantastic view of the volcano from our room windows. We ate from a yummy
buffet at our hotel, then headed back to our rooms to relax.

That evening at 6:00, we hopped on the bus to the luxurious hot springs.
Each pool was a different temperature, ranging from cool all the way to
scalding hot! The team favorites were definitely the large pool with a
heated slide and the spring with a waterfall that poured over your back
and shoulders. Once everyone had their fill of the water, we ate dinner
at a scrumptious Asian buffet. We went back to the hotel full and
completely relaxed!

On Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel, then drove to a quaint
shopping area for a few hours. We came back to our hotel for lunch, then
hit the road for Guanacaste. It was a long trip, but the team finally
arrived at a mission house there, five hours later. We were greeted by
our friends, Matt, Brooke, Ethan, Isabelle, and Audrey McClain, who are
serving as missionaries in Guanacaste. We ate dinner, unloaded our bags,
and hung out for the rest of the night. Eventually, the boys went to the
Calvary Chapel, where they would be sleeping, and the girls settled into
their beds at the mission house. Of course, going to sleep wasn't all
that easy with the sound of crowing roosters and the fear of scorpions and
cockroaches throughout the night!

Luckily, everyone survived the night, and we had a hearty pancake
breakfast Sunday morning. After, we coated ourselves in sunscreen and bug
spray and rode to the beach. We could not believe our eyes when we
spotted several monkeys swinging from the trees on our way there! It was
a beautiful, sunny and we all enjoyed the waves and sand. A few of the
boys even tried their hand at surfing the Pacific waves! At noon, we
packed up and went back to the mission house to eat some arroz con carne
(rice with beef!).

Next, we began preparation for a prayer walk. At 3:00 o.m., we drove to
the area where we would hold Bible School the next morning, and walked the
streets, praying and handing out VBS invitations. After, we drove to the
church, a Calvary Chapel, where we performed two skits and Jocelyn sang in
the service. Many of the girls helped out in the nursery and Sunday
school classes. We had dinner at the church, went to the mission house to
practice puppet skits, then went to bed.

Monday brought the first day of our "marathon" of Vacation Bible Schools.
We got up early, ate breakfast, then went to the Salon Comunal, where we
set up for the VBS. We did not know exactly what to expect today, but as
the children began to trickle in, our team was armed with balloon animals
and face paints. It was a successful day--around 40 children attended the
VBS, and everyone had a great time learning about the Lord. We had
puppets, praise and worship, Bible stories, crafts, and recreation.
Everything ran smoothly! We felt blessed to be one of the first groups to
ever hold a CVS in this area, and our prayer is that it will start a spark
for Christ in the small beach town of Guanacaste.

As soon as Vacation Bible School ended, the team returned to the
Guanacaste mission house for the final time. We ate lunch with the sweet
McClain family, then began the long trek back to San Jose. Six hours
later, we made it home, safe and sound. We called our families, showered,
gave massages, practiced skits, then finally called it a night. We cannot
wait to see how God uses us tomorrow in the Tejarcillos VBS, and in the
many Bible schools to come!

Thanks,
Jocelyn