We made it home!

Thanks to everyone who followed our team while we were in Costa Rica and for consistently praying for us.  God was faithful and worked in and through us in many ways we didn't expect.  It was a blast.  There may be one more link to a recap video up on this blog within the next week...but other than that, this will be the last post till the next trip.

Thanks again...
The Lakeland Team

Just some pics before we hit the road...

Julio above and to left swimming with Mary.

Day 6 or 7 (I forget)

Today was our day off.  It was spent in at a coastal town called Jaco.  We started off early this morning with our hour and a half ride over the mountain down to the coast.  We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast down on the beach which was followed by an  amazing canopy zip-line tour through the rainforest.  Our afternoon was spend swimming in the ocean and shopping in Jaco.  We ended our day with dinner with a sunset view and the ocean waves crashing beside us.  It was awesome.

Now we have one more day and we look forward to serving in a different church tomorrow.  Please keep praying that we finish well tomorrow and enjoy our time to the full.

I'll (Josh) get pictures up as soon as I can get some uploaded...

Day 6

Gloria a Dios! Mike here writing...What a ride!  God is doing some awesome things in us and through us.  The children—all 29 of them are an incredible blessing.  They are from backgrounds of deep hurt, betrayal and pain, yet the work of Jesus is so evident in their eyes.  If you needed a resume for Hogar de Vida, you would need look no further than those wonderful eyes.  Then there are the shining faces of the tias (Spanish for aunts), who care for the children with a beautiful intensity that has to be seen to be believed.  Each tia has her own story and those that we have heard have ministered deeply to each of us and elevated our own faith.  For our part, our work projects are progressing and are a gift.  Our testimonies are bringing life to others and our gifts and your gifts are making a difference (we brought in more than 750 lbs. of supplies).  The wonder and the beauty of this venture is to see our crew ministering in prayer and in the power of God, bringing life to others, and in the process experiencing more of Him in each of our lives.  Gonna bring some of that home!  (Miss you, baby!)



Josh getting stickered with Juan...

Day 5

 Mike working with the kids...

 Seems like for me almost everyday includes blood, sweat, and tears...but the blood I really wasn't hoping for.

 Rhonda helping the kids with crafts...and Mary below getting stickered

Good evening everyone. I’m (Brian) writing this at 8:45p.m. Wed. evening. You can hear the crickets in the back  ground…its great. Its so quiet here. No TV. No CNN that’s for you Julie. It is so beautiful here. But not just the country, but Hogar De Vida is the place of true beauty!! It has truly been built with and by Gods hands! By every person who has ever had a calling from God to love these children here at Hogar De Vida is what has made it what it is to day. A little of God’s grace poured out each one of these children, and the people past and present that have help Hogar De Vida flourish all these years. I have been blessed myself not only by the children, and staff, but I have been able to use the skills that God has given me to help build another building to help house extra missionaries. 
I have cried a lot in the last few days to last me a lifetime. You hold a child and see hope and you cry. You see another smiling with the biggest smile that never stops, and you cry. And most of all, you hear the stories of the faithfulness of God that has brought those here to love and take care of these blessed children of God. And you cry a whole lot more. Enough of the wet stuff I want to cry again. I truly believe that everyone should be a part of something that God has his hands all over. It helps to fill a lot of missing things in are own life.  I Miss You And Love You J. XOXO Thank you everyone who helped get me here. God Bless You All.            

Day 4

Hi everyone, Josh asked me (Mary) to write the blog today.  I don’t even know where to begin, I left as a crazy person, with all the business going’s on and life got busier here but with these beautiful children.  I have never been on a mission trip before and I certainly have never been around such a Godly place.  The children are so happy, it is just incredible to see.  They are disciplined, are taught to wash floors (they are big on that here) from the time they are 2 or 3.  It is so different than what I am used to.  I think I will be changed forever from this place.  I have helped with the everyday things with the kids and have been taking photos for them.  And of course I brought my camera and my guitar.  God is giving me a song from this place. 

This morning Rhonda gave her testimony.  It was the first time she had ever done it before.  She was pretty nervous but she was amazing and the people here accepted her so well and asked a lot of questions.  We pray a lot here.  We pray and encourage each other before things.  I am getting to know the team really well.  Mike Flick said a bird pooped on his underwear today while they hung outside for the whole world to see if you can imagine that.  He came up and told us a bird pooped his pants.  We busted up.  Brian is the ADD king of the universe, Michaela is soooo sweet and helpful and knows some Spanish so it helps, I am actually starting to understand it believe it or not.  Amber has saved us so many times with her in depth knowledge of the language and I am getting to know her so well, Joe is this sensitive guy that is a prayer warrior to the nth degree.  He is good to cry on his shoulder should you need it, Josh is playing music while I write this, so easy-going, he has set a great tone for the team.  We laugh constantly, at other people on the team, even if they don’t get it.  Tim and Dena are so great, godly people and hilarious.  We have laughed so much here.   

 The kids are so cute.  I was walking to a central place to pray this morning, I usually am up and out by 5:30 from the wake up call of amazing bird calls, when I passed by one of the homes one of the children had their nose pressed up against the window looking at me.  You just have to laugh seeing it.  The kids really do grow on you.  Ok so enough for now, miss everyone.

Day 3 part 2

Today was a riot of a day.  We had a great time painting floors, pouring concrete this morning...venturing to the waterfall nearby, and playing hard with the kids today.

Mike shared his testimony this morning and did an amazing job.  He literally left everyone wanting more.  When he had basically run out of time all the tia's said, keep going.  And so he continued and shared his story of God's faithfulness and grace throughout his life.  I (Josh) know his testimony was a powerful encouragement to everyone there.  

I know for Brian, one of his highlights today was swimming with Julio in the pool.  Julio is the only special needs child here and regularly needs help keeping his core muscles stimulated.  From birth Julio was abused, thrown against the wall by his parents, and neglected...but at Hogar De Vida Julio is one of the children who brings the most joy to teams, tias, and the children.  He laughs all the time and jokes constantly.  He alone could change your perspective on life.
Then we ended our day hearing the testimony from Noami, one of the tia's here.  Her story too would rock your socks off, from being the youngest of 14 children...neglected and abused, and never sharing her feelings with anyone.  In spite of it all, God got her, and began a long but amazing healing process in her.  Her story was filled with incredible trials, tests of faith, and obstacles from every side, but God is faithful and gave her the special gift of adopting a little girl here named Anna (which means grace) and has been using her to touch the lives of the children here at Hogar for over 16 years.  We ended with a powerful prayer time over her and we know God's got an amazing 16 more ahead of her.

I think my favorite part of these trips is watching all the team members heading off to bed at the end of an amazing day, almost scratching their heads after experiencing and hearing of the amazing works of God and His faithfulness when we walk in complete obedience and fully trusting Him. 

Day 3

Tuesday has arrived and with a new day comes new ways to bring Glory to God. The mornings, here in Costa Rica, are so full of energy. The children walk by, on their way to school. The “aunties”, or house mothers arrive to begin their day. We sit here drinking coffee, fellowshipping, and preparing for our devotional sharing time.

I (Joe) have been struck with an immense, and overwhelming, desire to use this trip to take me to a whole new spiritual reality in my life. I look around at our team and think they feel the same way. Sunday’s church service was the foundation for this new growth. Today is the day to let the Spirit loose. 

Day 2

Hey everyone!  Michaela here.  So, we started off the morning with breakfast and a tour of the grounds.  After the tour, Amber and I shared our testimonies with the adults and the littlest children during large group devotions (the older kids leave for school pretty early).  We both focused on Esther, and the courage God gave her to do what was right. Following that, everyone introduced themselves, which was a great chance to get to know names as well as a little bit of Spanish. 

            After devotions, the kids went back to their houses as the team got to work.  The ladies all went up to House 1 and sanded the metal fences and poles around the patio, so they can be re-painted tomorrow.  The guys worked on various projects, from moving scrap metal to mowing the soccer field to power washing cement floors.  Most of us worked until lunchtime, but the Tias (“Aunties” in charge of the children’s houses) left around noon to go out with the directors to just hang and get some time off, which they do once a month.  Due to them leaving, one of the houses needed supervision; Joe and Amber stepped up to the job and are running the house until after naptime, when the rest of the adults get back. 

We just finished up with lunch and are having some down-time until after the kids get up, when we’ll finish off the day with snack, craft/playtime, dinner, then to bed. 

            It is so amazing to see the spirit of God in these people, and how alive they are in him.  Yesterday at church, it was truly a touching experience to spend so much time in worship and prayer with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  Though we don’t all speak the same language, it was clear as day to everyone present that we didn’t need to speak the same language to serve the same God.  The people are so kind, generous and hospitable here, especially due to the culture being so relationally oriented.  Well, that’s all for now.  Thank you all so much for your support; stay updated by checking the blog frequently.  God bless!

We're Here!

Well we made it and what an awesome time we've already had.  This mornings church service was quite an experience for our team.  The people sing louder, clap with more enthusiasm, and dance with all their hearts.  What a challenge for us to see people truly creating a joyful noise and mostly with just voices raised to the Lord. 

We ended the service with our team going up and down the isles and praying for the folks at the church.  For many team members not only was it a blessing to the people there, but it was also a blessing to our team.  The Holy Spirit spoke so clearly to our team member telling us exactly what to pray for each person.  We are praising God for the powerful way he touched us and the church.
This afternoon we will be going through our orientation and getting a tour of the orphanage.  We'll finally get to meet most the children later today.  Then we'll enjoy some pizza tonight.

Sunday's are normally a laid back day here at the orphanage, but tomorrow we will hit the ground running as far as our daily schedule and our hands time with the children here.
We covet all your prayers and look forward to reading your comments on the blog.

Packing...Check

We had a great time with our packing party and it's all ready to go.  18 hours till launch.

Supplies are piling up

It's looking awesome here at Lakeland as the supply table of donations that are going to Hogar De Vida are seriously piling up here.  It's awesome to see the church come together and really step up and provide for those in need.  Way to go...now we just have to fit all this into our luggage.

Getting Revved Up

We are less than two weeks away from taking off to Costa Rica and our team is excited and pumped for all that God is going to do in and through us while we are there.  Often while we as a team pray that our actions and service will be a blessing to those we encounter, we know that God will change us as well.  So please join us in prayer as we desire to never be the same again as we encounter God on this mission.