Timbers Costa Rica Trip

“Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” Colossians 3:11

We have come to the end of our journey. In a few hours we will be back in the United States and the daily routine of life will begin once again. For some the adjustment will be quick; for others it will take some time. There will be no more speaking broken Spanish with charades, not understanding 75% of all conversations, freshly squeezed fruit drinks, and seeing iguanas in the wild. I’m sure our favorite meal will be eaten within the next 24 hours and sleep will be a must. As we assimilate back into our culture, we do so with a renewed appreciation of what the Lord is doing all over the world. We come back with experiences and memories that will never be lost. This trip will serve as a reminder for us not to get too comfortable in our American faith and will be a platform for us to tell others about God’s faithfulness.

As the reflection process begins, we can’t help but have an attitude of gratefulness. Through God’s grace we have accomplished what we set out to do. We have helped fellow brrothers and sisters in the Lord grow in their ability to be camp counselors, campers were given hope through seeing living representations of the gospel, and our staff’s faith has increased all while having a oneness between Ticos and Pine Cove.

Thank you to all those who supported us with prayers and financially! We end this blog with the words of Jesus that we have been graciously allowed to live out on this trip. “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23.

Pura Vida

guaps

Here’s our flight information:
American Airlines Flight 2166
Departs San Jose 10:30am
Arrives at DFW 2:45pm

Here are some more pictures from our last session of camp…

Last night finished up with a dance that the campers really enjoyed and then we had a fireside. During the dance it was really funny to see the campers mimicking their counselors. (That in itself is definitely a spiritual lesson.)

This morning the campers participated in activity classes. This was their first opportunity to attend archery and for the other activities we brought back from yesterday field games, the pool, and parachute. During this time we also saw another iguana. It is definitely still weird to see these reptiles in the wild since back in the states they are either in zoos or bought as pets.

During activity class time, one of the principles we focus on is what I call dad moments. (These moments are not just for men. Moms can have them to, but since I’m a guy I refer to them as dad moments.) Dad moments are opportunities that happen while we go through everyday events that we can make a spiritual lesson out of. The reason I say “dad” is because good parents do this with their children on a daily basis. They take the “non-spiritual” and use it to reinforce the gospel. We do this with each activity classes. We stop 5-10 minutes early and talk about what we can learn from a certain activity. For example in archery we talk about no one in the class hit the target every time. We all missed the mark.This is just like in life. We all sin and therefore do not live up to the standards that God has set. This is why we need Jesus. Because of what He did on the cross, we can be made holy.

These moments are crucial to our ministry. It shows that there is no separation from what as learn in Bible study and what we do afterwards. We can see God’s love in every good thing.

Today started off early! I think the first set of kids woke up at 6:00am. They were definitely ready for another day at camp. Like most of our campers back at Pine Cove, these kids are a ball of energy. I know our staff are more tired this session than the last. We know the Spanish words for “come”, “stop”, “listen”, “good job”, and “you can’t do that” by heart now! (Great parenting training, right?)

One of the funnier stories of our trip happened today. All the staff and campers were having free swim in the pool this afternoon. All of sudden one of our counselors noticed a little boy no older than six peeing on the side of the pool! I guess what they say is true, “Kids do the darndest things.”

Our activities today included Bible study, arts and crafts time, the dinosaur game, the pool, free time, and club. Oh yeah, and I can’t forget that we had a siesta in the afternoon. I think this was more beneficial for our staff than the campers.

Throughout the day I could begin to see the bond that was being created between counselors and campers. The campers were getting more comfortable in this environment and they were beginning to trust their counselors. The reason trust developed was because our staff have done a great job of serving their campers. They have embodied Matthew 25:40 which says, “The King will reply,’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Our staff don’t serve for results or personal glory. They do what they do because in some spiritual way, when we serve others it is like we are literally serving Jesus Himself. So we serve by being patient, by playing games, by giving them hugs, by teaching Bible study, by laughing with them, and even by the way we do discipline. We do all this so that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus and tell them the way I serve you is just a glimpse of the way Jesus has served you!

Yesterday we began our second session of camp. There is one main difference between this session and the last. It is the age of the campers. They are elementary age kids! And let me tell you, they are so cute. What’s so funny is that some of them are so young that they just can’t comprehend why you don’t understand them when they talk.

To give you a quick rundown of the day, here’s all we did in 8 words: piscina, Bible study, rally, Chico con Queso, club.

As I watched our staff have grace-based interactions with these children, I am reminded of one of my favorite movie quotes. It comes from Chariots of Fire. Eric Little, one of the main characters, gets impressed by his sister to stop running and join the mission field. He replies to her, “When I run I feel God’s pleasure.” In a lot ways that’s our goal in camping, especially with younger kids. We want them to “feel God’s pleasure”. We want to them to know that through Jesus Christ, God is pleased with them. If anyone has ever worked with elementary kids you know at times it’s hard to see “fruit”. You don’t have as in-depth conversations as you do with older kids. However, one basic principle we can show them through our actions is that there is a God that loves them more than they know. We don’t even need words to do this. Hugs, high fives, smiles, and laughter can easily illustrate this point.

May you experience the depth of God’s love today as we hopefully display it over here in Costa Rica.

As said yesterday, we had the opportunity to be tourists. We went to a volcano, lagoon and the beach. We gazed at such beautiful scenery that I thought you needed to view some more pictures from our adventure. As you can see life is tough over here!

Today we got the opportunity to take a break from camping and be tourists. We first went to a volcano. (Moms don’t worry, it was safe!) It was absolutely breathtaking! Also, we walked a to sulfuric lagoon that was nearby.

After the volcano tour we traveled a few hours to a beach on the Pacific Ocean. What’s interesting about beaches in this area is that they have black sand. We were able to stay until dark and got to see a beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow we will begin our second session of camp with elementary age campers. Please be praying for this session.

Our first session of camp has concluded. One of the tough things about ministry is that you are not in control of the results. You can’t physically produce life transformation. As Christians we are called to share the gospel in word and deed and then trust the Holy Spirit to work in people’s lives. Some times you don’t see any outward changes; but other times the Lord brings clarity and allows you to see fruit from your labor.

We were blessed to be able to hear some God-stories from this past session. We had counselors talk about how their campers began to open up and confess sins. Campers shared struggles that they had never told anyone else before. Also, we saw a lot of growth in our staff, Tico and Pine Cove. The Tico counselors gained confidence in their ability to lead and invest in their campers. Our Pine Cove staff started believing that they didn’t need to be able to speak the same language to minister to their campers. One quick story to highlight this point. Their was a camper who was known for not respecting authority. However, at camp he really connected with our Pine Cove staffer CJ. By the end of camp, that camper told his Tico counselor that he loved and respected CJ. How cool is that! We are grateful for the Lord allowing us to hear these stories.

After camp ended, we headed back to San Jose and have spent the evening with our host homes.

Tomorrow we get to relax and be tourists! (Disclaimer: for those that are following this blog regularly, please know that due to lack of Internet tomorrow I will only be able to make one blog post which will happen late tomorrow night)

This morning you could tell that the campers were tired from all of yesterday’s festivities. Yet you could also sense an excitement about what today would bring. For breakfast we had a pleasant surprise. Instead of rice and beans our wonderful cooks made pancakes. I do think that some of our staff were disappointed. Most of us have grown to really like rice and beans (even for breakfast).

After breakfast and Bible Study, the campers had their first opportunity to participate in activity classes. This morning’s activities included kajabi can can, warball, la piscina, futbol, slack line, and la archeria. If you are a competitive person or just like games, see if you can coordinate each activity with it’s corresponding picture.

Buen trabajo! Es muy facil, verdad? Here are some more pictures from this morning…