On Thursday and Friday we had two really great days of work at the church. We continued to paint, and painted almost all of the inside of the church. They have a sanctuary and two meeting rooms, in addition to a small kitchenette and bathrooms that we were able to clean up and paint. We also gave some tables a fresh coat of paint and helped to generally clean up the church in preparation for tonight's final celebration together. Because of what we were able to bring in terms of a donation to the church we were also able to help them (physically and otherwise) to install a roof and a gutter over where the youth meet on Sunday mornings.
Saturday morning we had a GREAT time at "Canopy San Luis" - or zip-lining! Our entire group flew through the sky like Tarzan and Superman and had a wonderful opportunity to see some of the jungle of Costa Rica. We have been fortunate to not only get to know the people, but also some of the land while we are here.
We also had the unique opportunity to "get to know" the culture surrounding "La Copa Mundial" or The World Cup, today. Costa Rica played Uruguay in their first match in the World Cup, and beat Uruguay who was expected to win. The street and square outside our hotel was CRAZY with excitement and the cars on the streets continued to honk their horns in celebration for about three hours! What a way to bring together the country!
Tonight was our last night with the church and they put together a large celebration for us tonight. It was so wonderful to celebrate the Body of Christ with our brothers and sisters from Costa Rica. We were also able to establish with them that we are in fact from "the same church," all being Disciples of Christ, and so it was great to further develop our relationship with that explanation. We sang songs and prayed with one another. They performed dances and songs for us, and we all had marshmallows and hot chocolate by the fire! They held a very moving prayer for us at the end of the night in which the entire church surrounded our group and prayed for us, and then we all joined in a circle together to pray together for each other.
Saturday morning we had a GREAT time at "Canopy San Luis" - or zip-lining! Our entire group flew through the sky like Tarzan and Superman and had a wonderful opportunity to see some of the jungle of Costa Rica. We have been fortunate to not only get to know the people, but also some of the land while we are here.
We also had the unique opportunity to "get to know" the culture surrounding "La Copa Mundial" or The World Cup, today. Costa Rica played Uruguay in their first match in the World Cup, and beat Uruguay who was expected to win. The street and square outside our hotel was CRAZY with excitement and the cars on the streets continued to honk their horns in celebration for about three hours! What a way to bring together the country!
Tonight was our last night with the church and they put together a large celebration for us tonight. It was so wonderful to celebrate the Body of Christ with our brothers and sisters from Costa Rica. We were also able to establish with them that we are in fact from "the same church," all being Disciples of Christ, and so it was great to further develop our relationship with that explanation. We sang songs and prayed with one another. They performed dances and songs for us, and we all had marshmallows and hot chocolate by the fire! They held a very moving prayer for us at the end of the night in which the entire church surrounded our group and prayed for us, and then we all joined in a circle together to pray together for each other.
The city where we are staying just outside of San Jose is called Alajuela.
The city was crazy after Costa Rica won their first game in the World Cup against Uruguay!
Many, but only some of our wonderful, gracious hosts in Costa Rica.
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