As I sit here in my room reminiscing about the past couple days, I can hear a rain storm rolling in. The clatter of the rain on the roof reminds me of the moments shared this week between the community and the team members. As it is the beginning of Costa Rica’s rainy season, the weather played an important part in each day’s work and progress. Many times work had to be halted  in order to take cover for the sudden bursts of pouring rain- more rain then I have ever experienced in my life. While the rain may have stalled work for a while, it also was the cause for many relationships to be formed and connections to be made.

One of the most touching effects of the rain took place at Crispin’s worksite. At this site, the teams are working hard to build a house for a family. They have the pleasure of working with Franklin, the maestro, who has been lovingly deemed the Clint Eastwood of Costa Rica. While the relationship between Franklin and the group has truly been a blessing, the real story is seen in the love that the family expressed for the students. After the first day of rain the team left wet and dirty, caked with mud from head to foot.

Granted, this is half the adventure and joy of working in Costa Rica. However, when they returned the next day they were surprised to find a shelter that the family made for them out of bamboo and leaves. The beautifully handcrafted structure not only provided shelter for future outbursts of rain but also from the beating rays from the sun. It doubled as a place to rest and eat lunch together, providing shade to keep their water supply from boiling.
            
I loved hearing about this shelter and being able to see it later in the week. More than the resourcefulness of the shelter and the people, I found the love of God that they expressed through it heart warming. They didn’t have to build a shelter from the rain and they don’t have to be at the worksite with the teams every day to help – but they are and they come to simply love and be loved. While we are out here to help families by building homes, painting schools, etc. the main reason we are here is to love God and love the Costa Rican people. The teams showed this love with every bag of sand they carried, every nail they hammered, and every smile they extended to the people. But the love of the community cannot be overlooked, for they too love unconditionally – through smiles, through hugs, through shelters, and through their willingness to welcome us into their lives.
In awe of God’s love,

Alex

In my dad’s favorite and oldest joke he tells me that he loves work – he could watch it for hours. And as I sit here typing this blog, I think I know exactly what he means. This week, the group from Grace Church in Wichita Falls, Texas has been busy completing hard manual labor, and I have had the pleasure of watching them along the way.

I have been able to visit one work site in particular, and the youth there have truly impressed me with their constant hard work despite heat and humidity, blisters and sunburn, and tiredness and aches. In this particular site, we are building a house for a woman name Isidra. Construction on the house began over six years ago but was not finished due to money, lack of labor and a devastating hurricane that passed through the area. Since then, this 97-year-old  has been living in borrowed houses, waiting to see her dreams fulfilled and her very own house finished.

With this story in mind, the students from Grace Church arrived at the site the first day and were introduced to the enthusiastic, elderly woman. She was thrilled to have all of the life and vivacity that the youth brought to her home, and she spent the entire day sitting in the doorway of her borrowed house, sending praise and blessing up to God, and watching the students finish the walls that had been started so long ago.

After a few hours of learning and observing, the students set to work with machine-like consistency. Three or four of the young men spent their days mixing cement: they carried heavy buckets of water to mix with bags of cement and calcium and shovels full of gravel and sand. Others learned to lay bricks with Abel, the church pastor and the maestro of the site. They meticulously placed every brick in line with the measurements that Abel had given, being careful to have just enough cement and the right amount of spacing. Throughout the day, the team rotated through a prayer chair, in order to have someone constantly praying over the house, the mission team, and the community.

As the week comes to an end, I am excited to report that the house is coming to a finish. Abel is hoping to begin with the roof today, and the team is eager to see their hard work pay off. In fact, I should actually close this blog and head out; it is about time for me to return to my favorite part of the work: watching it. 

– Emily