Friday cont'd

Some of the guys rented surf boards as Frazer was giving free lessons. Here's a shot of Frazer hanging 10.
We paid a few bucks to a hotel so that we would have access to a room to change in, bathroom and pool. These Iguanas were walking around the whole place. Some were as big as cats - I saw a striped one almost as big as the one at the Winking Lizard restaurant back home. He was too fast to get a photo of though.
The ride home was even more treacherous than the ride there. It was dark and the mountains get foggy. Add to that that it was raining and that traffic was horrendous and you'll understand why we now believe that Cedar Point is for wimps.

We leave for the airport at 9:30 am tomorrow. We have all heard the news about airport security. I have been asked to prepare a DVD slide show for Sunday morning. If you've been reading this all week please come Sunday morning and invite family and friends.

We'll see you all in 24 hours!

Friday at the beach

Today was beach day. We rented a bus and made the two hour drive through the mountains to the beach. San Jose is nearly a mile above sea level so the temperature difference was big. It felt like Ohio the week before we left, hot and humid. The ride there was full of twists and turns taken at speeds which seemed physically impossible. Their idea of guard rails are sticks stuck in the ground connected by rusty barb-wire. I think I saw Matt kiss the ground when we finally arrived. We stopped along the way to look over a bridge at the croc's. We couldn't get any volunteers to go down to get good photos so my zoomed photos will have to do.

Thursday cont'd

Here are a couple of photos from inside the Basilica.
We then headed over to the University to pass out Gospel tracts. We passed out over 200 in under an hour. The goal was not to just place them in hands but to engage each person in a conversation about if they thought that they were "good enough" to get into heaven. This stretched each one of us but we each have some incredible stories of whom we met and what we discovered. Greg has some tracts that closely resemble US currency and it's a big hit among the locals. Today ended up being a busy day out in Cartago but we still had some things to do back at the church. Some finished up some painting while others cleaned up after the soccer field was completed. Frazer, Rory and I cut and welded steel to make the goals for the soccer field. Tomorrow we'll be heading to the beach!
Believe it or not, after all this some of the guys still had enough energy to play basketball after dinner. It was the Gringos vs. the Ticos. I hate to say it but the Gringos mopped the floor with the Ticos. But I heard more than one Tico challenge us to take it to the soccer field.

Thursday

Yes, it was time for Ben to get a haircut. Ben's new name is Gregito which means "Little Greg".
Today we started out by driving to Cartago to visit the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles. Cartago is located near the Irazu volcano, 22 km from San Jose. It was once the capital of the country until 1823. There is a long story about how this Basilica came to being and it's patron saint - ask us and we'll share it with you later. The Basilica features a "holy water" fountain in which people come from near and far to use the water for healing and good fortune. We saw many people filling bottles, drinking, and rubbing the water on various body parts for healing. The fact is that this water actually comes straight from the city water system and was tested by a local news team and was found to be contaminated with.... well lets just leave it at "contaminated". In the basement were displays of amulets that were bought and donated to the patron saint. If one was healed of a condition or disease one will purchase a silver amulet of that part and donate it to be put on display as a testimony to the healing powers of the saint. There were walls and walls of these on display.

Wednesday cont'd

The new J-Crew catalog is here.

Ben needs a haircut don't you think?
We also went to a local market to shop for gifts for home. I can't show you many photos from this since that would be giving away the surprise to our families. Let's just say that we're a bunch of guys trying to shop (Although Dan K. is scary good at shopping for some reason). That is Will in the photo above holding hands with Stephen. Well, not really but it does look like that. Will was our guide on this shopping trip. We weren't allowed to buy anything without his first "making business" with the vendors - which being interpreted is: "wheelin' and dealin'".
This is downtown San Jose.

Wednesday

Today we started out with a group meeting to analyze the first half of the trip and plan for the remainder of our time. We then went downtown San Jose to watch Greg preach to the crowd. He started by offering US dollars to anyone who could answer simple questions like who is the president of the United States and what is the Costa Rican national tree. This drew a huge crowd of over 100 people. He then offered 20 dollars to whomever believed that he or she was a good enough person to get to Heaven. Greg proceeded to preach to the crowd about sin and man's need of a savior. The crowd was very animated and even included some hecklers. The crowd interacted with Greg throughout the 20 minute message and asked many questions. When Greg was finished he announced to the crowd that he had friends here that had something to give them. We all had gospel tracts and $1000.00 bills that were fake but looked very real with the gospel on one side. We all had passed out everything we had in a matter of minutes. There were a couple of decisions made that I know of and a lot of people were asking many of us questions. It's hard to describe but I'm sure we'll be able to do a better job when we get home and can tell it in person.

These guys drew a much smaller crowd than Greg, by about 100.

Tuesday cont'd

Matt shared the Gospel with a group of guys sitting outside the church.

Matt and I holding up Frazer's shelves.

Tuesday

Today we decided to finish up our work. We painted the remaining top portion of the building without the ledge giving way and with no more razor wire victims (Jay "that's a clean cut" Baughman). And we finished leveling the floor which is good because we ran out of "concrete volunteers". The soccer field is getting closer to being finished. In case you don't know him, that's Greg, the Pastor of this church, sitting next to Stephen in the photo above. Please check out the church's website under the links section on the right. And especially don't miss Greg's personal website link underneath the church's. Greg's is written in English and you'll be facinated with his testimony and bio. Here's a tip: Don't skip the photo bio.
Here are some photos during one of short breaks. Waiting on our chicken and rice lunch and Matt's "Possum Punch"

Monday cont'd

Depending on tomorrows weather we may be back working at the church or we may be out doing some evangelizing. I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrows photos to find out.
By the way, have I mentioned that you can click on the photos and they will open up in another window much larger? Try it.
 

Monday

Today was a busy day. We started at 8am and got back home after 6pm. We scraped loose paint off of the outside of the church building. We then painted the outside of the building. We mixed concrete and poured part of the floor inside to level it out. The astro-turf was being installed today but will take four days to complete. Greg shared the Gospel with some of the workers and Frazer gave them a soccer ball. He even played soccer with them for a while to make sure it worked. We also made shelves for the church to store their sound equipment on. Greg taught us a lesson from Romans that he calls the Melon Message. Ask us for the details when we get home but just imagine what his point was using a large sledge hammer and a few melons.

The grey wall behind them in this photo is the same wall that Dan A. was working on above.

Sunday afternoon

After church, Dan A. and I were invited to Will's home for lunch. We had a barbeque while enjoying the beatiful view from his home up in the mountains. The roads are steep and winding. With the way they drive here I thought for sure that we'd see a guy waving a checkered flag at the bottom. Notice the lack of lines on the road, street signs and especially speed limits (I may want to move here Michelle).
After lunch we all met back together for La Iglesia Del Este's annual football game. They rent out an indoor football (soccer) field for the day and have a great time playing and fellowshipping. Rumor had it that a couple of the church members were former professional players. I think I heard a couple of our guys blame their performance on jet-lag. Either way, it was a great warm-up for the week ahead.

Sunday Morning Service

Sunday morning Church! The service this morning was incredible. We sang many worship songs (well, those of us who speak Spanish that is) with a full band. It sounded like a full concert. I recognized the songs but the words were in Spanish - makes it difficult to sing but I did an awesome job clapping. It seems that clapping in Spanish is very close to English clapping. Pastor Rory gave the message from Genesis with Pastor Greg interpreting for the Costa Rican congregation. Most members I spoke with afterward said they listened to Rory more than Greg anyway. Rory asked the question "How big is your God?" Rory used many examples including his personal testimony to show us that with God all things are possible.