Blessed Tues.

It has been a week already since we got here!!! Time is flying by really quickly and I think that´s very good sign. It has been amazing all around since we arrived. I had tons of concerns before leaving about the trip but it turns out that God´s grace and blessing is bigger than anything.

So, today was a special day because we went to this amazing church called Centro Cristiano de Alabanza in en Alajuelitas, San Jose, Costa Rica. The church had numerous ministries geared toward helping the community. The location that this church is in is one of the worst areas in Costa Rica but one day the pastor had a moment of realization as he was preparing the sermon. He realized that the church should be the one helping the poor, out reaching to people who need God´s grace and love. They have a school that they are running and the tuition that is collected from it is used as scholarships to 20 students. CCA has men´s and women´s shelter, bakery that funds other ministries, soup kitchen for children and arts center. The shelters house all kinds of addicts. CCA builds homes for families that are in need and it was totally church without wall church!! I felt the click inside of me as I was listening to and touring the shelters. People at the shelters are given the opportunity to work at one of the ministries but after 9 months which is the duration of the program, CCA helps them to reconnect with the community. The last place we went to was the Soup Kitchen where the kids come to be fed. I met this amazingly smart girl name Bilma and her sister and the brother. I don´t speak much Spanish so it was a bit challenging for me to communicate but Bilma and I tried!! Bilma wants to be a teacher when she grows up so she was trying to learn English. I prayed that she will be a teacher that will change more kids´lives. After handing out plates of food, we went back to the church for lunch. What a great lunch!!!

Tomorrow is our last day at the kids´s home... I feel very sad about it. I will miss the faces with the biggest smiles especially Juan Carlos... He has the biggest heart and is very affectionate. We bought some things that the house that we are painting need at the Costa Rica´s Walmart called Hiper. We picked up shower curtins, floor mats, dishes, and a blender. We also picked up goods to make rice crispy so we can give them to the kids tomorrow as gifts. We just got done making and wrapping them. I can´t believe it will be our last day there tomorrow...

We still have a lot of painting to do tomorrow!! I pray that God will give us super power to finish all the rooms in the house. It will be a big day tomorrow and everyone is pumped up to work!!!

On that note, it´s 10:36PM now so I will end here...

Thank you!!