Adios Choluteca, Hello Teguc

Monday we started our work projects.  I was pulled off the VBS team and put on a construction team.  We had 2 houses and a classroom for the Church to build by the end of Wednesday.  I started out with a team building a house and a classroom side by side right next to the Church.  The Hondurans had already set all the post in concrete and set the roof beams so it looked like it would be a piece of cake.  Then we realized that the outside posts were too high and the roof would slope in towards the middle of the building.  That’s not ideal if you’re trying to build a structure that doesn’t leak.  So we had to take the roof beams off and cut all the post which we were almost done doing when Terry, our group leader, called me over to the side.  He was like, the guys building the other house have no idea what to do.  You need to go up the mountain and lead that team.  So I headed up the mountain and when I got there I had to stop and laugh for a minute because I have no idea what they were trying to do to that house.  The Hondurans had set those posts as well and put the roof beams on but the guys on the build team had random boards they were about to nail into the post at odd angles and I was thinking what they heck are they doing.  We got everything back to square one and ready to build when I realized that these corner posts were all 10’ high.  Again, if you want a leak proof house the roof needs to be angled a little.  So off with the roof beams again and cut the posts and back on with the roof beams.  After that we started rocking and rolling.  Other than the fact that I forgot to put in a spot for the window, everything went really smooth.  We ended up framing 3 windows on the inside and cutting them out which actually looked much better than the way we were supposed to do it.  It provided him with 2 shelves per window and a windowsill.  The two houses were built for two preachers that have been hired to work in Agua Agria.  Belle Shoals Church of Christ in Florida along with another Church that I can’t remember the name of have decided to support these two preachers.  Both of them got to pick out the color to paint their house so on Tuesday we painted the houses after we finished a few things that we ran out of time to do on Monday.  Wednesday we finished up the classroom and painted it as well plus decided to do a few more things to each of the houses since we had plenty of wood leftover.  We were able to put trim on the corners and around the roof and around the windows.  They really did look nice.  Both of the preachers were really grateful for their new houses. 

We also put in a stone walkway leading up to the classroom.  Monday and Tuesday were long days for the VBS teams.  They had 6 hours of VBS and they nailed it.  The kids really enjoyed themselves.  The women’s Bible class lasted 3 days and seemed to be a success with 30 women each day.  The medical clinic saw over 600 patients on Monday and Tuesday.  There were people lined up in the mornings before we even got there.  The clothing distribution went really well also.  We were able to give out tons of clothes.  I think everyone enjoyed the 5 days we were in Choluteca even though it was hot.  We were able to get a lot done even with a few setbacks like our container with many more supplies for Agua Agria not being released to us.  The Honduran government is about as corrupt as it gets.  They’ve been holding multiple Torch containers for months.  Even the US Embassy has told us that they Honduran government is holding containers of theirs and won’t release them.  They charge $100 a day for storage so there’s really no incentive for them to release them when their pockets are getting full off the storage fee’s.  We did have one container released today and it cost $2700 for us to get it.  That’s just storage fees, the paperwork has been done and approved for weeks.  They just won’t let us go get them.  It’s pretty sad because we have a lot of playground equipment for the school in Agua Agria but now it’s going to be hard take it down there and assemble it all once the container is released.  That might just have to wait till next year. 

But anyway, today we left and have just gotten to Villa Gracia in Tegucigalpa, aka the Mission House, where I’ll be for the next 4+ weeks.  It was a nice 5 hour bus ride out of the heat and into the mid 80’s.  It was a slow day, other than unloading one container, but tomorrow we will be off to the races.  We’ve got a lot to do and only until Monday to do it because this team leaves out Tuesday morning, which is kinda sad.  They’re an awesome team.  But that’s all I’ve got tonight.  I’ve got this head cold/ allergy problem so I’m taking a Nyquil to knock me out and going to bed.  See ya later.

YO HO HO!

Wednesday was a pretty awesome fun day.  We were at Los Lagos hotel and they have 7 hot tubs, a huge waterslide, crocodiles, a butterfly house and A FREAKIN VOLCANO AT THE FRONT DOOR!!  We were right at the base of Arenal Volcano so if it would have blown, we’d never have known because we’d have died instantly, that’s how close we were.  Good thing it isn’t an active volcano……wrong, the thing spews lava all the time but thankfully it’s the other side of the volcano that gets the lava flow.  So we had a great time seeing how many people we could put down the water slide at once without someone dying, the number was 12 in case you were wondering.  We could probably have pushed that number a bit but we ran out of volunteers.  The scenery in Costa Rica is beautiful and the hotel was a little up the hill so you could see the valley below, it was a great site.  So we spent almost the entire day in the pools.  Of course we had to try them all but the one with the waterslide was the best.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves Wednesday, I know I had a blast and the volcano never did spewed any lava :(.

Thursday we headed back to San Jose.  We left the hotel at 12:30 and stopped in La Fortuna for lunch.  We then headed onto San Jose stopping a souvenir shop so the group could shop for a few things to take back to the states.  We even stopped at Walmart, like not a walmart satellite store but an actual supercenter which is a rare site in Central America.  We then went to the hotel in San Jose where those flying back to the States got rooms for the night and those that were taking a bus to Choluteca, Honduras waited in the lobby until it was time to go.  The best part about that was that I got to see this guy you may have heard of, Lebron, win his second straight championship, woot woot.  The sad part was that we had to say goodbye to those heading home.  We had a great time for the 10 days we spent in Costa Rica.  The team worked incredibly well together with everyone doing what they were assigned.  No one seemed to complain too much and we really just didn’t have any problems except for that one bus ride.  I met some amazing people and made some new friends.  It was really great.

We left the hotel about 1:15 Friday morning and headed to the bus station.  If you have never been in the middle of San Jose at night, I suggest you don’t try it.  It’s not a very safe place at night as we found out a couple of years ago.  So of course the bus station had to be in the middle of the ghetto.  It was a pretty rough area so we had to be on our guard basically until we loaded the bus.  The bus ride wasn’t actually that bad other than it lasted 15 hours.  We left at 3 am and only had to stand in one line when we left Costa Rica.  Entering and leaving Nicaragua as well as entering Honduras were easy because the bus people took up our passports and went through the lines for us.  All we had to do was wake up and play a little game called off the bus, on the bus, off the bus, on the bus.  You have to get off the bus as you leave the country so your bags can be checked out and the bus can be looked over.  Then you get on the bus, cross the border and immediately stop to get off the bus so your bags can be checked and the bus can be checked by the people in the country you’re entering.  After that you get back on the bus to take off to wherever you’re going.  So we had to do that leaving Costa Rica, entering Nicaragua, leaving Nicaragua and entering Honduras.  It’s not bad, just more inconvenient than anything.  Thankfully there wasn’t anyone trying to take my backpack this time.  We made it to the hotel, hotel Gualiqueme, around 6.  That’s when I found out about the next grand adventure.

Thursday Leah Wright, one of the interns, had gotten in touch with her old soccer coach who is in Choluteca for the summer and working with Mission Lazarus.  He said that since we had an off day, Saturday we had nothing to do until the team of 70 arrived around 6, that we could go with him and his team to work.  He said that they would be working with a village on the Pacific coast installing latrines and water pumps in their wells.  It sounded like it would be a good thing to go do so four of the interns, Leah, Jose, Andrew and I, decided to go.  But it gets better.  He sends us an email saying that they will be working with an island community on an island, duh, out in the Pacific.  So then I’m like heck yea I’m in.  So we go and get into this canoe looking boat which was awesome and start heading out into the open seas……ok maybe not the open seas, more like the open bay.  We get to this island and I visited my second movie set of the trip.  The first was from Taken and this one was from Pirates of the Caribbean.  It was this perfect little pirate island with a village of about 80 homes.  Jose asked if it would be ok to move there and be a Christian and a pirate.  I’m pretty sure they used this sandbar there for the scene when Davy Jones is standing in a bucket with Will and the British captain guy and Jack, Elizabeth and Barbosa come walking up, I think that’s right.  Well we were there, at least it looked like that place.  We dug a 15 ft long, 4 ft wide, 4 ft deep hole for the latrines and then played in the ocean with the kids.  It was a pretty awesome day.  Hopefully I’ll get some pictures up on facebook tomorrow.  We had a blast.  They asked us to stay the night with them and sleep in tents and go to Church with them this morning which would have been awesome.  We called back to our group and they said absolutely not.  I’m still a little bitter about it, not really, but ok maybe a little….. or a lot. It would’ve been crazy awesome to have spent a night out there with the locals but maybe another time.  So we came back to the hotel and met up with the other interns who spent the day by the swimming pool and reading (they thought their day was great but they didn’t have a clue).  The group of 70 got here about 6 and we got them unloaded and to their rooms and then to dinner and then to devo and then to bed.  So quite a few people had a long day of flights and a bus ride, a few had a nice relaxing day by the pool and four of us had a grand adventure to a pirate island where we dug a big stinkin hole and swam with awesome local kids and some interns from Mission Lazarus in the Pacific.  I think we had the best day of all. 

Sunday, Today, we were up and off to Church about 8:30.  We went to Agua Agria. Tart Water, which is the village we will be working in for the next few days.  We went to their Church service and afterwards went out to eat and to the store to get some lunch materials.  Then we headed back to the hotel to sort the supplies that were brought from Tegucigalpa on Saturday.  We sorted tons of medicine and clothes and also worked on our VBS a little bit.  For the next 3 days we will be having VBS from 9am to 3pm…..Yea that’s a solid 6 hours!!  So we had to come up with a plan to turn our 2 hr VBS into a 6 hr VBS.  So we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.  After that it’s been sort of a relaxed night.  Tomorrow we will start a women’s Bible class, a medical clinic, a VBS and start construction of 2 houses and a classroom.  It should be a pretty great day even if it is blazing hot here.  In Panama if you spent 5 minutes outside in the shade you would start dripping sweat.  Here if you spend 5 minutes in the shade you don’t sweat.  Why? Because the sun will find a way to penetrate everything you are under and soak all the moisture out of your skin before you have a chance to sweat.  I think I said earlier that Panama City was hot…..uhhh no Choluteca is HOT! BLAZING HOT!  At 9 tonight the weather channel said it felt like it was 95 here.  Remember the sun sets early here because there is no daylight savings.  It’s hot.  But like I said, hopefully I’ll get a few more pictures posted in the next day or two on facebook.  Adios.

Gotta love the bus trips!

OH MY GOODNESS!!! The 7 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Arenal turned into a 12 hour excursion.  We left at 9:30 this morning and made it to San Isidro, which is about an hour and a half away, before the problems started.  First it was an overheating bus.  We sat for about 30 minutes while another bus came and picked us up.  Then it was the torrential downpours and thunderstorms that started in San Jose and lasted until we made it to the hotel.  Then it was the Panama-Costa Rica game that was tonight in San Jose.  So the traffic was crazy bad in the city, we sat for a looong time.  A couple of wrong turns later an we find ourselves making a 7 hour trip into a 12 hour trip.  But it’s all good.  It wouldn’t be a Torch trip without something like this and if you can't learn to love a bus then be thankful you aren't with us. (haha that rhymes).  We had fun on the bus and the 4 hour lightening show was pretty awesome.  So we are now at Hotel Los Lagos, been here about 30 minutes but I won’t be posting this blog until Wednesday morning because I’m pretty tired and I don’t really want to walk back to the lobby for the wifi.  That about sums up our Tuesday.  It wasn’t fun saying bye to our friends in Buenos Aires but the time for us to leave had come.

But to catch you up on the last few days…. We spent Saturday morning at the Church.  The men’s and women’s Bible classes were continuing while those of us in the VBS skit started practicing a new lesson, Paul and Silas being arrested and converting the centurions family.  We spent a couple of ours on that until we got it nailed down.  After that we went to the Park and walked around handing out invitations to the gospel meeting.  That afternoon at 2 the ladies all went to a baby shower for Daniella, the preachers oldest daughter.  While they were there the guys went to make reservations at a really awesome pizza place.  In order to make sure that it was fit for the ladies to eat we had to sample the pizza….. all for their benefit, not ours…. Later on in the afternoon we all met back up at the Church for the meeting that night and to start our VBS at the Church.  Up until this point a group of 5 ladies from Illinois had been doing the VBS at night at the Church.  They were really awesome and it was great to get to know them but unfortunately they had to leave Saturday after the baby shower.  Since they were gone, we had to step in and do the VBS so that evening we started our VBS program and the kids seemed to love it.  The first skit was of Paul’s conversion.  We then played a few games with them and had a puppet show. 

Sunday we met at the Church for worship and then went back to the park to hand out more invitations.  Since it was Fathers Day and a Sunday, there weren’t many people at the park but we were able to hand out a few anyways.  We then went back to the Church to practice our skit again and threw a little Frisbee with the kids.  We had the meeting that night and VBS.  We performed the Paul and Silas being arrested and converting the centurions family skit which was a huge hit with the kids.  We sang songs and they colored and had games.  It was another great night.  Saturday and Sunday were not slow days but they were a bit off of the pace we had been going and we paid for it on Monday.

Monday morning we were at the Church at 8 for breakfast.  We then spent a little time getting ready for VBS day.  We went to one school at 10:00 and had a VBS until 12:30.  The kids at this school were a little older so we had to quickly change our game plan.  The games we had were not really geared toward kids their age so we had Q&A time and a skit and a couple of games that they liked.  It turned out really well.  We left at 12:40 to go back to the Church for lunch.  We then left at 2 for our next VBS at another school.  This time we had tons of little kids, I mean like 200+.  They loved everything we did.  We ended up doing the first 2 skits and played games until they were ready to pass out.  We left just after 4 and I’m not sure who was more worn out, them or us.  We went back to the church were we had a 15 minute break before we had to assign parts and practice skit 3 for the VBS at the Church at 6:30.  So we nailed that down and got in a few practice runs before we had a few snacks.  The practice runs didn’t look good at all but the skit couldn’t have gone better.  If you had not known better you would have thought we were pros at this.  It was awesome.  We sang more songs and danced and played and all had a blast.  They said they could hardly hear anything inside the Church because we were having so much fun and being so loud.  The kids absolutely loved it.  After that took everyone at the Church out to the pizza place since Monday was our last day with them.  It was Torch’s treat.  We were able to spend a couple more hours with each other before we had to say goodbye and head back to the hotel. 

The Church here is really trying to grow, not just in numbers but in spiritual maturity and knowledge.  They have many young adults who teach classes and assist in leading the Church.  The young adults are a vital part to the Church's functioning, which is awesome to see.  There are lots of kids, not just community kids but kids of the members.  That means that the Church seems to have a bright future.  The kids also weren’t showing up just because gringos were in town, they know the stories of the Bible.  They’ve been taught well which is another encouraging sign.  The only thing I didn’t like, other than door knocking, was how few people from the community came to the gospel meeting.  I mean like very few people came, some did, but not many.  We had many more attend when I was here 2 years ago and we did many of the same things but it just didn’t seem to work well this year.  The VBS’s made up for it as far as I’m concerned.  They really were great.  Jennifer Chavez really made the VBS’s at the schools lively.  She got those kids all excited and ready for us with songs and dances.  She really was the reason we looked like we knew what we were doing.

Jose, one of the interns/translators, and I have become pretty good friends over the last few weeks.  We’ve had a great time but we think we may have another friend following us.  In Panama some of the guys had a room in which the shower would turn on at night.  They thought a Panamanian kid was coming up out of the drain and showering in their shower.  Anyways, random stuff would fall off tables in our room and the face of the air conditioning unit kept falling off but only at night.  So then in Buenos Aires, our toilet would randomly flush on its own.  Weird stuff, someone may be following us…

It was a great 8 days in Buenos Aires.  We had a ton of fun and hopefully we were able to open hearts to the power of the Gospel.  The kids sure did have a great time and hopefully it won’t be the last time I spend some time in Buenos Aires.

For the next couple of days, Tuesday-Thursday, we’ll be at Hotel Los Lagos and then we’ll go back to San Jose where the group will fly out Friday morning and the interns will take a bus that is estimated at 13 hours to Choluteca, Honduras.  We’ll see how that goes but my guess is 16-18 hours.  If you go into it with that mindset then a 13 hour trip seems great….. ok not really.  I hope everyone had a great Fathers Day.


And heres a picture of Dora the Explorer

SHE DOES EXIST!!!

Ok our schedule here is pretty much set in stone.  We are up and gone by 7 so that we can get to the Church by 7:15 for breakfast.  We then start the activities for that day and continue until lunch at 12.  At 1:30 we start the afternoon activities.  At 6 we have dinner and the gospel meeting starts at 6:30.  So we are pretty sure what our routine will be in Costa Rica. 

As I said before we are on an evangelism campaign here in Buenos Aires which is in the southern province of Puntarenas.  Wednesday we were door knocking a lot.  Now I don’t know how you feel about door knocking but I have mixed feelings about it and kinda hate it (I guess that’s not really mixed feelings).  I’ve always viewed it as ineffective in the States and can’t see why people still do it.   I mean really, how many times have you driven by the Mormons or Jehovah Witness guys and said, “Glad I’m not going to be home when they get to my house”.  You know you’ve said that before.  I’ve said it a lot.  I give them a lot of credit for courage and dedication but I just don’t want someone coming to my house and giving me their opinions on the Bible or really anything if they aren’t invited, I don’t like it.  I especially wouldn’t like it if a bunch of Chinese people, Central Americans, Africans, Germans or any other kind of person came up in my yard with a translator that they talked to me through, plus taking pictures of me and my house and family and yard and on and on.  I might meet them at the door with my good friend Smith and Wesson.  So I put myself in the shoes of the people here and I just don’t think people here like it very much either.  So what did I do Wednesday?  I went door knocking.  There is a difference of the cultures, ours and that of Latinos.  They are more community oriented than those of us from the States are.  So maybe it isn’t quite as bad to door knock here but I still don’t really like it.  I’ve done it here before and it just wasn’t that effective.  So Wednesday morning I went with a few people and watched as the gringos used broken Spanish to invite the locals to the gospel meeting.  But then something cool actually happened.  This one lady invited us into her house to have a Bible study so we went in.  I pretty much sat there as they talked in Spanish, catching a word here and there.  Jose, my personal translator J, told me afterwards what all was said and it seemed like they had a good discussion.  Then after lunch another cool thing happened.  Jose, Leah and I went with a preacher to invite people to the meeting and we came upon this one lady sitting on the side of the road holding her kid.  The preacher started talking to her, invited her to the church, and then asked if he could have a Bible study right then and there with her.  She politely declined but the preacher kept insisting, like over and over.  She kept saying no and no and no for like 5 minutes.  I was sitting there the whole time thinking about how wrong this was and maybe it was wrong, I don’t know.  So she finally says yes, maybe just so he would stop asking, but the four of us follow her down a path to her house.  It’s a small little shack, maybe 10x15.  Now the houses in Costa Rica are usually block houses, they aren’t nearly as bad as the Honduras housing.  But this one was completely different, it was small and run down, had a dirt floor and wooden walls with spaces between the planks.  So we sit down and the preacher starts talking with he and like 5 minutes in she starts saying how thankful and happy she is that we are there.  She said that most people ask to talk with her but leave when they see her house or that people just pass completely without talking to her once they see her living conditions.  She was so happy that we had taken the time to come to her house and study with her…… So that was pretty cool.  Door knocking actually had an impact.  That lady then came to the gospel meeting that night.  Through door knocking, about 5 Bible studies were set up and they all went really well.  So here is my new thought on door knocking.  I still don’t like it BUT I don’t hate it.  There is some good that comes from it.  It may not be the most effective thing in the world but you have to put yourself in a position to talk to someone, to have a discussion.  There are 5 people who would not have had Bible studies with us this week had we not gone to their door.  Yes you are going to have doors shut in your face.  Yes you are going to have people look out the window at you and when you knock on their door they just don’t answer.  Yes you will have people pass you on the street and say, “Man I’m glad I’m not going to be home when they come to my house”.  But it isn’t about reaching everyone through door knocking.  Some people who will not respond well to door knocking may respond to something else.  It’s about reaching those that will receive you into their homes and take time to study with you.  It’s a method where you will reach some but not many but if you save one then it’s worth it.  Paul said that he wanted to be all things to all people so that by all means a few might be saved.  So Wednesday I was a door knocker and a few people responded….. And I still don’t really like it but good things happened.  What do you think about door knocking?  I’d like to hear other sides of the coin and the comment section seems like a good place.

So we had the first meeting Wednesday night and it went really well.

Thursday morning the men’s and women’s Bible class started and we didn’t knock on doors in the morning, we sat in the classes which were good.  In the afternoon we started our VBS.  The first one was in a local school with about 120 students.  This year we are doing the story of Paul’s conversion.  The kids really seemed to like it.  We split them into groups afterwards and played games with them.  All in all it lasted just over 2 hours and we had a lot of fun. 

Today, Friday, was quite possibly the most fun I’ve had down here so far.  In the morning we went to another school of about 80 kids and performed the VBS skit again as well as split them into groups for games and story time.  This is where I saw her.  I never asked her what her name was but if it wasn’t Dora the Explorer then I will be shocked.  SHE IS REAL!!!  This little chica made my day.  The VBS went really well and we were back at the Church for lunch at 12.  During lunch it started raining,  It turned from a hot sunny day to a hot humid rainy day.  So after lunch the VBS team went to another school, I didn’t go this time, while the rest of us were supposed to go door knocking.  I had this feeling that the rain wouldn’t stop and we’d just get to hang around the church and maybe play with the kids, my gut feeling didn’t lead me astray.  So we just sat for like an hour while the kids were having their classes and playing their games.  We just kept sitting until the kids ran under the big tent we were at.  They kept saying will you play?! Will you play?!  We were like uhhh we’re tired but I guess, what are we playing?  That’s when we saw a glorious sight.  It was pouring down rain, thunder and lightning everywhere and the Costa Rican teacher is coming towards us with a box full of water balloons.  HECK YES WE’LL PLAY!!! 

So there are these little berries that fall from one of the trees near the church.  A couple of the kids and I have been picking them up and throwing them at some adults and the other kids.  Almost to the point where people no longer look up at the tree when they get hit by one of them, they look at us. 

All the kids get in a circle under the tent and the gringos too.  The young teacher starts handing one balloon to each kid.  At some point she said go because I turned around and saw like 100 water balloons heading my way.  Payback!  Within seconds I was soaked.  So I threw my balloon, I only had one, then did the next best thing.  Chased kids through the rain, picked them up and threw them into water holes and ditches full of water.  After the first one was out in the water wet, it was a free for all.  It was like a herd of water buffalo jumping into the water to get away from a lion.  So for the next 45 minutes we ran around barefoot in the torrential rains and thunderstorms sliding on the ground and rubbing mud on each other and tackling each other.  There may also have been a water hose and buckets involved.  It was great.  I know of a 3 year old back home that would’ve had a blast today.  It was an awesome day and hopefully I’ll get some more pictures posted on facebook soon.  I heard the VBS team had another great performance and the Bible studies that were held today went really well.  It was a day I really needed after feeling useless as a door knocker and worn out from a bus ride.  I can’t say my attitude has been great this week because I’ve felt like I really haven’t been doing anything useful but a little bit of VBS and little bit of water fun were just what I needed.  

Hola Costa Rica!

Sunday we started out by going to a local Church in Panama City.  We had a Bible class followed by Worship.  It was nice to be able to go to another Hispanic Church service.  A lot of them follow the same kind of pattern as ours do at home but they are just a bit more lively.  Sunday also started the beginning of our retreat.  We loaded up the bus after Church and went to Playa Blanca Resort, which is to the west of Panama City.  It was about an hour and a half drive, which wasn’t too bad at all.  This place was the best place I’ve ever stayed.  It was on the Pacific.  It had the second largest man made pool in the world.  The rooms were magnificent.  There were awesome pools, ping pong tables, volley ball nets and of course, the ocean.  All of that stuff was nice but all of those things can be found at other places.  The best part of all was that EVERYTHING was free.  Breakfast started at 7 and went to 10, so you could go eat at 7 and then go back at 9:30.  Lunch started at 12:30 and went until 3:30, so you could eat at 12:30 and go back for more at 3.  Dinner was 7-10, so we ate at 7 and went back at 9:30 and all of it was a buffet.  All drinks were free anywhere on the premises.  There was a bar that served unlimited pizza, fries and chicken nuggets until 2 am.  So after second dinner we went out for pizza at midnight.  I’ve never eaten so much food in a day and a half in my life.  It was the first time I’ve seen the Pacific, which was cool.  It feels and tastes just like the Atlantic.  We stayed at the hotel until 5pm on Monday, which is when we all went back to Panama City.  6 of us were dropped off at the mall where we had to say goodbye to the rest of the group.  We had to catch a bus to Costa Rica.  So we said our goodbyes and headed to the bus station.  The rest of the group stayed the night in Panama City and flew back to the States Tuesday morning.

So this supposed 10 hour bus trip to Costa Rica began at 11pm Monday night.  We rode the bus to the border and that’s where the fun started.  I’m not a morning person.  I’m definitely not a morning person when I’ve been on a bus all night.  So when this young guy tells me I have to take off my backpack and let him take it while everyone else has their belongings with them and aren’t being asked for them, I got a little agitated.  It didn’t help that this kid didn’t work for customs agency or border control at all, he was just a random kid that wanted to help with the bags.  But since my camera, computer and wallet were in my backpack I was ready to fight over it.  So he asks at me to put it down and I say no.  Then he yells at me to put it down so to appease him I put it where he wants and I stand over it.  When he walks away I pick it back up and walk back into the customs line.  So then he comes back and tries to take it from me to put it back where he wants it but remember, no one else on the bus has been asked for their backpacks.  This was when things almost got ugly until a customs agent came in about that time and told everyone to take off their backpacks so they can be checked.  I felt bad for a second but not really, because this kid didn’t work for them and didn’t give me any reason to trust him.  It all turned out well though.  So we get back on the bus and reach the next bus station and then have to wait an hour for the next bus.  We finally made it to Buenos Aires, Costa Rica about 2:30 Tuesday afternoon.  The 10 hour bus ride turned into a 13 ½ hour adventure which we all kind of knew it would.  The good thing is that we are here in Costa Rica and I thankfully didn’t punch this punk kid at the border. 

So we got here at 2:30 Tuesday and got a few things ready for the 22 people that arrived about 9 Tuesday night.  Today, Wednesday, we got started doing what we are going to be doing here.  We are having a 7 day evangelism campaign that features a 5 night gospel meeting.  Today we were able to do a lot of prep work for things like VBS, the men’s and women’s Bible classes and also were able to go door knocking to invite people to the gospel meeting.  It was a good day and I’ll tell a little more of what we did today in my next post, hopefully tomorrow.  Tonight I am still pretty tired from the bus ride and lack of sleep we got last night so I’m going to go ahead to bed.