Mission Fair

Announcement! Exciting/a little nerve-wracking:



My home church, First Baptist Church of Hanford, is having their annual MIssion Fair April 9-10. They have asked Dave Hansen (the president of Students International) and I to be the speakers. So, I will be in the Central California area at that time and while I do not revel in the idea of speaking in front of large groups, I would love to see you then and have your support for this event. Even if you're not able to attend, please keep me in your prayers, as I'm pretty nervous about it. I'm sure it'll be great and I have confidence that God will give me the words that He has for everyone to hear. Thank you for your prayers =)

Teams and the Fuent

In Las Fuentes, we've begun to put into practice some of the new ideas for this year. One of these ideas for the boys and girls club was to assign a theme or a value to each month. Each week of that month, we set aside some time to talk about different aspects of that value and do some kind of activity with it. Some examples of these themes are, Goals, Self-worth and Respect. It's something the kids are still getting the hang of, but there have been some good discussions that have come of it and it's been helpful to refer back to for the children in other situations.

In hopes of creating a more community centerish type of environment (but without the whole actual physical building part), I've been brainstorming and creating a list of special activities to take place on Friday afternoons. Some compiling of resources, supplies and able-bodied help are still needed for many of the activities, but so far, we have also been able to host two movie afternoons. For these events, we were able to borrow a projector to have more of the big screen kind of feel. We were given permission to use the community building (where we also do aerobics), which also provided chairs and we brought snacks to make the whole movie watching experience complete. We chose movies appropriate for the ages of those that came, between 4 and 13. Although, some had made suggestions of movies ahead of time that would not have been appropriate, we stuck with movies like, Monsters Vs. Aliens (the Pixar one) and Yogi Bear. They all loved it, even the too cool for school ones- I saw them laughing. This is just a small thing that I'm sure a lot of them maybe haven't able to experience before. And starting out with this kind of activity, rather than something more complicated or involving, I feel like they'd be more likely to get involved when we plan for things that require some more involvement, such as tournaments or special projects. So far it seems to be going pretty well. Each time we've had about 20 kids show up and they behaved excellently both times, also showing me that I can attempt something a little more challenging with them. Especially when teams are here to help direct such activities.


Speaking of teams, we've had our first two student teams of the year. The first group was made up of a team from Jupiter Christian High School in Florida and an Intervarsity group from James Madison University in Virginia. The second group contained a women's soccer team from Crown College in Minnesota and a team from Taylor University in Indiana. Both of these groups were excellent and gave us a great jumping off point for the year and the teams to come. They were very willing to jump in, flexible with everything and very encouraging with their interest and care for the work being done here.


Here are a few pictures from one of the movie days with the kiddos:


















Our movie clan, making our best monster and alien faces! Krysta and Tracey Dixon (neither of which are pictured here) came to help out on separate occasions. Erin Janzen, who is pictured here, also came to help out.

Women's Trip!

Back in February, we had a group of about 25 women from California, Texas, Guatemala and Austria, one of which was my mom, that all met down here in Costa Rica for an SI women's trip! It was great to be able to spend time with so many women that I'd known from California and Guatemala and to get to know the others. It was also amazing to be able to share in it all with my mom. She'd come to visit before, but never in the context of an actual outreach, so I think it was good for her, along with the others I'd known as well, to see what all goes on in my site and how teams fit into that. We had a good and very encouraging week with this team. It was not without it's challenges, though. In working with kids of the age that I do, pre-teen or early teens, there presents quite a few challenges with disciplinary issues. This women's team got to see some of these challenges first hand, but were very supportive and encouraging in how it was handled. It's always exciting having new people work and experience our lives here, but there's something special about sharing it with those who are close to you or have known you beforehand.

Below are some pictures from this outreach:





Janice Hansen (who lead the women's trip), me and my mom.



Tracey, with Lynnea, leading the way on our excursion to La Paz Waterfall Gardens





Women at the waterfall.

Holidays----way back when----

The following series of blogs are an attempt at an update on my life since December or so, of last year.

Holidays:

As a kind of end of the year activity, we took about 25 kids from Las Fuentes to a park in Desamparados and had a kind of field day with different team games and activities, as well as a hot dog featuring lunch. It was a crazy kind of day, which the kids seemed to enjoy. It was the first time we'd taken a group from Las Fuentes to any kind of outside place and for the most part it was good. But we also learned some different ways or kinds of things we may do for the next time. =)

After these activities, I was blessed to be able to go home, to California, for the holidays, but not without stopping by Louisiana to visit my dear friend, Dominique, first. Both Louisiana and California provided great opportunities to rest in the company of family and friends. And even more than that, I was able to speak to a Sunday School class from my home church that supports me. They also put together a large supply of donations that they sent down for our ministry here in Costa Rica. It really is a blessing to have such a great team of support back at home.

Upon coming back to Costa Rica, the kids I work with, the aerobics ladies and those I visit seemed anxious to get back started with the program, which was encouraging, especially when leaving home/California is not always the easiest thing. This year also started with some new ideas to begin implementing in the work being done in Las Fuentes, such as monthly themes of values in the boys/girls club time, more community center type of activities and sharing articles and healthy recipes with the aerobics ladies. Some of which are more easily begun than others. Please keep in prayer the implementing of these new projects and discernment and wisdom in the process.

Below are just a few pictures of my time in the states:



Dominique and I----SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!



Noelle and David (the marrieds), me and my Mom and Dad!



Jonathan and his beard and Munroe.



Isaac and Munroe---we kinda love dogs!

A Wedding, a Birthday and Fun-loving Delights!

In mid-September I was very blessed to be able to spend a few weeks in California. In this time I was able to be a part of my older brother, David's wedding, my Mom's birthday, my friend, Heather's baby shower and lots of quality time with family and friends. I hadn't been back to California since January- a good 8 months! Not quite my favorite amount of time.
It was especially great to be able to be a part of David and Noelle's wedding, as a bridesmaid. It was a beautiful ceremony and an amazing celebration at the reception. And now, I'm very happy to have a sister in the family!
Also, when home, I got to share in the celebration of my mom's birthday, September 24th. We surprised her with going to see Bye-Bye Birdie at Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater in Fresno---my two younger brothers, Jonathan and Isaac even came along (I didn't give them any details about that night for as long as possible so they wouldn't try to get out of it- they were good sports, though ; ) David and Noelle couldn't make it because of some honeymoon thing =) It was a lot of fun!
While at home I was also able to attend my friend, Heather Roeber's baby shower for her soon-to-be-born little girl, Elise, who I'm very excited to meet at Christmas!
In addition to all that, I also had a few opportunities to talk to people and groups about what all it is that I'm doing down here in Costa Rica. I got to speak to a women's group at my church and they offered a lot of encouragement. My friend, Rebekah Milhon and I were asked to speak to our church's high school Sunday school class on the topic of missions. We each talked about our experiences and encouraged the students to get involved where they're at. They actually seemed to listen pretty well and asked some good questions. I seem to be continually reminded, in those types of situations, of my love for youth and their involvement in such things beyond themselves and their own little bubbles.
Being a quality time person, I was incredibly blessed to be able to spend the face to face time that I did with people I love. In some ways, it seemed like it was way too short of a time to get in all the quality face time that I'd have liked to. But also, upon returning to Costa Rica, I felt that I'd been gone for way longer than I actually was. It's weird- all those feelings and trying to juggle them, but I'm feeling a little more balanced now and allowing myself to rest in the arms of Him who has it all under control in His timing and His balance.

Because I feel that my words don't do my experience justice, here are some pictures for you to enjoy of my time in CA:




David and Noelle at their rehearsal dinner.



Richard and Granny (my Mom's Mom) at the rehearsal dinner.



My Mom and Dad. At the rehearsal dinner. Still.



The bride and her maids---some of us look like we're sleep standing.



David and Noelle's pups- Grace and Charlie.



Noelle and her dad making their way down the aisle.



Noelle and David during the ceremony.



Noelle, her parents and her sister, Monique. David (with the help of some friends, my Dad and brothers) made that white arch behind them for Noelle.



My brothers and some of my Mom's side of the family, left to right- Aunt Kathy, Jonathan, Granny, Richard, Aunt Cary, Isaac and myself.



Siblings! Jonathan, myself, David and Isaac.



The wedding party.



David and Noelle Pritchard's first dance at their splenderific reception---that's the dessert spread on the right!



My parents at Roger Rocka's for my Mom's birthday celebration extravaganza!



Me, Isaac and Jonathan watching Bye Bye Birdie. They were clearly thrilled........that there was food there.



My super duper friend, Aiyla and myself.



My splendiferous friend, Courtney and I at her sister, Heather's baby shower.



Heather at the shower for her baby, Elise.



Me and my greatastic friend, Rebekah!

Thanks for watching. =)

Lice, Tires, and Sinuses, oh my!

I don't even know how long it's been since I've written, so I'll start from now and work kind of backwards. =) So these last few weeks have been a little crazy. We had our last team for the summer leave. It was a packed summer, full of eager students ready to help with all the varying activities. The same weekend that the last team left, I had to flee the country with the Janzens to renew our visas in Panama. Hopefully, soon we'll be able to get special visas that will keep us from having to leave the country every three months. After our weekend in Panama, I returned back to Las Fuentes. Upon my return there, kids came running up to me, "Cailah, when's (insert name of anyone that came to Las Fuentes this last summer) coming back?" They continue to ask about them, although my answer has yet to change, "I'm sure they would love to be here, but they had to go back home." And they continue to ask.....

Not too long after being back, I started to notice a crazy itching on my head. Come to find out, I'd gotten lice. It wasn't super surprising, considering some of the cases we've seen in Las Fuentes. Between numerous shampoos, olive oil treatments, comb-throughs and nit-picking (literally), my head seems to be lice free! After the whole lice ordeal, then came the issues with the tires. Three flat tires in three days. The first one, I don't know what it was caused by. But we got the the spare tire put on and before I got a chance to take it in, I drove it up to Las Fuentes. Kids started coming and some of them came in saying, "Cailah, there's air coming out of the tire in your car." And I was like, ummm, no, that's a spare. So, I went and checked it out and sure enough, before long, another tire was flat. I think this one may have been due to really bad roads because of some construction. So, I ended up having to call a tow truck, seeing as how the spare tire was already being used. So, they took me into a shop and we got the tires patched up, aligned and rotated, all for relatively cheap. Great! Not two days later, I was in Las Fuentes again, walking to aerobics, when I noticed another tire (not any of the ones that had had problems before) looked a little flat. By the time I got done with aerobics, it was significantly flatter. So some of the guys from the church helped me change the tire to the spare and once again I headed back to the shop to get the tire repaired. This time it was a nail. Needless to say, I think I'm getting the whole how to deal with a flat tire bit down pretty good. The next morning, I woke up feeling kind of sinus-y. This began a five, or so, day stretch of dealing with sinus pains, feelings of my head swimming and just being out of it in general. But it's mostly cleared up now, so thank you, Lord, for no sinus infection and for a pretty quick recovery. So, things have been a little crazy over the last month or so, but there's also a lot of good crazy to tell!

We now have some new staff members to add to SI Costa Rica and our first Tico staff, to boot! Luis Diego, Cindy and their daughter Hannuka have jumped on board with us! Cindy will be starting a micro finance site with Maria (who is from Nicaragua and was an intern this last summer and has yet to be officially on staff, but is well on her way). They'll be working in each of the communities where we currently are, Los Guido, La Capri and Las Fuentes. They'll be working with women involved in small businesses in each of the communities, helping to tie the ministry focus places together, as well. Diego will be starting up a kind of sports/recreation site, that will also spend some time at each of the working ministry locations. In Las Fuentes, we're going to team up to present a more thorough and unified front in the sports department, as well as, providing a boy/girl scouts kind of alternative, incorporating Christian values in the teachings. I'm really excited for this new program in Las Fuentes. The times I've mentioned it to the kids there, they freaked out with excitement, so I'm pretty sure it'll do well. Well, we at least know that if it's of God, it'll prosper in how He'd have it do so.


So many new and exciting things going on here. With those things come challenges. One of those that hasn't seemed to give me much of a break, especially looking at last month, is that of finances. I am in dire need of more support. Would you PLEASE pray and consider how God would have you respond to such a need. I know that kind of giving may not be for everyone, but that doesn't mean that you have no part to play. Thank you for your continued prayers and support! God Bless! =)

Teamerizing!

Things have been busy as of late, real busy. Our summer has gotten off to a great start. After the Grove City College team, from Pennsylvania, we had a two week slot with no teams. It was a good time to really get involved with our summer interns and prepare together for the teams to come. After those 2 vacant weeks, we had a team come from The Well Church, in Fresno. I had a great group of ladies who were really fun to have at the site and to see them using specific gifts and talents they had with the kids and older ladies we visited. They even survived the infamous aerobics class! After a jam-packed 2 weeks, the Well team headed back to CA a week ago. And last Monday, our next group arrived: highschoolers and young adults from Savior's Church in Visalia and Heritage Church in Bakersfield. With one week down in their two weeks here, they've done great! My group at the Social Services site in Las Fuentes has been really good about diving in (sometimes literally) with the kids. Yesterday, for example, we had aerobics in the morning, in which their enthusiasm has lead me to have more difficult workouts, as I find my self laughing. at them. a lot. it's pretty great! After aerobics, we planned some activities for the following week (as the kiddos at our site have their 15 days of vacation from school). Then, as we were finishing lunch, it began to rain a little bit. The students got super excited to play in the rain with the kiddos---good thing! So, we headed back to the church and rounded up a bunch of kids, in a pied piper kind of fashion (which i love, by the way). We divided into teams when we arrived to the play (the big field area where we play with the kids). Not long after we arrived, it started raining pretty good. Soon, the field was transformed into a giant slippery sliding mud bath! The kids of the Fuent made it their personal goal to take each of us down in the ginormous puddle that we basically had to tread water and swim to get out of. The team fully embraced every part of this, not holding back at all and I know that the kids of Las Fuented LOVED it! It was also pretty hilarious to see everyone running around completely drenched in the muddy mess: the little kiddos and team members alike with mud beards, mustaches and uni-brows. It was beautiful! I truly believe that investing quality time in these kids in Las Fuentes is key. And being willing to be ridiculous and maybe look foolish for them and with them speaks volumes into their lives, in showing them that they are loved and have worth. I don't know all of the stories of the home lives of these kids, but I do know that something draws them to our activities and they keep coming back and wanting more. Sooooo, I don't know all the details of hows or whys, but I do know that we will continue to be obedient to what God's called us to do in Las Fuentes, as nebulous as it may seem to me or others at times. =)

Just a few pictures of the Fuent with the Well team:



Sam and Courtney with some kiddos at the Play Azul




Annalee (who's been the amazing intern at my site) with Raul playing a more difficult version of jenga?



Sam turning the jump rope for Angie and Tatiana



Megan and Tatiana <3