Glimpse of what's to come

Church site in Alajuelita

WE'RE HERE!!!!

The day finally came!! It's so hard to believe that we've actually begun our adventure...yet we've made it through three flights and two countries; we spent the afternoon speaking Spanish to friends we've just made; there are gates surrounding everything, not b/c it's dangerous but b/c it's seen as a sign of security and even the churches have gated walls; we're sitting on the couch at the Baits' home after tossing our bags in our room to be unpacked later; and there's currently a sea of lights from San Jose out the window (beautiful). Yes, I think we've arrived.

However, let's back up a bit to the adventure it was to get here. After the first flight we caught a glimpse of what this time here might be like, meeting new people, making connections, and offering ourselves to assist in whatever needed.

Making connections: Our first connection was made with the flight attendant when she began talking to us about our trip (naturally, as we were seated in row 1...), and we came to find out that she too is a Christian who volunteered at TeenMania for a year and decided to pursue her job as a flight attendant after a mission trip to South America. By the end of the flight she'd given us her email, asked for the address to our blog, and revealed to us that the best beverage to have on a flight is: cranapple and ginger ale!Needless to say, she was right and 3 flights later we've had our fair share of the concoction.

Helping Others: Upon arriving in Denver we only had 30 minutes to get off the plane, claim carry-ons from under the small plane, and walk to the opposite end of the terminal-from gate 60 to 18. Weeeellll, there was an elderly woman who had been through a long day of ups and downs traveling and was about ready to break down. The flight attendant found out what flight she was on and directed her to us to show her the way and get her to the gate on time. Long story short, Joyce made it to our connecting flight and is likely reunited with her family in time for a funeral by now. However small this little interaction was, these sorts of things can add so much meaning to 30 minutes in the day.

Meeting New People: Costa Rica. We've now met our gracious hosts: Gary and Mylinda, as well as their son Micah. We've also met the pastor and his wife of the church that is under construction, and another couple from the States that just arrived yesterday and is volunteering at the same site. Oh, and we met the neighbor to the church, some construction workers, a neighbor from down the street, and...you get the picture. :) Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming; we're excited to continue to work with them after our glimpse today- we got off the plane headed straight to the church building site and worked for 3ish hours. Shortly after arriving, Chris mentioned to me that he feels so at home already in this town/setting/environment. My impression? Well, I don't know that I'd go quite that far but it's only been an afternoon. Give me a day at least! :)

Thank you so much for all of the prayers sent our way. Our trip was unbelievably smooth on all accounts and we can only thank God for orchestrating it all.

Tearing up some more random block.

Mylinda and I put together a "closet" for the other volunteer couple,

Dave and Carol, we met today.

Olman (pastor), Gary, and Dave looking over plans for the church.

This is the area that will be the sanctuary.

Olman and Chris will Mancha.

Chris started working right away!