Following the Call

Rio Azul

Well, 2014 teams have started. Our second team of the year was from our home church, Southside Christian Church in Harrodsburg, KY. There were a total of 11 men on this team (5 from our home church, 4 returning, and 6 first timers and new faces for us). It was a great group of GUYS (there were no women for me [insert sad face here])! It is always such a blessing to have people from our church, especially when they see our daily lives here.

The week was spent in Rio Azul which is a very marginal and poor area of San José. It is about 10 minutes or so from us and it is up the mountain side....literally.

This is the view from the church

This is the end of the 'road' where the church is....careful when you play soccer!

The church is about 1/3 of the way up the mountain

The job the team was challenged with was building a Sunday school room. Almost all of the work was done by hand--including moving all of the materials (because the delivery trucks could only get so close to the church), mixing concrete and mortar (with a small single load concrete mixer), problems with water, electricity...just to name a few of the challenges! But they were workers! And they completed over 3/4 of the room. If we would have had 1-2 more days, the room would have been finished. But God did amazing work through these men and the church is one step closer to providing a place of learning, security and worship to these children:

The pastor told me that most of the parents of these boys are not Christians. But these boys do come to church on Sunday. And they showed up to help us build THEIR Sunday school room--how awesome! Pray that these boys continue on this path, because in this area, it is likely they will not.

The week included Rook and Wings night with Pastor Jorge--he LOVES Rook! And it was a time to sit down with the team and get to know them. It was a GREAT night of fellowship, (smack talking) and good food!

Steve Thomas admiring the spread

Steve and Bruce in the kitchen!

Tables of Rook and talking....good night!

The next day was church at the Abraham Project, lunch, then church in Rio Azul. The evening was filled with birthday surprise celebration for Steve Thomas, our 'boss' and director of the childrens homes. His wife and us did a good job, right Gigi!!??

We had lots of people, not enough food and GREAT fellowship honoring a great guy!

Then after two days of fun and fellowship, we cracked the whip and got the team to working!

Here is the basically the process of building in Costa Rica

Of course, rebar--and lots of it!

Then bending the rebar by hand to make the footers, headers, and columns

Paying a backhoe to dig out was a blessing, but it wasn't quite deep enough

So they got to do that by hand too

The rock and sand to make concrete

Getting all the handmade materials up the mountain side to the worksite--this too was a blessing

This is what it looked like from behind

The road up to Rio Azul posed a few (add exaggeration) to the travel to and from the church

Then unload all of it

And begin work--digging, mixing, wheelbarrowing, not dying....

Blocks delivered--blocks unloaded by hand and 4 of our very own from Southside--Johnny, Micah, Pappy and Bobby

These are the footers with all the rebar--Step 1

This is the church and the classroom area

Lots of talented wheelbarrowing in tight quarters

There are no child labor laws--for missionaries!

The wall starting to go up

Basically end of day 2 or 3

Mixing mortar by hand

And then taking a break

We like to treat our teams nicely.......

We paid Bobby in pipas

We made Micah had a some odd pound block through a maze

And we make them wheelbarrow in tight places.....

......and crazy obstacle courses

And we make them carry 50lbs sack of concrete over akward corners and floating 'bridges'??

We work the old men until they fall asleep

But HEY! who wouldn't want to come work with us!! RIGHT??!!


Leyton inside the almost finished walls

What it takes to fill in the columns-wood, rebar, cement, buckets, strong backs and some ingenuity

Emme and Leyton sifting sand to get even finer sand for the mortar

Look at me--I'm a concrete wheelbarrow-emptying fool!

Tried to get this one....but to no avail

Kids got to play with the neighbor dogs

Bobby all dirty--but happy, happy, happy

And this is where the team got after 5 days of intense work....

And then we send them on their way!

We had such a good time with the team, saw some friends, met some new ones, and worked really hard. We were sad to see them go, but we know they will come back for more!

Thanks Southside Christian Church! ¡Los amamos mucho!

**Just so you know, not every team works this hard. We have other options here at the Abraham Project that involve less strenuous work. If you would like to be part of a team, please feel free to contact us!

Ok, so today was a day that we have been waiting on for a looooooooooooooong time! Emme has been out of school since June of 2014. She and Leyton stayed with our landlord for June, July and August while we finished Language School. So it has been about 7 months that she has been out of the formal classroom.

However, after moving to a new house, new neighborhood, saying goodbye to friends she met (both Costa Rican and American) she started going to the daycare at the Abraham Project. She was in the daycare a few days before we left to go the US for 6 weeks (this is the reason we did not put her in formal school, but chose the daycare to focus only on Spanish and socialization). After we got back from the US, she started going to the daycare almost everyday, all day...all in Spanish! She has really picked up her Spanish and she was excited to go to the daycare everyday.

Now, from Christmas break (December 12ish until January 5th or so) until now, she has been going to the daycare and other days she has been helping us with some of the teams that we have hosted (a Joshua Expeditions team and our home church Southside Christian Church) which she absolutely loves!!!

Today was the first day in a new school, public Costa Rican school, all Spanish speaking AND to top it off, she is the only American, ginga, English speaker in the whole school! She has absolutely amazed me in her transition and the acclimation of this culture. For her, she doesn't see what I see. I see her differences from all the other students (as I do for myself in this culture--height, language, husband with a beard (haha)....) She doesn't see her differences at all and for this I am so thankful! She has been such an inspiration--taking all of these changes with such ease--honestly EASE! Having a very flexible, loving, spirit-filled child is such a blessing when you are living in another country! She makes it easier....a little!

Here are some pictures from her first day of school and some pictures of her school!