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Costa Rica Update #2

It’s early Saturday morning here. We only have 3 more days here. I’m going to miss this place! It seems like we’ve been here for a month!

Vacation Day – Our vacation day was awesome! We went on a Crocodile Safari! It was ridiculous! We saw huge gators (some up to 18 feet long) getting fed from literally a foot away. We have lots of video and pics of that, so I’m sure you’ll get to see them! Then we went to Jaco Beach! It was ridiculous! I’ve never experienced waves like that! They were brutal! The boys and I had a blast getting crushed over and over again by them! Then we went to Jaco Taco, a sweet taco bar for dinner! A great day overall!
The House – We’ve made a lot of progress on the house. Today, we’ll finish the walls along with the roof, and ideally put the windows and doors in. It’s been an awesome experience.

Tiko Worship – They call the people here “tiko’s” and call us “gringo’s”! Tiko worship is like a dance party form of worship. We had youth group last night and finished the night off with some Tiko Worship, it was a lot of fun.

A Powerful Afternoon - Yesterday afternoon was pretty powerful. We took a walk to a family’s house (kids pictured above) to bring them food, hand with them, and pray for them! The youngest son, was born in a field, his dad cut the umbilical cord with an unsanitary knife. An infection went into this child’s brain. He shouldn’t be alive or able to walk, he is doing both. He is working on communicating, although all he can do right now is make noises.

Then his older sister, who is 9 years old, was raped by her uncle when she was 8. It was so bad she had to get surgery. I don’t think I’ve ever been so heart broken and ticked off in my entire life. Her uncle was put away for 3 months, but because he didn’t have a trial yet, they let him go until the time of his trial. He was living next door to this family. Thankfully, some supporters of 6:8 ministries provided the finances to move this family to a safe location.

We go to play with these kids, the girls braided the girls hair, and we finished our time with them praying over them. I think this was definitely the experience that impacted me the most. Please pray for this family!

Being the Church - On the way home, we stopped at a grocery store and a bakery, bought some food, and handed it out to people who were in need throughout the city. It was so simple and easy and it was such an awesome thing to do. Through the church here and 6:8 ministries they’re reaching the homeless, children through twenty somethings, adults, addicts, men, and so many more people. It’s so cool to see a church be the church in a city. It’s an honor to be a part of this.

The rest of the Trip – Today, a team of us is going on a long hike up to the Cross. There is a huge mountain with 3 crosses on it. Everyone here says it’s a must do. I’m excited to go to the top with some of our group. I know it will be an awesome memory.

Sunday, we’ll have church, then we’re going to the city of San Jose to tour the city and get some shopping in. Monday, we’ll dedicate the house and hang and minister to the family we’re giving it to.

Tuesday we come home . . . it will be bittersweet.

Miss y’all back home!

Much love,

Bubs

Off to Costa Rica!

Hey Everyone,

Today we took a team of 16 students and 5 leaders to Costa Rica for a missions trip. We’ll be back on the 31st of August. We’ve partnered with 6:8 Ministries for this trip. This is our second year going down there! I was not on the trip last year, so I have no idea what to expect! Below is a recap video from last years trip.

I know we’ll be building a house and doing a lot of evangelism! I’m expecting God to do great things both in and through our team. When you think of it, please pray for our team. Pray for safety, pray for a life changing trip for everyone, pray for our health, pray for the people we’ll be ministering to, and pray that we’ll make God really, really big in the lives of the people there.

I’ll miss you guys! Have a fantastic week!!

Bubs

P.S. – Question, Do you think I should have “Guest Posts” when I go on trips like this? Let me know!

While I’m gone . . . I highly recommend checking out these blogs/posts:

ZackBlair.net

Bradcooper.us

Michaelhyatt.com

Swerve

Seth Godin

Here are some links to past posts I’ve written that were popular and that I believe will add value to your life… So here you go:

See you in a week!

Summer of Service 2010 Tribute

Every summer we have a Summer of Service program where 15-20 students come in an intern for a summer at Rev. This is one of my favorite things in the entire world! Our team and I get to spend a ton of time with these guys over the summer and we really do become a family over the course of a few months.

We could not have pulled this off without the help of some amazing leaders pictured below: Travis Trout, Tina Kruk, Strealy Clark, Abby Clark, Brianne Kessel, and our hero of SOS, McKenzie (the baby).

They gave up hours of their summer to invest in our student interns. They were such a blessing and I’m so grateful for each of them and so proud of them! They did an unbelievable job!

As far as the students, this group was so amazing! I could not speak highly enough of them. We held the bar pretty high with what we expected from them:

  • Write 3 sermons and preach one
  • Teach a nugget for devotions
  • Attend staff prayer weekly
  • Attend all Rev Events and Outreaches
  • Plan and Run the Small Group Olympics
  • Take notes and ask questions when the Pastors would come in and teach them
  • Co-lead a Jr. High Small Group
  • Have devotions, prayer, and worship for an hour
  • Watch John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership training
  • Read 3 books over the course of the summer
  • Listen to sermons by Pastor John and Keith Moore
  • Help plan and revamp Revolution
  • Serve and Lead in one area of ministry at Rev
  • Help with day to day office work at the Church
  • Blog Once A week

They all did such an amazing job and we created so many memories that we’ll never forget. I’m grateful for this experience and to get to be a part of these teenagers journey. They’ve taught me more than I’ll ever teach them.

Here are the students who were a part, along with a link to their blog (I’ll post a picture of them on Friday):

Summer of Service Blog

Anjelica Farino

Anna Bettencourt

Ariel Wick

Bethany Bettencourt

Cianna Nuzzo

Jesse Swanson

Lisa DiFalco

Michael Hamblin

Nathan Hamblin

Niki Wolbert

Rachel Johnson

Ryan Nuzzo

Hunter Stanchek

Lexi Brancadora

Veronica Nardini

To the interns, I love you guys so much! Never quit going after God with all of your hearts and you’ll go places you’ve never dreamed possible! I believe in each of you so much! Dream big and go for it! If you guys ever need anything, I’ll be there for ya. You were all an incredible blessing to me, our leaders, rev, and our church this summer!

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