Youth, College, Adult and Family Mission Trips to Costa Rica


Visit www.STRONGMISSIONS.com for group info and many more details...

Friday, July 6, 2012

House Project

Yorleni and family

Digging foundation holes (first days)

There's walls!

There's walls on the inside too!

Wow! It's starting to look like a real house...yeah!
As we do every year, Strong Missions volunteers and staff are building a house this year.  It has gone up quickly in just the last 4 weeks!  This house is for local resident Yorleni and her family, 6 total.  It has been a blessing to serve this wonderful family, who is very grateful to see their new home coming together.

*****Yorleni says it best in her note to the teams who worked on her new house:  "I want to thank you with all my heart for the blessing you have given my family.  You all have taught me that big dreams don't need big wings to lift them but rather they need a train to ground them until they are achieved.  Every one of you has left a mark on us that is impossible to erase.  Thank you to all of you who have made this dream a reality.  You all are very special.  May God bless you always."

Thank you to all the teams that have worked on the house this year/ donated funds by coming and working with us to make this dream a reality. Prayers for the teams yet to come and finish the house.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Community Park Update


The park project is advancing by leaps and bounds this year!  Each team that has contributed a mural in the last few months has added to the beauty and joy in this place.  And, perhaps most visibly, the city government has installed the landscaping as promised, and the rainy season is helping the grass grow nice and strong.  In a couple weeks the park will officially open its doors to the community (we've been waiting for the grass to take root before letting it get used).

The Carrillos park project was started in 2010 as a joint effort between the city government (who provided the land and landscaping) and Strong Missions (who provided the materials and labor through volunteers like you).  The neighbors, and especially the children, are thrilled that there is now a safe place to play so they don't need to play out in the streets, and can't wait for it to open its doors.

Please enjoy the photos below.



The slide and teeter totter were donated and installed by the municipal government.

A couple of the murals which were not seen in the pictures above.
Many thanks to all of you who have been part of this project!

Monday, July 2, 2012

What do the interns have to say?????


Though I only arrived in Costa Rica four weeks ago, I already feel as though I am home here at Strong Mission.  Scott and Rebecca packed our heads with information during orientation week, and it was a great introduction to the people and programs that we work with.  Working here is an amazing opportunity to share Christ’s love with the people of Costa Rica, but the part that I love is helping others have the experience of serving as Christ’s hands and feet.  I love to watch people come in and experience another culture while learning more about God’s love for them.  Learning about and sharing God’s love simultaneously is one of the most amazing experiences I have had! 
---------Jenny

Well, it's approaching that half way point and I cannot believe it! God has been so good to all of us here and I find myself experiencing such immense joy and fulfillment in every single day. The groups come and go, we build relationships, we laugh, we serve together, and we eventually say goodbye. It is an interesting cycle of life that can make one weary, but with a great staff and several days of rest we are still going strong. I am making beautiful connections with many people and strengthening my relationship with our patient and all loving God. Now I have to get off this computer and go enjoy this beautiful country! Please keep the staff and the mission in your prayers, and may God continue to bless you and hold you wherever you are.

--Elena


Time here in Costa Rica has seemingly morphed into some odd combination of going the speed of light mixed in with slow motion. In some ways it feels that I have been here forever, and yet it still seems like only a few days ago that I was arriving to this country for the very first time. Simply being in a Latin American country again just feels so good to me. I am surrounded by a different language and a different way of life, but yet I have peace and for this reason I know that I am in the right place this summer. I am blessed to be here at Strong Missions, serving the people in this community and those teams who come to work here as well, and I am moved by the work we are doing here. For many years, I have been discovering and growing my passions and interests in serving and caring for communities, specifically in looking for ways to end poverty and hunger, fight against the presence of drugs and gangs, and also promoting fair and equal housing. I am happy to be a part of this organization that is so dedicated to justice and the well-being of this community and even more so for the very small role I get to play in it. There are certainly big things happening here this summer. 
******Nicole

Things are going very smoothly here in Costa Rica and i love all the work I am doing to help the Ticos and to help the Gringos that come to work. Charlie said something the other day that really struck me. He reminded us of the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes (for anyone who doesn't know this story you can read Matthew Chapter 14.) In this passage there are many needy people gathered around Jesus and they begin to disperse for lack of food. And Jesus said to his disciples "They need not go away. You give them something to eat." This really struck me because i was reminded that we are all disciples of Jesus in our own ways and Jesus tells us to go and feed the hungry, or support the poor, or whatever it is you  are called to do and this is a clear reminder of exactly why we are here doing the work that we do for the people we do it for.
+++++++Nick