Costa Rica update #1

We are on our way to the airport. Everything is smooth sailing so far. Thank you in advance for praying for us. The trip every year is always a big surprise to us. We never know what challenges await us and what blessings God has in store. The bottom line is that we put it all in His hands and He always is faithful and loving in how He provides for us all. We will be stretched in our comforts and that is especially true this year with our accommodations being at the Clayton building half way built. I wanted to remind you of the specific prayer requests that were on our prayer cards. 1. Pray for the Bri Bri youth that will attend the camp- all 150 of them. Most will have never received Christ as their Savior. Pray they will hear the good news, make relationships with others, be encouraged to be leaders. In their communities and take their faith to the next level. We covet your prayers for the pastors serving there as well. We connect with many while we are there, so pray that we can be an encouragement to them. 2. Pray for. The construction team who is already there preparing for the camp and working hard. Health, safety and fun for them building relationships with our brothers in CR 3. Eye glass clinics in villages which end up being very evangelistic in nature. We share the gift of reading glasses and our brothers and sisters from San Jose church share the gospel just following it. They talk one on one with the people explaining how Jesus can open the eyes of their heart. Many times, people accept Christ right then and there. It is truely an honor to share something really practical like reading glasses but then also share with them the greatest gift of all. 4. Pray for our team. Health is huge and every year we are so amazed how healthy we all stay for the most part. Pray hard that nothing will hold us back, not even a sniffle or tummy ache. Then there's safety. Do I have to say more? In the jungle, bugs, weird environment, rivers and sketchy roads. After last year, when Conner had to make an emergency trip to a jungle clinic and ER, I feel like a pro, but pray we are all safe and smart. By the way, Costa Rica health care and medical services are awesome. I was so impressed but nevertheless pray for safety. Next is unity as a team for us Gringos and also with the Ticos- the costa ricans that we partner with from San Jose. This is a mission trip for them as well. So far our bond with the ticos has been a major blessing in my life. Its like i have brothers and sisters that i cant imagine not knowing in life. Finally, openness to the Holy Spirit. Going through super hard living conditions and serving alongside each other just does something to your soul and to the relationships with each other. Pray that this happens and that our relationships deepen and encourage our faith. at the same time, the Holy Spirit may be more active in this trip than these students have ever experienced. The Latin american culture just depends on the hOly Spirit more than we are used to in America. Pray that our students are open to this amazing eye opening time of seeing the Spirit work in and through us. 5. Pray for our students. This is their last highlife adventure and we already miss them. This is the greatest one of all with the most challenging and most unifying opportunities that we have ever given our highlife students. This is also their last time together before parting ways to college, work or whatever. Many will think about missions for their life during this trip. Pray God will do His thing this week and students see that God's will is the greatest thing ever. We couldn't plan our life to be more of a joy than just following God's lead. Harder? Yes! Better? Yes! Possible regrets? Never! Ok so that was quite a post. Just couldn't help to expand and give you some background so you really can pray knowing more about the whys and details of these prayer requests. Thank you for entrusting your wonderful children to us. We don't take the responsibility lightly. We walk into this trip in prayer, preparation and most of all, into the hands of the Almighty God. Brenda