Friday... ¡Viernes!  The last full day of our trip.  This is the day reserved for the team to do something fun, and to recover and relax from all the hard work of the last four days.  Several months ago, in the Connections Center back at Frisco Bible, the team voted between three options, and the winner was....(look above)... ¡la playa!.

BTW, if anyone was wondering why I repeated the title of the blog at the beginning....  The actual title cannot have exclamation marks in it.  This is an HTML thing.  No way around it. And the phrase "¡Qué <something>! is very much a Spanish thing to express degree of emphasis , and ¡QuéHamburguesa!...will come up later.  I wanted my ¡! exclamation marks back...

Ryan W. was feeling better today, but not enough for a long day out in the sun... he felt it would make for a longer day traveling on Saturday, so opted to stay at the hotel and continue to sleep off the stomach issue that hit him.  ¡Qué triste! (sad)

Our destination for the day was a resort called Punta Leona (Lioness Point), on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica about 53 miles WSW of our hotel in San Juan. It is not a quick 53 miles. LOL.  Traffic in Costa Rica is...interesting.  To say the least.  And we had to climb over a volcanic mountain range to get there.  I found myself wondering what Europeans explorers must have faced trying to cut their way through this terrain without the benefit of established roads.

We made one stop on the way, at the Rio Grande de Tárcoles, a river that is known habitat for los cocodrilos (crocodiles).  We got off the bus on one side of the bridge, took pictures and then joined our bus driver on the other side to continue on our way.  Lucy the guide said the number of crocodiles had been lesser of late due to the construction on the bridge, but we did see three of them, and a cool white bird, and our own shadows in the river!

Finally, there are tantalizing visions of the Pacific through the windows, and we turn into a security gate leading to the resort.  After a rather long trek on a bumpy gravel and dirt road ( Allison and I were bouncing in the back of the bus... I was having flashbacks to elementary/middle school days... that was a LONG TIME AGO!), and then Lucy had us checked in, we had our green wristbands, and we were off to spend a few hours on Playa Blanca.

Highlights of the morning beach:

• The monkey in the tree that was trying to eat the iguana
• The iguana jumping down from the tree onto the sand right by where we were sitting
• Alex coaxing the iguana up onto his arm  (The Lizard Whisperer!)
• Beach chair rentals that cost 9,000 for a pair!   (ok, CRC... Costa Rica Colones. $18 US)
• Guide Lucy setting up a hammock
• Guide Lucy falling asleep in the hammock.
• Rob & Denise waking up Lucy for no reason because of time confusion.  Of course Lucy set an alarm.  She knows what she is doing.  OOPS.

Playa Blanca (White Beach) faces the Pacific directly, and has a very steeply sloped beach, so the waves are pretty strong, and they crash right at the edge of the beach.  All of the team members who played in the water talked about how much of a workout it was to fight the wave action, and especially getting in and out of the water through that last break.  

But it was still fun.  In this author's opinion, there is nothing like the ocean and a beach for relaxing.  I have been pretty much a parrothead (if you do not recognize the reference, you can look it up) all my life, I think.  Whether you play in the surf, bodyboard, walk, sleep, read, or just sit under the almondrillo (surely one of the world's greatest shade trees) and talk to a loved one... it is a great way to reset.

After cleaning up our feet, we got on the bus and went to the hotel restaurant where we enjoyed the all-you-can-eat buffet.
As we were walking into the restaurant, Lucy pointed out a much bigger iguana that was right there between the road and the wall of the restaurant.   Alex the Lizard Whisperer decided to try and repeat his earlier success, and...well... lets just say it did not go so well,... a HISS, and a lunge... and the whole party scattered.  Big Brother Lizard was having none of that, thank-you-very-much!  

The buffet was enormous, with a wide variety of entrees, sides, breads, and desserts.  Your Blogger had a plate full of food, including local favorites, but for an appetizer, opted for an honest-to-goodness hot dog.  Was a nice taste of home!  Gringo Food Instance #1.

Then the group headed to another part of the resort where the beach was a sheltered lagoon, and there were freshwater facilities as well.  Dan, Ryan V, Boaz, Lucie, Tall Sam, Alex and Sam decided to while away their afternoon playing water volleyball, while Darren/Denise and Rob/Allison just chilled in the other swimming pool.   At one point, Allison and I got out and went looking for scarlet macaws... we found two sitting on a branch, but kind of removed from the swimming area and not easy to see.  About that time, Lucy came back and said she had found the sloth, so Allison and I put on our shoes and joined her.. just as we walked out of the pool area, the macaws took off and flew over the pool together.. they were magnificent!  (but unfortunately, too fast to capture with a picture)

Together with Lucy and the bus driver, we went and saw the sloth over by the river.  Lucy is studying to become a higher level of certified guide in CR, and she is very knowledgeable about many, many things in her native country.  She is a lot of fun to be with on this trip!

After the sloth, it was time to change out of swimsuits and start heading back, with one stopover at a big souvenr shop.

After dropping many, many thousands of CRC on mementos for ourselves, friends and family, we started the long drive back to the hotel in San Jose.  Dinner was Chicken Quesadillas and French Fries.  Gringo Food Instance #2.  During dinner, Guide Lucy was sitting with myself, Allison, Alex, and Sam, and we were discussing favorite Gringo Foods back in the States.  Since our son Matthew had come to CR in 2021, I related the story about how he always wanted to get Whataburger immediately whenever he would return from college at Hillsdale in Michigan.  Lucy got tickled about the idea of the name "Whataburger".  I told her it was literally like ¡QuéHamburguesa! and she just kept giggling.

After dinner, we had a short meeting where Denise gave us some very helpful insights about handling the emotions that we would feel post-trip, and some books we could read about poverty and missions...and then we called it a night.

And... although I will write one more short blog about our travel day, this was the last full blog report of our trip.  And who knows if any of us will return here again, so I will sign this blog entry off with some verses from my all-time favorite poem by my all-time favorite poet.  It is very, very germane to what we did today to recover and rest.  

The Pacific Ocean has already effaced our footprints from Playa Blanca, but our impact on Pavas and the children at HOPE will remain...by the grace of God.

Thursday!  Last day of the Service portion of our trip.  The day started off on a down note, as Ryan W. had come down with a stomach bug, despite all cautions of eating only foods prepared by the hotel or the missions/HOPE team.  He was so disappointed not to be there for the last day of the painting and especially with the kids at the HOPE center.

We arrived at the school and had just a few things left to do on the painting, and then the cleanup.  The final work was done on the shapes, and then the tape was removed.  Then the team swarmed both rooms and touched up the lines everywhere to make them nice and crisp.. and we were DONE!   The rooms were put back like they were, desks and furniture cleaned, and then Director Paula arrived with the school Headmaster/Principal and the teacher of one of the rooms.   There was a short wonderful fiesta as all the kids of that particular class were brought in to see their changed room, and the looks on their faces made all the sweat and sore muscles absolutely worth it!

Then the team headed to HOPE for our luncheon, where we got to partake of the meal that would be served to the people of Pavas that day.  All of the HOPE staff, the summer interns and the mission team sat in the main room and enjoyed a meal of beans, a delightful chicken and vegetable medley, and potato chips.  Then we cleaned and reset the room and started getting ready for our last day of camp with the kids.

Surprisingly, this was also our first day of steady rain.  This is the rainy season in Costa Rica, but so far on this trip, it had not happened.  Today it did, but... as you shall see, it may have caused a blessing for one member of our team in particular.   The staff made the call fairly early to have the welcome recreation time indoors (it takes awhile to dry off the playground equipment and grounds to make it safe), so games were placed around the main room, large swaths of brown paper were taped down and crayons laid out for coloring, and the Blue/Green/Red teams headed to their respective places to prepare while the skit team rehearsed.

Finally, the time arrived, and the kids started coming in even a little early.  Paula saw no reason to make them stand out in the rain any longer :)   Yours truly was laying on the floor at one of the large paper sheets, coloring, when to my surprise, a boy came flying in, plopped down beside me, and joined me in the coloring.  It was the first time this week that one of the HOPE kids went straight to me upon their arrival.  Miracles really do happen at HOPE!  Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was Providence.... what do you think?  And all around the room there was a lot of fun being had with Connect Four, Dominoes, Uno, more coloring spots, you name it!

After we sang our opening song "Adios Al Ayer" (Goodbye Yesterday), said our theme "La mejor decisión es seguir a Jesús", and prayed to "El Señor", the kids watched the skit and headed out for the last round of crafts and recreation.

We met for one last time in the main room to sing my favorite Spanish praise song. "Alaba" by Elevation Worship.  (Praise)  Yes, it is a Spanish praise song now.  It always will be for me.  When I go to the SALT Conference in October, I am going to have those words memorized, and I am going to sing it in Spanish.  And I just might dance to it.

But this time.....

Paula had told us this time would be different.  Halfway through the song, the HOPE staff and interns gathered the kids in one half of the room and continued to dance and sing the normal song with them.  The Frisco Bible Missions Team moved over to the door leading to the front exit, and formed a tunnel.

And as the final stanzas of "A-a-alaba a Dios / mi corazón" were playing, those sweet children ran through the tunnel and we gave them high-fives...
......and they were gone.

See, by the dint of hard experience... Paula had told us to get our hugs in at the beginning.  They knew that it was better to have a clean break at the end.  They have seen it time and time again.  

And they were right.  It was tough enough.

We will miss them.
We will pray for them.
Vaya con Dios, los pequeños de Pavas. 
You stole our hearts, but not our memories.

¡Hoy es Miercoles¡  Wednesday... Day 3 of our HOPE service.  At breakfast today, our Hope guide Lucy told us that the Costa Ricans call Wednesday "el ombligo de la semana", which literally translates to "the bellybutton of the week".  Sounds a little cuter than "hump day" to be honest.  Breakfast included Beef Tacos, which were crunchy and thinly wrapped (in los Estados  Unidos, we would call them taquitos)...I wanted to put 8-10 in a bag and take them with me to school for snacks while we paint LOL.

And off we went, fighting traffic around an accident (having only one route in and out of Pavas complicates things), but finally we got to school and got to work again.  Some final second coats of Celeste Blue on the tops of the walls were tackled by Ladderman (my X-Men name: my mutation is a large brush that extends out of the back of my right hand), while most of the team began working on the geometric shapes at the base of the walls, and Hope Lucy did much trabajo duro scrubbing the classroom windows.  By the end of the morning, the HOPE staff and intern was satisfied that we are in very good "shape" (drum roll, if you would please, maestro) and should be able to finish both rooms by tomorrow!

Afterwards, it was once again chaos in the courtyard as the younger members of the team and the younger interns joined the school kids (some of whom we will see later at HOPE) in very frenetic, energetic games.  (Oh to be young, and have all those power reserves!)  And the autograph sessions continued today.  Yours truly got in on the Hollywood session this time.  "¡Jesús <heart> tú!- Rob" was what I settled on.

There was one poignant moment... the team lunch had been prepared, and as usual, was being brought out in this huge white Igloo cooler.  One of the boys at the school, who also comes to HOPE every day, has learned what this means.   He sees this cooler every week during the summer when they are in school (HOPE has mission teams coming in all summer).  He came running over, a desperate look on his face, his arms spread wide.  As he got closer, he began to pat his stomach.  Later that day, an intern pointed out signs of malnutrition that the boy exhibits, signs of which I was not aware.

He is hungry.  Even with his daily HOPE meal, he is always hungry.  I have raised three chicos grandes... I know how hungry they always are... they are living power plants needing entire coal trains dedicated to them.

It is enough to tear your heart, as surely as we tore the cotton balls to make the sheep in crafts that afternoon.  You want to feed him.  You want to feed them all.  You wonder how the world can be like it is, and marvel at the effect of sin on the world.  Our Lord Jesus told us we cannot eliminate poverty... "The poor you will always have with you.." [John 12.8].   Until He returns, He expects us to be his agents in helping them, anyway we can.  The First Adam caused this, and it is our job to show Jesus to them until the Second Adam is allowed to come back and set All Things Right.

Pero te rompe el corazón...

Then it was back to HOPE for another day of loving the kids, cantando y baile, playing, arts & crafts, Bible stories, and being reminded that it is "Always the best decision to follow Jesus".  Today, the team members lined up on either side of the gate in the park in front of HOPE... I sat on the bench under the almond tree and watched as the kids started trickling in after getting their name tags and team color bandanas.  Pardon me as I pull out my Math Teacher (work starts next week... BOOOOO!)... but it was fun to watch as some kids would come in, look around, and immediately change course and make a direct vector to Denise, or Lucie, or Darren, or Alex, or Intern Darby.  I closely watched the visage of the chicos y chicas as they found the one they wanted... the one they had connected with.. and they beamed, and RAN.  Vectored into a huge HUG that seemed it would never end.  Lucie from our team even got a hug through the fence!   A girl from 2 years ago, who is too old for this year's camp, remembered her and wanted to reconnect.  Hope Director Paula says over and over that these kids just need to be seen and known.  That is why yesterday's theme was "Jesus knows my name."  They want to be seen, known, and know that someone who loves them will be there for them, and will hang around.... (more on that later)

Today's theme about how Jesus will look for and bring back his lost sheep.  Tall Sam put in a turn as Jesús, el Pastor (Jesus the Shepherd), who looked all around the kids on the floor for the stuffed sheep that was hidden in the HOPE sign up on the wall.  Mucho giggles all around!  The craft was a delightful Toilet Tube sheep that Ryan W. discovered online and Allison worked hard to perfect (the HOPE staff and interns have been very complementary of our team's crafts this week!), and the games included another round of 'find the sheep'.  (In the reflection time at the end of the day, there was some playful argument about the fairness of the hidings, we consulted VAR and it was inconclusive)

Stay with me a little longer, reader....
In the opening "briefing" at HOPE before the kids arrived, we got to hear an interview from Javi, a wonderful man who is on staff on HOPE.  I have obviously known him only 3 days, but it does not take very long at all to figure out how much he means to this place, and how valuable he is to Paula.  Allison has loved having him in the Green Room to help with crafts.  

Paula had to translate the interview, and the thing that stuck out the most was this.... Javi told a story about when he first came to HOPE, and an older girl came up to him... she was angry in countenance... in his words, he thought "she was going to bite him!" (later on that day, I had a girl stick her tongue out at me and called me "feo" (ugly) four times!)

And she asked him, in summary, "are you going to stay?"

Let that percolate for a moment.  "Are you going to be here for us?  For me?"

What she is really asking is "What kind of man are you?"

These kids do not have good experiences with men.  Men who are awful at being men are not limited to Pavas--they are a world-wide scourge.  But they are certainly a huge problem here too.  It is one of the biggest issues they face, especially the girls.  The kids of Pavas so desperately need to experience interaction with godly men who love properly, act with honor, and who will be there for them when they need them. 

They do not have that.
It is a glaring need.
Paula has been blessed to find several men on her main staff that fit that template.  
Praise God for that.

Quédese, Señor...para mí.  Por favor.
y Jesús responde:  ¡siempre estaré aquí para ti!

Pray for the men like Javi at HOPE, standing in loco parentis for the missing padres y tios y abuelos in Pavas.  For those being the living, breathing agents of our Lord Jesus Christ here in this place, the hands and feet of Love and HOPE to these little girls that so desperately need someone to Stay.

Today started with something a little different.  Well, at least after breakfast.  At which, Ryan W. said... "I do miss breakfast meats!".... Yeah, that is not a part of the Tico culture it would seem.  What is a part of a Costa Rican breakfast is black beans and rice, and I have been told by the HOPE folks that I am on my way to being an honorary Tico... because I am eating it every morning now.  (I think I might be in the minority!)

But after breakfast?  The staff of HOPE took the CRSMT26 team on a Prayer Walk in Pavas.  This is something they do on a regular basis, even when there are no mission trips.  These people are serious about their commitment to this place and its people.  The bus took us to an outer edge of Pavas, to a place where a railroad runs within 15 feet of tin-metal shacks filled with families, many who have children.  We walked along the tracks and prayed silently for whatever burdened our hearts concerning the poor in Pavas.

I have no pictures to show, for it was not that sort of event.  It was far too somber.  The pictures are in my mind, and there are memories recorded in my private journal.  To truly understand it, you would need to make this walk yourself along those tracks.  Should you wish to do so, I know a gal... I can put you in touch.  

At the far end of the walk, before turning to go back, Paula of HOPE had small groups of us join her on a small ledge overlooking a steep valley that plunged even further down from where we stood.  Ramshackle 'housing' stretched as far as the eye could see.  She talked about one small house in particular, the only true A-frame house in an ocean of sheet metal..but it was not very large at all--a single room.  And it housed a family of seven!  She also listed many things that just continued to layer the paint strokes of poverty over the canvas before us.

But then... she told us to look carefully through the buildings, up the alley beside the huge tree that is the landmark for directions in the neighborhood.  All the way at the top of the hill... you could see the HOPE building.  Many of the kids who come there live in the vista we had right before our eyes.  And they look to the HOPE at the top of the hill, where, God willing, they learn to look to the Great Source of Hope for their lives.

It was a quiet ride back to la escuela, where the ladders and paint brushes awaited us.

I will not blog long about the school today, for today was base coat day, which is about as exciting to read about as (you knew this was coming).... watching paint dry!   But the team worked hard, and we had to get a lot done in order to stay on schedule so we can complete the two rooms this week.  By this time, we have sorted ourselves naturally into those who are tall and/or better on the ladders, and those who can get up and down off the floor without needing a case of Advil after doing so... and so the work naturally divvied itself up and proceeded nicely.
The biggest surprise of the day came from the students of the school. This was the second day of the current school year for them, and their first full-length day...so after we finished painting we were waiting for a recess to end so we could eat our sandwiches before departing.   Some of the interns began to play with kids, and then one girl approached Tall Sam and handed him her school notebook and a pen.  After much hilarious language confusion, it was figured out that she wanted him to sign her book.  It went viral.  Within minutes, tons of ticos y ticas were approaching all the interns and our team, asking for autographs.  Suddently we were Hollywood, baby!
Tomorrow, when we return should be able to begin painting the geometric shapes in one of the two rooms.  Exciting stuff!

After we got back to the HOPE building, Paula once again spent a few minutes telling us some more about HOPE, their vision, and the "Pillars" of their inspiration to help the people of Pavas.  The second of those pillars is to feed them because, in Paula's words summarized... it does not make sense to try to teach them math if they are starving!  While she talked about it, she mentioned them being served through that "hole in the wall."  

Afterwards, I found myself thinking "what hole in the wall?   I have not seen no hole in the wall!"  So, during a bit of downtime, I got nosy and went exploring.  There is a break room for the staff, just off the main room, where the water cooler is kept for us, and I had noticed a kitchen back there, so I poked my head in there, and saw our HOPE guide Lucy, and I asked her about the Hole.  She grinned and took me on a tour.  Through the kitchen, around behind the break room, at the back of the facility, is a service counter, with a secure roll-top metal door, and it turns out they serve over 350 meals per day through that hole in the wall!  I got to meet the kitchen staff, who were very nice (I am glad Lucy was there to translate, my Spanish is not that good yet!), and I thanked them for what they do.  Boy howdy.  350 meals per day.  Home-cooked, delicious, nutritionally balanced meals.  What a blessing to the people of Pavas.

(On Thursday, rather than having a sack lunch, we will partake of one of the meals....yummm)

BTW, at this point, you might be asking yourself...."Why did he skip the First Pillar and talk about the Second?"   Answer:  I am leaving that for the last.....

It was a particularly fun and blessing-filled day with the kids today.  It was a pretty small group... Paula had found out that one of the schools was going to run long today for some reason or the other.  But today's theme was "Jesús conoce mi nombre", (Jesus knows my name) and it was centered around the story of Zacchaeus.
And the kids who came today?  Paula told us they were kids who really needed, for many reasons, lots of one-on-one love and attention... they needed to be known.  God knew exactly what he was doing sending us this small group today!   He does indeed know our name, our hearts, our desires, everything about us.   He knows the kids of Pavas, in all their desperate need, and today He chose us to help minister to this group of them.

And now, dear reader, back to the First Pillar that HOPE wants to provide to the people of Pavas.  Safety.  Security.  A Safe Space in the midst of very unsafe community.  Paula talked about the construction of the new building and how she was tasked to designate locations for the emergency lighting that would activate in the event of power outages.  Power outages are fairly common in all of Costa Rica, and especially Pavas, and at their previous building, it was always SOP to immediately send everyone home immediately if the power went out.

And then... there was the first power outage after their new center opened.  The building was packed with older kids.  Paula pulled the staff to one side to issue directives, to implement the SOP, when one of the kids approached and inserted themselves in the 'conference'.

"Please don't send me home.  If I am here, my mom knows I am safe.  She knows where I am.  I will be ok right here.  It is safe here."

At that point, the procedure changed.   HOPE is a place of safety.  Period.
That is their First Pillar of commitment to their Community, and it has been accomplished.

Pavas is a daunting place at night, when the darkness reigns.
But through the power of the Holy Spirit, and with a lot of love and help from all over the world, Paula and her team are there to resist the darkness.

HOPE is lit up all night.  The facility glows in a very dark place.  
The Source of its light cannot be stopped by the darkness.
It shines across the main boulevard.
It shines into the three schools within a few minutes walk, reflecting off of the bright, geometric shapes on the walls.
It shines all the way down into the ravine, to that little A-frame house with the family of seven.

Candle on the top of a hill?  You betcha.
Come, little one.  Climb the hill.  
Let us introduce you to the True Hope of all mankind, the one who dispels all the darkness.

And so it begins!  Day one of the real reason we have come to Costa Rica... Service Day Number 1... Lunes, 20 Julio 2026.  The CRSMT26 team got on the bus and headed into the Pavas district for the first time today for a short driving tour... and I mean short, because there are only so many areas that a vehicle the size of a bus can go into... paths must be carefully chosen or the bus will not be able to maneuver enough to continue, let alone turn around and get out.

The change in the landscape was startling to see.  It had been described to us, but nothing replaced the first-hand witness through the wide windows: the heavy concentration of concertina wire on businesses; the significant and highly visible law-enforcement presence; piles and piles of trash on the sides of the road because there is no service to pick it up.

But then... we drove by the former location of HOPE, where an FBC mission team came in 2021 for this same type of mission trip... and this section was pretty.  The murals that were painted by CR2021 and others still existed... the extra paint was donated to the families of that Avenida on the condition that they work together with HOPE to paint their homes and plant trees in the median.  That rotunda, and the street that lead back to the main boulevard, had a distinctly different feel about it.

And that... is the effect that HOPE International is having here in Pavas.  One wall, one rotunda, one median, one street at a time.... More on that later.

Next we drove down a narrow street to the elementary school where we will be doing our service project this week.  HOPE has been working to beautify this school for some time now, painting their bright murals with encouraging messages in their trademark geometric patterns of varying shades of blue.  I look forward to showing you the finished product of our two assigned rooms later, but for now... let me show you what the children of this school have now.

When you look at these photos, remember that modern cell phone cameras do a marvelous job of adjusting exposure--believe me when I tell you the rooms feel darker than this.  The ceiling tiles really are in the conditions that you see.  There are broken window panes.  By the grace of God, this school just got a grant and is getting a complete overhaul of restroom facilities, and just got a new kitchen that is vastly improved.  But today, we are going to start prepping these two rooms for some new bright walls that will liven up the place and bring HOPE to the kiddo's hearts as they learn here.  So we sanded... manually... with elbow grease, and pulled screws, hooks, and other things out of the walls.  We scraped years of tape and other adhesives from walls and the whiteboards.  Afterwards everything was thoroughly wiped down with wet clothes to remove the sanding dust so the new paint would adhere.  And then the painting started, with the trim of the windows.

And with that, the first day of the service project was done.  The team had a sack lunch at the school, and then headed to the new HOPE building for the first time, where they were greeted by a raucous tunnel of HOPE staff and interns cheering us on, and we went into the main room downstairs for our first introduction to HOPE and a briefing on how our day would go.  We went over some instructions and guidelines for the camp we would be hosting, learned a "secret code word" we all needed to know (more on that later), and then got a tour of the facility, including the rooms where the various stations of the camp would be. (Education, Crafts, Games).   The new building is truly beautiful and functional, but as the director of HOPE Paula told us tearfully, the architects listened to the parents and children of Pavas, and designed the building, the park & playground, and everything about the facility to remind the "ticos y ticas" of Pavas of a "home away from home."

Right down to a living room.  Wait, a living room?  Yes, a living room.  Why does a building like this have a living room?  Because Paula recalled having to turn away a high school student in the past who knocked on the door and wanted a safe, warm place to hang out that night...and all the 'activity rooms' were booked up with smaller kids.  

Who among us does not love curling up in a comfy living room and doing our favorite activities, safe and sound?  Sounds awesome, right?

So, the Great New HOPE has a living room.  And it is for the older kids. Always.  Safe.  Warm or cool as needed.  Comfy.  

And Paula says she is still holding out hope (see what I did there?) that someone will come along and ask for a "place to read", but that it has not happened yet.  As an avid reader myself, I appreciated that yearning.   She has the space, maybe God will bring her a "tico o tica a quien le encanta leer".

And now... ¡finalmente!  The real show, the ¡espectáculo!... ¡los chicos y los chicas del Pavas! At 2:00pm the gates opened as we waited in the playground.  The kids got name tags, team color bandanas and then joined us as we just played with them for a short while before heading inside for the first part of camp.  Inside it was truly an espectáculo as the staff lead the first worship song in Spanish.  Paula had warned us that worship songs were mucho mejor en español, and it was evident that we all enjoyed it very, very much. (And no, I do not plan to dance during the songs upon my return to FBC, thank-you-very-much!)

The theme of our camp is "La mejor decisión es seguir a Jesús." (The best decision is to follow Jesus), and our first skit portrayed Jesus choosing people to follow him, from his disciple Matthew, to Zacchaeus to Blind Bartemeus, and to just regular sheep like you and me.  Would that everyone would say "Sí" to Him when He whispers "sígueme"!  After the skit, we led the kids through the three rotations for an educational story, crafts, and then more recreation and a snack.

And then, back into the main room for one more song...and I have to give it to the director... "Praise" by Elevation Worship is mucho, mucho mejor en español!  As they used to say in they country Baptist church "If that don't light your fire, your wood's wet".  There is something deeply special about singing praise to the Lord with another culture and in another language.  I have been privileged to experience it in Diné with the Navajos and now with the Ticos in Costa Rica.  And then we hugged the kids one last time for the day and they headed home.

Oh, and remember that code word they taught us?  They said a kid might come up and touch us and say "Anda".  That is how they play tag in Costa Rica.  It is form of "let's go"... kinda translates to "it's on you, let's go".  When the kids first came into the playground, I was not one they approached very much... I am a very big man, and some of them do not have good experiences with big men.  I sat down on a bench and waited, trying to look harmless LOL, and waited for what the Lord brought my way.  Then Allison called me over, and said there was a boy over in the corner and could I check on him?  When I walked over I could see he was talking to (I presume) his mother through the fence, and when I asked him "¿estás bueno?", the mom walked off.... the little boy turned and looked up at me... he beamed the very best grin in the whole wide world, touched my arm and said "¡ANDA!".  And he was GONE.

Game on.
The rest of this glorious week beckons.
Bring it on, Lord Jesus.
¡ANDA!

What a full rich day this Sunday was!  We started off the morning with a little "ir de compras" (going shopping) at the Farmer's Market in the city of Santa Ana.  Our CRSMT26 team met the HOPE International interns we would be working with, and we broke up into our activities teams, were assigned a shopping list, given 5000 Costa Rica Colones, and we bought vegetables for meals at the HOPE center this week.  It was a chance to see some local culture, practice some Spanish for those of us who dabble in it, and just have some fun on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Then it was back on the bus, and we headed to Sunday worship at OpenHouse Project CR in Momentum Lindora.  In Santa Ana Canton.  In San Jose.  In Costa Rica.
That means... this service will be... you guessed it... in Spanish!

Allow me to digress a bit.  In the movie Pretty Woman, there is a scene where Edward (Richard Gere) takes Vivian (Julia Roberts) to see the opera in San Francisco. When Vivian asks how she is supposed to know what is going on since they are singing in Italian, Edward replies, "Oh, you'll know. Believe me, you'll understand. The music's very powerful."

Oh, the Holy Spirit is very powerful, for by grace we could "listen in tongues".  Yes, there are some members of the team who have varying degrees of skill in Spanish.  None of them are fluent, idiomatically or otherwise.  It did not matter.  The music was powerful, and we worshipped.  The speaker told the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, and we followed the story in our English Bibles (one of us did use a Santa Biblia on the iPad).  And the story was powerful, and we marveled at a God that could use grief and pain and suffering to further faith and belief.  (hint: foreshadowing)

And now, another digression... a break in the timeline as it were.  Our last "tourista" activity before the real work begins tomorrow... we went on a walking tour of the Historic San Jose Downtown area.  Our Hope contact Lucy lead us around the area, showering us with historical, botanical and trivial facts about Costa Rica past and present. (Your blogger's favorite?  The cork trees.  I could have stood there all day and touched them)  The weather was gorgeous, with cool temperatures and no rain to spoil the walk,

And now, reverting back in time to our session with the HOPE director.  The team learned today about some of the details of where we will serve and what we will see, starting tomorrow.  

Our time so far in San Jose has been spent in the affluent areas like Escazu (where our hotel is located)... tomorrow, we will cross the river to Pavas, and we will enter a different dimension.  A dimension where more than 64,000 people live in a 1-sq mile area.  To put that in perspective, Frisco would need to go from 248,000 people to 4.4 million people to have the same density!  The smaller town of Prosper, which only has 27 square miles to its name, would need to have 1.7 million inhabitants to match Pavas.  

Pavas is a place where trees are used as a dead-drop for a drug sale.  Tomorrow, our first lesson will be about Zacchaeus, who used a tree for a totally different purpose... in a desperate attempt to gaze upon Jesus Christ, for he just *knew* that there was something different about him, and sure enough, meeting Jesus changed Zacchaeus' life forever.

It is a place where kids lack decent housing, decent meals, complete families, safety, and are often missing simple love and attention.   HOPE International has established a forward basecamp to try and meet those needs.

So, tomorrow our team will cross over into Pavas, and we will begin our days of service.  We will join hands with HOPE and we will LOVE ON THOSE KIDS.  We are going to beautify one of their public schoolrooms. We are going to teach them about following Jesus.  We are going to hug the stuffing out of them anytime they want.  We are going to make fun and pretty crafts with them that they get to keep and take home.  We are going to hug them. We are going to play with them.  We are going to hug them.  We are going to show them the love of Jesus. Did I mention we are going to hug them?

You can help.   Will you pray for Pavas?
Do it when you read this.
Put it on your prayer list for this week.
Heck, do not take it off.
Pray for the kids of Pavas.

In grace and peace,
Rob

Today is the day!  The CRSMT26 team met at DFW Terminal D first thing in the morning, and our intrepid leader Denise (not pictured-was the photog) got us checked in as a group and we proceeded to take the Skylink halfway around the airport to our actual gate.  (International travel does have its quirks, you know).

Once we settled in at C11, team members took shifts heading off to various foodie-type places while others watched the bags, and before you know it, were were Passports-Out and getting our pictures taken as we we boarded to leave the USA.

The only real drama on the flight was when Your Blogger managed to play "Hide the Biscuit" with his cellphone, which remained AWOL for the entire flight, not to be found until the plane was empty...somehow I dropped it behind the bags in the overhead bins. The team leadership was especially glad that I did not manage to do something similar with my passport!

Having landed in San Jose, all the passports were stamped, the luggage re-aquired, the contact from HOPE International was met, and we headed to the hotel.  After a late lunch and short rest, we head out to a local ice cream establishment called 'Pops', because apparently it is a FBC Mission Team tradition to get local ice cream on every mission trip. (This is what is known as a VERY GOOD TRADITION)  With flavors like "Brownie Dynamite", "Red Fruit Cheesecake", and "Dulce de Leche".... we could hardly go wrong!

So, you, dear reader, might ask... why is the title of this post what it is?  Because those are the coordinates of San Jose, and because it is so close to the equator it is almost evenly day and night here... it gets dark quick.  But it is a higher elevation, and, for at least tonight, it was cool, and breezy, and being out on the porch at Pops was cool and beautiful and reminded me of summer nights in Maine... and I am in Central America.  How cool is that?  And the team had a great time of fellowship, living "la vida desde la baranda y la patio", and it was... 100%... Pura Vida.

¡Hasta mañana!  (See you tomorrow)

In grace and peace,
Rob

18 hours to wheels-up... Suitcases everywhere, full of clothes and craft items. (What's in this thing, rocks?!? Yes, literally, there are rocks in my suitcase!)  Messages flying back and forth in WhatsApp.  Passports secured, travel information photographed, cash acquired, packing lists nearby with items constantly being crossed off and others added on.

At one point I caught myself thinking... we are having storms here in Texas... I need to turn my Mac all the way off and unplug it before I leave.  Ten seconds later it hits me... I am the blogger, the Mac has to come with me.  SMH.  {Another 4 items goes on the packing list}

But through it all, the Master Planner has His hand on all of us.  In [Matthew 10:29-31], Jesus emphasized how much God notices and takes part in all that we do...to the extent that "..the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

The CRSMT26 members have been called to "Sigue a Jesús a Costa Rica este verano", and we trust that His Holy Spirit will be with us as we minister to the people, and especially the kids, of Costa Rica!

Will you pray for us as we do that?

Our Mission Statement for this trip:  The Mission of Costa Rica 2026 is to love and serve so that the kids can come to follow Jesus.  We will do this by fostering relationships and declaring his glory.

Our Team Verse: [1 Chronicles 16:24] "Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all the peoples"

I cannot wait to go wheels-up, and see what God has in store for us in Costa Rica!

In grace and peace,
Rob

YouTube has produced a skit that features the 11 disciples after Jesus' death. They confess to having stolen Jesus' body from His tomb and were discussing how they would say He had been raised from the dead – although, in the skit, that had certainly not happened. One of the disciples raised opposition to the plan. He said they would all be killed if they professed this lie. Then he said he had no intention of being killed for something they all knew was a lie.

This has been the subject of this blog. After abandoning Jesus as He was being crucified and Peter's 3-time denial of any association with Jesus, in a little over a month, all 11 disciples proclaimed they had seen and spent 40 days with the resurrected Jesus. Paul even mentions in I Corinthians 15:5-6 that, after Jesus' death, in his resurrected body, Jesus "appeared to Cephus (Peter) and then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living …"

As we have seen from history, all 11 disciples dispersed to nearly all corners of the then known world, proclaiming they had seen and talked with the resurrected Jesus, and, except for John, each disciple was martyred by some of the most malicious execution methods of the time.

Even John was thrown into boiling oil by the Emperor Domitian. However, he survived and was then exiled to the Island of Patmos for the rest of his life.
Now, some have maintained that the stories of Jesus were all made up. However, there are several non-Christian witnesses to Jesus Christ from the time he lived, including historians and others.

Josephus
A Jewish historian who lived around 93–94 AD. His Antiquities of the Jews includes two references to Jesus, including the Testimonium Flavianum, which some scholars use to support the existence of Jesus' crucifixion.

Tacitus
A Roman historian who lived from 56–120 AD. His Annals of 116 AD describes Nero's persecution of Christians and the crucifixion of Jesus under Pontius Pilate.

Suetonius
A Roman historian and court official who lived around 120 AD. He made two references to Jesus, including one that some scholars believe notes that Emperor Claudius expelled Jews from Rome because of disturbances caused by Chrestus.

Lucian
A Greek satirist who lived in the second century. He alluded to Christ in a reference to someone who was crucified in Palestine for introducing a new cult.

Mara bar-Serapion
Wrote a letter after 73 AD that is now in the British Museum. He wrote, "'What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king? It was just after that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged … the Jews, desolate and driven from their own kingdom, live in complete dispersion.'"  Most scholars believe the reference to the Jews' wise king was a reference to Jesus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sources_for_the_historicity_of_Jesus).

Time magazine and the Wikipedia (see above) say that Jesus was the most significant and best attested man of history.  

Now, Christianity grew mightily from the very beginning of the apostle's missionary journeys. In fact, the Roman and Jewish leaders considered them such a great threat to society in general that they began horrendous persecutions of the Christians. Shortly after Jesus' death and resurrection, Nero killed, as some have estimated, 989 Christians from AD 64 to 69. And the killings didn't stop there. Because of multiple persecutions during the first 3 centuries, by some estimates, 2 million Christians had been martyred by 325 AD, mostly by the Empire."

Tacitus, a Roman historian, wrote in his book, Annals, (AD 98 -138) "Therefore, to stop the rumor [that he had set Rome on fire], he [Emperor Nero] falsely charged with guilt, and punished with the most fearful tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were [generally] hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius, but the pernicious superstition - repressed for a time, broke out yet again, not only through Judea, - where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also …In their very deaths they were made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights."

However, in 313 AD, after the Diocletian Persecution, Rome legalized Christianity and religious freedom was granted to all citizens. In 381 AD, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Therefore, one would conclude from all these references, that Jesus was, in fact, resurrected from death – historically!  He is the Son of God who, now, through His death, intervenes on behalf of those who believe in Him and saves them to eternal life. For, as the disciples and those who historically followed them proved, no one would die for what they knew was a lie, but they would die for what they knew was the truth.

Thomas is not mentioned very much in the Gospels. In fact, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he is only in the lists of the disciples. However, in the Gospel of John, he is in two important stories. When Jesus planned to return to Judea because His friend, Lazarus, was sick, the disciples warned Him that the Jew’s tried to stone Him the last time they were there. In spite of their attitude, Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:5-16). In spite of his enthusiasm on this occasion, however, when after Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples told Thomas they had seen the risen Jesus in a meeting at which Thomas was absent, he replied he would not believe them unless he had physical proof of Jesus’ resurrection. When Jesus appeared to the disciples a second time, He asked Thomas, specifically, to touch His hands and His side. At his sudden realization of the truth. Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God.” It has been observed that he was the first person to acknowledge Jesus’ divinity.

Church history tells us that the emboldened Thomas traveled the farthest distance of any disciple to evangelize those in Muziris (Cranganore) on the Kerala coast in India in 52 AD. He established seven churches in Kerala. However, when an attack was threatened in that area, Thomas left northwest India and journeyed to the Malabar coast, visiting southeast Arabia and Socotra on the way. He landed at Muziria (Paraveer) in the company a Jewish merchant, Abbanes, and from there, he preached the gospel throughout the Malabar coast and founded many churches, most of which were located on the Periyar River where there were Jewish colonies. There is some evidence that he also traveled to China and then back to India. Another tradition has him going to Paraguay, as well.

According to one tradition, Thomas stood up to an Indian king (whose wife had become a Christian) when the king pressured Thomas to make sacrifices to an idol. The tradition goes on to say that the idol shattered into pieces when Thomas was forced to approach it. The king was so angry that he ordered his high priest to kill Thomas, which he did by piercing Thomas with a spear.

Another tradition states that the Brahmins, who were alarmed at the progress of Christianity, were resolved to put Thomas to death. While Thomas was praying at a tomb, the Brahmins threw at him a shower of darts, after which one of the priests ran him through with a lance. No matter how it occurred, Thomas was speared to death for preaching the resurrected Jesus.
What made this dramatic change in doubting Thomas’ life? He would say it was the moment he saw the resurrected Jesus and put his hands in Jesus’ wounds. Now, if this was a lie, as some today argue, would any man go such long distances from his home and die in such a horrendous manner for something he knew was a lie?

Philip, the apostle, is not mentioned in the first three gospels other than in the lists of the apostles. However, he is a frequent character in the book of John.  Philip had been among the followers of John the Baptist and he is unique in that Jesus called him personally to be His disciple. Jesus simply said to him, “Follow Me.” Philip answered Jesus’ call and was instrumental in bringing Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to Jesus who also became one of the twelve apostles.

For three years, Philip lived with Jesus, witnessed His miracles, and heard Jesus’ teachings. When Jesus and His disciples went to Jerusalem, some Greek men from Bethsaida wanted to see Jesus; so, they came to Philip to help them meet Him. During the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus replied that He and the Father were one.

After Jesus’ ascension, Philip preached in Galilee where he performed many miracles including restoring the life of an infant in his mother’s arms. Then, he went to Greece and preached to the Jews there. In response, some scribes and a Jewish priest came to Greece to interrogate Philip. These men claimed that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body and hidden it. Philip replied that the Pharisees had bribed the Roman soldiers who were on watch over Jesus’ tomb to spread this story. When these Jewish men began to insult Jesus and lunged after Philip, they were struck blind. However, when Philip prayed for them, their eyesight was restored. Many believed in Jesus as a result of this miracle.

The Acts of Philip, written by Eusebius, recounts the preaching and miracles of Philip. He reports that he was a missionary, along with Nathaniel (Bartholomew) and his sister, Marianne, to Greece, Phrygia, and Syria. (Other sources add Scythia – a region in central Eurasia – Asia Minor, Lydia, and Emessa). Eusebius’ book also recounts that, through Philip’s preaching and a miraculous healing, Philip brought to conversion the wife of the proconsul of the city of Hierapolis. This enraged the proconsul and he had all three of the missionaries tortured. Then, he had them crucified upside down on crosses. Philip preached from the cross and, as a result of his preaching, the crowd released Bartholomew and Marianne from their crosses, but Philip refused to be released and he died on the cross.

Philip’s tomb was found in the ancient city of Hierapolis (modern Pamukkale) in 2011.

Matthew was a tax collector in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch  of Galilee. As such, he was hated by patriotic Jews and the general populace. Tax collectors most often increased the amount of money they charged the Jewish citizens, keeping some of it for themselves. So, Matthew was wealthy and well-educated – he knew both Greek and Aramaic. A Levite, he  was also very familiar with Jewish tradition and Scripture. Yet, he immediately gave up his high paying job and all the money he had collected to follow Jesus. That night, he threw a banquet for Jesus and included other tax collectors and sinners drawing intense criticism from the Pharisees. But, even though he followed Jesus during His three-year ministry, he was among the disciples who fled at Jesus’ crucifixion.

However, forty days later, and throughout the rest of his life, he unashamedly preached the gospel of Jesus, going as far away as Ethiopia (to the south of the Caspian Sea) and Egypt. Some early church authors even had him traveling also to Persia, Macedonia, and Syria. In addition, Matthew wrote the gospel bearing his name (attested by Papias – 95-110 AD, Irenaeus – 180 AD, and Origen – 185-254 AD, among others).

The accounts of his death are sparse and varied and are mostly from church tradition. But the majority say he was martyred – burned, stoned, or beheaded. One source says he was impaled to the earth by a spear and then beheaded.

What made this dramatic change in Matthew’s life? He said it was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Now, if this was a lie, as some today argue, would any man go long distances from his home and die in such a horrendous manner for something he knew was a lie?

Thaddeus was born to a Jewish family in Panias Galilee near where Jesus grew up. He was a farmer by trade, his mother was a cousin of Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his father was a brother of Joseph and James the Less. In 37 AD, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, he traveled with Simon Zealot throughout Mesopotamia, Libya, Turkey, and Persia. With Simon, he helped create the Armenian Apostolic Church and is known as the patron saint of desperate causes and lost cases.

Though disputed, he may have authored the book of Jude, a letter to the Eastern churches who were under persecution around 60 AD. It was a warning against pseudo-teachers who were spreading false ideas about the early Christian faith. He encouraged followers of Jesus to persevere in the face of harsh circumstances, to keep the faith, and to stay in the love of God.

Along with Simon Zealot, he was decapitated with an ax in Beirut, Lebanon in 65 AD. That is why, in early pictures of him, he is shown holding an ax. Later, his body was brought back to Rome and placed in a crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica.

When Jesus called John to be a disciple, he was fishing with his brother, James, and his father, Zebedee. When John encountered Jesus, he and his brother left their fishing nets behind to become Jesus’ followers. However, even though John was considered the beloved disciple, he did have a darker side.  He and his brother were called the Sons of Thunder. On one occasion, Jesus and His disciples were going into a Samaritan village. The disciples were sent ahead to make arrangements, but the people there did not welcome Jesus. When this occurred, James and John said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54) Jesus rebuked them. Another time, James and John asked to sit on thrones beside Jesus when He comes in glory. Jesus rebuked them again and warned them that they would face much suffering in the future. John was the only disciple at Jesus’ crucifixion. From the cross, Jesus commended His mother to John’s care.

Fast forward a few years and we see John, in contrast, being called the apostle of love. In his writings, he emphasizes the importance of love and the promise of eternal life to believers.  After Jesus’ death, there was so much persecution of Christ followers under Herod Agrippa that John took Jesus’ mother to Ephesus and cared for her there until she died (mid 60’s). While there, he wrote the Gospel of John and guided the Ephesian church . Then, he and Peter (who had paired together before Jesus’ death) emerged as leaders of the Christians who performed miracles  (Acts 3:1-4, 3-11), went to jail (Acts 4:1-3), defended the faithful before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:-12, 19), and served as emissaries to confirm the reception of the Gospel.
John was the youngest of the apostles and the last to die, so, during his 95 years, he was able to write five books of the Bible: the Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and Revelation. He wrote all of his books after the other books of the New Testament. Consequently, his work is more explicable to modern readers because he had time to answer the doubts and questions raised in 50+ years after the resurrection. He is also reported to have arranged the books and finalized the canon of the New Testament.

Tertullian (155-300 AD) tells us that, in 95 AD, the Roman Emperor Domitian was vigorously persecuting Christians and he ordered John to be executed by throwing him into a cauldron of boiling oil. When John suffered nothing and did not die but continued preaching from the cauldron, Domitian was angry and then had him exiled to the isle of Patmos, a prison colony off the coast of Turkey where John couldn’t talk to anyone  (95 AD). Eighteen months later John was released under Emperor Marcus Coccceius Nerva and moved to Turkey where he died of old age. He was the only disciple who died naturally.

John did not die a martyr’s death, but it wasn’t because Domitian didn’t try. John certainly lived a martyr’s life. What made this dramatic change in John’s life? He said it was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Some today argue Jesus’ resurrection is a lie. However, no man will willingly offer himself to die in a cauldron of boiling oil for something he knew was a lie.

James and John, fishermen and two of Jesus’ disciples, were brothers and possibly cousins of Jesus. Their mother, Salome, was the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Jesus called James and his brother, John, “Boanerges” which meant the “Sons of Thunder” – possibly because of their bold and aggressive personalities.

At one point in his journey with Jesus, James and his brother, John, asked Jesus if they might sit, one on His left side and one on His right side, in His future glory. Jesus rebuffed them and asked if they were ready to drink the cup from which He was going to drink. Furthermore, He said, this was an honor that was not His to grant.

James was one of the three disciples who were chosen among the others to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter, Jesus’ transfiguration, and His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. After Jesus’ ascension, he was firmly entrenched in the leadership of the early church in Jerusalem – so much so that Herod Agrippa put him to death at the age of 48 – 14 years after Jesus’ ascension. His death, the first of the apostles and the only one mentioned in the New Testament, was possibly the incentive that caused the apostles to leave Jerusalem and go to the outer parts of the then known world.

Herod had lived as a faithful Jew who tolerated the Christians at the beginning of his reign. However, his popularity with the Jews led him to lay violent hands on those who were Christians. He also thought that James had led the city of Jerusalem astray. And, according to Jewish custom, execution (beheading) with the sword was punishment for apostasy (Deuteronomy 13:6-18).

Although his life was relatively short, James turned his life around into a powerful instrument God could use. His life is a lesson that, whatever our gifts and personalities may be, when we dedicate them to God’s service, we can accomplish great things for His glory.

As our team prepares to go in Jesus’ name, we would deeply appreciate your prayers during this season of preparation. Lucie, Sam, Alex, Sammie, Darren, Denise, Ryan V, Boaz, Dan, Allison, Ryan W, and Rob have each answered the call to “Here I am, send me.” This team is passionate about serving others and sharing God’s love, and we are grateful for your support and prayers as we get ready for our mission trip.

If you want to GIVE to a team member, you can do so here . Every gift counts!

We’re excited to travel to Costa Rica this July 18–25 to serve alongside our global missionaries, Lonney and Paula Moore, with Hope Partner International. Hope Centers are currently making a meaningful impact around the world, and we’re honored to support the incredible team in Pavas who selflessly pour into the lives of children and families every day. We would deeply appreciate your prayers as we prepare for this week of service, connection, and ministry. It’s truly a privilege to be part of what God is doing in their community this summer.

Frisco Bible Church | July 6–13, 2025

What a week! As our team wraps up an unforgettable mission trip to Word of Life in upstate New York, our hearts are full—with gratitude, growth, laughter, and most of all, the presence of God.

This trip was more than a service project—it was a living testimony of teamwork, discipleship, family bonding, and the power of stepping away from the everyday to serve together.

? Spiritual Highlights

We began each day in God’s Word, and every devotional set the tone:

Day 1 reminded us that God works through those who show up in obedience.
Day 2 taught us the connection between justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Day 3 deepened our focus on prayer and perseverance.
Day 4 inspired us with servant leadership and the power of “next steps” in faith.
Day 5 challenged us to resist temptation and glorify God in the big and small.
Day 6 encouraged us to choose eternal over the expedient

Throughout the week, kids and adults alike reflected on what it means to follow Jesus practically—through sweeping, painting, serving meals, and listening to one another with love.

?️ Service Projects Completed-720 Hours of work with $10,000 in materials donated by our team

• God gave us strength, humor, and plenty of bug spray to accomplish a lot:
• Painted the train station and completed touch-up projects
• Finished a new roof on the Ranch office (thanks to our awesome dads!)
• Cleaned the Huskies soccer field, The Den, and Bollback Student Life Center
• Prepped and cleared walking trails for better accessibility
• Weeded landscaping and refreshed spaces around the Bible Institute
• Helped support kids’ camp programming and outdoor games

Every chore became an opportunity to serve with joy.

? Relational & Family Moments
From worship at the Ridge Rally to pulling weeds competitively, from hiking to ice cream at Martha’s, this trip was packed with unforgettable relational moments:

• Campers made faith decisions at the Ridge after powerful evening rallies
• Our team bonded deeply—sharing meals, devotions, and lake walks
• Younger children stepped up to serve boldly alongside adults
• Families laughed, prayed, and rested together under God’s open skies
• We ended with a night at the Word of Life Rodeo—a fun, festive finish!

❤️ Gratitude
We’re deeply thankful:

To Word of Life staff for welcoming and guiding us
To our servants —parents, teens, and kids—who served with excellence
To our church family, who prayed us through this mission
To God, who made every moment meaningful

? Final Takeaways
This trip reminded us that missions don’t always require a passport. When we step into service with humility and joy, God uses it—whether it’s painting a building or holding a kid’s hand during a game.
We return home encouraged, unified, and eager to continue living on mission—at home, at church, in our schools, and beyond.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16
? Until Next Time…
Please continue to pray for those we served, and for our team as we carry the mission back to Texas. God is not finished—this is just the beginning.
With love,

The WOL NY Mission Team 2025

Frisco Bible Church

July 11, 2025
by Chandra Shekhar Manne

We began our Friday morning with a powerful devotional titled “The Weight of Glory and the Dumbbell of Temptation.” It centered on the importance of glorifying God in all we do and resisting the daily temptations that try to pull us off course. It was a timely reminder as we prepared for a full day of both service and celebration.

Morning: Paint Brushes & Power Sweeps

Our group split into two hardworking teams:

• Team One returned to the Train Station to finish the last touches of painting. It was satisfying to complete the job we had started earlier in the week, knowing future campers will enjoy a refreshed and welcoming space.
• Team Two, made up of volunteers and energetic kids, tackled cleaning the Huskies soccer field, The Den, and the Bollback Student Life Center. Sweeping, scrubbing, and tidying as a team gave us a sense of shared purpose—and more than a few giggles as we worked alongside each other.

After the cleanup, the kids were rewarded with some long-awaited fun and games at The Den and the Living Area. Their joy was infectious as they ran, played, and let loose in the afternoon sun.

Afternoon: Sweet Treats & Scenic Moments

Following a quick lunch, our caravan headed into town for a special treat: a visit to the famous Martha’s Ice Cream in Glens Falls. With cones piled high and sundaes in hand, we enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship—laughing, sharing stories, and simply savoring a cool break together.

From there, we made our way to Lake George. The younger kids splashed and played in the water, while others explored the arcade. Families strolled along the lakefront, enjoying the peaceful views and local shops. It was a refreshing pause from the busyness of our service projects—a time to soak in God’s beauty in creation and one another.

Evening: Rodeo Under the Stars

As the sun set, we gathered for one of the most exciting highlights of the trip: the Word of Life Rodeo. With horses galloping, music playing, and crowd cheering, it was an evening full of energy and joy. For many, it was their first rodeo—and it did not disappoint! It was a perfect way to end a day full of meaningful work and rich community.

Reflections

Today beautifully balanced serving with joy and resting in fellowship. Whether sweeping soccer fields, finishing paint jobs, enjoying ice cream, or cheering at the rodeo, everything pointed back to glorifying God—just like our morning devotional reminded us.

Today was our 4th day at Word of Life Bible Institute. After a delicious breakfast of pancakes, we went to the train station at Ranch / Ridge area to continue painting. With brush in hand, the two of us started edging the walls of the train station building in yellow. Almost the entire team went to paint except for two dads who were finishing putting the new roof on the Ranch office.  
That job took a long time, but thankfully the kids got a break and went to the petting zoo. (Warning - Donkeys may bite!)

After lunch, we were promoted to "paint rollers". Then Ms. Denise organized a weed pulling contest for the kids. Jake was the first to pull 100 weeds. Luke got the most weeds pulled overall. Ms. Denise then rewarded us with candy (Thank you Ms. Denise!). There is still some painting to finish for tomorrow, but the roof was completely and utterly done.

Later that evening, we went to dinner (Shout out to John the security guard.) After that, we went to the Ridge Rally where Mr. Tiago spoke to the middle school campers about taking Next Steps in their faith.

We feel that this week at Word of Life, we learned how to work hard with the right attitude.

A delicious breakfast of pancakes fueled our work today, just like reading God's Word fuels our next steps in faith. (Lanyard drop!)
Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes! 

This mission trip in New York, the state, is wonderful!! My (Elizabeth, E) favorite thing has been getting to play with Natania and having fun with her. My (Natania, N) favorite thing has been holding the chicks in the petting zoo. The service part I (E) have enjoyed the most was making a hiking trail through the woods and my (N) favorite service part was painting the walls of the train station. This week I (N) have learned that God is the Savior. I (E) was reminded how God made everything, even the beetles and bugs. While we were weeding flowerbeds, we discussed John 15. Summarized by Elizabeth: "Jesus is the root of the plant; the parts that are broken and crumbled will be burned and the good pieces will produce fruit. The bad parts will be cut off with clippers, but the good ones will live forever." Part of our service project is taking care of the tasks we are given and all of the glory goes to God. We get to take care of the gardens here like Adam and Eve were told by God to take care of the garden and animals.

We had lots of fun today and worked really hard to bring glory to God. We went on a boat trip around Lake Schroon and saw the Word of Life Island, used for the high school student camps, then I (N) saw a really old house on another island.

Some of the dads worked on the roof all day. In the morning the ladies and kids weeded, and in the afternoon we joined the other dads painting the train station.

We ask for prayers for rest and good food. (Parents ask for patience, haha). 

Our team attend Dedication Night at The Ridge.  These are middle school students who are dedicating their lives to serve and follow the Lord. Our team did all the new mulch for the benches on Monday. It was very exciting to see our work come to full fruition.

Day Two at Word of Life! Today we did various projects around the Bible Institute campus, including roofing at the Ranch and weeding flowerbeds. While we were working, we started thinking about how these projects apply to our life. We discussed how our work here at Word of Life ties into a Christian life through justification, sanctification, and glorification.

During the day, the men in our team worked on tearing off an old roof and putting on a new one. We thought about how this is a picture of the justification Christ gives to believers. In Ephesians 4:22-24, Paul says, "Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." We saw that the men taking off the old, deteriorated roof is a parallel to putting off our old, corrupt selves, and how putting on the brand new roof is a parallel to putting on our new selves in Christ. Our former manner of life was dirty and unclean like the old roof, but because of Christ's justification, we are in God's true righteousness and holiness, just like the new roof we put on today. Now that we are justified by faith, we need to daily live for Christ.

Today, the women on our team were pulling up weeds in the gardens around the campus. As we were working on this, we noticed that this is a good picture of how we sanctify ourselves daily as justified Christians. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This shows that we need to continue to repent of our ongoing sin, just like the weeds we pulled today will need to be pulled again. This verse says that when we confess, God will forgive us and cleanse us of our sin. This is similar to how when the weeds are pulled, the garden is "cleansed" of its hinderances and is free to grow. Our goal in the sanctification of our life is to enter into the glory of God after death.

Looking at the big picture of our work here at Word of Life, we saw how the greatness of camp happens because of the smallness of people's service. In Matthew 25:21, Jesus says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." Today we saw that our simple, small task of pulling weeds and roofing all make the much bigger camp possible. All of camp is greater than the sum of its parts. Our glorification will be complete when we enter into our Father's joy and can praise God with all we are.

Our justification, sanctification, and glorification are essential parts in our walk with God. Ultimately, today, tomorrow, and every day, we need to praise God with our works and live a life that is glorifying to Him.

Wow! What a fantastic first day of work!
After a rather restless and hot night (no AC in the dorms), we got started with a devotional on God's Sweetness. A verse that resonated throughout the day was Psalm 104:34: May my meditation be pleasing to Him, as I rejoice in the LORD.
We ate breakfast and started the morning picking weeds. The weeds here are happy to leave their earthy homes and have no spines, certainly not Texas weeds that prefer to dig in and protect themselves with spines and chiggers. This task was interupted by an untimely fire alarm in the dining hall that required all personnel on site to relocate to the soccer field. Luckily it was nothing of note, and we were released quickly to get about the day's work. Our next stop was the campfire area with amphitheater seating up a hill. There we had a nice hangout time by the lake as we waited for the mulch and equipment. The kids took that time to get some playing in! Then mulch was unloaded at the top and we spread it around the benches to prevent weeds. Beginning without wheelbarrows, we improvised by shoveling the mulch onto tarps and dragging that to wherever it needed to go. The kids and several diligent adults then took that mulch and spread it around. Fortunately, two wheelbarrows did arrive and we got a rhythm down and knocked out the rest before lunch.
 

After lunch we got to work on two areas. One crew headed off to clean the Bible Institue buildings, and the rest of us went to a project I loved! We began creating a walking path for the younger campers to be able to walk to their meeting hall without being on the road with vehicles. This meant we got to explore the wooded mountainside!  Eventually the path will be leveled for golf carts to be able to use it also, but we began by just identifying a trail. Then we started the clearing process and marked it out with logs. We (at least the kids and I) had a great time finding logs all through the woods to use. Below you can see the entrance to the trail beside the tired, but content crew.

As we walked back to get much needed showers, Chandra recalled what Paul said about Onesimus in Philemon 11: Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and me. Both crews were certainly useful today! We worked hard, but have a great sense of accomplishment, success and usefulness.
Tonight we went over to see the gospel presentation for The Ridge camp (middle schoolers). As about fifty kids came forward as first time believers in Jesus Christ, I teared up thinking that in heaven I'll get to talk with all of these young brothers and sisters and say "I was back there, praying for you and cheering you on." Years from now when other kids sit on the benches or walk the path we worked on and the Holy Spirit moves their heart to belief, what a privelige to know I got to be a part of God's plan.

Yes indeed Lord, as I rejoice in you, may my meditations be pleasing! (And may the night be cooler)

Last Sunday, our Word of Life Summer Mission Team was prayed over and commissioned by our Frisco Bible Church elders and congregation. We are excited to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He brings our way next week. Our team leaves early Sunday morning through DFW. Please pray for smooth flights and good weather. We know that God is in control. Mission trips are a wonderful way to get out of your comfort zone and experience the power of the Holy Spirit's working.  As with all of our mission trips, the goal is to leave the trip encouraged, energized and reminded to make each day of our lives a "mini mission trip". We will have several of our team members blogging throughout the week, so stay tuned for more.

Here is the disciple who stood in the back of the crowd at Jesus’ crucifixion, and, when he was asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples, he exclaimed loudly, “I never knew him.” He had been at the very front of the crowd when Jesus had performed His many miracles, including raising the dead to life, and, yet he fled when Jesus’ died on the cross. However, turn to the book of Acts and you see an emboldened disciple who became a leader in the Christian faith named – Peter.

From the book of Acts, we know that, after Peter witnessed Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, he ministered in Jerusalem, Lyda, Joppa, Caesarea, Antioch, Corinth, and Rome in 67 AD where he says he was imprisoned and awaiting his death (2 Peter 1:14-15 AD). He went to Samaria where he encountered the magician and faith healer, Simon Magus; to Lydda in the Plain of Sharon where he healed the paralyzed Aeneas; and to the town of Joppa where he affected the cure of Tabitha (Dorcas). Then he went north on the Mediterranean to Caesarea where, through the conversion of Cornelius, he introduced Gentiles to the church, which brought the opposition of Jewish Christians because he ordered Cornelius and other Gentiles to be baptized without first being circumcised. This act probably led to his imprisonment there by King Herod. However, an angel delivered him from the jail  and he made his escape, going immediately to the house of Mary, the mother of John.

It is clear to many New Testament scholars that he assumed a missionary role. By the end of the 1st century, there existed a tradition that Peter lived in Rome and further evidence is found in the Letter to the Romans by St. Ignatius, the early 2nd century bishop of Antioch – among many other historical documents.

John 21:18-19 is the earliest reference to Peter’s future death where Jesus says to Peter, “ ‘...when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will carry you where you do not want to go.’ (This He said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.” In the ancient world, “stretch out your hands” frequently referred to crucifixion. With this statement and others (John 21:19, 13:36), Peter lived his life after Jesus’ resurrection with the full reality that he would face martyrdom as Jesus did. In 2 Peter 1:12-15, Peter writes knowing his death is imminent, and 1 Clement 5:1-4 (AD 95-96), attests to Peter’s martyrdom during the Neronian persecution of Christians. So, the many references to Peter’s death by crucifixion are quite reliable, and some of them mention he was crucified upside down.  

What made this dramatic change in Peter’s life? He said it was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Now, if this was a lie, as some today argue, would any man go long distances from his home and die in such a horrendous manner for something he knew was a lie?