Pura vida! I can't believe it's month 3 and I'm in Costa Rica! This month I'm with another team of all women (Oceans) and really excited to be with them. We are working with an organization called Christian Surfers. The organization was established as a vision of our ministry contact Hannah in which she felt led her to Jaco to minister to the surf community. I like to describe Jaco as the Las Vegas of Costa Rica. Its a town known for sex, drugs, sex trafficking, alcoholism, etc. A perfect candidate for ministry! This month our focus is helping to pilot a program which will teach women in the community coming out of rehab how to make crafts and learn skills (i.e. cooking) which will help them get better jobs. I would like to invite you into my world. Here's what a typical week has looked like for me so far with pictures!:
Monday
5:30am: Early morning run to the beach. Found eco-friendly turtle rangers! (saving the planet one turtle at a time!) Helped to release baby sea turtles back into the ocean. Yay! Go TERPS! 8am: Back to Jaco beach to find and collect beach treasures (sea beans, sea glass, driftwood, etc). 10am: Clean and organize findings. Property clean-up duties (gardening, organizing, raking, etc) 1pm: Lunch 3pm: Back to clean-up duties 5:30pm: Cook dinner 7pm: Bible study….Deal with flooding property. Install water pump while trying not to get electrocuted.. 11pm: Exhaustion=Bed time. What a day!
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Tuesday
8am: Routine beach treasure sweep. Clean and organize findings. 10am: Help clean and organize Ingrid's condo/home. Met famous surfer Jim Hogan 2pm: Lunch invitation by another ministry (blessing!) 3pm: Arts and crafts 5pm: Team meeting, workout, dinner, bed.
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Wednesday
8am: Prayer walk on the beach 10am: Help Pastor Daniel and Sarah organize t-shirts to be passed out to the community 12:30pm: Lunch 1:30pm Painting class taught by Hannah 3pm: Property clean-up 5pm: Joint team time scavenger hunt 7pm: Decided to hunt for new fruits I've never tried
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Thursday
8:00am: Routine beach sweep different beach Hermosa 10:30am. Property clean-up 12:00 Lunch break Team meeting. Followed by hammock chat time with Cameron 6:30 Learn how to skateboard on a ramp from the local kids 7pm: Christian surfers weekly gathering
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Friday
7:30am: Sea treasure hunt on the beach. 8:30am Surf lessons. Yay! Not. I was terrified. But this champ stood up within 30 mins! Whoop! Whoop! Now a self-proclaimed surfer 11:30am: Lunch 1pm: Arts and crafts for fundraiser 6:30: Live broadcast with Francis Chan and David Platt @ Women's gathering
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Saturday
10am: Facilitate kids club bible school. Met Mariel 3pm: Watch Surf competition at Jacó beach 5pm: Stumble upon a free Donavon Frankenreiter concert on the beach. 7:30pm: Acoustic guitar worship night (no I didnt play, I still dont even know how to strum, working on that)
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Sunday
9am: Attend Horizon Church service! 10am: Watch baptisms! 12pm Spend 3 hours at the internet café trying to upload my Nicaragua video! (the things I go through for you guys J) 3pm: Lunch 6:30 Ran into a mariachi band
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Thank you so much for your support once again! Without your financial support, none of the things I have been able to experience would have been possible! To see more pictures be sure to visit my Travel with Tayo facebook page at the Costa Rica album. Also don't forget to send me birthday/Christmas mail! See my previous blog on how to do just that. Thanks a bunch 🙂
Coming up Next: Tale of God's Redeeming Love
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOM EVER! I LOVE YOU!
With Love,
