Here we are!!!

Now isn't this a fine group? Couldn't have asked for a better team. Thanks Mike for all your photo taking. We will enjoy all 974 of them! (Just think that is after he pitched over 125 of them...a few of the waterfall photos from the bus were blurry, go figure.)

Transforming a woodworking shop into a home

Stephanie, Collin and lots of other young people began by carrying out the wall board that was making way for drywall. A woodshop was being moved out so that Daniel, Sondra and little Simon could have a small apartment.
Mike is showing the walls and metal studs that are waiting to be covered by the new drywall. The apartment will consist of 2 bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a small living room. Daniel and Sondra were very excited to know that their own special space would soon be ready.

After the drywall had been hung, taped and mudded by our expert (David), the girls began the process of sanding the seams. Hailey almost has her nose covered!

Even though we didn't get to see this project from the beginning to the end, we knew another team was on the way to pick up right where we left off. The painting was completed by them and the family has moved into their new quarters. They were so thrilled to have a place to call home and we were thrilled to work with them to make it happen.

Sam and the boys

Sam works with our young ones in wonderful ways. Mitchell and Sebastian would be called into action to pick up fallen nails and screws, pick up scrap materials and move them to a scrap pile or move the roofing materials. Here you see Mitchell and Sebastian with gloves on and moving the alumium roofing sheets toward the waiting team of roofers. Mitchell and Sebastian enjoyed being part of the "guys" and the important work. Sam was never too busy to take the time to get the kids involved. This is Sam's 4th mission trip to Costa Rica and each team has been enriched by his ways. Sometimes he is a bit noisy or even nosey but overall he's a team member that is always there to keep us all involved. He knows very little Spanish but he has never had any problems communicating with the workers from Costa Rica. They can hardly wait for him to return.

New skills practiced...

Michaela and Hailey sand the mudded drywall.




Sean spent 2 days working around steel beams, water pipes and more to get the ceiling tile hung in the bathroom.






Anissa helped by brushing down the freshly sanded drywall.






Desiree paints a wall in a Sunday School classroom.

Craft time and Chaos have lots in common

Photos can't begin to show craft time at its peek. This looks calm but believe me it wasn't. We had kids on the floor, standing as close as they could get around 5 tables, sitting on the floor and using the church pew for their desk. This is our first day so we maybe had 75 or 80 kids. Markers were everywhere. The metallic markers were in high demand so they traveled quickly.

Moms and even the babies were involved. No one is left out. They just loved having something to take home. The other requirement was, all craft items needed to be the same. The little ones wanted to do the exact same thing as the big kids. More on this later.

Our kids loved this part too. They were thrilled to communicate with limited language with children. The language of love is universal and very understandable.

Singing praises with the children

Singing praises is an aerobic exercise at Los Guido. When VIM teams are at the church, the children look forward to dropping by the church to sing (and dance) praises to God. Who needs physical education when you have singing at the church.?

Our team spent 3 working days at this church with each afternoon from 2:30 to about 4:00 doing activities with the neighborhood children. The singing begins and the kids come running. Some hear the music as they walk past on their way home from school. (The school is located right next door to the church and operates 3 shifts of classes with 650 kids 6 days each week.)

Our kids were sometimes hesitant to join in the singing (mainly a language problem). However, many times they were literally pulled into the dance weave and singing by a little one. How can you turn down the little hand that reaches out to you? It wasn't long before our kids had joined in and enjoyed bing part of the praises being expressed.