March 3, 2020

Prince Senior Class on International and Local Missions – Daily Updates

Day 6: March 6th

Today was our excursion day. We drove about two hours out of San Jose to do a canopy tour (zip line through the jungle). On the way to the tour, we were able to drive through the rainforest and see some beautiful scenery. The students had a great time getting to see more of Costa Rica, but many missed the kids from the ministries earlier in the week. We will eat dinner at the hotel tonight then finish up the even with devotions. As I type students should be packing their bags and getting their stuff together.

Tomorrow we will be heading to the airport at 5:00 AM for a 9:00 AM flight. If all flights are on time we should land in Atlanta about 8:00 PM tomorrow night.

We have had a great week. I believe all the students have had a life-changing experience here in Costa Rica. I hope you are excited to hear all their stories and pictures when they get back home.

Thank you for trusting us with your children this week. It is a blessing for all the chaperones.

Day 5:  March 5th
We have completed our 5th day of the mission trip and our last ministry day here in Costa Rica. Today our groups were split again between Flory’s daycare and the church with the foundation. Our students were able to build on the relationships they established yesterday with the students. A number of our students would say that today was less about just playing with the kids and more about building a bond. We were able to play some games, i.e. water balloon fight and soccer, but we were also able to sit and share the gospel. Having to say goodbye was the hardest part for our students, but they walk away knowing that their lives have been profoundly changed forever, and we are grateful for that. Please be sure to ask your seniors about the last two days at the daycares. There are so many stories that will fill your heart with joy. The Lord showed up this week through these relationships, and it was powerful.

Tomorrow we have an excursion where we will be ziplining through the rainforest. It will be a fun way to end what has been an incredible week.

Your continued prayers have been a blessing, and we ask that you pray for all the kids we came in contact with this week. As we prepare to come home to you, many of the kids we grew to love have to stay in very poor living conditions with families that are completely broken. They need our continued prayer.

Thank you for trusting us with your children this week. It is a blessing for all the chaperones.

Day 4:  March 4th
Day 4 in Costa Rica is almost in the books and we had another great day! Today our groups were split up into 2 groups with 19 kids going to Flory’s day/childcare in Guarari. Our students played large and small group games with the children as well as helped them with learning English words and phrases through flashcards. The rest of the students went to a local church in Guarari that has a foundation that works with students from the community that are considered at risk by the Costa Rican government. The church has also started a school within the last 2 years. There are a total of 29 students in grades Pre-K-6th grade. Our students were able to play with the kids from the foundation all day long and with the kids from the school for most of the morning.

Tomorrow our groups will be going back to the same places to continue to build relationship with the kids from today. In most cases, the interactions these kids are having with our students is the most positive affirming interaction they will have all week. Our students are doing a great job of showing the love of Christ to these kids.

Please continue to lift our group up in your prayers. Everybody is doing a great job, and we want the Lord to continue to go in front of us and prepare the hearts of the students we are working with.

Thank you for trusting us with your children this week. It is a blessing for all the chaperones.

 

Day 3:  March 3rd
We had yet another great day in Costa Rica. Today was centered around playing and building relationships with the kids of Guarari.  In the morning, we went to Sonrisas where our students were able to play soccer, American football, card games, and jump rope with the kids all morning. At lunchtime we served the students lunch and then it was back to getting to play for another hour before heading to lunch ourselves. After lunch, we went to a different community in Guarari to see where the fire happened and then get to play with the kids of the community that were impacted by the fire. There was a clown, balloon animals, dancing and cake (and then cake wars between our seniors and the younger kids). It got messy but was all in good fun.

Tomorrow our group will be splitting up with some going back to where we were this afternoon to lead games with the kids and others going to a local church to lead a VBS style English camp and then field games in the afternoon.

We appreciate your prayers and can see the Lord doing work in the lives of our students and those we come in contact with. Your kids are doing great, but the time out in the sun in making them tired. Please continue to pray that the Lord will continue to give them the energy they need to be present and engaged with the communities we are trying to minister too.

Thank you for trusting us with your children this week. It is a blessing for all the chaperones.

Local Missions Update
The seniors who are participating in local missions are serving at FISH Monroe this week.  Faith in Serving Humanity (FISH) is a Christian outreach ministry sponsored by a number of local churches, volunteers, and generous members of the community.

On Monday, Prince seniors were split between three of FISH Monroe’s outreach programs. The first group was at the FISH Monroe Thrift Store where they pulled hangers, straightened items, hung clothing that had been donated, and priced items.  The second group was at the FISH Monroe main office. This group completed paperwork for qualifying families to receive food assistance and packed and loaded boxes for the families. In addition, this group also sorted items in the food pantry.  The third group helped prepare lunch and dessert for today’s FISH Community Kitchen at First Christian Church Monroe.

Day 2:  March 2nd
Today was another great day in Costa Rica for your seniors. We spent our entire day at the Abraham Project. The Abraham Project is a church, daycare, and a lower grade school. Today we worked on Phase II which will be a home for single moms and their children as they transition out of the children’s home, which is required by the country of Costa Rica. We had students moving and stacking donated lumber, cutting down long grass with machetes (that was a lot of fun for our boys) and preparing walls to be panted. The students did all this work with a grateful attitude and were a blessing to the Abraham Project.

Tomorrow we will be working with students and leading a VBS style camp at Sonrisas, a marginal community of Guarari. We will also be able to serve lunch to the kids and bless them by doing all the dishes and cleaning up after lunch. There are a couple of options for after lunch that will be determined when we are on site.

We appreciate your prayers and can see the Lord doing work in the lives of our students and those we come in contact with. Please pray for our interactions with the kids tomorrow at Sonrisas. Our students are eager to have some time with these kids.

Thank you for trusting us with your children this week. It is a blessing for all of us.

Day 1:  March 1st
Our team’s travel today went very smoothly; no person or luggage got lost. We are all a little tired after starting our day just a little after midnight, but the students did great with little sleep and long breaks between meals.

When we landed in Costa Rica, we were immediately greeted at the airport by our tour guides from Joshua’s Expeditions, Kat and Kimmo, who had bottled water and a freshly made empanadas waiting for us. From there we loaded on our bus and drove up to a local coffee plantation that is owned by Starbucks. The students were able to enjoy their first cup of Costa Rican coffee and just sit and chill with each other after a long day of travel. The view from the plantation was absolutely breathtaking. The attached photos do not do it justice.

We are now at our hotel and getting settled in before we eat dinner. Tomorrow we will be spending our day at The Abraham Project where the entire group will be working on a construction project.

Please continue to cover our team in prayer as we start our ministry work tomorrow. After a good night’s sleep, our students will be ready to start serving.

On behalf of all the chaperones, I want to thank you for the opportunity to spend this time with your kids. This week will be life-changing!

The Prince Avenue Senior Class will travel March 1st – 7th to San José, Costa Rica in partnership with Joshua Expeditions.  While there, students will work in communities, schools, VBS, and construction projects. Please check back for daily updates.

Please pray for these students and chaperones as they minister and share the Gospel:

Sean Adams Reid Baker Niyah Beasley Taylor Bond Ashley Britt Caden Bush Allie Carter Kelly Cascella Mackenzie Case Meg Chandler Andrew Cheek Gabe Cleveland Aleah Crane Hamilton Culpepper Jared Deatrick Jack Dixon Sara Drinkard Jaden Drudge Chloe Ferguson Kathryn Anne Frierson

Charlie Graffin Cate Hardman Gracie Harris Gavin Harter Walker Henson Sammy Hodges Maggie Holt Hudson Houseman Savannah Huskey Tanner Iley Jack Johnston Jake Jones Caleb Land Kali Marlowe Gracie Martin McKay Melnick Hunter Melton Abbigail Merhar Caroline Middlebrooks Tyler Payne

Landon Ragle Jack Robach Lindsay Rogers Mac Ross Bryson Seay Thompson Sewell Kaylee Smith Caleb Smith Eden Solomon Faith Steele Trey Stiles Anna Kate Thurmond Riley Wilson Maddy Wilson Chareice Worthy Joey Young Brandt Akin Daniel Head Liz Barry Daniel Ruiz Karen Ruiz

Those students that do not travel internationally will spend March 2nd – 4th serving at the Sparrow’s Nest and FISH Monroe. Please pray for these seniors who will serve in our community:

Danielle Anglin David Bach Kenzi Bray Jerry Chen Emilie David Fiona Fen Harrison Finney Alex Gilmore Paige Holcombe Seele Jarrett

Abbigail Lammers Jacob Lill Dax Marshall Shane McCormick Samantha Price Hunter Stokowski Alex Sudderth Claire Waller Victoria Wang