Recap From My First Week of Summer Groups

so i figured i should continue my updates about what has been going on this summer. i think i described what the training was usually like for each group, but their outreaches were all different. so here's about the first group.

we led a group from Hernley Mennonite Youth Group which is from the Lancaster County area in PA. there were around 20 youth and two couples that led the youth group. there was only one guy in the whole youth group named Tyler. the rest of the group was all girls, but we had a good time anyway:). we arrived a little late and the pastor of the church was actually upset with us about being late. that shocked us leaders because ticos are usually never worried about time, especially with being late. but it worked out alright. Milton was the name of the pastor, affectionately called "El Pass" by all of the members of the church. the church was called Betel (Bethel) and was located in Rio Cuarto, about two hours from were Pura Vida Missions is located. the pastor took us to the highest waterfall in Costa Rica on the day we arrived. it is actually used to generate electricity at a power plant and is not opened to the public, but one of the church members works there and we were able to go see it. we took lots of pictures. the next day was sunday so we went to the church service. the youth group led sunday school for the kids, well, actually, i led sunday school for the kids, because Missy, the best spanish speaker in our group was translating the sermon which was being given by one of the leaders of the youth group. so i was immediately tested in Spanish and in humility. it worked out alright and they understood most of what i was trying to tell them. that afternoon we had lunch at the church and then went with the Hernley youth group and the youth group from Betel to another, more beautiful waterfall that you had to hike all the way down the mountain to see. it was huge and gorgeous. check out my pictures to see it. www.picasaweb.google.com/patricksethweaver it was called Las Cataratas del Toro (The Bull Waterfalls). during the week we would have devotions in the morning, a debrief time where we talked with the youth group about the experiences of the day before, then we would do a work project, have lunch, do vacation bible school, have dinner, and then do an open air event in the park in front of the catholic church. the work project we were working on was putting up a fence around the backyard of the church. it didn't require all of the youth so we had some of them do what we call "servant evangelism". this included handing out free soda to people on the street and washing windows at the local clinic. i was mostly in charge of the work project. we had to dig the holes for the fence and pour concrete in the holes to support the fence posts. we also agreed to help lay a small block wall for another fence. i had experience mixing mud for brick layers one summer, but i had never actually laid any brick or block myself, but for this job, i was the guy in charge so i laid most of the wall. dad, i think you would be proud. but maybe you should look at the wall before you decide:). it was also a test for the girls in the youth group. they had previously done other work projects and always enjoyed the hard work, but this mission trip didn't require a lot of hard work and the focus wasn't on the service project, so i think they were really challenged to see service in a different way. the vacation bible school happened monday, tuesday and wednesday afternoons. we would sing some crazy songs and do some dances with the kids. then we would sit them down for story time and then do a craft related to the story. we always finished early and had to sing the same songs over again to fill up time, but i think the youth and the kids loved it.
after vacation bible school, we usually went to the park to do different things. one day we handed out soda to people. one day we went house to house and prayed with the people in the community. one day we picked up trash in the park and had a table set up where kids could come get their face painted and get balloon animals and stuff. then we would return to the church eat dinner, and head back out to the park to perform our dramas and give testimonies. the dramas were just mimes done with music. then we had the girls from the youth group give their testimonies and Missy would translate them so everyone could understand.
the coolest thing about this trip, was the fact that we all got to stay in host families. that was an awesome experience. we slept at our host families' houses and they would serve us breakfast and they served us dinner on sunday night too. it was a ton of fun. on saturday afternoon when we first got there, i had time to just hang out with my host brothers and sister. in my host family, there was the Mom, the oldest son, Michael, a younger son, Kenneth, and a younger daughter. they were really cool. sunday evening after dinner, Michael and i played guitar together. we played all of the worship songs that we both knew. i would sing in english and he would sing them in spanish. that was a really neat experience to be able to share something like music despite speaking different languages. it was actually easier for me than for some of the girls in the youth group though, since i knew a decent amount of spanish, we could sort of have conversations. later on sunday evening, several other host families brought the girls that were staying with them over to my host family's house and we played Uno together. that was the first time i had ever played Uno in spanish. it was cool. by the end of the week, most of the girls cried when they had to say goodbye to their host families even though they were never really able to speak the same language, they still grew very close to them.
on wednesday evening we drove the Hernley youth group to the town where they had their vacation day, but myself, julia, and missy both headed back to Pura Vida Missions because we already had another group there waiting for us to start training with them just like the previous week. we were tired, but we were allowed to sleep in a little the next day. and that was just the first week. more to come, later.