We went to serve at the Abraham Project which is a site that takes in children who have been stuck in a cycle of poverty and abuse. A lot of the kids have been abandoned by their parents or they were taken away from their parents b/c they are drug addicts, prostitutes, or are in jail. What we did there was to help and empower the local missionary named Jonathan to do things such as construction, VBS, or whatever he asked us to do. He's an awesome person with a huge heart for God and did not look anything like I expected. I actually pictured an older man for some reason but you can see what he actually looks like below. We had a decent amount of free time to hang out so here are some pictures of what we did:
Here's this market we went to in downtown San Jose. Jonathan is on the right with the sweet goatee.This place was just one lane, about the length of a football field with random shops.
On the way to the volcano called Volcan Irazu. This bus ride was amazing, Costa Rica is beautiful.
This is the bottom of the main crater at the volcano.
This picture does the volcano no justice. Beyond the volcano, all you see is clouds. It's one of the most peaceful things I've ever seen.
Soaking it in.
Hanging out at the market, volcano, eating awesome food was all great but the trip was so much more than that. I didn't really know what to expect on this trip but nonetheless I went with the perception that I'd just be serving the people there by helping the kids, workers, and local missionaries. I hope I did bless everyone I encountered, but the reality is that I was blessed more by all of those people than I could have imagined.Jonathan translated a speech to us by the foreman of the construction workers named Orocu on the first day at the jobsite. He was such a humble man and I was blessed to hear how he had been praying for us even before we came. He also took time to have devotionals with his workers during the day and it was great to see how passionate he was for God and how he took everyone under his wings.
One of the workers named Nilton also brought in his 12 year old son one day. He was also named Nilton and was one of the cutest and kind hearted kids I've ever met.
I got to hang out with this kid all day. We played soccer with some others and afterwards he just walked over to me and started helping me do construction work all afternoon. We had a really good bond despite the language barrier which was really cool. My spanish was ok but he spoke so fast and it was hard at times to understand him. When the day was coming to an end, I went over to say bye to him and his dad and just as I was about to leave, the dad stops me and says his son wanted to say something to me. He translated for his son and said that he wishes that God would bless me and my family and was tearing up while doing it. I was so humbled by this kid and had to fight back some tears b/c it was so awesome. The next day, the dad told me how his son went home and was telling his mom about the whole day and how he made a good friend and it really made my day.The best part of the whole trip by far was the children. A lot of them were very guarded at first and you could tell that they had rough times in their past but I was so happy to see them open up throughout the trip and by the end, we couldn't get a lot of them off of us. All they wanted to do was play. I wish I could post pictures of them but we were asked not to so you'll have to come by if you want to see them. These kids were adorable though and full of life. I pray that this awesome project site really reveals God's love to them through the local missionaries and house parents there and that they would realize one day that they never need to fear rejection again b/c God accepts and loves us forever.
you're so cute
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