High School Mission Trip Blog

We started off our first day at Pura Vida missions with a wonderful breakfast prepared by the staff of Pura Vida. We had an option of eggs, cereal, or both! It was very delicious and we were all very grateful for it. Then, after breakfast the senior class did TAG time (Time Alone with God Time). This is when each student finds an area around the mission site that isn’t around anybody else and spends some alone time in God’s Word. We were each given a journal to write down our thoughts about the specific verses the staff of Pura Vida wanted us to read. After our TAG time, which was approximately 30 minutes, each designated group (3 groups: Mr. Smith, Mr. Wheeler, and Mrs. Gutierrez) split off and began to load the buses in order to travel to our VBS site! 

Driving through the city of Pura Vida was surreal. It is unbelievable to see the way in which people live here, in Costa Rica. My group first visited a park today, however, the park was hardly that. Most of the equipment at the playground was made out of wood or truly falling apart. When my group arrived with Mr. Wheeler, there were no kids. However, kids began to round up after some of the group traveled around the neighborhood to invite some children to play. Once the children began showing up, everything became very exciting! We dove straight into playing games with the children and then into worship. We practiced some English words and also went over a memory verse. We gave candy to the children who were able recite some of the English words Jared (The English Words Leader) taught them! “God is Provider” was the phrase we had the children memorize! 

After our VBS time came to an end at 11:30, every group headed back to the missions site and ate a delicious lunch that was prepared by the staff of Pura Vida. When lunch concluded, we had some downtime before each group headed out to a different VBS site. My group headed out towards a basketball court this time! It was interesting because, at first only about two children were there but by the end of our time we had a court full of children! We led our VBS program similar to how it was earlier in the afternoon. Games, worship, memory verse learning, and memorizing English words was how we kept them entertained! Also, we blew A LOT of bubbles. 

Once we finished our VBS for the day, we were all able to go downtown. We all visited downtown San Ramon! It was exciting to walk through the city and visit the various shops San Ramon holds. We were there for about an hour and a half and then loaded the buses and headed back to the missions site for dinner! We ate chicken, rice, beans, and a delicious salad. After dinner, we had worship and then a sermon taught to us by Pastor Albert, one of the founders of Pura Vida missions. When worship concluded, our individual groups got together and planned for next days events. Once we all finished, we had some downtime. Some of us played darts while others played board games!

Overall, it was a very exciting day. Though we are all very tired due to the heat, we all enjoyed today very much! Tomorrow we are visiting a waterfall and are all looking forward to it! Goodnight, from Costa Rica! 

Shout Outs

To Mrs. Barboni: Please let Abbey’s parents know about this blog! – Abbey 

To Mrs. Barboni: Hi Moo. Love you.

To Mrs. Michaels: Hi. I almost got eaten by a pack of dogs. I love you – Lucien

To Ms. Rhodas: I miss my parents – TJ 

To the Hiskells: I miss you and I love you and I’ll see you next Thursday. – Savannah 

To Mr. and Mrs. Rosse: I appreciate the shower I had at home. – Blake 

Shoutout to my mom: You forgot to put sunblock in my bag. Can't wait to show you the results. - Julia

To Clare Bear: I know you miss the pictures that I take of you. But don't worry, I'll be home soon. Love you. - Kerri