We started off our trip by leaving for the Atlanta Airport in the middle of the night to make sure that we would arrive on time for our flight! We had a direct flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica! Let me begin by saying, WE HAD A WONDERFUL TRIP DIRECTOR, MATT HOAG! He worked incredibly hard to make sure the week went crisis free and organized. He was awesome! When we arrived at the camp, it was a Saturday! We got to our cabins and got situated and had lunch with the missionaries, Jay and Nancy Dickerson.
After lunch, we had some time to get our sorts together for the rest of the week on what ministry would like! We were all just getting to know each other, some people we knew from last year, some people it was our first time meeting.
Saturday night we were able to start practicing some new dramas that one team brought with them and have dinner with one another. It was a hilarious time of fellowship and preparing for what the week would hold.
On Sunday (one of my favorite days), Seth was given the precious opportunity to speak at the local church. We drove almost an hour (I believe, I did doze off on the way, so I'm not quite sure) to the church. When we arrived, we were told that they had lost power. Every other building around them had power except them! On every other Sunday, they always have power, but the one Sunday we were there they do not. (If you read my post on the Dominican Republic , this would probably sound familiar) However, Seth did not let it wreck him at all. He kept on keeping on like he always does. He brought the word and right in the middle of his preaching the POWER CAME BACK ON! It was so exciting to watch God work right before our eyes. He shows time and time again that He will always make a way, when His word is going forth! It was an awesome service in which God showed up and showed out! I was a proud wife (as always) to watch Seth be used as a vessel to spread the Gospel!
On Monday, our Camp Ministry began! I was so nervous, yet so excited. I was nervous this year, because I played a part with my friend, Heather Baker, in creating and putting together some of the lessons for the Chapel services and Night Services. I was also nervous because the children (these children were from a poverty stricken neighborhood) would be staying with us at the camp. This was a lot different than last year, which is where we pushed into the communities each day. This week we would be spending the entire time at the camp. Some of our South Carolina Students stayed with the girls and boys in the cabins. There was not enough beds for everyone to stay with them. However, our Samantha ( the youth that went with us) was able to stay with them!
There were many new customs that we were unaware of that was super interesting to me. For example, they are very concerned with dental hygiene. After EVERY MEAL, they immediately have to go back and brush their teeth! It wasn't like they just wanted to get away from doing something, it was something that they had to do. I thought this was so interesting to know about their culture.
This Monday Night, was our first night service with them. I was supposed to speak and I was so nervous! I was not really planning on speaking at night time, I figured I would be teaching one of the day time services that would be more chill and not so "serious". However, I was able to conquer some fears of mine. I taught on the Holy Spirit, our comforter, who gives us the Fruit of Spirit. We learned how when we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, we are able to produce Fruit that others will notice. This was my first time speaking with an interpreter, which is MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT SEEMS. I never really thought about it before, but really it is hard to stop after every thought, especially when the Holy Spirit begins to move. (and you are talking more quickly, lol) Sometimes I forget what I said in the sentence before! I also forgot some things that I was supposed to include in my message, and totally messed up some parts. (insert me crying and worrying for hours after) Through all of that though, the Lord still was able to use that night and my nervousness to create some special bond with the students and children. They were able to encounter the Holy Spirit and experience His faithfulness. I worked through my thoughts and doubts, and now looking back I can totally see that God used that night even though I made QUITE A FEW MISTAKES.
Tuesday was our first full day with the kids! The kids woke up super earlier than everyone else because the sun rises there at like 5 am! We were also 3 hours behind! So, the kids were up and we had breakfast. Directly after breakfast, the kid went to brush their teeth :) ! Then, we had our first chapel day service! The lovely Shay Vaughn taught the lesson, with many of the others students doing dramas, praise and worship, and games! We learned all about God's love and the beautiful story of the Prodigal's Son. She taught on how we are like the son, when we feel lost and gone away from Heavenly Father, He is not far from us. All we have to do is take one step towards Him, and He will start running towards us! He is pursuing us! The children totally responded to the altar call and gave their hearts to the Lord! It was a precious day!
After Chapel time, we began our fun games of the day! This is where things get interesting! The kids loved playing these fun, crazy, silly games!
Matt and John planned some awesome fun games for the kids! You could tell they were having so much fun! Their teachers from their local school also came with them and loved the games also!
Soccer was a huge hit! The students and their teachers were awesome at Soccer! After game time, the girls and boys had to alternate pool time. While the girls were at pool time, the boys had the chance to do crafts our football in the "gym area!" What do you think they chose?
FOOTBALL IN THE GYM!
However, when it was time for their swim time they were so ready! The girls really enjoyed the crafts and hanging out in their cabins singing and dancing with the South Carolina students!
Tuesday night, a sweet lady from Lake Wiley's Church brought the word at the night service! SHE DID AN AWESOME JOB communicating the gospel to these kids! They totally caught what she was teaching. Her message was engulfed in the theme of the camp, which was Illumino el mundo, Light of the World. She spoke on how the kids can be a light in their world around them, even where there is darkness all around them! It was a beautiful message with an awesome drama at the end, titled "This Little Light of Mine!"
Wednesday Day was another full with the students, but this was their final day. It was perhaps one of the saddest days of my life. I had never seen so many young people and adults (including my precious husband and I) form relationships with kids so quickly to a point where it physically hurt to watch them leave. This I watched with my own two eyes and it hurt so bad. I hated to watch them go.
They hugged so tight and cried giant tears, and we did the same. It was a beautiful experience and one that will never leave the vault in my heart just like the trip from last year with my sweet Chaela, on our Missions Trip to the Dominican that you can read about.
When the kids left, we had a debrief that night to discuss the week and all that happened while we were there. It was a great time to hear from the students on the trips on how God had impacted them this week. It was so beautiful and encouraging to hear.
On Thursday, we went to a local Christian school to put on another Vacation Bible School. I absolutely loved this day because it opened up my eyes to see how blessed I am to teach in the United States. The kids had such a fun time and so did we!
I felt so compelled to just pray for this school and these teachers, who are teaching with everything in them to the best of their abilities, in a classroom with no supplies, but who are trying their best to educate their students to be the best they can be. I am one to get SOOOO UPSET when one piece of technology messes up in my classroom, I count the whole lesson as a failure and want to throw in the towel...but watching this school thrive without a single piece of technology or markers in general in the classrooms changed my heart completely. I am so blessed and am so spoiled and have been totally ungrateful for all that God has given me.
I was and still am in awe of how God used this trip and how God used this day to speak right to this teacher's heart....
This evening ended in dinner on top of a mountain that was A LONG, VERY LONG trip which amounts to me getting motion sickness, fearing for my life as I got off the bus and threw up on the side of a mountain....but ended in somehow a beautiful view and dinner.
The next day was our free day in which we went to a National Park of Costa Rica and a local beach, which required a lot of walking....but was a fun day to see some sights of all that God has created.
We had a beautiful trip that our God orchestrated that I enjoyed every minute of. I learned so much about myself, as I was allowed to speak a message for the first time in another country. I grew in my faith and in my confidence. I loved working with my friends that become like my missions family (Heather, Amy, Amanda, Sherry) and so much more. I loved watching Samantha thrive and grow in this country and she did in the Dominican. I love missions, I love watching God move despite a language barrier.
Thank you for your prayers, your love, your financial support, your purchasing of t-shirts and everything else. You made this trip possible, and I can promise souls were saved and lives were changed, including mine.
Living to Make Jesus Famous,
Seth and Amy DuVall
