Contributed by Lindsey Glasier

Today was another busy day here in Costa Rica! We were all so encouraged by our sucess yesterday that we were anxious to start again. Today was a little different however, because our team was split between Pavas and La Carpio. The girls, Karen, Susie, Cathy, Naomi, and I all stayed in Pavas to work on a craft project with some of the women in the town, while the boys Duncan, Dana, John Grosser, Danny, and Jon Sperring went back to the Refuge to continue their work from yesterday.

Karen has been working for months to put together a craft for the women here to do. She came up with the idea to create cards that the women could make themselves and then give to others. Many hours of organization and preperation went into this project, so we were all very excited to be able to share it today with the largest group of the week. We were expecting about 30 women in the morning and 30 after lunch. Well, little did we know that God had different plans for us. In the morning around 40 women arrived, although it was more than we expected we were able to handle it just fine. One of the women shared a devotional before we began, and the women were very receptive of the message, and seemed to really take to heart everything th,'at we had to share. After a quick prayer, it was time to create. Through the help of a couple translators we all did our best to communicate the layout of each card, and to walk the women through each step. Everything went very smoothly. The women all created beautiful cards, and were all so proud of what they had accomplished. During our lunch break it began pouring rain so we figured fewer women would show up for the afternoon group. Well, once again God surprised us. We had over 50 women arrive for the second group! Again a wonderful devotional was shared, and was very well recieved. Then the card making began. Karen did an excellent job leading us to compensate for the extra women, and beautiful cards were created. At the end of the day we were all so worn out, but it was so worth it. We were able to create something beautiful with these women, something other than the cards we made, we had the chance to be in community with them and to work side by side, and that is something that will last much longer than the cards we created.

Just a few miles away the boys had quite the day as well! Upon arriving at the refuge the team joined the girls in a morning devotional. It was Duncan's turn to speak, and after much thought he choose to share his testimony and explain how God has been at work in his life. I'm so sad that I wasn't able to hear what Duncan had to say, because Susi Grosser explained that the girls were so moved by his story that it left them speechless. From that I think that it is clear to see that Duncan's words had an impact on those girls, and that he touched something in their hearts, and that is all we are really trying to do. After such a wonderful time together, it was time to get to work. Once again Danny and Jon Sperring led the soccer clinc, John Grosser worked on the computers, and Duncan and Dana continued the maintainence work. The girls soccer clinic is from 9-11 and the boys from 2-4, however since the boys had such a great time on Monday they were lined up at the gate at 11:15 waiting for their chance to play. They let them in early and they played for a couple hours before their actual game began. Like I mentioned before, it rained at lunch time, so by the time that Danny and Jon were able to meet up with the boys they were already soaked. But that didn't stop them! They continued to play in the pouring rain. Danny described it as running though about 3 inches of water. Although they were all wet, and some were shivering they still had a great time. Although playing soccer, fixing computers, and working on maintainence projects may not be the most ideal circumstances for sharing Christ with others, it is a chance for us to show them God's love, and to explain to them that we are doing these things for them because we love them, and because God loves them. And that will go a long way.

I agree with Danny in that I wish you all could be here with us, and experience everything that we are getting to be a part of. We are all having such an amazing time, and I think that we can all really feel God's hand in everything that we are doing. I ask for your continued prayers as we come to the middle of our busy week, prayers that everything would continue to go smoothly, and that we all would remain safe and healthy. And of course prayers for the people that we are meeting here, that what we share with them would be exactly what they need to hear, and that God would continue to put oppotunites in front of us to share more about Him.