2016 Teams
––February––
This year started off, as it has in past years, with a series of great teams from the Michigan conference. Our connection to some of these churches, particularly in the Detroit area, goes back to 2008, although some team members have been serving in Costa Rica for almost twenty years! Each year also brings new team members and new friends to be made though, and this year was no different.
The first week of February we hosted a combined team from FUMC Ann Arbor and FUMC Kalamazoo. This great group did a lot of wonderful work at the Methodist Children's Home, especially continuing the walls and columns of the multi-purpose building. Since the kids at the Home were still on summer break, the team got to spend a lot of fun time with them as well.
The next two weeks were filled with hard work and fun times from a collection of Detroit-area churches, including FUMC Birmingham, West Side UMC, and a few Ann Arbor folks thrown in for good measure! Their first week was also spent at the Home, continuing to lay block, pour columns, and make regard frames. Their second week was at the "Faro del Este" Methodist church, where many of them have worked in years past. The focus at the church this year is to finish the second floor of the parsonage, and the team (with Pastor Jorge's help and leadership) poured half of the mid-floor, as well as painting most of the fellowship hall. They also hosted a great afternoon activity for the ladies of the church.
We're thankful to the Lord for getting the year off to such a strong start, and we appreciate the hard work and especially the fellowship and friendship that these teams bring each year.
The first week of February we hosted a combined team from FUMC Ann Arbor and FUMC Kalamazoo. This great group did a lot of wonderful work at the Methodist Children's Home, especially continuing the walls and columns of the multi-purpose building. Since the kids at the Home were still on summer break, the team got to spend a lot of fun time with them as well.
The next two weeks were filled with hard work and fun times from a collection of Detroit-area churches, including FUMC Birmingham, West Side UMC, and a few Ann Arbor folks thrown in for good measure! Their first week was also spent at the Home, continuing to lay block, pour columns, and make regard frames. Their second week was at the "Faro del Este" Methodist church, where many of them have worked in years past. The focus at the church this year is to finish the second floor of the parsonage, and the team (with Pastor Jorge's help and leadership) poured half of the mid-floor, as well as painting most of the fellowship hall. They also hosted a great afternoon activity for the ladies of the church.
We're thankful to the Lord for getting the year off to such a strong start, and we appreciate the hard work and especially the fellowship and friendship that these teams bring each year.
The Ann Arbor/Kalamazoo team:
The Detroit-area team at the Children's Home:
The Detroit-area team at the "Faro del Este" church:
–––May/June–––
At the start of June we received a joint team from St. James UMC in Atlanta and Hawthorne Lane UMC in Charlotte. A close friendship between two lay members of these churches has brought them to Costa Rica for a couple of years now, and the two churches always get along great and work hard together. They continued work on the multipurpose building at the Children's Home, specifically framing and pouring header beams, as well as forming rebar frames for the foundations of the security wall at the bottom of the property. When not working hard, they enjoyed wonderful children's activities with the kids at the Home and at the Llano Grande church. In all, it was a great week shared with some special folks.
–––July–––
In late July we were blessed to host a team from Cokesbury UMC in Pensacola, Florida. One of the pastors there is a dear friend of ours from seminary, and we were glad they wanted to return after a great first trip last year. They stayed and worked at the "Faro del Este" Methodist Church outside of San José, where the ongoing project is the parsonage/classroom building. Our goal for the week was to get the bottom floor walls finished and painted, so that the church can use the space comfortably for classes. And thanks to this hard-working team, that's exactly what was accomplished! They also spent a fun afternoon at the Children's Home, as well as put on a VBS activity for the local church kids on a school holiday.
–––August–––
Our last team of the year was also a returning team, our long-time friends from First United Methodist Church in Panama City, Florida. This team featured included several families as well as the associate pastor, and they put in a lot of hard work on the multi-purpose building at the Children's Home. The second story is close to being completely poured, and we're now working on the frames to pour the walking track around the second floor perimeter. This was painstaking work but the team did a great job at cutting wire, making frames, and tying them on at a great height! They also blessed the children at the Home and Llano Grande church with fun kids' activities.
We're thankful to the Lord for letting us finish the year with such a great group, and we are even more thankful for Him continually inspiring so many folks to come invest in His Kingdom here in Costa Rica.
We're thankful to the Lord for letting us finish the year with such a great group, and we are even more thankful for Him continually inspiring so many folks to come invest in His Kingdom here in Costa Rica.