Fresno Update #1

Thank you for visiting this blog and agreeing to be part of this trip in prayer. We arrived in Fresno this afternoon and this group is amazing. It is a smaller team than we normally take but the hearts and character of these 9th and 10th grade students is amazing. After shopping for food, unpacking, orientation and prayer the teams were encouraged to work on their Bible Club projects for tomorrow. They took seriously their assignment and have diligently been working this evening in preparation for tomorrow. They are a dedicated group and are really applying themselves already. We start our work projects tomorrow morning and then will have our Bible Clubs in the afternoon. Please pray for us as we head out into the community and start our work. There isn't much more to update for now. We will keep you posted as the weekend goes by. Thanks for your prayers. Adam (on behalf of the 2013 Fresno Team)

Los Angeles Missions Outreach, Day 2

Hello from Los Angeles! Looking back on the past two days, our team is both very blessed and very tired. We got down to The World Impact Center yesterday morning with no traffic on the way. Every year, the first activity of the trip is the annual City Walk. We got a lot of strange looks but made many new friends among some of the poorest people any of us have seen. We got to feed and pray for drug addicts, the mentally ill, the abused. There is so much darkness down here. Please pray for the spiritual attacks that these people are subjected to. Also pray for the missionaries who are trying to reach out to them every day of the year. Today most of our teams worked on the World Impact owned homes that the missionaries live in. It's so encouraging to see high school students who are this tired still be willing to work this hard. However, we are exhausted and need your prayers. Pray for continued teamwork and cooperation amongst our group. Also, please pray for the unsaved that we will be reaching out to tomorrow at Bible Clubs and in the community. Thank you so much for your prayer and support! For the 2013 Los Angeles Team, Rhys and Natasha

New Love Day 2

Today was an incredibly full day. Just so you can see how hard our Junior High students worked: 9-10 prayer for the community 10-2pm work projects 2pm-9:30pm Carnival and community outreach Whew! The entire day was a success. You will have to wait until the spotlight to hear all the details, but I will say this: God was in the things we could not control. The weather, the last minute surprises. Right down to dinner, God was amazing to us. His gospel went forth in power and many lives were made new. Pastor David and New Love church were able to shine like a light in the community as well. Many new families were exposed to the church and it's ministry. Everyone is healthy (except Ashley Ables who went home sick, feel better Ashley!) and injury free and we are looking forward to a night of well deserved rest. On behalf of the New Love Mission team, Mike

New Love Day One

Hello from New Love! First of all, thank you so much for your prayer for us this weekend. This is such an awesome opportunity for our jr. highers, and prayer for their growth and impact this weekend is so valuable to us. And any mommas and pops reading this, your kids are amazing! (and safe and healthy) Our first day has been great. The drive down was safe and full of enthusiastic sing-a-longs. After unloading, we split up into our groups and walked door to door with some basic Spanish to hand out flyers for our carnival tomorrow and pray for the families that live on the streets that surround New Love church. Immediately we were thrown into a different culture and language, and were able to have some pretty cool experiences and conversations. God is so good and loves across all cultures. Tonight we were given another challenge. Each team of ten was sent to the grocery store armed only with $37 to but food for three meals for the entire team. We are learning to live on way less than we usually do this weekend--something that is a reality for most of the people we talked to today. My group will be eating a lot of bagels and bananas for a few days. Today was a perfect introduction to the New Love community and the Hispanic culture we will be surrounded by for the next couple of days. I am so excited for what God is teaching us here about loving others and sharing out faith. Here are some prayer requests for tomorrow: - that we be open to God's plan for our day - healthy bodies - the carnival (gospel message) - that God change our hearts - that we would step out of our comfort zones - good attitudes during work projects Hasta, Ashley and the whole New Love crew

Out of the jungle alive and well

Well, we are at the beach hotel and out of the jungle safe and sound. It was an amazing time. I don't have much time to write now but just wanted you all to know we are doing great. Here's a few highlights...I got to baptize 18 people in the river on Saturday...people from California, San Jose Costa Rica and Talamanca (Bribri people). It was such a beautiful experience. The camp then ended so great with a great closing night on Saturday. We then headed into the jungle for an overnight trip and it was a big success. We went on a bus, then a boat, then some trucks, then more boats, then a hike and we made it to the pueblo of Coroma. We set up an eyeglass clinic, kids crafts, games and then did a church service with the local church that our team led. Brenda then cooked a great Costa Rica meal over the fire for 90 people. It was a great night. We hiked out today and visited Pastora Engracia, as we always do. It was an amazing time. Please pray as we are at the beach that our time of ministry and sharing together go great. We are going to start the sharing tonight (if everyone can stay awake). It was the hottest week we've had, and that, combined with all the other conditions really wiped everyone out. So, there is much rest needed for all. Thanks again for your prayers. It was an absolutely outstanding time of ministry. Adam (on behalf of the Costa Rica team)

Happy Friday from the team in Costa Rica! Things are going great here in Talamanca. Last night there were 15 new believers that stood to receive Christ after Adam spoke in front of the camp. Praise God! We were able to stand around, lay our hands on, and pray for our new brothers and sisters in Christ while we worshiped...it was a beautiful sight. On a previous post, we had requested that you pray for a young man named Angel who was an athiest. Though Angel didn´t stand, we are so grateful for those who did and graciously ask that you continue to pray for Angel and the other unsaved campers. As for the team, we are all safe and healthy, minus a few people with colds...prayers are appreciated for those people. And besides the humidity and all of us drenching our clothes in sweat, the weather has been great...the rain has miraculously held back so that we can continue camp and our construction projects without too much hassle. And while we as a team are greatly enjoying our time here in Talamanca, we are undoubtedly tired...please pray for our team to be restored with God´s spirit and a new energy that will help us continue our time here at the camp. We are currently in the process of our first eyeglass clinic in a local town/village. Part of the team that is here seems to be really enjoying the opportunity to provide locals with the ability to read, along with the opportunity to pray for them. On a side note, from a leader´s perspective, I cannot express enough how incredible it has been to watch these just graduated seniors interact with people...the way they talk with them (they know more spanish than they thought), the way they play games with them, the way they pray for them....Christ is truly shining through each and every one of these students. Having come to Costa Rica just four years ago when I graduated high school, it has been a blessing to see this new group share their hearts and give all of their energy into sharing Christ with these indigenous people. Well, that´s it for now. We hope to keep you updated within the next few days. The camp is still going strong, and prayers are appreciated for the remaining full day tomorrow. All our love and blessings, Kristi Vail (on behalf of the entire Costa Rica Team)

Costa Rica update 4

hello family and friends. first off, im on a costa rica keyboard so the typing might be a little weird. we are having a great time and everyone is still safe. we had our first chapel meeting last night and it went amazing. it was the first chapel meeting ever in the new building and it was sooo full of energy. everyone was dancing and praising god. there was about 160 people total there. our team did a great job with dramas, music etc... and i got the opportunity to preach and it was well received. god is already doing a work here in this camp. there are many great relationships that have already been formed. the bribri youth are passionate about learning more about god. yet, some dont yet believe. one boy came up to me today and told me he was an atheist but that he loved the camp and was having so much fun. ironically, his name is angel. please pray for him this week and the many others still searching. i will be preaching the gospel tonight with an invitiation to respond. please pray tonight. it will be around 7.00 your time. it is so cool to finally see campers here at the facility we have been working on for so many years. when i first walked the property years ago i never imagined it would be filled with young people praising the lord. my eyes welled up with tears last night as we experienced the first chapel at this place. what a vision the kyrios team has for this place. it is such an honor to team up with them. the construction team is doing amazing. jamie and his team got so much done before we got here. they are never without a job. they are always fixing and building as the camp goes. last night the bathroom floor fell out and they were up at 11.00 rebuilding the bathroom for the whole camp. water pipes have broke. they just built an outdoor ampitheatre that we will use tonight and they are off this afternoon to build the mud challenge we will use in the morning. they are just staying a few minutes ahead of the camp and doing amazing. thats about it for now. thanks so much for praying. keep it up. we will keep you posted about how the rest of camp goes. everyone is tired, hot and sweaty but holding up great. its tough but its short. everyone is giving their all while we are here. with much love, adam on behalf of the 2012 costa rica team