Saturday, August 3, 2013

Hairy Cherries

Hola Amigos! Our names are Savannah and Justine. It is day three here in Costa Rica and we can already see the Lord working in awesome ways. This morning we started out our day by heading to a park to help feed the homeless. We met a few people who have been called to work with the homeless in the area.  They not only provide food for them but also tell them about the love of God. Although it was hard to understand them sometimes, we had fun getting to know there names and trying to communicate. We got a kick out the guys asking every girl if they had a boyfriend and telling us we were pretty. One guy asked which one of us would like to marry him so he could go to America. Although we had fun meeting and loving on the new people, it was very hard to see the situation they were in. They were all very hungry and after beginning to pass out the sandwiches, we realized just how hungry they were. We were glad to help in anyway we could. One way we helped besides serving food was by buying handmade bracelets from one of the men we met. He used string and little white pieces to make colorful handmade bracelets. He even made a bunch for us for free that said "Fishers of Men". We have all been wearing ours all week. It is encouraging to see him taking this step to provide for his kids.
      Later that day we went back to El Polideportiva, which is the park with a track, for our cross country workout. It was cool seeing all the locals playing soccer, basketball, and selling various items at a market. From there we went to lunch at Frescas. We are thinking of going back tonight to try out some of their milkshakes. It is a blast getting to try all the new foods and flavors that are here in Costa Rica. We are very proud of everyone on our team for being brave and branching out to try these new foods. A favorite snack of the team has become "hairy cherries", a small red (and hairy ) fruit that has a gooey white inside.
     Another treat we had today was a visit from a missionary family that are on their way to Mexico to work in Mexico City. Their story of faith was inspiring to us all and they encouraged us to use our majors we have been studying and see how God can use us in special ways. It was such a blessing to meet them and their kids. We look forward to tomorrow to go to a church service.

Ciao!
-Savannah and Justine