Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Monday, January 3, 2011

By Jake Schaefer

Today was a little bit of a change of pace here in Costa Rica. We took a break from the VBS activities and street ministries to do a our first full day of back-breaking manual labor. As I write this, I can feel the effects of the day in my upper arms and lower back. The body aches, however, only make me grateful for the fact that our team was able to be used as vessels of God’s love today. Upon arrival at “La Finca”, our team split into different groups and shifts in order to begin these different projects:


Photo #1 – In this picture, Elsa and our bus driver Corey (who worked beside us all day) are taking down a fence and some brush that we needed cleared in order to start digging a trench.



Photo #2 – On the left, Kati, Elsa, Lanaya and myself are all working together to measure and trim cinder blocks that would be correct measurements to be used for the drain and sidewalk that we were laying on the right side of the newest building of “La Finca”. On the right, Eric and Summer are putting the cinder blocks in place with the cement that our team and the leadership team of the church had been mixing all day long.



Photo #3 – Both of these pictures are of the left side of the building where groups dug a trench amongst mud and sewage. The trench was being dug for a wall that would be put in to go all the way to the back of “La Finca”.


Through our work projects at the church today, it is my hope that our team was able to provide encouragement to the leaders of the church. The amazing leadership team of adults and kids works tremendously hard for the Kingdom every day of their lives. They are often opposed and face trials in their ministries. I pray that in our efforts to work beside them today, that they felt loved and appreciated.

6 comments:

  1. Go team!! We're praying for you today. Look to Him for strength, take Advil, and press on!!

    Love to you all,
    The Schaefers

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  2. Thanking for sacrificing your comfort to get things done for the kingdom and bringing restoration to Costa Rica for the sake of Christ!

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  3. Once again, thanks so much for sharing your hearts, your hands, and your feet to be the kinds of examples that makes us all pround to be followers of Christ!

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  4. Schaefer Family,

    Thank you for following the posts and encouraging the team throughout the trip. God definitely gave the team a supernatural excitment and joy as partners in the gospel as we served the people of Costa Rica.

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  5. Jonathandkeck,

    Thank you for those words! How awesome it is that God would consider CBC and this team worthy of participating in the ministry He has molded together in Costa Rica.

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  6. Brad,

    This was a great opportunity to be used as a mighty tool in God's hand. Jake stated it very well in that we were "vessels of God's love". Our team truely believes that God was satisfied with the servanthood of each individual and was glorified on account of our actions.

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