Almost 2 Months in Costa Rica - Pictures!

Me, Kasey, Bridget, Nancy, and Micaela - The girls of the Tirrases Crew

With the crazy face making dudes of our Tirrases Gap Team - Will and Brandon

Hi Friends and Family!

Thank you all for praying for me. It has been so neat to see God work here. First off, some praises

·         Work on the church is progressing and we’re hoping that the building process will be starting this coming week. They’ve raised about $1000 and but we’re still in need of more funds, so please keep praying in that area, and if you feel led to give financially as well, you can email me (hosanna.frye@gmail.com) for more information.

·         God has been working in our Gap group sooo much. To begin with I was disappointed that the only time we would be “in ministry” would be on Saturday and Sunday. But then God opened my eyes to how I was limiting His mission field. Living with 30 people, we all have the opportunity to encourage, challenge, and build one another up in our walk with God. It has been so neat to see that take place, be impacted by others, and see the change and growth in them too. This last Thursday we had a prayer and worship night. At the end we had a time where we just got to share what God had been doing in our lives.

·         Another praise is that so far I haven’t gotten sick yet. Which is a huge blessing. Almost everyone has gotten sick at least once though, so please keep praying that we all stay healthy.

·         Our Tirrases group has grown so much and it’s been so neat to see how we’ve all connected as family. Praise God for it all. Saturdays are one of our favorite days and at least every time at least one person says how thankful they are for our team.

·         I am incredibly thankful for my roommates. We’ve known each other for less than two months but they already feel like my sisters away from home. God has worked so much in our already and it’s been a joy to laugh, joke, pray, and just do life together. 

The picture at the top of this post, is of me and my ministry team that I go with to Tirrases every Saturday. With the encouragement of Jairo and Noelia (the couple that started and lead the ministry) we’ve been working on interacting on the kid’s level to connect with them better. So I’ve been learning to joke around like and have the imagination of a 7 year old. It’s fun, sometimes out of my comfort zone, but totally worth it to see their smiles as we seek to love them in their own way. When we come up to the area near their houses, a lot of them will come running out with faces lighted up, to give us a hug and climb up on our backs. Please keep praying for us all. For my team, that we would continue to be able to sacrifice our own comfort, energy, and tendencies to love on the kids levels.

And please pray for the kids and families in Tirasses. To get a picture of the type of area that we’re in, we see drug deals happen almost every time we’re there and two weeks ago one of the people in our team witnessed someone get stabbed with a crowbar. Stray dogs are everywhere and houses are made out of a combination of concrete and various pieces of metal nailed together. The families are in turmoil, with most of the kids living with only one parent and multiple half siblings from multiple different parents. That’s their life, and they don’t know much else. To them we’re the light in the week. But it’s also tough because the truth and encouragement that we share with them is opposite of what they hear and experience throughout the week. Pray for the kids, that their curiosity for and desire to serve God would continue to endure and grow. A couple weeks ago the lesson was on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their experience with the fiery furnace. Now that I’m here, that story has even more significance. Pray that they would continue to see how great God is, and what that means in their life. Pray that they would come to understand what it means to serve only Him no matter what the pressure is, and pray that they would understand all the deeper of God’s great love for them.

Also, this coming Tuesday morning everyone in the Gap program is loading up for a trip to Panama because we have to leave the country every 90 days to renew our visas. While there, we’ll be doing some ministry and taking some time to relax and recharge. Please pray that the trip goes well and we can get over and back with no troubles. I have to go get my bus ticket today for heading to Nicaragua in December, pray that we're able to figure out all the details for that too!

I wish you all could be here to see everyday life, but here is the rest of the update in photos, so you can get a picture (cheesy pun intended) of what life here is like. I love it and am so thankful to be where I am. God is good. Thank you all for praying for and encouraging me, it is such a blessing, and anytime I start to feel discouraged I try to think back to how I got here and the many people God used to enable me to be here and give. You all are such a blessing.

Also, if you'd like to hear more about Tirrases. Here is a link to really neat video explaining more about what we do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFgNgUpmdS0&feature=share&app=desktop

The rest of the update, in photos.

Headed to Costa Rica. Over the ocean.

The beautiful world above land. If heaven is even better than this...I want to tell everyone!

Headed home after a trip to town. The green fence is to our villa where we live.

A group of us decided to throw a surprise for one of the girls and made birthday cakes for Rachel!!!

Tire got a nail in it, so the guys put all their efforts together and changed the tire.

Tirrasses

Tirrasses

Tirrases - Jairo and Jefet leading the lesson.

Tirasses - They love jump roping here!!

Danielaita and I. She's so precious

Tirasses - A few of the boys playing soccer.

One of the houses

Part of our room!

Bridget and Josue

Lining up for snack time. This is also the location where we're going to set up the church. It's small but will work for now, Current project is putting a full and proper roof on, then next up is putting in a floor.

Our teachers are so fun, and this Friday for half the Spanish classes they split us into teams and had a competition. This is a pic of me and my awesome team!! Called ourselves the yellow jackets, and we won! :-)

Monday is our free day at GAP! So last Monday they set up a trip and took all of us to the beach for the day (two hours away). Most of us got sunburned, but it was sooo much fun! 

My amazing roommates - Peyton, Macie, and Kailen. I couldn't have asked for a better room. These young ladies are such a blessing and I can't help but smile everytime I walk into our room at night. 

This is the building that has four of the girls rooms.