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After much fund raising and four pre-trip meetings, fourteen missioners left Bradley International Airport in the early hours of January 9th – destination San Jose, Costa Rica. This was known as Costa Rica I and with VIMers from Simsbury and Avon Methodist Church and Simsbury and Farmington Congregational Church, we looked forward to a week of bonding with each other and our Costa Rican hosts.

 

The mission objectives were to build out a public school classroom and assist at a Vacation Bible School. We were met at the airport by Rev. Joseph Ewoodzie, the conference mission coordinator and our host, Carlos Gamboa and off we went to our home for a week, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, in the modest Caribbean town of Siquirres. After a good nights sleep we woke up ready to work on Saturday morning. The entire team spent the day at the site working and creatively coming up with play ideas for the hoard of local children, on winter vacation, who came out to see what we were doing to their school. After an evening of great food, devotions and reviewing our day we were ready for bed.    

 

Sunday was a day of devotion, celebration, touring and rest in preparation for the next four days of construction and Bible School activities. Missy Iler, Cindy Horsler and Nancy Hawkins helped the St. Mary’s staff with the Bible School for the next five mornings. In the meantime, Vicente Garcia, our team construction leader and interpreter hustled the rest of the team onto a bus for the short ride to the work site. Here the rest of the team began the completion of the four walls and a roof into a complete classroom while at the same time playing games with the children. Each afternoon ended with a soccer game headed by Tyler Burr, bilingual grandson of team leaders, Frank and Nancy Hawkins.

 

Painters Ruthellen Corbett, Sue Cartnick, John and Pat Wiles and Pastor Woody Eddins followed after stucco was applied to the walls by Pete Royal, Frank Hawkins, Vicente Garcia and Dick Adams, who was also our recording photographer. Clean up committee was headed by Joyce Royal.

 

Four days later with a sigh of relief, Rev. Joseph Ewoodzie invited the local Congressman, Mayor and school principal to a moving ribbon cutting ceremony.

              

We were ready for play and getting to know the area better so on Friday we went on a banana plantation tour, a walking and boat tour of the jungle where we appreciated the flora and fauna of the Caribbean Basin side of Costa Rica, capped off by a celebration dinner with music and dancing.

 

Returning to the church we devotedly, reverently and quietly celebrated with the most beautiful and meaningful Communion Service, led by Pastor Woody, that all of us could remember.

 

We crawled into bed ready to depart for Connecticut the next morning richer by far for our experiences, and think that Tyler Burr’s post trip thank you says it all:

 

Love, Ty