Back in Costa Rica Year 5

My first week back in Costa Rica I hit the ground running. I had just come from a wedding in Georgia and as soon as I arrived began translating for a short term missions team from North Carolina. I had a great time getting to know both the leaders and the students on that trip.

As soon as I finished translating for the team from North Carolina, the GAP students arrived and I was shuttling them to and from the airport to the Villa. The students this year seem very excited and eager to learn about Spanish and the Bible. They have a hunger for the Bible classes and seem to enjoy the teachers and the lessons they learn. 

We have a total of 28 students this year, 9 guys and 19 girls. There are also five interns and myself and all of us live in the same house. 

Panama:

Our group just returned from a 4 day trip to Panama on Saturday. We went to an island called Bocas del Toro and had a time of enjoying God's creation and were able to help out the Panamanians living on the island. We partnered up with a local missionary there who linked us up with a village that didn't have any running water close to their houses. We helped to dig a trench to get running water closer to their houses so they don't have to walk far distances carrying buckets of water anymore. It was a great opportunity being able to get to know both the missionary living on the island along with the people of the village. 

Tirrases:

It’s really great to be back and see all of the kids, teenagers, and Jairo again. I’m really excited for the group of students in my Tirrases group because they really seem to want to serve and have fun with the kids. The past two weeks were pretty difficult because Jairo was in Panama so we were in charge of both the games and the lesson, but everything seemed to work out well as the students all stepped up to the challenge. Our church plant in Tirrases is growing and there are now leadership classes which some of the church attendees are going to. 

Thing’s I’m excited for this year:

We have a solid group of guys this year and I’m excited about the opportunity to get to know them better and helping disciple them as they grow in their walk with Christ. I’m also excited to see how God is going to work in Tirrases this year because each year it’s been cool seeing how He works in and through the children there to reach some of their parents. I’m also excited to see my group of students at Tirrases grow as they learn to love and serve the children and teenagers there. 

Prayer Requests:

Just keep the GAP students, as well as all of the leaders and myself who went on the Panama trip this week, in your prayers. Pray for us to stay healthy and to be ready for the next week of classes and ministry. Also pray for me as I try to start a Bible study with our guard Adolfo in the near future. 

And pray for God’s hand to continue to be working in and through me and the GAP students at Tirrases. Just pray for the us to best serve God and that God would work through us to show Christ to these children and their parents. 

Thank you to those who have been supporting me through your prayers and financially! If you would like to join my support team you can click here SCORE International.

Or by mail:
SCORE International
Attn: Brandon Hoover
P.O. Box 9994
Chattanooga TN, 37412

Recovering From Camp!

Camp has come and gone and I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep! About 2 weeks ago we finished our 2 weeks of camp. These weeks were probably the most tiring but most rewarding/fun weeks of my life!

Week one we took 55 kids, ages 6-12, to Camp McConnell about an hour from their homes in Tirrases for a week filled with Bible lessons, team games, competitions, pool time, and a bunch more! I had no idea what to expect going into this week. We started off by splitting the kids into two teams. I was a captain of the one team and my friend Jafet was the captain of the other team. I found out early on that cough drops would be my best friend through the screaming of our team name, Superamigos, over and over again! Along with being the team captain of half of the campers, my main responsibility was being the cabin leader/mentor of half of the boys. I was all alone in a cabin with 13 Costa Rican kids that were definitely full of energy!  It was really awesome for me to do life with these kids for the week. 

All the 55 kids that came for camp were from Tirrases where my ministry is. God's been opening up more doors and more opportunities for me to spend time mentoring, hanging out and working on construction projects in Tirrases. Hearing some of the kids' stories and deepening my relationship with them was something that was very eye opening and special to me.

During one of the meals, I was talking with Issak, a kid that moved to Costa Rica from Nicaragua not too long ago. He was on plate number 3 and about to go up for a fourth serving so I asked him why he was so hungry. His response left me sitting in my seat for a while after he left. He said to me that he wasn't that hungry but he knew that he wouldn't have food to eat when he got back to his house, so he wanted to eat now to make up for the lack of food. His answer really hit me hard. I knew that the living situations of the majority of the kids at the camp weren't that good, but it wasn't until that short conversation with Issak that God really had me thinking of how blessed I've been. 

Week two had a completely different feel to it. Everything and anything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. The directions being about 2 hours off, the place being a huge mud hole, the huge toads in the flooded kitchen, and the bus full of 55 teenagers breaking down on the way made for quite the couple days! The week ended two days early and was a huge test of patience for everyone involved. Once the teens actually arrived there, we made due with the conditions that we had and when the time came to leave they all wanted to stay. These couple days God was working really hardcore in the lives of us leaders. He taught us to trust that He had everything under control. The camp we went to ended up refunding a chunk of what we payed, which we will use to send those same teens to another couple day camp in March to let them get the rest of their camp experience.

Prayer requests:

• follow-up with the campers and their families
• we're hoping for our church plant in Tirrases to kick off within the month
• financial support
• continued growth of the GAP students

 Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers throughout these camp weeks! God worked big time in both the lives of the campers along with the staff. If you would like to join in helping me minister to the kids and people of Costa Rica you can click here SCORE International.

Or give by mail:
SCORE International
Attn: Brandon Hoover
P.O. Box 9994
Chattanooga TN, 37412

It's Camp Time!

I just got back down here to Costa Rica after having a very busy 10 days back in the States filled with family, friends, weddings and much more. We've been planning camps for the last while down here and starting on Monday camp begins.

I'm in the same ministry this year in Tirrases (about 30 mins from our house.) This is my second year serving there and I'm really excited about everything that God has been doing in that community. We have had a ton of new kids show up to our ministry Saturday mornings and we've been growing a lot.

As I mentioned we head off to Camp Tirrases on Monday for two weeks. The first week we'll have the kids week where around 50 kids will go to a camp about 2 hours away from where they live to have a week with us filled with Bible, games, pool fun and much more. The second week will look similar except it will be for teenagers and will be in a different location. I personally am really excited to see how God is going to use us these weeks. I'm one of the four counselors each week so that means I'll be leading Bible stories, sleeping in their cabins, and spending every single moment with them.

Pictures to follow soon after the camp weeks!

Prayer requests:

• pray for salvations for the people coming to camp
• pray that God will use Camp Tirrases to impact the kids and teenagers lives 
• pray for my Spanish as I'll be giving Bible lessons and doing life with the kids
• for the growth of our GAP students studying down here
• for clarity of future plans 

Thanks again to everyone that has been supporting me down here both in prayer and financially. If you feel led to financially partner with me you can click here.    scoresponsor.org/missionaries