Costa Rica, 2010

IT IS ALMOST HERE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO COSTA RICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* one more flash back to Costa Rica trip in July of last year.*

I leave at 4:00 in the morning on Friday (I know...ouuuucccch). My team will meet at our church, drive to the airport, take off at 6:00 am, land in Miami a couple hours later (where we all get our last cup of Starbucks for 10 days!), and then by 1:00 we will have flown into San Jose, Costa Rica!

I am giddy with excitement. After all of our preparations and practices (3 dramas...6 puppet pieces...1 group dance...VBS lessons...workshops...) it is finally time to DO IT! I might not sleep tonight. I am THAT amped up about the whole thing.

My suitcase is (mostly) packed with all the necessary clothes and rain gear (it is rainy season and street ministry doesn't stop just because it rains ever afternoon). I have lots of snacks (chewy granola bars, pretzels, sour gummi worms, pringles, gatorade...). I have been running over my VBS lesson all day ( I have to do a Bible Lesson, with kid participation, through a translator on Jesus feeding the 5,000. In five minutes...?) I have been brushing up on my Spanish for weeks! My knees are bruised from hours of drama/dance/and puppet practice (yes, literally bruised. Very ugly knees, have I...). My team and I have done everything we can to prepare, now it is all in God's hands.

 I JUST WANT TO LEAVE ALREADY!!!!! I miss the people (beautiful, beautiful people. By the way, something like 70% of the country's population is under the age of 30. So lots and lots of youth! I can't wait to see some of the people I met last year again!), I miss the food (gallo pinto-aka black beans and rice, with like every meal. amazing fish. pineapple grown within miles of where you eat it. coconut everything! and the best: COFFEE!),  I miss the church we will be working at, and...well, no, I don't miss the hot and sticky humidity. There has been enough of that here. It was 105 degrees yesterday here in Connecticut, and stickystickysticky.  I am absolutely thrillllled to be able to go back (and I am especially thrilled that this time one of my best friends- the wonderful MoPeeps- is going to be on the trip with me!) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make sure while I'm gone you check up on me and my team on this site (or friend "MERGE AHEAD" on Facebook!) Click "Costa Rica 2010 Team Updates" and it will be like you are there with us! (and yup, that is me on the opening page, with my messy wind-whipped, bus window down in the rain forest for 5 hours hair. Gorgeous, I know...) Pictures, written recaps, and hopefully some video testimonies will be going up daily! Powerful stuff will be going on! We will mostly be doing church services and street ministry, but will also be involved in a Vacation Bible School, conference workshops, and children's church. We will also be visiting a Nicaraguan refugee camp on Monday, where we will be handing out a buuuuunch of clothes we gathered through a clothing drive. Don't miss out on what God is using some CT youth to do down in the nation of Costa Rica!


Couple things you could be praying for:

• The safety and health of my team and I. On planes, in buses, or out and about, be it in the city or within the rain forest...
• Unity for our team of 17 youth/leaders. We have a very diverse group as far as age, experience and skills (which is GOOD!!!). Pray that God would bring us together and that we'd flow as a body and not 17 separate parts...
• The heart's of the people we will be ministering to, that God would begin to prepare them, even now, before we get down there. There is a lot of depression and an overall feeling of hopelessness that looms over the nation. We want to see that broken off  by the power of God's love.
• The team's flexibility and sensitivity to what God is doing.
• and most of all, THAT GOD WOULD BE GLORIFIED.

Thanks for taking part in all of this with me! All your prayers, and even your kind and encouraging comments are so appreciated! I can't wait to get back (by the way, I get back on Sunday the 18th, in the weeeee hours of the mornin') with stories of the goodness of God...and pictures!!!!

On the last 5 Julys of my life, Knee Pain, Roofing Tar and Zerubbabel and Me...

8 days.

I leave for San Jose, Costa Rica in 8 days. It is starting to set in. I am beginning to be really, really, really, really (...continuing forever reallys...) excited.

Since I was 14 years old I have been on 6 mission trips. *Crazy huh? In 2005 I went on my first trip, with Merge Ahead, to Temuco, Chile and helped to finish the building of a Church for the Mapuche Indians. It was a team of around 50 people and I was young, totally clueless about missions (and a lot of stuff...) and further away from home than I had ever been. And it was cold, rainy and hopelessly muddy like...the entire time. But I loved it. I fell in love with South America and the beautiful people there. The Mapuche are pretty much the greatest people on the planet. I have never again encountered such loving people; they have next to nothing, but it doesn't show in their unending generosity and joy.

*oh, hello ridiculously awkward 14 year old Bella wearin' a flame hat...

Putting up a fence next to the church...to keep the sheep and cows out of the house of God...

2006 I went to Morelia, Mexico, again with Merge. Smaller team, totally different mission. A sports camp/VBS, helping at a conference, hanging out with kids in an orphanage just lovin' on them, and lots of church visiting.

*still very awkward 15 year old me, with a translator.

Giving a morning devotional teaching before we spent the day playing soccer at the sports camp.

2007/2008 I went with a team, associated with Mission to the World, to Fairmont, West Virginia. We did construction/work on houses and also ran a Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the mornings.

*Hi, 16 year old Bella, who roofed almost all week.

*I love working. Being dirty and sweaty after gettin' the job done is like the best feeling in the world

17 year old me *...look, it has been a year but I am still wearing the SAME shirt! That shirt will get its own blog post some day...* once again on a roof of West Virginia. Me and those 6 guys became the "dream roofing team."

Last year was complicated. I was in Costa Rica AND West Virginia. Back to back. 17 days of missions work. Got home at 2am Saturday morning from Costa Rica and left at 6 am the same morning for West Virginia. Holy. Insanity. Batman.

Costa Rica was intense. We ran a conference at a masssssive church (going back, baby!) in the center of San Jose. We traveled to some of the 28 churches associated with that church and did ministry there. We went out on the streets and did dramas/dances and then prayed for people. We saw some crazy healings and salvations. And then at the end of it all, on our day off, we bungee jumped of a 265 foot bridge.

And I get to be part of that again this year!!!!!!! (...minus bungee...)

Then it was straight off to Fairmont to roof some more (we don't just roof. Tons of painting, frequent deck renovations, dry wall, flooring, drain digging, etc... I just happen to be a team member who actually knows how, so they stick me on roofs frequently.). I discovered then that I liked good, old shingles over the tar and roll- roofing I used that week on a flat top roof. Tar is a tedious beast...

COSTA RICA:

*praying for people on the streets of San Jose

*doing dramas, both in and outside of churches.

*puppets to christian (Spanish) kids songs

*Me and my boy Quixote. I have a strange attachment to this puppet...working with puppets absolutely KILLLLS my bad knees but, the kids are worth it.

FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA:

*dirty hands of me (with bungee cord bracelet!), my friend Nathan, and our leader Bill, after pulling up ancient really dirty, really rusty tin roofing.

*what is sticky, stinky and hot enough to melt your skin off? ROOFING TAR.

So that is a little taste of what I have done with my life for the last 5 years in the month of July. And I am about to do some of it again.

Costa Rica this year involves another conference at the big church, Kingdom Takers, working with their youth group (of like 6,000 kids), more ministry at their smaller churches, a VBS, tons of street ministry and whatever else is thrown at us. 

No mission trip is ever the same and no matter what you prepare for there is always something that comes as an unexpected curve ball. And I think that is one of the reasons missions is so cool: you can't ever get good enough to do it on your own, in your own strengths and talents. You can never have enough prep meetings so that when you get there you actually know what is going on. You have nothing to give the people that is of any lasting value. And you can pretty much never make it to the end of the week without wanting to fall over with exhaustion or at least take out your frustration on some people.

YOU NEED GOD TO GET IT DONE.

And what is really amazing is that He always shows up and comes through for us. Some Christian youth traveling the world and painting houses or doing some nice little dramas and puppets is great. But it is totally pointless without God. I always pray that, at the end of the week or 10 days, people don't remember me, but that they instead remember God and how He touched them with His great, unfailing, never ending love through some random kid from CT. That right there is life changing. And not because of anything I did, other than be obedient.

That is what it is all about. My life verse is Zechariah 4:6.

 "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, 'Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty.

I try and read it every day to remind myself to not try and do things in my own strengths. It is written on a sticky note on my desk. It is written on the floor boards under my rug, under my desk. And in all three places where it says "Zerubbabel" I have put a line through that and written in "Bella".
That verse doesn't stop applying to me when I am on missions trip; if anything it applies MORE.

And I cannot wait to be back in San Jose to see what God is going to use me and my team to do this time! I am only 8 days, what feels like endless practice meetings, 3 Sunday services of people praying for us, and 1 needing-to-be-packed suitcase away from it. I seriously cannot wait!

Oh yeah, I have a blog.../quote-ables

Sorry I have been a little neglectful with the blogging lately. I may or may not have replaced times I would have spent blogging with soccer...*England is out, guys and I'm pretty heartbroken. They went out yesterday morning. 4:1 loss to Germany.

Today's post isn't exactly going to be made up of any quotes...unless you consider website links something to quote...

I want to share with you a couple sites you might want to check out and maybe even become involved with.

#1. http://www.impactnations.com/. Impact Nations is the ministry of Steve and Christina Stewart, who just so happened to come to my church yesterday and minister in our services. They are amazing people who are truly living out their faith in Jesus Christ. They aren't just Christians, they are REAL, LIVE Christ- followers. They bring the love of Christ and the Kindgom of God all over the world (they have currently 52 projects world-wide, where they do things like run medical clinics and install clean water filtration systems. They minister to the poor and downtrodden. And they see salvations and healings like CRAZY.) So, check out their site. That is what the Kingdom of God LOOKS like. And it is beautiful!

#2. After the 3 morning services at my Church I went over to a smoothie place (Emerald City Smoothie) run my a young man from our youth group to get a Mango Mania smoothie. I do that frequently but yesterday was a special occasion. 2 other guys from our youth group had arranged to have 10% of that days smoothie profits go to Love 146 (http://www.love146.org/ ), an organization working to end child sex trafficking around the world. Our youth group learned about Rob Morris and his organization at the Awakening Youth Conference a couple months back and since then lots of our youth have been getting involved and doing different things to fund raise towards this cause. You NEED to check out their site as well. Watch this video and you'll forever be messed up.

#3. http://www.mergeahead.com/#/merge-missions/teams This is the final website I wish to share with you. In case you forgot, Merge Ahead is the youth group at my church that I keep mentioning. And also if you forgot, I am going with them to Costa Rica in...11 days! That link will take you to our mission's site. Check out pictures from last year's Costa Rica trip (look for me! I'm the one with long hair and glasses!) or maybe even consider donating to my trip this year (I'll show up as Bella, not Isabella). Still a bit of fundraising left to do (and don't forget about my etsy/artfire shops!)...  but please, definitely be praying for my team and I! And remember, for the 10 days I'll be gone you can check that site and follow along with my team. We daily posts pictures (some taken by me! ), video testimonies, and written recaps of what is going on (written by me!). Check it out and take part in what will soon be going on in my life! I'm so excited to be going back again! Thanks!

One Last Shot.

....and we're back!!! Long and busy week, but now I'm coming back attcha, Bloglandria!

The latest in World Cup news: England is playing again.

Tomorrow. 10 am, my time (sadly, I will be at work and missing the game. AHHH!!!) Hopefully this time they like...play.

The Friday game was...just horrendous. I was all dressed up, decked out in my England-pride gear, even painted my face, and then they played like FAILLLLLUREEES.

...look at me (I'm glowing strangely blue...?) with my awesome painted face. I also turned the 3 kids I was watching into Brit fans and got them to paint little flags on their cheeks! YEAAAHHH!  

{Technically my face should have been white with a red cross but the paint was soooooo itchy! Maybe they would have won if I had gone ALLLL out and put up with the itching.............}

This doesn't capture the full glory of me in my Brit flag (hand done!) t-shirt over a red and white tank top, red and white sweater, red skinny pants with ENGLAND belt, and even flag SOCKS! If it is worth doing it is worth over doing...or so I've been told.

oh yes that is right, I painted the flag on my nails! Sooooooo cool!

England is the 8th best team in the world, and they were among the favorites to win it all. But they sure didn't play like it last week. It was their coach's birthday and they couldn't even manage to give him a happy one. The players were not communicating. Not being aggressive. Not doing anything that they usually do. The star players must have forgotten that they were star players or something... It was almost heartbreaking! Rooney is known to do awesome things and...he didn't. Gerrard is supposed to be the captain but...he didn't play like it. The only team member who really delivered was goalie David James (Side note: my cat Tobin James has been renamed. His new name is Tobin David James. In case you wanted to know...). Poor injured David Beckham was on the sides raising his eyebrows and throwing his hands in the air. England's princes were sitting in the crowd with their arms crossed and faces grouchy-looking. The fans were boo-ing louder than the Algerian fan's horns.

It was a game that put me on the edge of my seat and sent me into a lot of screaming/arm flailing at the television. Their chances of advancing out of their group is now very small. Slovenia is in the lead with 4 points. But if USA and England (each 2 points currently) win their matches tomorrow they would both advance. Or at least one of them along with Slovenia. Time will tell... (If neither England, my team, or USA, my homeland, advance I've decided I'm going to be Argentinian. They play beautiful as a team...but are a little weak on defense.)

So my team did awful. But I still love them. I will still support them in this next game. I will still wear all my England t-shirts ( and jerseys...hoodies...socks...belts...hats...) with pride.

I just sure hope they step it up this time so I don't have to cry..........

  

UPDATE: ENGLAND IS MOVING OUT OF THE GROUP STAGE!!!!!

So is USA! See ya later Algeria and Slovenia!

Good work, my people, good work!

Now they advance to the next match up of the remaining 16 teams. England is going to have to play either Germany, Ghana, or Serbia (deciding games in play right now) and IF they win that stage they play ARGENTINA in the quarter final.

Which would be very stressful, as I would have a hard time knowing who to cheer for... Argentina is my second fave. But I know where my loyalties lie.

Oh well, I at least won't have to watch them lose to Portugal-Cristiano Ronaldo, evilest of evils- again like I did four years ago. That was torture.

GO ENGLANNNNNDDDDDDDDDD!

The Moment we've all been waiting for...

...And by "we" I mostly just mean you should flip that "w" over and make it "ME"...

Today is June 11th, 2010. Does that date have any significance to you? DOES TO ME!

TODAY THE WORLD CUP STARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You may remember back in the winter I went all fanatic about the Vancouver Olympic games? Now imagine how excited I was then and times it by like...maybe six...and that is what I am right now! Like the winter olympics, the World Cup only comes around every four years, and when it does, I GO CRAAAAZZZZY.

I love soccer (futbol...). I think, as an American, I am supposed to like football and baseball and stuff... but I don't. Football is cool and all, but FUTBOL, now that is the stuff!

Tonight the FIFA World Cup kicks (no pun intended, really) off in South Africa. I have a highlighted schedule hanging on the side of my new file cabinet. I have the FIFA site shortcutted on my desktop. I'm READY.

 First game is South Africa vs. Mexico. 32 teams. And a month from now the two remaining teams will face off in the final.

My money (okay, not real money.) is on England. Okay, I could be a good American and route for USA but...let's face it, they won't win. England very well could (they haven't since 1966, but this time I think they may. They'll at least be in the final four. Hopefully the final two. Perferably THE final winner). Some of the team's best players are out injured but they still stand a chance. A big one. If they win I will...I don't even know what I'll do. I will be going INSAAAANE. (unfortunately, I will be in Costa Rica for the final. {weird, last time I was in Mexico...} So my team will have to deal with me freaking out there. The guys at the church, Kingdom Takers, will no doubt be able to tell me what is going on. Costa Ricans love soccer too. So we can freak out together!! I am actually sorta excited for this culture shift in which the craziness will be taking place. I will actually be experiencing soccer with people who CARE about it. WHOA!!!!).

I am a true Brit at heart. Born and raised in the USA (...and may or may not be singing Bruce Springsteen at this point...), Italian and Hungarian for the most part, but there is a little, bitty part of me that is British and that part shines through in times such as these. My team is gunna kick some butt. And I'm pretty amped up about it. I will be spending a lot of time screaming at my 'telly' during the next month. (most of my screaming when England plays tends to be aimed at Peter Crouch. He is the tall guy who heads stuff like all the time and frequently misses shots on goal. And I think he is part stork, but that is another story...) And I might be sportin' my England-related garb during important games, just like a real fan. I might even paint my face with the red cross, tie my Union Jack around my neck and round around my neighborhood...maybe...just to say I did it. And to take pictures...'cause y'all know you want to see that.

Now what will be reaaaaallly interesting is tomorrow when my team (which we have identified as England) plays...my country...USA. Sorry, but I will not be acting very patriotic. I love America and all but...England ALL THE WAAAAAAAAY!


**and yes, in case you are wondering, there are some changes on my blog. This morning I made the mistake of messin' with Blogger's new template designer and I jacked up everything and then basically had to recreate my blog from scratch. It was blue, then it had orange text and the words were all over the place and...disaster. And it is still wrong. I dislike the white text, but until I can get things realigned like they were, it is staying white, so you can actually like...READ it. Blarg.**