Spring break is upon us. And none to soon if you ask me. We have all experienced a mild winter and are now witnessing the blooming of Bartlet pear trees, dogwoods, redbuds, and other beautiful flowers and the urge to get out and enjoy it is evident everywhere. Taking a break from studies, doing spring cleaning, or just getting some R&R are just some of the things going through people's minds.
Freed-Hardeman students are gearing up for mission trips both stateside and abroad. Mission trips are planned for Alabama, West Virginia, New York, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Paraguay, and other places I can't even remember right now. Our sister schools are doing the same thing too. it is exciting to think that so many of our college students are using their spring break time to go on a mission trip instead of so many other things out there. If you ask me this is one of the biggest reasons why attending a Christian University is such a good decision.
Tim Hines, Minor Perez, and myself are going on another kind of trip. it is certainly related to missions, but we are not leading a team and we will not be doing the typical things a mission team would do. We are going to Costa Rica for spring break. We have very specific plans and an agenda to accomplish. Part of the week will be used to finalize the plans for the trip this summer when our team goes and works with Daniel Chavez in Buenos Aires. Hotel rooms will be reserved, tents and chairs will be rented, TV and radio advertisement time secured, supplies purchased, and all of the pre-trip deposits will be paid. Daniel will have a chance to finalize his plans with us and it will be left to us to figure out how we are going to do them.
However, the bigger part of the week will be spent in San Jose. We have plans to meet with several key political figures to discuss a wide range of things that pertain to this summer's trip but also for future trips and plans we have in Costa Rica. A couple of weeks ago we mailed a 3 page letter with a 24 page document to the President of Costa Rica to introduce Torch and IRC to her and to ask for a meeting. We also intend to meet with the Secretary of Health, Secretary of Commerce, and the College of Medicine to discuss all of the requirements we need to meet to bring medical teams and medicines into Costa Rica. We also will be meeting with lawyers and shipping specialists and pharmaceutical representatives. Tim figures to play a key role in the discussions since he has been through all of this in Honduras and has an unbelievable wealth of experience in this area. I am bringing the specifics of this summer's plans and Minor brings knowledge of Costa Rica along with tons of contacts and resourcing information.
So, instead of a full suitcase full of shorts, t-shirts, and sandals, we are packing suits, dress shirts, ties, and dress shoes (very foreign to me I must say....). Don't get me wrong, we will have shorts, t-shirts, and sandals, but I do not expect to use them nearly as much as I would like! We are hopeful that these meetings will be very productive and that we will be able to begin building a working relationship with the government similar to that in which we have in Honduras. The meetings next week hopefully will open up doors for projects in the future that our only dreams right now. Dreams do not become reality until acted upon... so here we go! The future begins today!
Keep us in your prayers. When I get back the pace will quicken and plans for the summer will be in place and we will begin the count down to the mission trips!!!! Take care and I will post again soon. Dios te bendiga mi amigos!
TR
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