God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

That's a fact that no one can deny. For a few of our leaders it was a long and tough day. Terry, Minor, Joe Roberts, and Matt Bolton spent over 8 hours in meetings. All of our medical plans for the week depended on these meetings with the mayor and other officials in the city so it goes without saying that it was a very important day. According to Terry, Satan threw everything he had at us trying to keep us from helping the Indian Reservation. But through all the stumbling blocks that were thrown our way, God conquered them all. All the permits we needed, we now have. Everything is a go for the clinic to begin tomorrow! Let us all thank the Lord for overcoming what would have been impossible without Him. However, tomorrow is another day and we do not know what is in store for us, but no matter what comes our way--GOD is GOOD. 

Today was also a pretty full day for all the other team members. We had our first performance of our Vacation Bible School for our first school in Buenos Aires and had about 40 children in attendance. Kim Fussell wrote an awesome lesson for our topic--Peter. The primary lesson we are using for our VBS at the schools is about Peter's calling to Christ. We are all thankful that Kim took the time to put together this lesson for the Costa Rican children. Garrett Best narrated our lesson in Spanish for us. The key roles were played by: Logan Hollinsaid-Jesus, Blake McCaskill-Peter, Maggie Sinak-John the Baptist, Cooper Anderson-Andrew. The kids greatly enjoyed the skit we did and we should get better at it the more times we perform! We also taught them some songs and had them sing along with us. Our translators, Kattia, Nadja, Katherine, and Andrea, were a big help in keeping the attention of the kids and coming up with more songs to lead. We ended the VBS by inviting the children to the gospel meeting and encouraging them to tell their families about it. The men's and women's Bible studies also began this morning. Wayne Scott will be teaching the men's class for the week and Linda Moran is teaching the women's class. They both had a great number of men and women in attendance and they all seemed to be uplifted by the encouraging study. Those who were not attending the classes, or preparing lunch, went back to the hotel to complete the sorting of the medicine. By the end of the day, all of the sorting, counting, and labeling was done! After lunch, there were also some groups who continued the door-knocking route. Moriah Allgood was a part of a group led by Kattia Barrantes who did a Bible study while they were door-knocking. The family was immediately receptive and very thankful for the opportunity to study God's Word. I hope that all of the groups that have been door-knocking have come into contact with people who are open to hearing about God and that we will all make an impact in the city by reaching out to them. 

For those of you who are wondering, the food has been great so far! The ladies at the church have been working so hard to prepare our meals for such a large group and I haven't heard any complaints yet! Rice and beans is a part of every meal of course, but I expected that. We've had spaghetti, grilled pork, sandwiches and lots of fresh fruit and juices. For supper, we had watermelon juice, one of my personal favorites, which I've only found in Central America. Pineapple has also been very popular at the hotel for a snack. Oh, and you can't forget about the coffee...for those of you who don't know, the coffee here is so good that I only drink coffee while I'm here in Costa Rica. Sunday morning I had my first cup of coffee since my trip to CR last summer. Coffee is also the only souvenir I was asked to bring back to the States. 

Day 2 of the gospel meeting tonight was an excellent lesson given by Joe Roberts. It can be summed up in one quote: "God is good all the time. All the time, God is good." God will always be good. We must put our faith in Him and know that there is good in every situation and trial we face. There are sure to many more trials this next week, but with God all things are possible. 

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." 

Romans 8:28

In Christian love, 

Leah

Enjoy a picture of the church building and the view from it :)