Oh wait, I don't like either one of those...but there seems to be an abundance of them. Apparently we get sarcastic when we get tired. 10 of us are now sitting in a hotel lobby waiting to leave at 1:30 to be at the bus station at 2 so we can depart for Nicaragua at 3 AM. Needless to say, we're exhausted, delirious, and not foreseeing sleep in our near future.
Our day began with more relaxation this morning. At 11:30 we loaded the buses, took our group photo (as seen below) and headed into La Fortuna to eat lunch. Then we spent the next hours riding back to San Jose where we did some brief souvenir shopping, a Walmart coffee run, and supper at the mall. As we wrapped up our time with Daniel and Maribel, we gathered a collection to give to them as a gift from our group. This small group of 28 people donated $1300 for this amazing Christian couple. We know that Daniel and Maribel do so much work for the Lord and do not have much to spend on themselves. Daniel said that he would be a good steward of this money and we are confident he will put it to good use for him and his family.
Since I don't have much to say about our day, let me just say how awesome this group has been. I have been going on TORCH trips for 5 summers now, and this is hands down the best group I have been a part of. In my opinion, small groups are the way to go. Yes, we may not have as much man-power, but we have been able to become so close as a group. Everyone has gotten the chance to spend time and talk to each other. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know all of the members of this group, and we were sad to see it part today. Unfortunately, we know that no matter the circumstances, this exact group will never be together working here again. For this reason, we will treasure the time we had together and the work we did with this loving church in Buenos Aires. The only "big" group we had within our group was the one from Old Hickory church of Christ which consisted of 9 people, Mark and Carolina Adams, Karri Tucker, Danae Elder, Savannah, Allie, Abigail, Dalton and Zach (sorry for those of you that I don't know your last names). The rest of our group was made up of individuals or couples: Larry and Linda Moran from Henderson, TN, Thad Butts and Sarah Patty from Gulf Shores, AL, Whitney Smith from Freed-Hardeman University, Josh Fussell from Memphis, TN, Karley from Memphis, TN, Diego Rojas from Costa Rica, and the "interns": Tyler Gist, Andrew Allgood, Jose, Ginny Reese, Joanna Fussell, Hannah Phillips, Riley Bowers, Sarah Hinson, Terry and Margaret Reeves and myself.
God brought us together for a purpose on this trip, and we hope that our work was pleasing in His sight. He made us ONE body working for Him in Buenos Aires.
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."
Colossians 3:15-17
I'll try my best to update you all upon our arrival in Choluteca tomorrow...but if it's too late, sleep will come before the blog. Please keep all the TORCH members traveling tomorrow(now today) in your prayers.
The sleepy girl on the floor,
Leah
Pictures: 1-Entire Group, 2-Terry and Margaret Reeves with Daniel and Maribel Chaves
3&4-Arenal Volcano, 5-View from my back porch, 6-Buenos Aires church of Christ at sunset
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