Hello Everyone welcome to our first blog update regarding outreach. We are so glad you are here! We have decided to do two outreach teams one in Malawi and the other in a rural part of Costa Week. Weekly updates regarding both teams will be shared here. With our many different backgrounds, culture and spiritual gifting we have come together in this season to serve the Lord. Keep reading to hear what the Lord is doing through us!

Costa Rica Update

Week 1 Report

The first group of the Costa Rica team consisted of Ariana, Brian and Stephanie and their daughter Katie. (pictured on the left). They traveled before paving the way for the rest of the team consisting of Javon, Ange, Trish her son Aziki, Luciano and Regina and their daughter Elena. After driving about three hours and taking an hour ferry ride we settled in our final destination which is the Nicoya peninsula of Costa Rica. The first group specifically staying in Tambor, Costa Rica and the second group Tango Mar area. Our team has gotten to work with a number of schools in this area of a broad age range teaching them practical principles while applying biblical concepts and including activities and songs. We gotten to share about respecting parents, dental and hand washing hygiene, bullying and self-esteem and our personal stories. At a town where drugs is a huge struggle and kids are being offered dangerous drugs, we shared at a high school the impact of drugs and how to say no. We’ve all enjoyed getting the know the children/teens and are amazed at their interaction and participation in all of the schools. When we are not teaching in the schools a few members of our group is teaching and getting to know a group of men at drug rehab, we’ve been invited to lunch from pastors to connect and we are meeting together as a team to fellowship and praise God for all that he is doing!

Malawi Update

Week 1 Report 

The Malawi team consist of Jill, Heidi, Jackson, Benji and Allison and we have been very busy since they got there. Having arrived in Blantyre after many monstrous journeys from the team, we slept long and well, ready for the opportunities that this outreach will hold for the next 7 exciting weeks. We started off babysitting for Whitney and Kossi, enabling them to hold a meeting with some other long-term missionaries here in Blantyre to discuss how best to tackle the relief after Cyclone Freddy. After a much-needed Sabbath, we made our way to Agabu, a village north of Blantyre. Some ‘interesting’ roads led us to the beautiful village landscape with stunning views of the surrounding mountains. We helped Michelle and Timón put the finishing touches on their guesthouse with some mosquito nets, shower curtain poles made from bamboo, and the outside oven roof. After a gorgeous sunset, and sunrise the following morning, we set out to fix the rain capture system for their chicken coups to allow an increased water storage to use in the dry season. We hope to finish this when we return with the final components of the water storage tank later on this month. A local football tournament was held in the village, organized by Extending Hope, which was attended by roughly 1000 people from all around. The music truck with a full band blaring worship music from the 90s and the full crowd set the perfect stage for one of our team members to very nearly win a football match on Malawian soil. However, a 5-0 loss prevented such occasion. Despite this disappointing result, we left the village with heads held high, finishing with a dedication of the newly finished guesthouse to God’s wisdom and protection. A packed first week with new sights, new experiences, sickness, but altogether a satisfaction at being in such a beautiful country at a time in which help is needed most.