Thursday. Day Seven.

Lo siento, it has been a very busy week.  Nina and Elise finally found time to sit down and write a blog for you all.
We have copmleted two days of VBS and have one to go in Christo Rey. We divided the children into 2 groups, younger and older.  Lois teaches one group a lesson while the others play games with the rest of the team, then the groups switch.  There have abeen about 20 kids each day (total). It has been challenging, but fun to come up with games and activites for the kids.  Chuck has helped us translate the directions for the games.  It is still fun to play games and interact with kids that dont speak English. It is exhausting, but yesterday, six children gave their lives to the Lord.
 Due to the traffic issues of Costa Rica, we go straight to the church in San Fransisco.  We then have a couple of hours to prepare for English class and have dinner.
 A little about the English classes--As a team, we evaluated the students' English comprehension and divided them into 4 groups.  Entry, taught by Lois, beginner taught by Elise and Nina, Intermediate taught by Jenny and Kristin, and advanced taught by Chris.  Each class has 2-4 students.  This has been  a challenge to try to teach when there isnt common language.  Elise and Jenny have been able to incorporate some of their Spanish skills in order to explain some of the more difficult concepts. Between the first and second night, the students seemed to really grasp and learn quickly and enjoying themselves.
We have two more nights of English classes and have invited our students to travel home with us and live with all of you.  Ha, we're kidding.
The team has really bonded and enjoyed getting to know everyone.  Chuck and Robbi have been wonderful hosts and we have met Robbi's parents, John and Mary.  They have helped tremendously with the English classes.

For your entertainment--  Yesterday morning at devotions, Elise thought she would be smart and test how big the key was and if it would be able to fit through the slats of the deck at our hotel. Guess what?  It did and fell beneath the building. Oops!  Yankee know how, saved the day.  Nina got on her hands and knees and fished it our with a metal hook type thing that we found in the garden. Crisis averted.  Kristin did take a picture and in it, Nina looks like she is praying with her face to ground, converted to Islam.  Of course, she hasn't but the picture is quite comical.

Prayer Requests--
-Health for the team.
-Strength and patience while we struggle with the language barrier.
-Make and impact on the kids at VBS and the students in the English classes.
-And no more rice and beans.. (:

P.S.  Happyness to Kristin who is celebrating her 21st birthday today!

--Nina and Elise.