Buenos Dias from Costa Rica! We have officially arrived in our first country, and we have started working at our first host location for the World Race. I left for the World Race on August 6^th, and I spent a week in Atlanta with my team for the last bit of the training that we still had to receive before being out in the world! It was great to have this team bonding and time for last-minute lessons before leaving the country. When we arrived in Costa Rica, we spent one night at a hostel where we met with someone who gave us more information about the culture of this part of the world.

Next, we met with our first hosts! We drove for three hours through the mountains and palm trees to get to the town of San Carlos. We are staying half of our time here, and the other half in a town called Los Chiles. Here in San Carlos, we have so far helped by doing a lot of manual labor to help prepare the site for what will be the new church! This building used to be our host’s house, and now it is going to be the new church for this small town. We worked for two days on clearing out the building and moving items such as wood, metal, glass, tin, and other household things. It has been hard work, but it is beautiful to see what the church is going to be like when it is all put together!

In the coming weeks we will be working on a farm and helping with their ministry of working with children in the effort to help aid and prevent drug addiction in this Costa Rican community. I am excited to see what this will look like and what living at the farm will be like when we get to Los Chiles, Costa Rica!

I would love prayers for my team of six as we get ready for more hard work in the coming few weeks, for the kids that we will be working with this week when we go to Los Chiles this weekend, and the community as they are bouncing back from the pandemic and as businesses reopen. Thank you!

Also, I wanted to thank you for your prayers, donations, and your support throughout this journey so far! I am so excited to be able to say that I am FULLY funded for this year! Thank you so much for your generous support!!

Here are a few pictures of what life here looks like! First, is my team of six women at our hostel in San Jose, Cassady and I lifting materials for the new church and a picture of “mamon chinos” which are a fun, sweet fruit that we love to pick after a long day of work!  

With Love,

Claire