How much fun can you have with a bean bag??!!

What a busy month it's been!  But full of fun and rewarding things!  First off, let me tell you about a few things we've been doing with Young Life....then stay tuned for some more updates soon. 


The last few Young Life's have ben full of fun, adventure, some new faces and a lot of great conversations, opportunities for growth with kids.


We had Bean Bag O'Rama...a highlight of our spring semester....a few weeks ago.  Two teams split up (girls v. boys) to complete the ultimate photo scavenger hunt around the town of Escazu in one hour.  Some of the more hilarious items included:  steal a kid who has never been to Young Life before and bring them back with you, take a picture with a live chicken, take a picture with a sushi chef, take a picture with all of your team's feet in a pool!


The girls' team stole Nick, a kid who has only been here in Costa Rica for a few months, and brought him back to club.  Nick goes to an international school here that is mostly Tico and all the guys speak Spanish most of the time. It's been really rough on him trying to learn the language, adjust to a new culture, and make friends.  Nick has been back to ever club since then and is loving his new friends in Young Life!


Here's what one of our guys had to say about the night:


"From stepping on hobos to singing the a,b,c's to jumping over tennis fences. That brown bean bag has seen it ALL! We all laughed till it hurt, almost got hit by bus and had the most random AWESOME time of our lives. Two things we should of taken photos of: The hobo sleeping next to a fire hydrant, and the peoples faces when they saw us run around with a bean bag. Oh younglife we wouldnt have you any diffrent. :)"


I love watching kids love life together...having good, clean fun...and at the end of it all hearing an awesome message like the one Josh gave that night about how Jesus is more powerful than we could ever imagine and that He has the power to change our lives if we will let Him.


Then this past week we had YL Broomball:  a game with brooms and a small styrofoam ball.  The kids played til they broke more than one broom and collapsed in exhaustion and laughter!  For me, the best thing was not playing the game, but hanging out on the sidelines with four girls who weren't up for the challenge.  Three of the girls are regular club girls and the other is a fair-weathered friend who we haven't seen in a few months.  But what GREAT conversations I had with the girls...everything from body image, taste in music, Jonas Brothers v. Justin Beiber, to what they are struggling with in life.  


This is the stuff Young Life is made of and why I love being here in Costa Rica!!  The YL tagline is "You were made for this" and I wholeheartedly believe that through fun, adventure, deep relationships and sharing truth and hope with teens here in Costa Rica we are helping them discover what they were made for!


Here's some pics from Bean Bag O'Rama!


Below:  The girls' team and the fine folks of the Escazu police department!

Left:  Girls with Nick, our new friend.

Left:  Me, Roxanne, Paola, and Rosalie.  Roxanne and Rosalie are twin girls who came with their older sister, Maude.  Roxanne and Rosalie are not regular club attenders, but came out for Bean Bag O'Rama.  Our goal with events like this is to bring kids who have never been to club or don't come regularly. Please be praying for these new faces!!