The team are more-and-more becoming proper members of the staff at Roblealto, taking on more responsibilities, and getting into the routine of life. Our work is split between program (when groups come to camp, and we run activities with a Biblical message) and manual labor. While the work can be difficult, I have a strong feeling that God is building character and personality through it, as well as teaching us to lean on Him. We have learned so much from Camp leadership, Camp employees (such as Santi, the groundskeeper), the other volunteers, and the children we serve.

A recent highlight was a non-Christian school group from the city (one of them) who stayed one night. The kids, a fairly big group compared to the number of staff, were incredibly “energetic”, which was difficult, however at the same time we could not help but smile at their character. I cannot count the amount of times they made me laugh. In the end, we look back on the two days as, yes, a challenge, but one that brought us closer together with the volunteers and each other. Everyone did an amazing job at stepping up, actively looking for more ways to help, and actively studying how the more experienced volunteers handled certain situations.

Another highlight was the pool-area makeover, where we were given machetes to hack away at bamboo and other plants for a fair few hours. We really enjoyed this; we could really see a huge difference in the aesthetic of the place by the end of our work, which was encouraging. Also, some people found violently decapitating bamboo to be quite a good release.

Nati, an energetic and lovely woman from the office, had her 25th birthday. To celebrate, we went to Heredia (about 40 minutes) away to eat at a mall. I think we all greatly enjoyed

spending a bit of time surrounded by concrete, eating fast food with friends. Although, I actually had a very traumatic experience. Long long story short, I ordered a quesadilla. It was going to be great, but unfortunately was wet on one side, past the point of soggy. Very disappointing.

“Temporada”, a two week season of tons of kids, aged between 7 and 17, begins on the 3rd. It is going to be similar to the programs we have been doing, but on steroids (longer days, more kids). From Friday night to Sunday afternoon, we and about 20-25 volunteers, new and experienced, had training. The weekend was tiring, especially after having already done a week of hard work, but very fun. We built some really strong relationships with the young adults and adults we would be serving, and learned a lot. The weekend opened our eyes to the diversity of ways we can serve God, and really put us in a headspace of eagerness and excitement to do so. By the end though we had earned some rest.

From Monday until now we have had a lot of opportunity to recover and get into the headspace ahead of Temporada. The time has allowed us to regroup as a team, spend more time individually and with God, and I have finally had the time to finish The Last of Us. It has also allowed the team space to communicate with each other on certain changes we could make, in order to better serve God, the people here and each other. We had some conversations, and we all felt God was speaking to and through each of us, and was at the centre of discussion.

The team now has a few days of low-intensity preparation for Temporada, before Sunday when all the volunteers arrive, and Monday where the first group of kids (this week aged 11-17) arrive! Very exciting times. We have all felt ourselves getting closer to the volunteers, each other, and to God, through difficult but fulfilling work together. We have learned more about service, and are all enthusiastically awaiting Temporada! We would love prayer for further physical and mental recovery ahead of Sunday, and an overwhelming closeness to God as a team coming into the season.

Thank you all for your prayers, God bless.

To read the previous report click here.