The Calm Before the Storm

Sunday was my first of eight different church services I will be able to be apart of this summer at Celebration Costa Rica. The worship was amazing and I am learning a little Spanish here and there.

Sunday Service at Celebration CR with Pastor Miguel 

 Monday we got the opportunity to go out to Tiribi, where we had a feeding center for the community. We were able to feed over 75 children and adults.

Tuesday we got the opportunity to take a break and go to Jaco beach as interns. We rode a bus for 2 hours that only costed just over 5 dollars and we were there! We ate at an amazing taco place and then we hit the beach. It was good to get to know the interns I would be working with this summer as well as a well needed tan! It was the last day that one of the staff members, Josh, was here, so it was a going away day for him as he faithfully served here in Costa for 6 months! Shout out to Josh, such a great person, it was cool to get to know you!

Jaco Beach

Wednesday, we had another feeding center at the church, which is for the homeless within the community at the church. We have a feeding center at (or mobile through) the church every week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Wednesday afternoon, we were able to help organize some paper work on Child Sponsorship and clean up more around the houses.

Thursday, we got to go into the community of Lower Tiribi and have a feeding center and served over 50 children and adults.I love playing with all the kids in Lower Tiribi as they love getting put on my shoulders and swung around! We also got to get all the food for the next team that is coming in for the entire week, it was a lot of food!

Friday
I was able to help out at the Church feeding center in the morning. After the feeding center, we had to stay indoors the rest of the day because of really hard rain. It rained from 11am until forever it seems. Actually it is still raining as I am writing this (Friday at 10pm). Also random comment, but a random white cat just ran through the team house and may or may not have scared me as I am writing this blog! It really isn't a big deal to have random animals in your house in Costa, as they are pretty open.
We had a little issue with our newly constructed community house and apartments as well today. It flooded in the garage of our community house and in the two lower apartments, it was an experience to say the least. When Steve said it rained here a lot during the summer he wasn't kidding! So if you are thinking the following, "Cody, You're a missionary in a tropical Paradise" PLEASE keep reading my blog, as you will get to see the Costa no tourists ever see (Plus I'm here during the rainy season)!  Like I said in the title, this is the calm before the storm, more God Stories, Triumphs, poverty and prayer requests are coming!

Friday Church Feeding Center

Saturday morning the Staff and intern team alongside a couple 6:8 has been working alongside as they go to language school here in Costa Rica, Gary and Dena Pate. We went into the Verbena community to go around and ask if anyone was sick and needed a nurse, as Dena is a nurse and was able to treat kids. It was so cool to see Lacey and Allison helping Dena, as they are both looking into nursing as a career. (They are both summer interns here at 6:8)  We were able to go to a lot of different homes and treat many different children. A lot of the kids had infections, or really bad colds. We were able to give them shots and medicine to help them get better. It was also really cool at the end of the morning we got the opportunity to pray for a woman by the name of Anita and when we asked her if anyone needed medical attention she said no. She then went into Praising the Lord and how we need to praise the Lord in the good times and the bad times. It was so cool to be able to bless her and her attitude as I got the opportunity to pray for her personally.

Verbena Saturday Medical Team Visits

After the medical run, we got to have a feeding center and pictured below is myself playing with two children right before the feeding began. We were able to feed so many children and adults. Verbena is a community that I am growing to love and have a heart for. I have only been to Verbena 4 times since I've been in Costa and it is becoming my favorite neighborhood to do ministry in, just for the children and the challenges it has along with it. 

The kids love to swing around, I was a little dizzy! 

The coolest kid I have met so far, so much energy! 

Verbena Feeding Center - Saturday 

We followed up the day by coming back to the team house and having a staff meeting for the rest of the afternoon. After the staff meeting, we all went down to the "build site" in the neighborhood of "Conception", where the next team from Mississippi will be building a house this week. I'm super excited because I am going to be on the construction crew and super excited to help build a house for a family for the first time! The next team will be here in a few hours and in the morning we will be able to do orientation and go to church to start off the day! 

It has been a slower week this week, as we are waiting for our first team of 8 in a row for the summer coming today. We were able to get everything ready and cleaned up before the rush of the summer, as well as really bond as a group of staff/interns and do feeding centers together and just live life together this week. It going to be a crazy summer and I can't wait to share the experiences I am going to have. Can't wait for the next team to come. I will be posting the photo of every group to end each blog at the end of their weeks, so you will get to see all the faces that volunteer this summer at 6:8!

Tell next time 

God Bless

Cody Perman