Buenas tardes mis amigos! My name is Ryan Ragnell and I’m sitting down to tell you all about our fun filled weekend here in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Yesterday, some of us slept in and some got up early, but we all got enough rest after the long week of work. Before and after we ate lunch, people went to the market and to various places as they often do on our off days. A lot of people went to play soccer at a nearby small turf field in the afternoon while many people just kicked back and relaxed both by the pool and in the lobby of the hotel. Later at night around 9 o’clock, after dinner, a lot of us went back to play soccer at that same field. We had the pleasure of playing a group of local Costa Ricans, or as my “Bro Group” small group calls them, Brosta Ricans (some may understand this, others may think we’re weird…). We returned back to the hotel around 10:45. After trip B people arrived last night around 11 o’clock, we headed straight to bed to get up early this morning for church.
This morning we woke up decently early around 8, some later than others, and ate breakfast and headed off to church around 9:15. About two hours later, after a wonderful service, we headed back to the hotel for lunch. More people just went straight back to relaxing, and others went back to play soccer at 3. We came back around 5 or so in time to hop in the pool and cool off before dinner. After dinner we hung out until time for worship. Worship, just like every night, led by our wonderful Andrew Beard, was fantastic. I speak for everyone when I say that worship is probably the best part of the day. It’s so incredible to take the time to just sing and worship God each night after working or after doing anything. Getting to see everyone worship God is just the best feeling in the world knowing that you’re surrounded by people that love our Lord just the way he loves us. I’m now typing this after we finished up our small groups after worship. Speaking of small groups, I just want to take the time to say how incredible these small groups are. Earlier in the week, I was talking with one of our bus drivers in Spanish who sits in on our “bro group” (Roger) and he said something that defined small groups in just a few words. He said “Me gusta como ustedes comparten los buenos y malos tiempos”. For you non-Spanish-speakers, that means, “I like how y’all compare the good and bad times.” That really is what it is all about. Getting to sit down with just a few of your close friends and a few of these amazing adults (my group’s leaders are David Bullinger and Bill Gepford, both, just like all other staff/adults, are incredible people) is the best. We get to share back and forth our experiences and our advice on each of our lives. Through the thick and thin, we will always have these relationships with these people. Each bit of advice each of us shares with each other help us more and more not only now but also later on in life. God is with each of our groups leading us along and it makes us grow both spiritually and as a person. Sometimes one finds his or herself in a situation where you just don’t know what to do or where to turn, and with these groups, it’s essentially a jury of your peers that you can turn to. Everything is confidential and each of us are here for each other no matter what. In short, small group time is just the best time of day because we end the day by just sitting down and relaxing; everything is set out on the table and we all have each of our backs.
That’s about it for today, and I can say that we’re all having a great time. I hope you parents aren’t missing us too much. I’m off to bed, have to wake up early tomorrow to get ready to go out and start a great week of work. God bless you all, and have a good night. We’ll see you all on Saturday!
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