trip mail 4

Buenos,
So today I just found out that for sure it is impossible to hang out with Don Salomon and Mery Hernandez (they will be ravelling with their family until august, and i am a little bummed.

However the good news is that things are going really well in Costa Rica. Today I met up with th people from pura vida coffee (www.puracoffee.com if you are interested in what they are all about) they were so hospitiable and willing to let us get involved in their ministry for the short time we will be remaining in CR. Tommorow at six in the morning we will be meeting up with them and heading to an amusement park with about 50 5-7 year olds. That should be a heck of a day. and tommorrow night they have invited us to have dinner with them and even offered a place for us to stay. I wished we could have hooked up with them earlier. They do some pretty crazy stuff down here and work with some kids who are in incredible need. Currently their plan is to organize, so that when kids stop showing up they can pay them a visit and see if there is anything they can do to help. Eladio, the guy in charge, said that sometimes when kids stop coming it is because their family neede money and the kids had to be sent to work and even some kids from the group have been put into work in child prostitution rings. This is quite disconcerting, everyone say that Costa Rica is like a little America. But as it turns out, only three mile away for the major mall and food district thing like that are happening, on a regular basis. Today after meeting up with the pura vida people me and brian went to the grocery store where a girl who was no older than 7 bagged our groceries. She was the cutest little girl I have ever seen and it astounds me that she has to be working as young as she is. Today has been a full eye opening day. i thank god for the oppurtunity that i have to work with the people in pura vida and i also pray that they continue to make a difference down here with what they are doing. Hearing about something like this reminds me of what a needy world we live in. So far we have a couple of sightseeing trips planed at the end of our trip but if things keep going the way they do i think we will want to spend as long as possible with places like pura Vida, places that are a lights in very dark places.

Thank you again to those who have supported me on this trip I am so incredibly grateful to you. So far there has been a new lesson to learn everyday. I look forward to sharing my trip with you when I get back.

Vaya con Mios,
MAtt