Third Wave 2015

Our family was so blessed to have been a part of a youth leaders conference called Third Wave.  It is held every 4-5 years in a different world region each time.  David attended the event 8 years ago in South Africa and the last event was held in Thailand.  But this year, Costa Rica was the home of the event, and to be more precise, SENDAS hosted the event.  

USA and Canada Delegation at Poas Volcano.

It started off for us with the arrival of the delegation from the USA and Canada.  Jan 3 was arrival day and we met up with the group of 53 (yes, that is a 5 and a 3) persons at the Holiday Inn where the pre-tour started.  From there we enjoyed a three great days together visiting Poas Volcano (no view at all, too cloudy – booo!), Las Colinas for lunch (and trout fishing) and then the coffee tour at Doka. 

That night we arrived to Punta Leona where we enjoyed the pools, beaches, canopy tour and a trip to Jaco (beach town nearby) for shopping.  The monkeys at mealtime were a hit!

On Tuesday January 6 we arrived to SENDAS for Third Wave.  It was wonderful to get to know people from all parts of the world.  There were 169 participants from 35 countries.  Each one a leader of youth in their part of the world.  Awesome!

Another highlight was to see our Costa Rican friends serve the participants all week long.  Kayley was part of this group.  They were much appreciated and received a standing ovation at the end of the event.  Kayley was a big help with her translation skills.

Kayley and Estella, who met at the event, be stay connected on Facebook from now on.

Hugo, Andrea, Kayley and Helen - great leaders for now and the future!

But the best day of the week for us was the Ministry With Others day.  So much planning went   into this day by many, many people, but in the end four different Costa Rican locations were shown the love of Christ.  There were about 43 participants along with 45 or so Costa Rican volunteers at each site.  San Ramon, Heredia, San Pedro de Poas and Orosi de Cartago were the four locations with San Ramon being the furthest from campus and a location where we had no church presence, until now!  

The Costa Rican volunteers at San Isidro de Heredia.

Love the new murals at the elementary school.

Painting fences at community centers, walls at a school, holding event for children (200 kids in attendance in Heredia), picking up trash, talking to folks in the streets and going door to door, and dental clinics were just some of the wonderful service projects for the day.

Our role in the event was of a support nature.  We have great leaders in Costa Rica. With our friend Gaby Bustos coordinating with them all, we could focus on filling in when and where needed.  A medical clinic visit, a quick run to find a supply or two, asking if anything was needed.  It was great to watch all the leaders and volunteers in action, and even better that we were not needed to lead the event.  Can you tell we are a bit proud of the Costa Rican leaders? 

And even though the Packers lost their playoff game, and I hate to bring it up, we did have a great time watching the game against the Cowboys with a great new friend from Australia, Cameron.  He is an avid Packers fan who David picked out of the crowd early on.  These two were fast friends.

Well, we are now back to a more regular (whatever that is) schedule with David’s trips, Kayley’s school, occasional Skype calls with Joshua,  and Shelley's work with CALL and translations of books into English. We are blessed each day to be serving with such great leaders.  Can't wait to see what God will do to grow the churches of Costa Rica in the future.  It's looking bright!

Until Next Time,

The Webbs