Back in Action…

19 - january

Finally… Now long-overdue, I have once again returned to the blogging world and will attempt to maintain the regular appearances I had previously established. It is now January 19th (Happy Birthday, Blake) and I find myself in familiar stomping grounds - in front of the laptop in Limón. I returned to this wonderful Caribbean port yesterday after a long stretch away and found myself discovering all sorts of little changes that have taken place since my months away. For example: street signs in the center of town that label the roads in an NYC-esque fashion (3rd Street and 2nd Avenue, more or less). This alone is big news in a country where such identifying markers are about as hard to find as clear skies in LA (few and far between, that is). Along with that I stumbled upon the large concrete squares of th boardwalk-like main street to be painted in the festive Jamaican colors of yellow, green, and red. There is a brand new wooden pier/deck construction over the water at the center park as well as some new and much-needed trash cans scattered about. All small and simple changes, but things one notices when returning “home.” I liken it to my rare but informative visits to the old stomping grounds of Ferndale, WA (my alma matter) where one takes note of the addition of a new stop light, or the fact that the local drugstore got a facelift. Anyway, so it is all good news upon returning to Limón – a few nice upgrades but everything else – like my favorite Internet spot – still in tact and operating as usual.

For the time being I am residing with the family of my friend, Katherin, who is from the Getsemani Baptish Church and whom I befriended at the Youth Camp last July and had spent a lot of time with in the months in Limón afterward. A cute, little humble home where Katherin and I share bunk beds and her family is very welcoming and hospitable. I am very grateful to them for opening up their home to me. During the next couple of weeks my main focus will be to proceed in the process of planning the Youth Camp for July 2007 and working with the Pastor and youth leaders from First Baptist Church to nail down the location and theme, and begin to put together a schedule of activities and plans for the week. In addition, I have been able to connect with Pastor Denis of Getsemani Baptist Church to discuss plans for outreach opportunities and leadership training during the week before the Youth Camp when the mission team from CO will be in town. I am also looking forward to being able to join Getsemani Baptist for the Sunday evening worship service that I had been attending previously as well.

So I guess that is my current situation in a nutshell. Now I get to tackle the updates about my recent travels and adventures…