Costa Rica Here We Come

On March 26th we leave for Costa Rica.

We (Kristin, Joshua, and I) will be there primarily to lead a week long mission trip from Wheaton Bible Church. We have 11 participants coming down to work on the Casa Viva offices, repair some Casa Viva families, and to throw an Easter Family Fun Night for al the Casa Viva staff and families.

During this Easter Fun Night, families will wonder between 5 stations learning about the importance of Easter, playing games, eating dinner, and learning about American traditions associated with Easter.

Additionally each family will walk away with a tree that they have decorated to teach their children about Easter during Holy Week. There are 12 items that hang from the tree based on the resurrection eggs by Family Life today.

In addition to being in country for this trip, we will be around a few extra days to do planning, work, and to be with the Casa Viva staff in Costa Rica. While in country we'll be staying with Phil and Jill Aspegren just a block or so from the team house.

We'll also spend some time with Tito and his family.

Presidential Candidates on Orphan Crisis

I don't know how many of you caught the presidential candidates being interviewed by Rick Warren. I personally didn't have the time to sit down and watch it for two hours (I was watching the Olympics).

But I heard afterwards that Rick Warren asked both of them to consider making the orphan crisis their big social contribution to the world, Like Bush made AIDS in Africa his.

Rick Warren states that there are 148 orphaned children in the world and asks what their solutions might be.

McCain (who has an adopted daughter) says he'd like to make adoptions more possible for Americans. While this is a great solution for the individual children being adopted there are 148 million children in need and only 110 million households in America! Adoption cannot be the only solution.

Rick Warren correctly states that orphanages and institutions are not the best place for orphans to be raised that families are. Orphanages cannot be the only solution.

Casa Viva is creating an alternative solution to orphanages and institutions that empowers national churches to be a solution for orphans in their own country. I am excited to be a part of this alternative solution to the 148 million orphans in the world.

Warren asks Obama and McCain about the Orphans of the World