as it should be.

And so we begin another semester of Costa Rica Young Life, Wyld Life and Vida Joven (high school ministry, middle school ministry and neighborhood ministry respectively). The semester has started out with a bang on all parts.

Last Wednesday, we had Young Life Costa Rica's first ever COLOR WARS. The "paint" was made up of some mixture of flour, water and color. Kids came wearing white shirts, excited to get them ruined by the end of the night. We started out the night with fun songs and an amazing talk about what is means to live a rich, full life in God. Then the color began. We had games planned, with two teams: blue and orange. But in typical Young Life fashion, the games were finished within the first ten minutes and a full out color war began. Screams and laughter were heard all over the yard as many people ran for their lives from the couple of boys who took it onto themselves to make sure everyone was covered from head to toe in paint. It was a beautiful, fun filled night of laughter, playing, breaking down walls and the Gospel. Exactly as Young Life should be.

Friday was another night of craziness. Our middle school ministry, Wyld Life, held it's first club of the semester: SNOWSTORM. Yes, in Wyld Life, it snows in Costa Rica. The whole night of games was centered around snow: snow shoveling cotton balls with vaseline on your nose, Christmas carols, and a full out snow ball fight at the end with shooting q-tips through straws and shaving cream fight. And, in the middle of it all, an excellent talk was given about how in Wyld Life this semester we are going to be real with each other and talk about real things, like friends do. And one of those real things is Jesus and sharing who He is and what He has done for us. It was a beautiful, fun filled night of laughter, playing, breaking down walls and the Gospel. Exactly as Wyld Life should be.

Saturday afternoon came along with another Vida Joven Mega Club for all of Costa Rica. But, true to Costa Rica's character, it rained for most of the afternoon. So while some brave souls fought the rain and did the climbing wall or outside games, most of the 400 kids and leaders found themselves in a giant dance party in the tent in the middle of a wet, muddy field. But laughter, fun and smiles were seen all around! Soon, the actual club part started with songs to sings, a skit to watch and a talk about how much God wants us, no matter what. This is probably the first and only talk I will ever see with standing room only. Because the ground was so muddy from the rain and dancing, the speaker stood on a stool and all the kids stood around her for the whole talk. It was very impressive! It was a beautiful, fun filled afternoon of laughter, playing, breaking down walls and the Gospel. Exactly as Vida Joven should be.