COSTA RICA 2019 FINAL CHECKLIST
More of the important stuff
Wednesday June 19, 2019
- Team arrives at Hobby Airport (HOU) at 2:00pm
- Upon arrival please go toward Southwest Airline ticket counters and look for the team. ERIN JOE will be running point for flights & travel.
- If necessary, help unload donation luggage from CBC 15 passenger van (driven by Oleg)
- In addition to your own (1) backpack and (1) carry-on, everyone will be assigned at least 1 donation luggage to check in. Be sure to keep track of your luggage at all times.
- Once the entire team is checked in and receives boarding passes we will proceed to TSA security gate check-in. Be sure you have your boarding ticket and passport to show the agent. Please remember and abide by all TSA guidelines. If you have additional liquids, we will have a CBC liquids suitcase we will check in so please find Robert for that.
- Flight Information: Southwest Airlines HOU->SJO Flight # WN112 Departure time 5:10pm Arrival time 7:40pm (same time zone).
- On your boarding ticket you will have a Zone number with position be sure to pay attention when they are boarding. Before boarding, you can get a light snack but we are eating dinner after we arrive in Costa Rica but be sure to be at the gate at least 30 minutes before boarding. Never wander the airport by yourself and always let an adult know where you are going if you need to leave the group. As you board, sit with at least one other group member. Don't worry too much about who you sit with/don't sit with from the CBC team, it's a short flight and the most important thing is getting on and off the plane quickly.
- During the flight the airline stewardess will provide everyone a "Customs Declaration" form. On the form, when it asks "address in Costa Rica" fill in the blank with: LA Ranch Missions 1km oeste de AA de Santa isabel de rio cuarto Alajuela Costa Rica.
- When we land in Costa Rica we will need to head down to baggage claim and retrieve all of our luggage (about 54 bags). They will be marked with a YELLOW tape that says something like "CBC #4" After we get the bags, we will need to go through customs and will place our bags into a X-ray machine before we leave.
- After we leave the airport, Luis and his team will greet us with a bus and from there we will head to dinner and then to the ranch. Upon arriving at the ranch we will unload everything, get a quick orientation of the ranch by Luis about rules and schedule and then get ready for bed for the next day we have a busy day of work.
Wednesday June 26, 2019
- We are actually spending the night Tuesday June 25 in San Jose at Casa del Rey.
- Team arrives at airport at 6:00am
- Flight info: SJO -> HOU Flight #1203 Departure time: 8:00am Arrival time 12:40pm.
INDIVIDUAL PACKING LIST
Each person is allowed: 1 Carry on & 1 Backpack
- Clothing: comfortable clothing while traveling, rest days, and at the ranch. Work clothes - 2.5 days of painting/construction (closed toes shoes + discardable clothes, shorts are allowed). Sunday clothes (We will all wear our CBC Costa Rica shirts). VBS - 2 days (appropriate casual).
- Bedding: all bedding and linens are provided at the ranch.
- Toiletries (sunscreen, toothpaste, toothbrush, lotion, etc.)
- Towel
- Rain jacket and/or Light Jacket
- Bug repellent
- Shoes & Sandals (i.e. for showers)
- Flashlight
- Ear Plugs and/or headphones
- Passport & ID
- Light bible, Writing Stuff & Journal
- Swimsuit(s) - personal judgment.
- Medicine
- Cell phone & charger
- Water bottle
- Personal work tools & accessories if desired.
- Gifts for the local children, youth, and staff
STEP (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program)
We are encouraging all members to register with: STEP: The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service to allow U.S. citizens and nationals traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
Here is the site: https://step.state.gov/STEP/Index.aspx
FINAL REMINDERS FOR THE TEAM
- We registered as a team, we trained as a team, we travel, we play, we worship, and we serve as a team. All 35 of us make up this team. Get this through your heart that every single person on this team is your responsibility to love and to seek out their good. Be sure to meet, share, talk, and pray with each member of the team from the moment we arrive at the airport till we leave the airport on the last day.
- "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1) Be quick to listen and slow to speak...esp. when tensions are high, stress is present, and circumstances are dark. There will be days where you will be tired and stressed either from others, the work, the uncertainty, etc. but you must remember that you get to decide how you are going to respond.
- It is God who has provided the trip and it will be God who will sustain the trip and it will be God who will cause the fruit to grow. We do not base ultimately base the trip off of whether things went "right" or "wrong." We put our faith in the sovereignty of God and therefore it frees us up just to be faithful to our task and the process of all of it. He will be the one who receives glory, however we will be the ones that receive the joy.
- You have 2 days to really prepare your hearts for this trip. Do so because of the importance of what we're tasked with. Do so because you represent the church, this city, and the Gospel.
Financial Update
As of 4 days ago, we are about 75% funded. Obviously we will be going on this trip whether we hit the goal or not, but IF we do not fund raise the complete goal, we will still be collecting after the trip. I do not want us to think that just because we have finished our trip it means we are done, we still have to be accountable to those who have already donated but we would still have to reach out and continue to finish what we started as far as fund raising. We will be sending you an updated donations list very soon so you can see whether your people have contributed.