Students from Berea College have gone to Costa Rica during their January term for the last three years. For EDGE's PureWater PureLife this has been a great relationship. These teams have worked hard and built strong relationships with our partners in CR as well as with each other. This years team is no exception.
During their trip they sent email reports. Here are some exerpts from these reports. We have some pictures from the trip HERE. The reporter for the team was usually Mary Johnson. Thanks Mary. We all anticipate hearing some stories from team members. 
Jan 22, 2008
...We left the La Libertad and El Hotel communities with tears and high hopes for what God is doing there. We backed away from the soccer field slow and saw faces of sadness from the children as we left. Needless to say, this didnīt settle well with many of us. Two days ago, when we were leaving a sector in Guanacaste that we visited for a few hours, a little boy asked Derek if he would see us tomorrow. This was hard for him, as he expressed to us. This seems to be the hard part of the trip. The children are so full of love and just looking for love in return and relationships are formed very quickly between the team and the children. Itīs frustrating to have to turn and walk away from them. ...
Weīre looking forward to sharing our experiences with all of you, but we have grown to love the people and the country. I think itīs hardly possible to go on a mission trip and be the same person when you came back as you were when you left. Itīs just something that God uses to reach each of us and I am confident Heīs planted many seeds here, as well as an even deeper fire for His Will in our lives for each of the team members.
Jan 14 2008
...Tonight we have some time for rest and catching up. We wanted to formally fill you in on our trip this far. Today we got the tanks and piping in and finished on a table and hexagon structure. These will hold up the purification tanks--one at La Libertad and one at El Hotel. It was such a blessing to see the Pastor's face, Pastor Hugo at La Libertad, as he stepped into the room where the tanks and piping work had been done. He could see that his prayers had been answered and his dreams of his people having pure water had become a reality. That means SO MUCH MORE than just being a little tired. We split up into 3 groups--one at La Libertad, one at El Hotel, and one group worked with kids from both locations. Together there were approximately 40 kids that came to join us at both 10 am and 4 pm today. Each smile, each kiss on the cheek, and each greeting brought a smile to our faces and an extra beat to our hearts...
The women of the two communities were very engaged tonight in learning about ways to prevent worms & parasites to have healthier households and lives. They returned many stories and questions that made the team eager to teach again tomorrow. The program went over by 1/2 hour because the ladies shared so much!
Our bodies are a being tested by hours of games of tag and our minds are being tested by problem-solving, diagramming, and learning Spanish as we go. Our hearts are being tested by not being able to snap our fingers and cure sickness due to water contamination, by seeing so many adorable faces and not being able to take them home, and by the love and hospitality we've experienced here in abundance. Besides a few bug bites, an encounter with a lot of fire ants, and being beat by the time dinner comes along, we're all in good spirits and health. PVC glue and giggles are a part of our everyday lives here thus far and we continue to be loved by the locals.
Jan 13 2008
...The past few days have been full of planning,getting to know each other more, dancing and singing in worship. The services are so upbeat and vibrant. And the food--CE! They more than return the favor of our work for them by feeding us so MUCH good food. The people here are very hospitable and we love it. There is no particular words I can say to express how much of an experience it has been already. The past two nights, we got to pray for the specific people of the two communities by laying on of hands and it was SO AMAZING just to feel the power of God working in a place where our every day United States of freedom might see as "poor". When really, these people have everything they'll ever need because they have a passion and relationship with God. God brought us to them and I'm sure He'll continue to bless these people....
back row L-R Mary, Jessica, Hannah, Theresa, Wesley, Brice
front row L-R Jenna, Amber, Grace,
More Photos here. Water Install Video.