Hey Vineyard Family & Supporters...

 The team of 14 students & 2 leaders all met at the church at 3am Thursday morning (REALLY EARLY) to pack up, get some final instructions, and head out for our final destination of San Jose, Costa Rica!  Everyone was on time and we took off about 3:30am for the O'Hara International Airport in Chicago.

I was a little worried because we had some snow come through early Thursday morning and I was feared it would delay our arrival at the airport.  But...the toll road was pretty clear (although really windy) and we made great time getting to the airport.

We got through check in, baggage check, and security pretty easy and had a couple of hours to burn before our flight left.  So...most of us got some breakfast and waited to board the plane to Miami.  We all ended up sitting pretty much together, which was great! We then landed in Miami to catch our connecting flight...with no issues at all.  And ultimately landed in....Costa Rica with ALL OUR LUGGAGE (which makes 2 years in a row now)!  Praise God!

Delynn Hoover (our host) had his team pick us up right on time at the airport with a few familiar faces...Michael Schwartz & John Winston who are here for a 10 month discipleship school.  It was so great to see them!  Anna Schwartz was, needless to say, pretty excited to see her brother Michael.

We had about a 30-minute drive to where we are staying this year.  We unpacked and settled into our rooms. Pastor Pablo, which is the pastor we are here to assist and partner with, came to greet us shortly after we arrived.  It was SO good to see familiar faces and what feels like old friends in him, his wife and 2 daughters along with a few guys from the church.

We then had a GREAT meal of meat, beans & rice, salad, and plantains!  Delynn then did some orientation training about Costa Rican culture and details so we would be prepared to head out first thing in the morning for work projects.  DeLynn prayed a great prayer of surrender for the week with us & over us as we closed.

The team is now getting ready for bed and excited about getting some sleep as for some of them it's been more than 24 hours since they have slept well (besides maybe a short nap on the plane).  We are looking forward to getting started doing ministry first thing tomorrow morning and for what God brings our way throughout the rest of this week in a cultural unlike our own!

Thanks so much for your prayers! And, thank you to those of you who supported the students or the trip financially!  You have given them an opportunity to expand the Kingdom of God in the lives of others as well as their own.  Thanks!

Well that's it for now.  We will write another update tomorrow!

In Him,

Matt Poorman