Nichol Krupp Photography

Well,  I finally made it home from my mission trip in Costa Rica.  I was up for nearly 24 hours Monday when we traveled back to the states which was a little tough after a week with very little sleep already. 

COSTA RICA IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!  I missed my family dearly but did really well. Communication in Costa Rica is quite tough via phone and email so I never once got to talk to the kids.  I was able to talk to Keith a couple of times for just a few minutes. 

This trip was clearly life changing for me on a personal level.  There are many things I will do differently back here in the US.  I did not feel right walking into my home last night after being where we were.  Don’t get me wrong, Costa Ricans are very proud people and some of them have quite a bit but the majority of the areas that we saw were run down,rusty and unkept.  There were dogs walking all over the place just roaming.  The drivers were totally LOCO(crazy).  We almost got hit several times.  Probably too many close calls to count actually.  It was definitely a new experience. Putting our seatbelts back on once we were in Michigan was wierd.  You just don’t wear them there even though all you do is drive up and down narrow mountain roads.

We went into several different churches and had an awesome two-day kids retreat.  We went to Costa Rica to bless others and I think we all came home feeling more blessed ourselves. 

It was a busy week that was very scheduled but they planned in time for us to do some sight seeing and other fun stuff as well which was great.  We did a lot of preaching, praying, and bringing people to the LORD which was beyond words for me personally.

Photographically speaking, I never really knew that I could use my camera as a way to connect and minister to others which was exactly what I did.  The kids we worked with at the retreat were very tough at first and as the meetings increased and as they spent more time with us they began to break one by one.  Before the night was over many of them were saved and on their knees up front in tears.  What an amazing sight to see. 

Pastor Rene’ and Pastor Dave(BVCC) were unbelievable together and really worked well as a team. They left to go on a mission in Panama on Monday the same day we flew out to come home.  The people of Costa Rica are definitely some PASSION FILLED people who are so giving and so willing to serve.  It makes me want to bring what I learned back and serve more myself.  The food was wonderful, although I can definitely do without pintos and rice for a while.  The Coffee there is exquisite and they served it with leche’ evaporada(evaporated milk) instead of cream.  I have been drinking it that way ever since I got home.  Try it…you may be surprized.  I am still extremely sleep deprived but trying to catch up on that.  There will be many many pictures to follow but for now here are a few.

~N

We are home!!!!  We are SAFE!!!  We are all exhausted!!!  Our mission is over in Costa Rica for now but will continue here in the states.   I am beyond eager to tell you all about everything but need some more sleep for now.  I was up nearly 24 hours yesterday.  I will share photos and thoughts about the trip with you soon.  Thank you all for your thoughts, emails and prayers.  I took about 2000 photos on the trip.  WOW!  That will take a while to go through.  I am going to need a few photo albums for that one.

I MISS IT ALREADY!!!  I missed my family DEARLY, but could have easily stayed another week to continue the work we were doing. THIS MUCH I KNOW IS TRUE….I will go back.   

GOODBYE FOR NOW!!!

~N