The Rev. Brian Daoust

This year, the First Presbyterian Teens With A Mission traveled once more to Costa Rica for a week of service.

Our 19 high school youth and seven adults served as two work teams, each building a house with Homes of Hope in the community of Pavas outside San Jose. We constructed for each family a 16’x16’ three-room wood-framed house with a corrugated tin roof and electricity.

We presented each of the two families with their newly furnished home, a Bible, some kitchen items and food, as well as a new start in life that they’d dreamed of for years.

We were blessed to live and work with wonderful people, to learn, to grow in our work and language skills, appreciate their culture of kindness and hospitality, to serve those in need, to grow in our faith as a group, and to return inspired to serve the needs of people in Salisbury.

We are grateful for the ongoing support of First Presbyterian and the community, businesses, and people of our hometown. The prayerful and financial support, especially through our annual TWAM 5k, helped us to provide the resources to build houses and hope in a place of great poverty and despair.

As we finished our work week in Pavas, Pedro, the father of one family who received a house told us of his love for our group and the people who sent us, his belief that God had built this house, his hope to welcome all who had a hand in building in it and to tell God one day about all of us.

On behalf of those families, our partner organizations and our youth disciples of TWAM and their leaders, we thank you for your help, and eagerly invite you to join us as we look ahead to this year and next summer, serving all who are in need as God calls us.

Daoust is director of Christian education and youth at First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury.