PUSH THE ROCK – COSTA RICA
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Below are some details around the trip that will give you a good indication of what we will be doing,
where we will be going and with whom we will be partnering.
Purpose
To partner with local churches and ministries to share the love of Christ through volleyball clinics,
matches, and service projects. Keep in mind that our primary focus will be the clinic, but that everything
we do will be done with purpose and to the Glory of God!
Schedule
Friday, March 8
5-7 pm: Team meeting at Messiah
 Dinner
 Training
Saturday, March 9
8:45 am: Depart Messiah for Emmaus
10:30 am: Depart Emmaus, PA for JFK
12:45 pm: Arrive at JFK
4:05 pm: Depart JFK for SJO (Costa Rica) on American Airlines flight #1071 (direct flight)
8:30 pm: Arrive into SJO
Saturday, March 16
5:00 am: Depart for SJO airport
8:10 am: Depart SJO for JFK on American Airlines flight #614 (direct flight)
3:20 pm: Arrive into JFK
6:30 pm: Arrive in Emmaus, PA
** Thought is that you should depart Messiah by 8:45 am on March 9th.
** Best guesstimate is that you could be back at Messiah by 8:30 pm on March 16th, depending on
customs at JFK, traffic back to Emmaus and on to Messiah, and “transition time” in Emmaus.
You will have a copy of the schedule for our time in Costa Rica in the team notebook, which you will
receive on March 8th.
Partners in Ministry
We will be partnering with different ministries and people along the way. Our main church partner is
CED (Centro de Ensenanza y Discipulado), located in the heart of San Jose. Pastor Don Gerardo
Herrera is the pastor there and is very much on board and supportive with our partnership. There is a
good chance Pastor Don G will spend a considerable amount of time with us. He has a tremendous
compassionate heart for the lost!
Various other members of the CED congregation will join us throughout the trip, but I have listed several
below who are actively involved in Push The Rock in Costa Rica on a regular basis.
Nattie Gomez will be our main contact there as she is the Push The Rock employee on the ground. She
serves as the Director for Push The Rock Costa Rica, which is an official Association in the country.
Nattie will be with us the entire time.
Danny Gomez is Nattie’s sister and is actively involved in various facets of ministry in which Push The
Rock is involved. She will be with us from time to time.
Patri Pringle runs the day care at the church that ministers to many different kids, including those whose
parents are in prison. She will accompany us to Los Chiles.
Jorge Marin helps Nattie run the Saturday morning soccer clinics in the local prisons and will most likely
be taking some vacation time and joining us to Los Chiles.
Anita Cajiao helps Nattie with a lot of the administrative functions for PTR CR.
Jonathan Valerio is a former pro soccer player and is helping PTR CR run its various programs.
Christian Villalobos will be spending the week in los Chiles with the team and currently works for a call
center in San Jose. Chris has been an instrumental translator for our teams from the beginning.
Cesar e Irela Rodriguez are missionaries with SportReach and do strictly volleyball ministry throughout
San Jose. We partner together for our volleyball outreaches.
Accommodations
We will be staying at HPS Costa Rica, which is a hotel outside of San Jose that caters to sports teams. To
see pictures and read up on HPS Costa Rica, go to www.hpscostarica.com.
Transportation
Coach will figure out how to get the team to Emmaus, at which point PTR will get the team to JFK on
March 9th and back to Emmaus on March 16th.
In Costa Rica, Guillermo Miranda (Memo) will be our driver the entire time, starting at the time we arrive
at the airport in Costa Rica until he drops us off again on March 16. He will be staying with us at the hotel
so we have complete access to Memo.
Food
In San Jose we will be eating the bulk of our meals at HPS Costa Rica, especially breakfast and dinner.
Lunch will often be on the road as we are out and about transitioning between clinics and matches.
Breakfast may be quite early depending on the morning clinic and dinner may be on the later side,
depending on the afternoon clinic / service project and the evening match. On the 15th we will be heading
up north to Arenal, where we will enjoy the Hot Springs and canopy tour. We will be having breakfast on
the way and lunch at the Hot Springs.
You will not be responsible for any meals on your own, including snacks along the way. However, there
may be times when you just need another snack … those may be on your own.
Clinics
We will be running clinics in schools throughout San Jose. Each of the schools we run a clinic in will be a
location that Nattie and PTR CR volunteers spend time each week. You will be complimenting an
ongoing ministry by loving on the people at each of these locations. You may only see them once, but
know that their lives are being built into by Nattie and others, for the sake of the Gospel You have a
special part of that process, even though you will only be in any one location for a very short period of
time. The importance is to see yourself and our team as a part of something bigger. We are one piece in a
much larger puzzle.
Plan on kids not having much experience in volleyball. You will find that some have played before and
some, quite frankly, have not. Remember that our desire is to share Christ THROUGH volleyball, not try
to slip Christ in there as we make them the next greatest volleyball player. Teach with excellence and
passion! The time you spend investing in these kids will go a long way in sharing Christ’s love for them,
well beyond the volleyball arena!
Service Project
It looks like we are currently slated to teach young ladies in a prison the game of volleyball. It is a request
from a prison that we have worked with for years and this is a tremendous opportunity to build on that
relationship and love on these young ladies with His love!
Matches
We will be playing several friendly exhibition matches against local teams throughout our time there. You
will find the matches in the schedule, but be prepared to be flexible in the event the schedule needs to be
changed. It could be a wide range of talent, so some teams could be good and others may not be. Either
way, you will have a great time playing together and competing against Costa Rican teams. Win or lose,
this is a fantastic opportunity to show Christ’s love through the way you play together, compete, share a
testimony, and interact with the other team.
Spiritual Curriculum
As you already know, we will be going through “Game Changers.”
There will different components to this “spiritual curriculum” when we are together as a team:
1. 30-day Reading Log: It is important that you are taking the time to read the selected passages and
are asking the Lord to speak to you through them so you are prepared for our Team Times together
on the trip.
2. Team Time (Daily Devotions): we will meet for Bible study each day and the more you prepare
ahead of time for our discussions, the more you will get out of it and the more the rest of the team
will benefit from what the Lord has been teaching you!
3. Memory Passage: Memorize the selected passages from Psalm 27:1-6 and Colossians 3:12-17.
4. Testimonies: Everyone will have an opportunity to share their testimony at the clinics and / or
matches and during Team Time with our group. At the clinics and matches your testimony will be
given through a translator (unless you do not need one) and will take between 3-5 minutes (6-10
with a translator). During Team Time, you will be sharing with the team on a different level. You
can count on at least 10-15 minutes for that version of your testimony.
5. Prayer: We will spend a concerted amount of time in prayer throughout the trip, but you should
count on spending a good deal of time in prayer before the trip ever starts!
6. Worship in Song: We usually worship in song at every Team Time.
Weather
March is the heart of the Costa Rican dry season. The western and central regions of Costa Rica have
sunny weather, nearly no rain and surprisingly low humidity.
Temperatures on the beaches and at low elevations are hot with highs in the upper eighties and lows in the
upper seventies. Moving up in elevation things cool down and the Central Valley and San José are a few
degrees cooler.
Vaccinations / Immunizations
Outside of your routine vaccinations, you do not need any special shots. Make sure your routine
vaccinations (i.e. tetanus) are up-to-date.
Clothing
Here is some additional information for you regarding what you should bring with you …
-
3-4 t-shirts
3-4 pairs of shorts
Messiah warm-up jacket
Socks and underwear
1 pair of long pants (sweatpants, jeans, etc.)
Additional set of dress clothes if you do not want to wear your travel clothes to church
Dress shoes / sandals
Running shoes / sneakers for clinics and walking around
Volleyball shoes and personal equipment
Towel
Swim suit
Push The Rock will provide the following things for you:
- Polo (Black): for airline travel
- 3 clinic t-shirts (Heather purple)
What to Wear and When
Please NOTE that we may ask you to wear something specific at an appointed time, but otherwise, the
guidelines are listed below to help you pack and prepare:
Airline Travel
- Push The Rock issued polo shirt (Black)
- Dress pants
- Ladies: you may wear a skirt or capris if you wish
- Dress shoes
- Guys: NO sandals!
- Ladies: you may wear dress sandals if you wish
- Push The Rock warm-up jacket in case you are cold (optional)
At Clinics
- Push The Rock t-shirt (Heather purple)
- Athletic shorts and shoes
Matches
- Messiah uniforms
- Ladies: the black spandex are fine, but you may want to bring a pair to put over top
Around Town
- T-shirt
-
Anything but athletic shorts
No sandals
Church
- Dress shirt
- Dress pants
- Ladies: you may wear a dress or some other dress top and skirt, blouse, capris, etc.
- Basically, no jeans or t-shirt to church
- Dress shoes
- Ladies: dress sandals, if you wish
On the Bus
- When traveling to the clinics or matches you can wear what you will wear for those activities
- Traveling to and from Arenal on our “day off” you can wear what you want
Service Project
- Right now the service project will include teaching young ladies in a prison how to play
volleyball, so volleyball clothes would be appropriate
- If that changes, I will let you know so you can pack the appropriate clothes
Arenal
- The plan is to do a Canopy tour, so you will want to wear a t-shirt and long pants, because you
could get dirty, and possibly wet as you fly through the trees on a zipline
- We also plan on going to some hot springs at the base of the volcano, so you will want your
swimming suit for that
** Guys: can wear sandals or flip-flops around HPS and swimming, but is less acceptable out in public
*** I will have a document closer to the trip (when the schedule is ready) that walks you through what
you should where and when, specifically detailed in accordance with the schedule.
Checked Luggage
Push The Rock will give you a large black bag on Friday night at training that you will use to put your
stuff in. It is a very large bag and will hold all of your stuff! However, it can only weigh 50 lbs, so keep
that in mind. Also, there is no need to over pack. If you are having trouble fitting stuff in, maybe you
should leave it behind. If you have questions about what to bring, please do not hesitate to ask.
Your bag will also have some ministry items in it for which you will be responsible. Ministry items would
include balls, additional t-shirts, cones, etc. As you pack your bag, those items will need to be packed in
there with your personal stuff.
Carry-on
Your carry-on can be a backpack or the like. Suggestions of things to pack in your carry-on:
-
Bible
Notebook
Reading material
Team notebook (which you will receive at training)
Music
Change of clothes (i.e. t-shirt and shorts, just in case)
-
Personal hygiene items (i.e. toothbrush )
Electrical Outlets
There will be electrical outlets available that will not require an adapter or transformer. It would be like
plugging your device into the wall at home.
Cameras
Feel free to bring your own camera and take as many pictures as you can. Also, please note that you are
responsible for your own camera.
Music
Please feel free to bring your music device (i.e. iPod, etc.), but you are responsible for it. On a side note,
we encourage you to be listening to things that are edifying to the body of Christ and glorifying to our
Savior. There are also times that are “more appropriate” for headphones than others. For example, riding
in the bus or the airplane or lying in bed are all “appropriate” times. At clinics, matches, or other team
functions would be “inappropriate” times.
Water
We will provide the water for you and will make sure that you are well hydrated, especially since it could
be very warm. You will probably be given a water bottle with your name on it that you will need to keep
filled.
Spending Money
You can bring as much money as you want, but I would recommend that you bring $100 - $300 for the
purchase of souvenirs. Small gifts go a long way in thanking someone for supporting your trip! You may
want to purchase something for yourself in addition to that. We will have an afternoon where we will go
shopping. Bringing cash is the easiest thing to do.
We will exchange your money for you so you have the Colones you need to purchase what you want. The
exchange rate as of today is: $1 = 500 Colones
Medical Facilities
San Jose has good medical facilities. We know where those facilities are in case we need them. You also
have international insurance through Messiah College for this trip.
Laundry
We will make sure your dirty laundry gets cleaned, but do not anticipate laundry being done every day.
Worst case scenario is that you will need to wash some clothes in the sink or shower.
Communication Home
Updates from the trip will be posted on the Push The Rock website and Facebook page, which are where
people should go to see what the Lord is doing in and through us in Costa Rica. Updates will be posted as
often as possible.
HPS Costa Rica should have a phone and Nattie will have a cell phone in the event that the team needs to
be reached. However, these numbers should only be used in the case of an EMERGENCY!!!


HPS Costa Rica (San Jose): (506) 25-293-056
Nattie Gomez (cell): (506) 89-101-362
** You must dial (001) before dialing either of these numbers from the US
Emergencies
In the event of an emergency in Costa Rica, we will contact your family. In the event of an emergency in
the US, your family can contact you. But such contact should be reserved for emergencies.
Gifts
Feel free to bring along gifts to give out to kids at the clinics or to others you meet along the way. Candy
is a great gift to bring along! If you are bringing candy, bring candy that does not melt (i.e. hard candy as
opposed to chocolate) and that can be easily given out to many people. We will talk more about how to do
that, but please feel free to bring gifts.
Time Change
San Jose, Costa Rica, is in the equivalent of the Central time zone but does not observe daylight savings.
As of February 22, Costa Rica is currently 1 hour behind PA time. In other words, at 3:30 pm @ Messiah
it is only 2:30 pm in San Jose.