Monday, May 4, 2009

Jacó Happenings

We are sorry it has been over a week since we last posted.  We have had a week long break in between trimesters at school and we have been looking for a house in Jacó for August.  Praise the Lord we found one!!!  We love the house--it is better than we could have ever hoped or imagined and the Lord led us to this house before we even began looking for one.  My Dad and Stepmom were here visiting a few weeks ago and we took them to Jacó to see the town where we will be working.  We had rented a condo, but the night before we were to go, it fell through.  We did not have peace about pursuing another place so we decided to wait until we arrived in Jacó to talk with our friend who is a real estate agent about a place for the weekend.  When we arrived, he immediately told us about a house he had and we took it.  We fell in love with it while we were there and began asking about long term rentals.  Though it was way above our budget we decided to ask John (our real estate friend and member of our church here) if there was anything he could do.  Well, we returned to Jacó last week for a full week to look for houses and when we arrived he informed us he could get the house for the exact amount we had budgeted (which was $800 less than it normally rents for).  This was before he even knew what our budget was.  We assumed we were going to have to raise additional support for housing and knew the Lord would provide, yet He decided to provide by blessing us with a home right in the middle of town for our exact (to the penny) budget!!  Our God is amazing!!  This was so confirming to us.  It is right in the center of town which is very important for us to be available to those to whom we are ministering.  It is within walking distance to our ministry partner's house.  Everything about it is just amazing!  We are so excited!!  Thanks to all of you who have been praying for a house...the Lord heard your prayers and we have certainly felt them.  

On another note, being in Jacó for a week really gave us a good pulse on the city and it is much darker than we had anticipated.  Prostitution is rampant, pornography is everywhere you turn, drugs and drug addiction are an epidemic (Daniel got offered drugs about 6 or 8 times while we were there), and homelessness is very common.  Satan is also having a field day trying to cause MAJOR division among the very small Christian community.  The Lord has taken our prayer lives to a whole new level and I imagine will continue to do so as we begin to make our home there.  Please pray for protection over our family--for safety, for protection over my boy's eyes, for unity among the body of believers, for our health (rainy season is beginning and certain species of mosquitos carry serious diseases), etc...thanks to all of you for loving us and serving alongside us while we are here. 

Below are a few pictures of our time in Jacó...
Our new house in Jacó
Pictures of us at Manuel Antonio Park near Jacó               Taxis lined up waiting to pick up men with prostitutes in front of the local brothel in the center of town        Local homeless people that we see every time we are in town   Local bar in town called "La Bruja" (The Witch)--this sign is at the entrance of the bar

3 comments:

Mari said...

Wow! We will definitely continue to pray! Love you and miss you!

wayju7 said...

I'm so very happy you have a home. The Lord really did good. It sounds like the perfect place.
It really seems like you have your ministry cut out for you there. It's comforting to know that all you have to do is be faithful to His calling and He will bring the changes in His time. I'll be praying for your requests. Judy Morgan

step885 said...

Your new house is beautiful! The Lord has definitely provided! You are in my prayers during all these changes and new challenges ~ xoxo