¡Que ocupados hemos estado!

How busy we have been!  So sorry we have not blogged in 2 weeks, but we have been living in a whirlwind!  We began our final trimester in school and the workload has increased dramatically so we are swimming in homework, tests, presentations, etc. every day.  In addition, the rainy season has begun so every afternoon as we are leaving school it begins to rain and it rains--well POURS--into the night each day.  We are getting used to it, but it is hard to believe that this rain will continue to increase until rainy season is over in December--WOW!!!  The boys were sick during our first week back at school so we were out of commission for a few days.  We have also had some of our best friends, Billy and Suzanne Myers, visiting us for the past week.  It has been a wonderful time of fun and fellowship for all of us!  The kids have had so much fun competing for their attention as well.  They have been such a blessing in both of our lives and we are so thankful they came to visit us!  They left this morning and it was hard to say goodbye but the visit was awesome!  

Our friends, Billy and Suzanne

Over the weekend, we took Billy and Suzanne to Jacó to see the ministry there and to attend church.  There was a youth mission team there from a church in San Jose and we enjoyed helping to host the team Saturday and Sunday.  The youth did dramas and street evangelism late Saturday night and entertained the kids with puppets at Kid's Club on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  This group has been in evangelism training and this was their first time sharing the gospel in this manner.  It was amazing to see what the Lord did through them.  Listening to the stories of drug addicts in tears, repenting of their sins, was such a blessing and we just pray that the Lord uses our church to follow up and reach out to those who were impacted in some way. It was hard to leave Jacó on Sunday night because there are so many needs and we are so ready to get started there!  However, we know that the time will be here before we know it!!!Here is one of the kids from the mission team...Jacob loved him!!

As always, thank you so much for your prayers!  We definitely feel them and they are definitely needed!  Speaking of prayer, last week I received an email from a dear friend saying that she had been praying for me all morning and wanted to know if there was anything specific she should be praying for.  It was such a beautiful thing because the Lord had her praying for me the entire time that I was leading a Bible Study in Spanish!  Wow--the power of intercession in the body of Christ is such an amazing thing!  Thanks to all of you who intercede for us daily!  The Lord definitely knows our needs and uses all of you as a special part of our lives!  We will continue to pray for all of you, our ministry partners...we love you!!

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks...

Thomas and Jacob at Naomi's birthday party (she is the daughter of Mike and Revae, our new ministry partners)

 The boys on an ant hunt...New hair cuts!!My Mother's Day picture from my boys!!!

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

Semana Santa

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Costa Rica is the most celebrated week of the year.  Because of the strong Catholic influence, there are celebrations throughout the week of all of the "events" leading up to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  They have what are called procesiones (processionals) throughout the streets of each city where they act out each "event" of the week. Hundreds of people process through the streets (all roads are closed off), many dressed like Roman soldiers, Mary Magdalene, different saints, etc and they carry a statue of Jesus representing whatever event they are celebrating.  Because we live in the city right next to a large Catholic church we were able to witness the procesiones of Jesus carrying His cross, the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.  We also visited Cartago where the Basilica is located.  The Basilica is the largest Catholic church in Costa Rica and is the "symbol" of Catholicism for the country.  People crawl on their knees for miles to the Basilica all the way to the alter where they confess their sins before the alter and the statue of Mary.  There is also a pool of "holy water" on the property and people were bringing milk jugs to fill up with this water to take home so that it will last them all year.  (Many Costa Ricans visit this church once a year during holy week.)  Many were pouring the "holy water" over their children or dogs, believing that they will be blessed if they touch this water. 

Experiencing this week gave us even more of an understanding of the people that we are ministering to.  Please pray for those who have yet to experience the freedom in Christ that He so freely gives!!!          (Here are a few pictures below of La Basilica and the procesiones)    

                           

Youth Service Project

Saturday I (Daniel) was invited to tag along with the local International Youth Group on a community service project.  It sounded like fun hanging out with teenagers and we were going to help clean up a family's home.  We traveled to the foot of the mountains, about 15 minutes away, and when we arrived at the family's home I could not believe my eyes.  It was some of the worst living conditions that I have ever seen or smelled. The house was made of rotted wood boards and tin siding.  It had 2 small beds, a chair, a dirt floor kitchen and a pit toilet that had filled and spilled over into the kitchen.  Roberto, his wife, his daughter and 2 grandchildren live in the house.  It was devastating.   We worked all morning cleaning and removing trash from inside and around the house because $5,000 was raised by a missionary family to build them a new block house.  The family was so blessed by all of the work that was done in the name of Jesus.  I was so honored to be able to serve them with the love of Christ.  The youngest grandson was about Thomas's age and the Lord put it on my heart to go back in the near future with some of Thomas's clothes for him.  I also want to take Sarah and the boys back to minister to them as well.  I will take some pictures of their new home to share with you while we are there.  The Lord has given us such a desire to just serve those in need--whoever it is that God puts in our path.  Please join me in praying for this family and for the thousands more like them who so desperately need their physical and spiritual needs met in a mighty way.  

Sick, Sick, Sick...

We have had a lot of sickness this past week so please pray for us!  Last week, I stayed out of school with Thomas for 2 days because he had another eye infection/fever and bad cough.  He is now on the mend but we had to take Jacob to the hospital today.  He was screaming for hours, pulling at his ears and wouldn't eat or sleep.  He now has an ear infection in both ears as well as a stomach bug (he threw up all inside the car and all over the hospital room.)  Please pray along with us for strength as we fight sickness in our home.  

We love you guys and thank you for everything!

Language School

Wow, time flies!  I can't believe it has been almost 2 weeks since our last post!  We are so busy every day and by the time we sit down to write a week has gone by.  We are also trying to get used to being 2 hours behind our family and friends on the East Coast because of the time change last week.  Costa Rica does not change times so in the Spring we are 2 hours behind and in the Fall we are only 1 hour behind.  We are slowly adjusting...

Anyway, for some time now Daniel and I have really been praying about language school and staying for another trimester (3 1/2 months).  We originally had planned to be here until the end of April and then we were going to move to Jacó at that time.  As we have been in school for these last 3 months we have learned alot but still have ALOT to learn!  Most people in school are staying closer to a year (3 trimesters) so we began praying about what we should do.   We want to be as prepared as the Lord wants us to be for the ministry has called us to here in Costa Rica.  This has been a really difficult thing for us to pray about because our hearts are already in Jacó and ready to begin ministry there.  As we have been praying, the Lord has shown us very clearly through His Word, through our mentors and through His provision that He wants us to stay here until mid-August.  He has clearly shown us how sometimes the preparation for His work is more extensive than the work itself and all we desire to do is what He wants us to do.  The Lord knew that He wanted us to stay until August even before we left....He had already provided the money for another semester of school in our "extra" outgoing support and we did not know at the time what it is was for.  He has been so faithful to us as we have sought to follow Him every step of the way.  His Word says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you and watch over you." (Psalm 32:8)  Again, this has been so difficult to obey and stay another semester, but we know the Lord desires this for us.  So now we look forward to what the Lord has for us here in the next few months.  We pray for more and more opportunities to serve others in need and to love them with the love of Christ.  

We would really appreciate your prayers as we stay another trimester here at language school.  Please pray for patience--that we would not be anxious to go--but that we would take advantage of every opportunity while we are here.

Thanks to all for blessing us with your prayers, encouraging notes and emails...we love you!!!

Here are a few pictures....

Here are 2 pictures we took on the "autopista" (highway)--highway safety at it's finest...(yes, that is a baby car seat...)

Jacob decided to climb up the bars on the front window of our house...he is a wild one!!!

Everyday Life

Many things here in Costa Rica are very different and though at times we get frustrated with the way things are done, there are times when we just have to laugh.  For example, last week we decided to order a pizza and have it delivered to our house.  We found a little "hole in the wall" pizza place and they have a little man on a motorcycle who will deliver it to you so we decided to try it.  I called to place the order and they asked for my address as they would in the States.  The only (BIG) difference is that here the houses don't have numbers and the neighborhood streets don't have names so your actual address is specific directions to your house from a certain point.  We have been told by our landlord that our address is the following:

   "San Francisco de dos rios, en la Pacifica, de la farmacia San Francisco, seisientos metres este,         veinticinco norte; casa izquierda-color melón..."

(Which translates--city of San Francisco de dos rios, la Pacifica (the main road through town), from the San Francisco pharmacy, 600 meters east (each 100 meters is a block to them no matter how short or long the block is), 25 meters north, the house on the left, melon color)

As I was reading this to the guy he was understanding but then started asking me more and more questions about more specific directions.  Finally, I told him that we would be outside on the porch and when we saw a man coming by on a motorcycle carrying a pizza we would flag him down.  He was very appreciative and sure enough after 45 minutes we heard the loud motorcycle and we were able to get our pizza.  It was great pizza too---really gave Pizza Hut some big competition.  

Day after day we realize more and more---we are not in South Carolina anymore!   But we really like it here and we thank the Lord that He loves us and takes care of us daily!  We feel like the most blessed people on Earth!!!

Here are a few random pictures of the boys...