Dia de Independencia (Independence Day) Costa Rica

Yesterday, September 15, was Costa Rica's Independence Day. This is a huge day of celebration here just as the 4th of July is in the States. There are usually big parades and everyone dresses up in the traditional campesino clothing. Because of the big swine flu scare this year, the big parades were cancelled and the local school here in Jaco had a "mini" parade. We dressed the boys up in their campesino outfits that Concepcion made them and with our teammates we went and experienced the festivities. Here are a few pictures from the day.

First flood of the rainy season

As most of you know, it is rainy season here in Costa Rica. In Jacó, that means most days it is dry in the morning and it rains mid-afternoon/evening. We are told that it should rain nonstop in October and into November so we are bracing ourselves for the flooding that will occur here. Well, on Friday night we got our first taste of the "flood" waters. It rained for many hours--we have never in our lives seen this much rain--and as a result, our pipes that drain water from the back yard to the front street were clogged so water was coming into our house from many locations. Our bathroom pipes overflowed to our bathroom and it was flooded. A side door in the house doesn't close all the way so water was pouring in there. And our kitchen had the most water--more than 4 inches and Daniel and a friend spent hours filling buckets and pouring them into the sink. It was a crazy night!!!! When it began dying down I had to run out and pick something up for a friend and passed many houses that were half way under water---it broke my heart and the Lord quickly convicted me of my complaining--so many have it so much worse than we do. Many people were in waist deep water. It was unbelievable. We immediately began praying for these families that live in the lower lying areas. As rainy season continues, they are really going to suffer. Please join us in praying for these people and if the Lord would have us try and help in any way. Here are a few pictures from our fun-filled Friday night! (One is of the rain at our front gate)

Happenings

We continue to get settled here in Jacó and there is never a dull moment. We have officially moved out of the church building we were renting and are now meeting Sunday mornings on an open air soccer field. It is a great facility and definitely much cheaper. For many reasons, it is obvious that the Lord has lead us here for now.

Soccer field where we hold our church services

Club de Niños is going great! We had about 40 kids on Saturday and it was wonderful to get to know even more of them by just spending a few hours with them on a Saturday morning. The boys are slowly making friends, though Thomas is having a hard time adjusting at times to all of the new kids that are demanding our attention--and of course none of them speak English so it is even more intimidating to him.

The Lord has brought a new friend into our lives named Veronica. We met her about 6 months ago when we were visiting Jacó while we were still in language school. She is now a new believer--has come out of a life of heavy drugs, prostitution, etc and is now really getting on fire for the Lord. It is such a blessing to chat with her about the changes the Lord is making in her life. From her former friends, to her clothing, to the music she likes, not to mention all of the other MAJOR changes He has done is her life--Christ is so evident in her life now and she truly is a new creation in Him! She seems so at peace, so free! She and her little girl stayed with us last weekend and we had a wonderful time together! She taught me how to make "gallo pinto"--the famous beans and rice dish in Costa Rica. We listened to music, shared scripture and really got to know each other. It was a great time! She continues to feel the pull of the enemy in her life through different situations so please join with us in praying for Veronica...she is one amazing girl!!! The following are a few pictures of us cooking...Veronica and her daughter

On a side note, here is our latest visitor...our little iguana friend visits us daily in our back yard. The boys LOVE him and are always wondering where he is and when he is coming back.

Jacob pointing at Mr. Iguana

As always, thanks for praying for us. Please continue to pray for Jacó--it is a dark place with evil everywhere. We continue to pray for divine appointments and the Lord is definitely answering our prayers!! We love you all!

Dios es Todopoderoso (God is All-Powerful)

As you all know, we have been so blessed already to be able to jump right into ministry here in Jacó. Alot of this ministry has been meeting and helping people one on one. Daniel has been leading worship at the church and just last week had Patrick, a guy from Italy who has lived here in Jacó for many years, lead with him on Sunday morning. It was truly a joyful noise and such a blessing that Patrick was able to serve in our church by helping to lead worship. In addition, 2 days ago we met Miguel who is from Nicaragua and who has been in Jacó for the past few days looking for our church, Calvary Chapel. He was told by another pastor that we would help him if he found us. (He primarily came here looking for work.) In the meantime, he needed food, clothing, shelter, etc. It has been such a blessing to join with our teammates Mike and Revae to be able to provide for this guy's needs. He is a great guy with a truly humble heart! Last night, God blessed him with a job at a local hotel and he wore Daniel's clothes to training day today--it was great! He has also been Daniel's personal tutor for the past 2 days as he has spent his days here with us. Anyway, tonight Patrick came over to practice worship for Sunday and Miguel had been at our house all afternoon and evening. The three guys were in the kitchen after dinner playing and singing to the Lord at the top of their lungs "Eres Todopoderoso, eres grande y majestoso. Eres fuerte, invencible, y no hay nadie como tu" (You are All-Powerful, you are great and majestic. You are strong and invincible. There is no one like You.) I was in the den just worshiping myself and thanking God for His power and might and strength in my life. Then I began thinking about the three guys all worshiping together in my kitchen--3 different countries represented--all loving the Lord--all singing in the local language--and what a joyful noise it was! We are all the body of Christ and the way that God unites us in His love no matter where we are in the world is so beautiful! I am so thankful that the Lord has chosen us lowly creatures to love on the people here in Jacó. We are so humbled to be a part of what God is doing here. "Not our will, but thine be done, O Lord."

Patrick (left), Daniel and Miguel (Right)

Finally getting settled!

Sorry we haven't blogged all week but to say we have been busy is an understatement !  We moved last Saturday and were back and forth between here and San Jose in order to get our cedulas (Costa Rica id cards) made at immigration since we are now residents.  We have jumped right in to ministry here as well.  Our church, Capilla Calvario Jacó, is moving out of the store front building because the rent is outrageously high so we are helping organize and clean in order to be out of the building by the end of the month.  We are now meeting in an open air (but covered) soccer field.  It is a great facility and definitely a lot cheaper.  The Lord has really been leading us to free up this money that has been used to pay the rent and use it to invest in ministry in the community. We are all praying about where the Lord would have us focus more of our time and resources and even this week He has already begun bringing people into our lives to love on.  

Daniel and I decided to make banana bread for all of our neighbors as a way to "break the ice" and introduce ourselves.  As a family, we went around yesterday and today to eight different houses and talked with each person/persons and it was such a blessing for us!  Every person was so receptive and Thomas and Jacob even met some new friends as well.  We know that the Lord is going to use us to minister to our neighbors as well so we are really excited about the opportunity we had today to chat with all of them!   

Yesterday, we helped with kid's club.  Every Saturday morning we do "Club de Niños" in a local park in one of the poorer neighborhoods in town.  It was such a blessing to be a part of ministering to these sweet children.  Revae (Mike's wife) does a Bible story with them and a craft.  We also have snacks and play time.  At the end, each kid gets a bag of beans and rice to take home with them.  It was a lot of fun and I definitely look forward to getting more involved with this each week.  The following are a few pictures from Club de Niños. 

Thanks to all of you for praying for us as we have been getting settled.  We have a little ways to go but we really feel at home here and at peace knowing this is where the Lord has our family for now.  

  

Off to Jacó we go!

As a lot of you know, we are moving to Jacó on Saturday.  Tomorrow is our graduation from language school and then we are packing up and moving on Saturday.  It is so hard to believe that 8 months has already gone by since we have been in country yet it seems as if we have been here forever as well.  Please pray for us as we adjust, yet again, to another city, house, ministry, etc.  Please pray for the kids as they adjust to new surroundings and a new routine which will probably be far from any organized routine for a long while.  We are sad to leave wonderful friends here, but we are so burdened for the people in Jacó that God has called us to reach with His message of hope and love---we know for certain it is our time to go.  Thanks in advance for all of your prayers---we love you and will update you on everything soon!  (We go to the doctor tomorrow about Jacob's ear so please pray for healing there as well!)

Just tell 'em Jesus loves 'em

When were leaving Jacó last week to return to San Jose we decided to take some food we had left over to a few of the people who live on the street in town.  We pulled over and there were the same few people in the same spot as they always are.  One man in particular that we have had a chance to talk to before was there and he was the only one awake at the moment so we decided to give him the food.  In addition to the food, we have Bible tracts (comic book stories that tell the Gospel) in Spanish that we hand out to people on a weekly basis so we decided to give him one of the books as well.  As we approached him he greeted us and we began to tell him how much Jesus loves him and wants to know him, etc.  It was as if we could see straight into his soul as we looked past the dirt and filth that covered his body and clothing.  He lit up as we shared with him what the Bible tract was.  We also told him that we brought him some food.  To our utter amazement, as we handed him the tract and the food together he put the food aside and opened the Bible tract...it was such a moment for us.  The Lord spoke to us so clearly through this reminding us that, yes, these people are physically hungry but they have a much, much greater need to be filled.  They are so spiritually hungry and the Lord has called us to feed them with His love and the hope of a life with Him.  Our Lord is so amazing and is daily teaching us something new/growing us in ways that we can't even imagine or predict!  We are all called to "feed" those around us spiritually and to share our faith on a consistent basis--even if it is just giving someone hope by telling them that Jesus loves them.   Philemon v6-7 say "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.  Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints."  May we all be an encouragement and a refreshment of God's love to those around us!

Here is a picture of our friend