Rain, rain go away

We have had rain, hard rain, for 4 days straight. As a result, streets have been flooded, rivers have been rising and it has just been a mess. Well, we woke up this morning to more flooding than I can imagine. All of the roads are flooded. The grocery store has water almost waist deep. The rivers are all overflowing and houses that are near them are being washed away. Many houses and businesses are flooded. It is just a HORRIBLE situation. There have been 17 dead so far and hundreds displaced from homes or missing. We are just so sad for everyone and are praying about how to help. Daniel has already been out 2 times this morning checking on people we know to see how they are doing. The only thing we can do is pray that the rain subsides (the news says it will at least rain through tomorrow) and get out there and help bucket water out of these homes. It is a truly overwhelming problem--one I have never seen before in person. Please pray for the people here. It is truly a mess...

Here are a few pictures...

The center of town A river in the center of town that also runs beside the neighborhood we work in. The little bridge you see is a foot bridge.The river here has risen so high that people's homes are beginning to break off and fall into the river...terrible This road usually has a river running under it but the river is now running over it...This is another part of town near our houseThe beach is trashed and all the water is muddyThis is a river in the center of townThis is a house in INVU where we do kid's club

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

My little tae kwon do boys in action...

In the past few weeks we have had a lot of crazy things happening very close to where we live. A couple was murdered in their condo in the middle of the day a few weeks ago and the guys have never been caught. The condos are located within walking distance of our house. Then last week a friend who attends church with us was shot in the head while working. He is the director of a drug rehab facility and he was on the phone when 5 guys approached him with guns wanting to rob the facility. They shot him in the head but the bullet was not strong enough to penetrate his skull so it entered his head on one side and left a few inches away. He came to church the morning after still in shock as to what had happened and I think all of us still are in shock as to how close he came to death. We have heard of an increase in gang activity in the area and I assume it is happening all over the world. The crazy thing here is that we don't have a good police system working on our side to catch and prosecute these guys so they get braver and braver by the incidence.

The other night Daniel went out for a while and I found myself somewhat fearful for the first time in a long time. It was early evening and nothing had happened but the thoughts of these incidences played in my mind and I became fearful and even felt defenseless. The Lord spoke to my heart immediately as I began to pray and said to me "I did not give you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7 He also reminded me that "perfect love casts out fear." I felt such peace knowing that the Lord heard me and was with me in that very moment, not wanting me to fear anything. His power and His love are given to me in abundance and I need to rely on it. Along those same lines, He has also given us wisdom to make wise choices. We try to be cautious and use wisdom in all the decisions we make without living in fear or letting fear control us or our decisions. The enemy would love for us to remain in the bondage of fear, but we refuse to do so, knowing that the Lord has called us here and the safest place we can be is in the center of His will for us.

I thank you so much for praying for us on a regular basis and even ask that you would continue to pray for our safety. Crime tends to increase as December approaches so we want to be on guard at all times. Thanks for praying!!!!

Visit From My Girls...Part 2

The entire week with the girls was full of fun!! Because the eye glasses/exams were such a hit and so needed in our first two ministry locations we ended up not having enough to do this outreach in the riverbed. We did, however, go down there and pass out toothbrushes, toothpaste, and Gospels of John door to door. We offered to pray with people as we visited each home and every person we saw asked for prayer. It was such a blessed time for us to get to pray with these people in such need. One lady's mother had died 15 days before and felt like we were sent to her from God. She wept as we prayed over her. Many others had sick relatives and they, too, were brought to tears as the Holy Spirit was present during our times of prayer. It really blessed us to spend some time with the least of these.

The girls blessed Daniel and I in a HUGE way by sending us off to a hotel for a night while they kept the boys (and spoiled them!). It was so refreshing for us and we were so humbled by their generosity!!! The following are a few more pictures from our wonderful week with them...

bathing in the pool one morning because we had no water!!

A Visit from My Girls...Part One

Last week we had a WONDERFUL treat!!! Four special girls, Mary Zanca, Annalee Jewell, Ellen Lloyd and Cindy Thompson from our home in Lexington, came to work alongside us and serve with us for the week. It was the most amazing week and the way they served us selflessly all week long was more than humbling! They loved on Daniel, the boys and me minute by minute and we feel so loved, refreshed and encouraged after their visit! Besides serving us, they were trained to do eye exams by a ministry in The States and they brought over 150 pairs of eye glasses to bless the people of Jaco. We were able to minister in 2 different barrios where we are already serving and the results were AMAZING!! To witness people who had not seen clearly for years and could not afford glasses now be able to see again--WOW--it was beautiful! To watch their faces light up as they could see clearly through lenses--many were celebrating, laughing, rejoicing...it was beautiful! We were able to pray with a few of them and we passed out The Gospel of John to each patient. We also shared over and over why we were there---to show the love of Christ--to be His hands and feet not only to meet physical needs but also to meet spiritual needs as well.

Our theme verse for the week was Acts 26:17-18 "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." We pray that God continues to do this to those with whom we spent time. That He will open their spiritual eyes to His truth, love and grace.

Here are a few pictures from the eye exams...Part Two of this post to follow...

Short Visit to The States

Well, our short visit to The States was a lot of fun and extremely busy!! We were there for my sister's wedding and it was a magical experience to say the least! The wedding was at my Mom's house so we were busy all week helping them get ready for the big day. It was such a blessing to see all of our extended family and many friends that we have not seen in a long time. Daniel was one of the Pastors officiating the wedding so it was really special. We also met my niece, Anna (my sister Becca's baby), for the first time!! The boys were so happy to meet their baby cousin!!! We had the privilege of sharing at our home church for their Wednesday night service. This, too, was such a blessing and so encouraging as we visited with many of our closest friends. We got back to Jaco yesterday and we are looking forward to a group of 4 ladies (very good friends from Lexington) coming next Saturday to serve alongside us for a week. We are very excited!!!! The following are a few pictures from the wedding.

Our new baby cousin, Anna

First Youth Group

As most of you know, we have a real heart for teenagers and even served the teenagers in our church, Calvary Chapel Lexington, before moving here to Costa Rica. When praying about what the Lord would have for us here, we have continued to remain open to His leading/timing in whatever ministry He would have us take part in. We thought at some point it would be some sort of Youth Ministry since we worked with teenagers for many years in The States but again, wanted to wait on the Lord. Over the last few months our church has really been growing and with more and more families attending there are more and more teenagers coming. We have been praying about starting something for Youth in response to youth and parents asking for something more structured for them. Well, we had our first "official" Youth Group meeting this past Friday night at our home. It was soooo much fun! We ate pizza, played games and Daniel led a Bible Study. We had 4 teenagers there and it was such a blessing to see all of them open up and begin to gel so quickly. The Lord definitely answered our prayers for this night and we look forward to what the Lord has in store here. Please pray for us and for the teens in Jacó. This is an extremely difficult place for a teenager to grow up and very few positive influences exist at all. We desire to see them receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, take ownership of this faith, live it out authentically and as a result draw others to HIM. Here are a few pictures from Friday night...

Staff Retreat

Last week we had the opportunity to go on a staff retreat as a ministry team to Arenal (the Volcano). It was so much fun for all of us and a wonderful time for unity and rest among our team. The kids had a blast swimming, riding horses and running around outside freely without the constant worry of being hit by a car or strange people nearby. It was truly a joyful time and we returned refreshed and ready for all that the Lord has for us over the next few months. I am still waiting on the rest of our pictures but here are a few from the trip...