Happy Thanksgiving!!

The boys and I have had fun celebrating Thanksgiving this month by making crafts and talking daily about what we are thankful for. Costa Rica doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving so we have been really intentional about teaching Thomas about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate. We have had so much fun!! We even had a couple come from The States and brought us candy corns so we could make turkey treats--so fun!! Here are a few pictures of our activities...

The boys goofing around...

Our special turkey cookies

My beautiful friend!

Psalm 45:11 "The King is enthralled by Your beauty; honor Him, for He is Your Lord." This verse came to mind when sitting in the dentist's office yesterday with Zeneyda as she received her long-awaited new teeth. You see, Zeneyda, who helps us a few days a week at the house, is a 28 year old Nicaraguan girl who has come here in search for work to send back to her mother who is raising her 3 children. We met her through a good friend and the Lord opened doors for her to begin helping us out about 6 months ago or more. She has been a real blessing to our family and she is just so beautiful inside and out. Her mother is a Christian and she walked with the Lord as a young person but has since strayed for one reason or another. When she was helping us one day she was complaining about pain in her teeth. Her jaw and right side of her mouth were inflamed and she was suffering from regular headaches. We began talking and she explained to me how her teeth have been rotten for many years due to malnutrition as a child and have caused her much illness. It was so hard for me to imagine how much she has suffered for so long for something that is so rare in The States. Daniel and I began praying about how to help her and decided to first take her to a dentist. He proceeded to tell her that she needed all of her teeth pulled but 3 and that he would replace them with dentures. She was too young to keep the rotten teeth because she would continue to suffer and it would increase in time. The Lord really impressed upon our hearts to help her in whatever way we could and over a two month period the Lord provided the money THROUGH ALL OF OUR FAITHFUL SUPPORTERS to pay for her to have all of the necessary work done. She was without teeth for a month and it has been an emotional ride for her but I can't even begin to describe the joy in her eyes first when we told her the Lord wants us to help and second when she smiled for the first time with her new teeth. I even think the dentist was a little teary as were the 2 nurses helping us. It has been such a wonderful testimony of God's faithfulness and provision and we are really praying and have already seen the fruit of God using us to help her out. We are praying that she will fall in love with her Savior as she was before and that she would give Him all the glory for what He has done. We KNOW that the Lord has used us as a tool to reach her and we are so humbled and grateful that He would allow us the privilege of being a part of His work here. The following are a before and after picture. I have to say the pictures don't fully do justice to the beautiful girl that Zeneyda is...we are so excited for her!!!! THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SUPPORT US IN MAKING THIS POSSIBLE!!!

before

after

Feeding for Flood Victims

Well, we had a busy weekend feeding those who were displaced by the flooding. Thomas's school was turned into a shelter for families whose homes were wiped out by the flood waters. We fed them breakfast a couple of mornings and did a movie night on Friday night where we showed Toy Story 2 in Spanish. It was a lot of fun and they were really appreciative. Many of them were at the shelter and only had the clothes on their backs. The river had washed most of their stuff away and looters had even invaded the neighborhood on Saturday night so there was more stuff taken from the area. One lady in particular had a 2 year oldboy and shehad only 1 shirt for him and no shoes. She was asking if I had any extra boys clothes for her son. About2 months ago I cleaned out Thomas and Jacob's drawers and had a garbage bag full of clothes and shoes to give away. I remember praying that the Lord would show me who to give these to in the right time. Well, I knew after talking to her that this bag was for her. So, on Saturday I took the bag up there to her and she was more than thankful! I was so humbled that the Lord used me to meet a need she had. He is so faithful!! The following are a few pictures from the shelter and the feedings we were doing...

(Update---the rain has stopped and the water is receding...there is a lot of mess to clean up and it will take a long time but thank you Jesus the rain has stopped!!! The families from the shelter were able to return to their homes today (Sunday))Our local grocery store inside and out

3 week old twins asleep at the shelter

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...