Happenings

Busy times here in Jacó-sorry we haven't blogged in a while. For those of you who have asked, Palmera is doing great! For the past month Gabe and Daniel have been walking very closely beside him for accountability and he is growing in the Lord daily. The news station from San Jose was interested in the art he creates out of palm branches so they came yesterday and did a story on him. He began telling them about how the Lord has changed his life and they were intrigued by this as well so they included it as part of the story. It will air next Monday and we are all looking forward to seeing it. Also, Palmera wants to be baptized and as soon as the hole in his leg heals, they guys will baptize him in the ocean...what a blessed time this will be! We will post pictures as soon as we have them.

Ever since The Conquerors mission team left our kids have taken on their roles. They are constantly breakdancing, tearing up books and trying to bend frying pans. It is actually really funny--the guys obviously had a great impact on my boys! The following are a few pictures of the boys showing their skills...

Lastly, please be in prayer for Jacó this week. This week is Semana Santa (Holy Week) here, but it is definitely the most unholy week of the year. People come by the tens of thousands to party, party, party---drugs, alcohol and prostitution is at it's peak this week. We are praying that the Lord will use us as we are out and about all week. We want to be available to anyone the Lord brings our way. Pray for the people here--for spiritual awakening--and for us for safety....we love you and thank you for your support!!!

Jordan's Visit

We had such a blessed week with Jordan visiting for his Spring Break from College. Hopefully he got to relax a little because I feel like he was pulled to and fro as he participated in everything we do on a weekly basis. The boys had so much fun with him and as he was leaving Jacob asked if he could go with him! It was a wonderful visit and we hope he was as blessed to be here as we were to have him. Here are a few pictures from his week here...

The pictures above show Jordan leading worship with Daniel on Sunday Morning...Jordan helping stuff bags w/ beans and rice for the beans and rice ministry we do after Kids Club on Saturday mornings....Celebrating Jordan's 22nd birthday on Wednesday while he was here...

We have a PO Box!!

Many of you have asked for our address and since we have been in Jacó we haven't been able to get a PO Box. (They only have 300 or so available for our town of 15,000 people...not sure why) Anyway, March is the official "if you don't pay your bill you lose your box" month so we were granted an official PO Box last week!! Our address is:

Daniel and Sarah Barrett

Jacó-Puntarenas 4023

PO Box 132-4023

Costa Rica

Also, Jordan Williams, a former student in our youth group at CC Lexington, is here visiting us this week for his college spring break and serving alongside us. We are having so much fun with him and will post pictures in the next few days! What a blessing to see our former students walking with the Lord and desiring to serve Him with their lives!

Un Milagro (A miracle)

We want to share with you a miracle that has happened before our very eyes. For those who doubt the power of God and His ability to perform miracles, please read further. The first week we arrived here to Jaco, we met a guy walking back from the beach named Palmera. Everyone calls him this because he makes baskets, purses, animals, etc out of palm branches and sells them in town to support his family. He offered to make our kids something. We began talking to him and realized very quickly that he was under the influence of some major demonic powers. He shared with us about his addiction to cocaine and marijuana, his addiction to cutting (he showed us the HUNDREDS of scars all over his body), and the fact that he has worshiped satan for a long time but decided it was better to begin just worshiping himself. He shared how empty he was and how much pain he was in...it was very difficult to hear and I don't know why he felt the need to begin sharing all of this with us. Well, we as a family prayed for him right there on the beach, invited him to church and committed to praying for him from then on. We later realized that everyone in town knows Palmera because he is "the guy who makes stuff" and he is constantly causing problems in the street due to his addictions. We began seeing him almost daily and developed a friendship with him---I hate to admit that Daniel had a lot more faith than I did that he would ever come to church let alone anything else because he was so far gone.

Back in November he came to church for the first time and it was a miracle. He was obviously wrestling with spiritual things inside and he paced the entire time. He then brought his kids to kid's club on Sat. morning because they live in the neighborhood we work in. We returned from Christmas in the States and saw him once before his 3 kids were removed from his home due to all that they were witnessing with him. He was totally broken. He was angry. Later that week he got in a fight with a group of security guards in town and they broke his knee with a metal pipe. He was taken to the hospital, operated on and got an infection. He ended up having to stay there about 3 weeks. We truly believe this extra time in the hospital for him was of the Lord. He asked his wife to find us and get a Bible brought to him. Daniel, Gabe and Mike decided to travel to the hospital to visit him--and what a visit it was! After talking for a while, he said he wanted to be done with the drugs, the cutting, etc. He wanted to be free of all this. Daniel asked if they could pray for him and as he began praying, Palmera began weeping uncontrollably. After praying, he said he felt his body get all warm while they were praying and he truly felt the presence of God there. They asked him if he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart and begin living for him and he said he did. He received Christ and had never felt more peace before in his life. That night in his room he had an experience where we was awakened by a demon face to face with him and he began renouncing it with the name of Jesus and has not seen one since. He is a NEW CREATION!!! It is a miracle!! A few days later the hospital had talked about amputating his leg. We were all praying and a few days later he was brought home. We have been over at his house regularly visiting with him and his wife. They have asked us to just sit and read the Bible to them and pray with them so they can hear God's word. Palmera weeps every time! While he was in the hospital, we kept in close contact with his wife who began seeking the Lord as well. She, too, is a new woman and so hungry for The Word!! To witness these transformations in progress has been nothing short of a miracle! We know Satan is not happy that he has lost one of his and is constantly attacking--he will not give up so we are really praying for Palmera and his wife, Gabriella, that they would remain steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord....that they would rest in His love and peace--for it is there that we find safety (Ps. 4:8). Please pray for them with us---they are in a WAR and praise God He is getting the victory! Here are a few pictures of Palmera...

Baptism and School Supply Drive

Lots and lots of amazing things going on here in Jacó! We have been so busy that I am trying to catch up with blogging...

We had a another baptism/dinner celebration at our home and what a blessing it was! Alejandro, Jorge, Alondra and Julissa were baptised. Alejandro came to us off the streets in May desperate for a change. We helped get him into "Casa de Amor"--a Christian drug rehab/discipleship program run by Calvary Chapel Quepos (45 minutes from us)--and he has been there 9 months. He is doing great and is walking with the Lord while transitioning back into society. He came to visit 2 weeks ago and was baptized. It was so special! Jorge gave his life to Jesus when one of our mission teams was here evangelizing in the streets. He returned to Nicaragua shortly after that but returned here to Jacó and has been growing in the Lord and working here. Alondra and Julissa are 2 girls that attend our Kid's Club we do on Saturday. They accepted Christ and wanted to be obedient through baptism so they were also baptized. It was a wonderful evening of food, fellowship and celebration of new lives in Christ!

Another thing we have been working on is collecting school supplies to provide to the children in INVU, the neighborhood we work in. The kids returned to school last week from their summer vacation. (The school year here is opposite of that in The States because during June, July, and August the rainy season is beginning--this is their winter) Anyway, many of the kids in this neighborhood won't go to school unless they have the necessary supplies and many start 2 or 3 weeks late waiting to get them. The public schooling system here is really sad in many ways and many children drop out of school while still very young. We were able to give each of the kids we work with most of what was on their "School Supply Needs List" and we delivered them on Monday night. It was such a blessing to go house to house blessing these families and making sure they know this is all a gift from the Lord. The kids were super excited and just being there reminded me more and more of why the Lord has us here! It was beautiful!

The Conquerors Strength Team

Many of you know we had the privilege of hosting The Conquerors Strength Team this last week here in Jacó. The Conquerors are a group from Michigan who travel all over the world doing amazing feats of strength and then sharing the gospel. We did a few events at the local schools and then "ambushed" the neighborhoods one by one with the Gospel using The Conquerors' feats of strength as a great "attention grabber" (to get people out of their houses). The week was a great success and we really appreciate all of your prayers! Many prayed to receive Christ as their Savior and many asked for prayer for sickness of a child or loved one. We then passed out The Book of Hope (Libro de Vida--in spanish) which is a book of relevant topics applicable to different ages and what the Bible has to say about each topic. We also passed out information on the church throughout each neighborhood with the goal of plugging these new believers into a church. We had a lot of fun ministering alongside this amazing team of men who desire nothing more than to see every soul in Jacó sold out for Jesus!! It was wonderful! We are, of course, very tired from the week. Jacob was sick all week with what we think was a parasite. After medication he seems to be doing much better. Again, thanks to all of you who were praying specifically for this event...it was a success!! Here are some pictures from the week...

Back in the Groove

Well, we have been back in Jacó for 2 weeks and we are very settled. In some ways it feels like we never left because we just picked right back up where we left off and the kids have done such a great job adjusting to being all over the place! Daniel jumped right back in to leading worship on Sundays and teaching a CORE group bible study in our home on Thursdays. We are currently studying through the book of Galatians and it has been great! We have also been busy getting ready to host The Conquerors strong man team next week. They will be here all next week doing "ambushes" in the neighborhoods and local schools doing demonstrations of strength--from folding frying pans to breaking bricks--they do it all and definitely draw a crowd. We had them here last year and their ministry was really effective. At the end of the "show", they share testimonies and present the Gospel. Then we as churches pray with individuals and are able to follow up with them at a later time. We are looking forward to them being here and we will definitely post pictures after next week.

Please pray for us as we are praying about starting free English classes soon. We are working on the details and this could be a great ministry opportunity for us in the community. There are so many people here who want to learn English so we are really excited and want to bless them. Just pray that all of the logistics come together and, above all else, God is glorified in all that we do!

Below are a few pictures of our time in the States....what a blessing it was to be with family and friends...

My mom reading with the boys With their buddies, Bo and Roma Dad's 60th birthday party Daniel's parents with all the cousins Sledding in Chattanooga Dad and Jan with the grands...