More of You, Less of me - John 3:30, "He must become greater; I must become less".

"Baby Towle"

2009-11-11T11:41:00.002-05:00

We made it safely to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua yesterday afternoon for our 72 hour visit to renew our VISA'S. Last night we got an urgent email from Brad & Danielle to get on the computer on Facebook chat as a family. We did so as soon as we got the message to have these words cross the screen, "we are expecting a baby"! So, as you can imagine we are excited, but feeling a little "old" knowing that we are going to be Grandparents!

We ask that you please pray for our little grandbaby as he/she develops. Pray for Danielle's health. All I can say is, it wasn't an easy road for me, gaining only 6 lbs. the entire 9 months from being so sick, and she weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. I pray that she will have a much easier road!

We "SURVIVED"

2009-11-05T08:10:00.003-05:00

We're feeling a little like "Rocky" this week! We've survived the year-long process of red tape, waiting, changing of appointments, surgical recommendations (jaw realignments....ummm, gracias, but "No"), teeth pulling, molding to get to this picture of Heather with braces on her teeth! Kind of makes you want to run up some steps and throw your hands up in the air in true Rocky-style, but all I have around me are highly elevated mountains and while I should for health reasons, it's already raining here. I was really beginning to wonder if this day would ever happen!

On behalf of Heather, Ken & I; thank you to an anonymous donor who 11 months ago sent money to Global Outreach Mission, not because we asked, but out of love for Heather that she might have her teeth straightened. They are about half the price here as in the States. We are very excited and thankful for this dental work and for your sacrifical giving! I never thought I would witness the day when a teenager would be so happy to have this much work done on their teeth, but she truly is. We can't wait to see the end result of an already beautiful smile made even more confident! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for blessing us in this way!

The height of rainy season

2009-11-03T14:48:00.002-05:00

We have internet back up and running! Right now, there is thunder rolling in over the moutains and 1:48 p.m. in the afternoon is moving toward looking like 8 p.m. at night as the skies are beginning to darken. I am not sure how long the internet will continue to operate. This is the height of the rainy season, so we frequently have internet and electricity that comes and goes which always makes life exciting. Just want everyone to know that we are doing well and we are busy. Right now, I think I need to dig up some spare candles just "in case"! Try to update tomorrow in the morning with better "details". And, another missionary friend from a nearby town just called and said on the afternoon news just a few minutes ago, our town is expected to have very severe weather this afternoon and evening. Off the internet I go!

Homeless ministry - Part II

2009-10-26T15:33:00.007-05:00

We had an awesome, busy, transforming weekend here at the camp. Thank you so much for those who got emails; churches, family members and friends, who lifted up our ministry this weekend in your prayers! I know that some of the people who you will see in the pictures below made life-changing decisions toward continued rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol, and many more made decisions toward God!

72 people came to the camp from the homeless shelter, men and women both. We were asked to help as much as possible this weekend with the homeless in that while all are in rehabilitiation, some are working their programs better than others and might need continued encouragement to sit in on the meetings instead of choosing to not be a part. There were some who had only been clean for days to even a few weeks and were still going through the difficult task of detoxification. We were even told that some might be a bit of trouble and to watch carefully over particular people. God answered the prayers of many in that there were no difficult situations the entire weekend from Friday through Sunday with any individuals from this group! In fact, they all seemed very content to be at the camp, enjoy its surroundings and to be able to have meetings to sit in on! Our location here at the camp is a lot different than their lives on the streets of San Jose and at one point, I teared up as I saw many of them picking up the fruit that we have here at the camp right off the ground and enjoying the simplicity of oranges, limes, guava, and grapefruit. As I walked by one gentleman sitting at a picnic table peeling an orange I overheard him say in spanish repeatedly, "Gracias Dios", as he carefully peeled back the rind and observed the intricacies of the orange, and then began to savor the first bite!

This weekend we heard so many stories, each unique, all were difficult and heartbreaking. Some were of loss of family due to drugs, possessions like houses, eating from trash cans in the city, spending days in drug and alcohol "binges" on the streets of San Jose and then having no place to go.

Below is a picture of Jason during one of the services that the group held with their Pastor who came with them. He is praying for continued change in his life with the Lord's help. He has been drug-free for a couple of months, but it is not an easy road for him. There are many who are attempting to lure him back on to the streets so that they can buy drugs from him. Jason would ask that YOU would continue to pray for him!

This is a picture of some of the group during one of their services.

This is our church here on Sunday morning combined with the homeless shelter worshipping together. Ken and I were touched when at the end of the service, our church family reached out to each of the homeless shelter members with a small gift from the church. They did this, not at our suggestion, but on their own and then the shelter members reciprocated with a small gift back to the church! Very moving!

From left to right: Edwardo, one of the leaders at the homeless shelter, one of the members of the homeless shelter sharing his testimony with the church, Luis Diego, another leader at the homeless shelter and their Pastoral counsel and Jeffrey, the Youth Pastor of our church.

Please continue to pray for us as we continue to partner with this homeless shelter.

Homeless shelter ministry - Part I

2009-10-26T11:46:00.002-05:00

Please return later today for some great pictures of the homeless shelter ministry at the campground!

Gracias,
Sherri

"Oh, Those Golden Grahams"

2009-10-21T10:29:00.003-05:00

Yes, I ate the bowl of cereal pictured here! It has been 19 months since I have had a bowl of Golden Grahams; one of my absolute favorite cereals! Finally and a very rare find, a sale on this cereal here in Costa Rica at a mere $2 a box...we bought 2 boxes! You literally feel like you won the "lottery" when you find something like this. Look at me! I'm so excited I am blogging about it! Normally, this cereal is a little over $7 here a box. $7 and given that we live on the sacrificial giving of other people just ain't happening in this household!

God has stretched us a lot in the area of contentment while we have been on the mission field. We were simple people back home. We are even simpler now. I am thankful for the things that we have had to go without because of importation. I am also thankful for how we are learning to "find" replacements for what we are so used to having available to us. Having to learn to go without can be a good thing! It makes you appreciate all that you previously had.

Our passion and a prayer request

2009-10-20T11:01:00.002-05:00

We are so excited about this weekend's rental group we can hardly contain ourselves! We have been praying for a long time it seems like, that this day would come to fruition and it will begin on Friday morning! Over a year ago, our team on behalf of Global Outreach Mission was able to form a partnership with a homeless shelter here in the Red Zone of San Jose. I have previous posts about this partnership on this blog. The homeless shelter consists of residents who are in the rehabilitation process from drug and alcohol abuse. We have taken numerous teams, short-term mission teams, from the States as well as numerous interns along with us to serve in this homeless shelter. My older sister had the opportunity to share her testimony there when she was here with her short-term team. It's a special place with residents who are really no different than ourselves if you think about it. Haven't we all gone down a wrong path at one time in our lives? Haven't we all at one point sat down and asked, "how in the world did I get here"? And haven't we all been looking for someone who could pull us out of the pit? This weekend the homeless shelter will be here at the camp! The harvest field is ripe. Our passion is that they would find Jesus! Pray for the camp ministry this weekend. Pray for the men who are coming this weekend (the homeless shelter does house women, but this is a "men-only" retreat). Originally, we were told 40 would come and we are now up to 60, but we have heard more maybe coming...Praise the Lord! Pray for the church services on Sunday morning at the camp that the men will be sitting in on. Pray for the church congregation that they would be compassionate and welcoming! Please, just pray!

The phone call

2009-10-18T12:32:00.002-05:00

We just got the phone call about a half hour ago that Floria's mother has just passed away in the home. Please pray for us today as we try and minister to this entire family. We will go to the house after our church service to give the family more time to gather. The body will be in the home for viewing which is the custom here. Family and close friends will be expected to visit all day and stay with the family all night. Typically, it is customary for the family to stay awake all night together as part of the grieving process. They sit in the home with the body and visit with those who come to mourn with them, drinking coffee. Usually the gifts that you do bring are coffee or food when you visit the family. The burial will be tomorrow and you follow the body through town, walking behind the family, to its final resting place. This hits just a little "too close" to home right now for our family with the passing of my Mom, so please pray for the strength that we need to minister today. We can only do this with Him and through Him. Lord, we NEED YOU!

You pick apples, we pick...

2009-10-16T11:40:00.003-05:00

Coffee! It's that time of year! While we read Facebook entries about you picking apples, here it is harvest time for the coffee beans! I had Kyle take this picture across the road from the entrance to the camp. The coffee beans are called "cherries" and the red ones are now ready to be picked. As you can see there are still many cherries which are green. Picking coffee beans will last through January and IF the weather cooperates in that the harvest is good, picking can last as late as February. Picking here in our area is still done by hand; almost exactly the same way apples were picked while I was growing up as a child. Right now there are many new people walking the streets in our area, immigrant workers who reside in the area only during harvesting time. The air here in Orosi often times smells of a pungent, bitter odor; okay to be totally honest, everyone in our family says, "it stinks like cow poop"! Thankfully, there is no coffee processing plant on this side of the river. The smell comes from the plants drying out the coffee beans. Honestly, I drink coffee and if I had to smell that in my neighborhood all day I wouldn't be drinking any longer! What does a person earn for picking coffee? 800 colones for what amounts to about a gallon container OR in American $1.50 for the container. That's a lot of picking and a lot of teeny-tiny coffee beans! In Costa Rica, every single coffee plantation grows the same exact plant or type of coffee bean. It is the law! Seems to make things pretty fair. Hope this post makes your cup of Joe today even more enjoyable :)

Pray for Floria

2009-10-13T00:31:00.003-05:00

When I returned home from my Mom's memorial service in August; on my first Sunday back, a woman at the church greeted me in tears. Her name is Floria and she told me that her mother was declining and was not expected to live long. With the help of Heather, she wanted to express to me her deep condolences on the passing of my mother. I expressed to her that my mother was not suffering any longer and that she was a Christian, and that her passing was better for her. With tears in her eyes she said, "when my mother passes, I want you to be with me".

Tonight, our Pastor called our home and told Kyle to tell us that Floria's mother was passing away and we were to go to the house up in Orosi. We quickly changed our clothes and picked up the Pastor and his wife along the way and went to Floria's home. Ken and I asked the Pastor and his wife to go into the bedroom before us and after a few minutes we were asked to join them there with Floria and her mother who was in bed. Her mother was very fraile and Floria looked exhausted. We prayed together with Floria and her mother, but it was hard for me to hold back tears as I held Floria's hand knowing that so many had just walked this road with me only two and a half months ago. Floria began to cry as I held her hand and I hugged her close.

We spent just a little bit more time in the house visiting and when we left Floria and I hugged each other tightly. I reminded her in Spanish that God is strong and that He would be her strength and comfort during this difficult time. She agreed as tears both streamed down our cheeks. I told her that I loved her and that fewer words were better than many!

Times like these are difficult in ministry with language barriers, but one thing that I do know is that Floria knows and understands that we love and care for her. That is the same in every language. May God use my mother's passing in a powerful way as we try and minister to this family through these difficult hours as Floria's mother's life comes to a close. To our God be the Glory!

Team and Camp Preparations.

2009-10-10T10:38:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy week with two days of it being spent out of the house in meetings with Pastors at churches as we are in full gear preparing the logistics for the January construction, medical and children's ministry teams. David and Katherine spoke to each group of Pastors about the medical aspect of the clinic and its set-up, while Ken spoke about construction, what the camp ministry is and thanking the Pastors for their willingness to host our team on behalf of Global Outreach Mission. I spoke on the children's ministry and what we hoped to accomplish through that ministry during the clinic. We then had a staff meeting putting together the tentative schedule and logistics for the two-week team. In addition, as more information filters to us, we are working on the December team's schedule as well, transportation needs, etc. Today, we have a smaller group at the camp, only 15 persons, who arrived this morning at 8 a.m. and will be spending the night. It is a Youth Group, so that is always fun to see and hear as they do ministry. Katherine and I spent another day this week cleaning at the camp in preparation for this group. Needless to say, today as soon as I finish this post, I will be working here in our home getting laundry caught up and our house tidied from another "drop and go" week. There has been a more steady progression of rain in Orosi the last couple of days with it raining more in the afternoon and evenings which makes for excellent sleeping weather. The rain keeps all the dogs and animals quieter at night. As I said before, it seems that this rainy season has been much drier than last year's here and this month is actually supposedly the height of the rainy season. Last night, we got a phone call with an invitation to come over to our missionary friend's home for dinner. They had just returned home from a three-day mini vacation. We thought that it might minister to them to get away and Heather and I offered to watch their children in their home to let them have some time away. I wanted to stay in the home with Heather who is their regular babysitter and called her every day at least twice to check in, but she didn't want her Mama hanging out with her in the house. Needless to say, they were very appreciative and invited us for pizza! We had a good time of fellowship with our families together. Well, I suppose I should get some chores done around the house and think about what we might have dinner as Heather has invited a guest for supper before the Youth Group meeting tonight! Just wanted to let everyone know...we're still kicking!

Please...forgive me?

2009-10-06T00:25:00.004-05:00

One of the hardest parts of Friday night's robbery for me was the fact that the 30 year old man ratted on one of the youth that was involved in the robbery. He was then set free for giving information. It wasn't that he ratted on someone, as much as who he said it was. When Ken told me the name of the youth, my heart sank and I cried in our home. We know of this youth very well. In fact, we often pass him on the road to the camp and are greeted with warm words, the usual hug and a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't any different on Friday afternoon when Katherine and I were leaving the camp. The youth walked up on us, greeted us both and gave us each a kiss on the cheek. But, Friday night he then robbed the camp. He comes from a family with a very long history of difficulties; stealing, drugs, prostitution, alcohol abuse. We came to Costa Rica with no judgment upon this family, but knowing what may lie ahead for us with working at the camp from the previous administrators. Over the past year and a half even with language barriers we have tried to extend the love of Jesus to this family giving them the benefit of the doubt. We have loaned out ladders, tools, soccer balls and have received them back from the father and his boys. Despite suggestions from others, we have invited this family into the camp and to church to receive ministry. In some small way, it might have seemed that we even earned the "trust" of the family. I have to say, it hurt on Friday night to receive word that one of the boys was involved. Tonight, that boy came to our home with the Youth Pastor requesting that he be allowed to talk to Ken and I. We allowed him in our home and I sat next to him on the couch. Before my eyes, I saw a broken youngster, crying, shaking, admitting that he had been in the camp, that what we heard was true, it was him, and asking for forgiveness. I didn't expect that tonight. We spoke with him for a few minutes and then I asked him if I could pray with him. I have always believed that there was something good in this kid. I still believe that tonight and I told him so! God has a plan and a purpose for his life, but he has choices to make. He has attended church and Youth Group long enough to know the ways of the Lord. Only God can do a miracle in his life. He is still working in our lives too. Molding us to see people as only He does and asking us to love in ways that only He can! I am only capable of forgiving him because of what the Lord has done in and for me.

Eph. 4:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you".

Cops & Robbers, Fruit & Fun, and Prayer Requests

2009-10-04T23:40:00.014-05:00

On Friday morning, David & Katherine with some help from Alianna, Ken & I picked fruit at the campground for a trip that we were taking today to do some logistical work. Pictured here are oranges, lemons, limes, guava and grapefruit loaded into the back of our van. We had a good time talking and laughing together! I wish I had my camera with me to snap a picture at the camp of Ken pushing Alianna around in the wheelbarrel full of fruit...so cute!

This morning we traveled about three hours away from the campground to the Caribbean, near Guapiles, to visit churches in more remote areas. This is the area that we will be bringing a short-term missions team to in January to minister through medical clinics, construction projects and children's ministry and training. In this picture is Pastor Jose, a Global Outreach missionary who introduced us to these churches and their Pastors; Ken and Katherine, who are discussing the logistics for this upcoming team.

Here's a picture of Ken & Katherine distributing the fruit that we had picked and brought with us on this trip to the Pastor's wives and families. We hope that this will bless them in some small way.

While it was much hotter and more humid than we are used too here on the Caribbean side of the country; it also seemed that everything grew bigger and prettier. I saw these hot pink flowers along the road and couldn't resist taking a picture. So vibrant and dainty.

On Friday evening, we had a rental group of ladies at the camp. After we finished picking fruit, we worked together to clean the kitchen, the bathrooms and cabins in preparation for this group. They arrived a bit later than we had expected them on Friday evening. Running behind schedule, they stored their baggage outside the Celebration Center and immediately began their evening service. Much to our frustration, three to four young men entered the campground and stole one of the ladies pieces of luggage. We are grateful for the quick response of the area police who were able to capture two of the men; one who was released (the laws are very lax here) and one who was taken into custody for possessing stolen items that were identified by one of the ladies as hers. Most of all, we are very grateful that no one was hurt!

How you can pray:

1. Pray for the upcoming teams coming to the campground to do ministry in December and January.

2. Continue to pray for our neighborhood which is experiencing more thefts and crime, and for the added police who have been called in to patrol our area.

Discouragement

2009-10-01T00:38:00.006-05:00

This week in my personal devotions and prayer time I have been in II Cor. chapter 4. Right off the bat in vs. 1 the smack-down begins with this verse "Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart"! Sheesh God, why not shout a little louder at me?

I rarely write about discouragement on this blog. Is it because I don't feel it? No! Mainly, it's because I want people to be encouraged, blessed, give people a window into missionary life in what I write. I don't want to have to change the name of the blog to something along the lines of "Doom and Gloom". And then God divinely began to place questions on my mind - So, you're writing about missionary lifestyle, yet you give people the false perception that you never get discouraged? You want to encourage and bless in your writing, but what if you asked for prayer during your discouragement, could not allowing someone to pray for you bless or encourage them when they see prayers answered?

So, here's a little window into my world as of late. I am discouraged. Um, maybe I should have written that in bold type because that would be more accurate! I mean, I am REALLY DISCOURAGED with language study! I've been taking lessons for a year and a half now, three days a week, an hour each day. Somewhere in my head, my brain, it doesn't seem to be clicking to me. English is such a formal language and Spanish is so informal. For example, we would say, "The blue car", here, they say, "the car blue". I plain have trouble with what feels like I am speaking backwards. Not to mention what seems like an unending list of conjugation rules!

Today, I wasn't even ten minutes into my Spanish lesson and started to cry. While my Spanish teacher was a comfort and encouragement to me I just wanted to share what it feels like on a very real, day to day basis not to be fluent in this language and be involved in ministry.

First, I feel like an 18-month-old in a 46-year-old's body; learning new words, having to repeat them or have them repeated to me so I say them correctly and can make the "connection" between object/meaning and word. Second, when an 18-month-old speaks to you, do you usually get what they are saying? I don't, so, I smile and look at the parent and ask for an interpretation. The only problem is, this 18-month-old has her 16-year-old or 14-year-old interpret for her! That's embarrassing and in some odd way feels like a sick role reversal. Therefore, I really don't have any independence to invite people or a friend over for coffee, or a dessert with conversation without my children nearby. This coming from a person who is very relational is difficult. I guess that is the most discouraging for me!

Well, anyways, I am putting this post up and I'm going to ask boldly, "would you please pray for me" regarding language study? I trust that since God has given us this ministry, certainly not because He needed us, but through Him, he is allowing us, that the light bulb is going to go on someday soon and I should just keep plugging along and not lose heart. Knowing that people are supporting me in prayer would be such an encouragement! Thank you so much!

"Okay God, I did it. Can I please go to bed now"? :)

The Volcano and its possible ? eruption

2009-09-30T13:42:00.003-05:00

Not much more to report about the volcano down here. We don't have T.V. in our home. We usually have someone who calls us with any "breaking news" as they did the other day about the possible eruption of the volcano. I've asked our Spanish teacher who does have T.V. what she has heard over the last couple of days, but she hasn't been available to watch the news. She did inform us that Saturday it was clearer and she saw it spewing a huge cloud of smoke! Perhaps, that is why it was reported on the news that it would be blowing up soon, not sure. So, usually in these parts "word travels fast". I walked to the end of our road to see if I could get a glimpse of the volcano, but again, too much cloud cover. In just a little bit we are planning to head into town, so maybe we can see it if the clouds give us a little opening. I guess this is what it would feel like to be a tornado catcher! Trying to have a volcano sighting in this area with the elevation and clouds is at least very entertaining!

It's a pork fat morning!

2009-09-29T10:56:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I finally broke down and bought a package of bacon. We haven't had any in over six months. It costs about $6 in US dollars for a one pound package here and closer to $7 if you want "fancy" bacon such as sodium-free, hickory smoked, etc. Last night we had eggs and bacon for dinner as soon as we got home from the store. This morning, we just finished a family breakfast of the same. We have just enough left to put in the freezer for another family breakfast some time in the future. We denied ourselves as long as we could due to the expense and we are used to that, pretty much. Then, there are some days when you just cannot take it any more. Yesterday, was one of those days. Thank you, Lord, for pigs and for the simplicity of enjoying three pieces of bacon this morning!

Volcano Update

2009-09-28T23:41:00.003-05:00

Got word today that on the news the volcano pictured below is reportedly nearly ready to blow. It is only about a ten minute drive for us to view the volcano (not up close and personal, but from a very far distance), however, that is difficult for us to do because usually it is covered with clouds! We'll try and keep you updated on what is happening.

An update and a lot of administrative "stuff"

2009-09-28T11:32:00.005-05:00

I think I have been enjoying our last couple of weekends off a little "too much" since my brother-in-law, Gary, let me know on Facebook that I had not been updating my blog as of late. We were supposed to have a baptism service at the camp on Sunday, a group was supposed to rent the camp for the day, but they ended up cancelling. So again, we had a full weekend off! On Friday we took the day off and went to the amusement park here in San Jose with our children for a belated Children's Day celebration. Last year, we took the kids to the Children's Museum. The weather on Friday at the amusement park was gorgeous and we also enjoyed having a picnic lunch there. We stayed until dark and took a train ride through the entire park to observe all the lights on the rides, etc. It was a lot of fun! I personally enjoyed the water rides on what was a rather humid day! Quite unexpectedly, we got to the park entrance and it was a buy one, get one free day, so that was neat!

There's always a mound of administrative paperwork to do on a personal and a camp level. First, I have been in a slump lately with regard to writing. It is time to write another update letter to our supporters through Global Outreach Mission and there is actually a lot to report, but writing never does come that easily for me. So, you could pray for me in the next days as I scribble, erase, reword and attempt to write, that the words would be clear and that people could sense what we are doing here. And with regard to the blog, that writing does not come easy either. I like to include pictures as often as I can. Not sure that pictures of me folding laundry, organizing and moving furniture would be that impressive, but I have been doing some of that around the house during this slower time when a lot of it gets left undone. I do not function in my home very well with a lot of clutter and when we have our busy times it seems that we accumulate a lot of that from people "dropping and going".

And the camp; well, our fiscal year ends here in September and all of our receipts and book work need to be turned over to our accountant for the camp in October. With the camp being booked up now until the end of the year, and already receiving phone calls for bookings into next year, last night we had our annual discussion about rental rates and possible increases. Needless to say, this year we lost a lot of kitchen supplies, bakeware, silverware, even dishes and have had to make decisions about how we will manage that in the next year. So, the administration of the day to day operations of the camp always keeps us thinking and on our toes trying to stay one or two steps ahead!

This Sunday we will be going out of town with Katherine & David to do the logistics for the medical clinics for a January 2010 medical team. This always helps to see an area and location ahead of time to keep us within budget for the team in transportation, meals, and necessary medical supplies, etc.

And one last thing, a dear friend of mine and faithful supporter back at our home church in N.C. recently told me about a game on Facebook called Bejeweled Blitz when I was home. I heard what she said, but haven't really had a lot of free time to check it out. This last week, I checked it out and found that it is a pretty fun game. While it is addicting, I sit down with a very specific time limit on how long I will play and then return to my "activities of daily living" (I've typed too many medical reports over the years). Since I live out of the U.S. I am not able to play in the Bejeweled Blitz Tournaments. Now depending on how well you know me, you might sense an underlying level of competitiveness in my spirit. That being said, I rallied Kyle, our son, to try the game. So, now we compete (I hate that word, sounds so wretched, bwahahahaha) against each other sending little "smack" messages to each other on Facebook! We have stooped so low as to play in different rooms of the house from each other and tease each other! It's fun and keeps us entertained down here and our life balanced as "sick"as that sounds.

On a physical note, I feel exhausted from lack of sleep. You know you are tired when you look forward to leaving the country to have your VISA stamped! We do that every three months (90 days) and while expensive to do, this is when we get optimal sleep in a hotel! Last night, not sure how it happened, but even with our front gate closed, we had two or three dogs in our garage growling at each other and carrying on and one of them was the beloved "Miss Kooky". She has taken up residence on our front porch at night and feels this is her territory to protect, I guess!
I'll end with a challenge! Try Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, just one round and leave a comment here and let me know what you think!

Blessings!

Up for air...

2009-09-22T20:53:00.003-05:00

So many things have been happening this past week since I last posted. We did have a one-day rental group on Saturday of 80 people for a marriage retreat. The preparations for this group began on Friday afternoon with an extensive scrub down of the camp kitchen and bathrooms. Before Heather and I got done with that some members of the group did come in on Friday evening to begin decorating, hauling in a large amount of fresh flowers. We did finish the swimming pool painting and now the pool is again filled up with water and will be used this weekend by a group for a baptism ceremony. Also, last week from Tuesday evening through Friday evening Ken and I finished attending Bible study. Other than that, we have had the van break down again and had another appointment today for it to be looked over by the same repairman. We have had various dentist's appointments as well.

The weather here has been extremely dry over the past couple of weeks compared with this time last year. "Rumor" has it that this is not good because it often coincides with earthquakes. While we have felt some minor trembles; it feels like someone is heavily walking across the floor of your house, I am happy to report that there has not been anything major. We are in winter season here and also that means rainy season as well. Finally, today we have had on and off heavy rains beginning this afternoon, although before the rain came without warning we lost power for a few hours. Since the rain has begun this afternoon we have had power restored, only to lose it again. For now, it has been on again for a couple of hours. Needless to say, not a whole lot got done around the house today like laundry, for instance, but it kind of comes with the territory!

Both Saturday and on Sunday following church we felt that the Lord would have us open the doors of our home for hospitality. We had a good time entertaining some Tico families this weekend and hope that it was a blessing for them as well.

Currently, the camp is pretty much booked up until the end of the year already and then in January we begin the onslaught of our "busy" season with short-term teams.

Well, hopefully tomorrow will be a more productive day...with being kind of busy as of late, we are running out of clean clothes! Hope you are having a blessed week.

Around our town on Independence Day

2009-09-15T17:40:00.003-05:00

After it got too hot to do much more painting and despite sunscreen, we were beginning to get burned; we decided to pack some lunches at home and take the kids to a Mirador (look-out) on a mountain range about 20 minutes from our home. This is Volcan Turrialba. The white in the "v" is a cloud. The white that is slightly curved to the left is actually a smoke stack that is spewing from it. We rarely see this Volcano due to covering clouds, so we were excited to get an updated picture. Right now, the scientologists here in Costa Rica are not exactly sure what is going on with this volcano as far as a possible major eruption. We do know that they have asked residents below the volcano to live elsewhere due to sulfur.
While we zoomed in, this is the best picture that we could get. We are standing at the Mirador in the town called Ujarras, about twenty minutes from our home, but on another mountain range. Toward center-right in this picture you see in the distance a small town. That's our town - Orosi in the valley of the mountain, also known as "Orosi Valley".

Now we are home getting ready to go to Bible Study. Our good missionary friends from Michigan have their Pastor here for this week. He is also a counselor and serving their church here by offering Christian counseling courses. While he only speaks English, he does have someone interpreting into Spanish for him, so what an opportunity for us to attend a Bible Study in our native language! Also invited from our church was our Pastors and their wives, and a couple of the Youth. Tonight, we are the taxi for these people as well. I know it will be a real blessing from what we learned from his teaching the other night, and a good time of fellowship with those from our church!

No rentals does not mean no work!

2009-09-15T11:35:00.004-05:00

While we had hoped to catch an Independence Day parade today, when we woke up the skies were cloudless and light blue. This is rare since we are in the midst of rainy season here and just about to hit the peak of it which would mean more likely all day rains. While we have had the past two weekends off from rental groups, that doesn't necessarily mean that we don't do any work! What it means is that we can do "maintenance" projects that are otherwise put aside because of the almost constant influx of people between rental groups, short-term teams and interns. That being said, this past week the pool at the camp got drained and cleaned. And just as we did approximately a year ago this week, we are painting the pool again. I guess you might be able to guess what color it is from the picture that Kyle took above! Viva de Costa Rica!!!

"Dia de Ninos" y "Dia de Independencia" - A week of Celebrations!

2009-09-13T16:55:00.005-05:00

I think I mentioned last week that this past Tuesday was "Dia de Ninos" or "Children's Day". This is a big celebration here in Costa Rica. While the children do not have off from school; they do get to have a very special day in school with most all classrooms planning a special day of activities, like going on class field trips, playing games throughout the day, having class picnics with ice-cream. Most special is that they do not have to wear school uniforms on this day and are allowed to wear jeans or shorts for the day of activities!

This next week in Costa Rica we also celebrate "Dia de Independencia" or "Independence Day" and much like the 4th of July in the United States, it is a huge celebration. Everyone has the day off from work and school. There will be fireworks and parades all over the country!

Today in church we celebrated both holidays since this is the only Sunday in between both of these special days. Last year on the blog I posted some pictures of the Youth and Adult Youth Counselors in typical Costa Rican dress and dancing. The dance is very historic and cultural in nature. All of the children are taught how to do these very specific dances in school and they are done in church to honor their country. Below is a picture this year of only Youth Group dancers in typical Costa Rican dress. I guess they figured they didn't need the "old folks" to help them out this year! They did an awesome job!

While we do have a worship leader in our church, rarely do we have leaders in the front doing hand motions or dancing while singing, but because it is "Children's Day" special music is learned by members of the Youth Group and the Children's Ministry Director complete with movements and dance steps. Everyone is encouraged to move up front to participate in the music. As was said this morning, "it doesn't matter if you are an adult, we are all children in spirit".

Here's a very short video of the Youth Group leading some of this music and Jordan participating in one of his favorite celebrations here in Costa Rica! And of course, no celebration here in Costa Rica happens without a pinata. Immediately following the church service which included a very special sermon just for kids, there was a pinata to be broken, ice-cream cones, and every child received a decorated bag filled with candy, just to make the pinata all fair ;)

I've been thinking...Be very afraid!

2009-09-11T22:28:00.006-05:00

I am frequently on Facebook to keep in contact with my family and friends. Just a couple of days ago a dear friend posed a question on her Facebook to anyone that would dare answer. See, she is a gifted writer and is praying over a future book or as the Lord directs, possibly writing another Bible study. Here's what she posted: How do we lose our compassion? Become complacent? Sit, rather than move for His kingdom? I must say, as I told her, "could you possibly ask any deeper questions"? I thought for a bit, and I guess I answered as best that I could, assuring her that I didn't know the "right" answer, but was just sharing my personal thoughts. But really, I have to say, that over the last few days those same questions have been burning on my soul. How do we get to this point in our Christian walks? Why is it that my friend is seeking answers to the same concerns that Paul had for the churches back in his days? He (Paul) certainly wrote and warned about being lukewarm. One thing that I very simplistically touched on in my response to her was some of what we are dealing with down here in our churches...the Prosperity Gospel; the "God blessed you, now you bless me gospel" or the "Santa Claus gospel" as our team kindly refers to it; i.e. The, "sure, I'll accept Him, now what's He gonna do for me gospel". Rather than call it any of these, I most often refer to it as the "Satan Factor". Satan was hard at work during the day of Paul and he continues to do a mighty deception within the Body of Christ today. Somewhere along the way, it seems to me that Christianity has been redefined to "fit into" our culture. I found this to be true when we were accepted under Global Outreach Mission to full-time missionary service. Never in my life have I felt more "strange" about my beliefs than in sharing this news with a good Christian friend, when she informed me that my children would never amount to anything by taking them on the mission field. What was already for us a real battle in obedience and surrender; (what we perceived to be authentic Christianity), was frowned down upon and labeled by my friend as "legalistic". I believe that A.W. Tozer hit the nail on the head when he wrote, "That this world is a playground instead of a battleground has now been accepted in practice by the vast majority of fundamentalist Christians. They are facing both ways, enjoying Christ and the world too." Perhaps, we have settled in our Christian walks and we have compromised. Again, I don't have the answers.

"As Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army. Follow the Lord's rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize". 2 Timothy 2:4-5

Thank you to my dear friend, who has caused me this week to do some soul searching, concentrated praying for myself (it's easiest to pray for everyone else, isn't it?), and to keep in check how I am running and how I might finish the race! Lord, help me not to be disqualified.

Numbers, receipts, expenses...

2009-09-10T15:52:00.003-05:00

Taking a very short break from working on "the numbers" with Ken. No, we don't play the lottery! Just doing campground bookkeeping, looking over receipts, numbers, expenses, budgets...all the kind of stuff that after a few hours plain gives you a headache! But, there is a nice, cool rain this afternoon and gentle breeze blowing through the diningroom window near the table we have been sitting at. So, that's how we've been spending today; enjoying each other's company and checking over each other's numbers to submit our August report to the mission. Hope you are having a nice Thursday as well! Oh and last night, El Salvador 1, Costa Rica NADA and out of the run for the play-offs! Ah well! Something to tease Katherine about when she returns on Monday since the United States is still in it :)

Boo!

2009-09-05T23:47:00.002-05:00

Mexico 3, Costa Rica NADA!!!

Personal opinion, I think there was some bad refereeing and some "dirty" plays! Of course, when Costa Rica plays Estados Unidos, I still cheer for "home"...Go U.S.A.! (Lo siento mucho, Pastor Mario and Jeffrey)!