Haciendo Conexiones

This last week, Iglesia Union in partnership with the YWAM Herdia base, put together a 3 day retreat for our missionaries on support raising called Haciendo Conexiones (Making Connections)

This is an area full of big questions and some bad theology for a lot of missionaries.  As a church, we wanted to invest in our missionaries so they can be freed up financially to pursue the dreams God has for each of their ministries.

What a fun time!  No, I really mean it!  We had six of the current Union missionaries there, along with three more people from church who are interested in missions.  We also had about 12 YWAM Heredia folks there too!  Because of the mixed group, we translated everything from English to Spanish and back again depending on who was teaching.  Love how God is using people from every tribe and nation and language group to reach every tribe and nation and language group!

And I am telling you, these people were great!!  We had laid out a packed schedule and they stuck with us the whole time!  They were full of great questions and ideas.

We talked about the biblical basis for support raising, the nuts and bolts of actually making appointments, talking to churches and small groups, how to keep in contact with supporters, how to say thank you, and how to budget.  Like I said, it was a super full couple of days! There were a couple of camp games thrown in too, just for good measure!

While Noah and I did a lot of the teaching, we also asked our friend Sofía to teach on some passages in the Old Testament where we see people asking for funding (did I mention she is an amazing Old Testament Professor at a seminary here?).  Our pastor, Paul taught on stewardship and Harold, an accountant in our church, taught on budgeting.  Such good stuff!!

Pray with us over the next few weeks, that these missionaries would make time to do the hard work of getting together their materials and ideas, and that God would bless their efforts to be fully funded so they can be effective in the ministries He has them in.

Moving, Again

Well.  We are just about 6 days away from returning to Costa Rica.  Somehow that went fast and slow all at the same time.  Strange how time works like that.

And 6 months is just a weird amount of time.  On one hand, it's really long.  It is a half a year after all.  But on the other hand, it's only half a year.  Just enough time to start to get to know someone, to start to feel connected to a community, to start to form new friendships.  It's just a weird amount of time.

It's been a good time of reconnecting with family, supporters, and friends, as well as developing new friends and connections.  One of my biggest concerns about this time was a lack of community.  We are living in an area we last lived in 8 years ago.  That's a long time.  People have moved on.  But God has been so faithful.  About 3 weeks before we left for the US He told me "don't worry, I am going before you."  And He did!  I was able to be part of a women's group for the whole 6 months and those ladies took me in and made me a part of them.  We have also been making connections at a new church in the area, and it's been good.  Very good.

 And now we are into the last week and the emotions are all over the place!  With the goodbyes and the see you laters and the excitement of heading back to Costa Rica, and well, it's just a lot.  Quinn asks multiple times a day when we are going to Costa Rica.  Almost everything is packed, except for the clothes we need for the next 6 days.  Monday we move out of the mission house and will stay with my parents for a few days.  The van has sold.  There are just a few things left in the fridge.

While we're sad to be saying the goodbyes, we are oh so excited to say the holas again!  We've so missed our friends, our church family and neighbors while we've been gone!  And ok, I'll say it, we've missed our stuff too.  I am ready to be back in our space, with our things. 

So pray for us as you think of us.  That we would say goodbye well and have a smooth transition back to Costa Rica. Things are different there too, friends have left that we didn't think would, so we weren't able to say goodbye.  Things have changed because we've been gone for half a year.  And things have happened in our lives.  After all we're different than we were 6 months ago too.

St. Patrick's Day, Again.

You know me.
It's St. Patrick's Day and I feel the need to make sure everyone everywhere knows it isn't about green beer.  It's about how one guy obeyed God and went back to the people that captured him and held him as a slave to share with them God's love.  That folks, is always worth celebrating!!
So, because you probably don't want to hear me tell you all about it again, check out this video...

May Newsletter

“At the command of the LORD they camped,
and at the command of the LORD they set out…”
  Numbers 9:23

Last month we finished our term at Campamento Roblealto. What started out as a 1 year assignment lasted a year and ½ with many amazing stories of changed lives in the volunteers and staff, and in us, many opportunities to grow and learn how to serve in this new culture. It also has helped to refine our calling to disciple Latinos. While camp is a wonderful setting for this, the Lord’s hand is moving us on to something different.

As you all know our heart for camping ministry is what has brought us to Costa Rica. All we learned from Camp Barakel and  Campamento Roblealto has blessed us with the tools and experience to know how to host groups, to do One on One discipleship, lead small group Bible study and to serve. Also Noah’s pastor’s heart has become very evident since serving as camp chaplain and we believe these will all be crucial to our next step.

During this transition period Noah is serving at our church’s Christian school as a 4th substitute until July. This will give us time to explore what God has next for us here in Costa Rica.

We believe that at the command of the LORD we camped, and at the command of the LORD we are setting out on a new adventure, with our continued heart for missions and our calling to disciple Latinos. We are looking forward what God will do next with us in Costa Rica.  Would you pray with us that we would clearly hear what God has next for us?  We are grateful for your continued support through the United World Mission.

A Year Ago

This sorta snuck up on us.  Just yesterday I looked at the date and thought, "huh.  that seems like an important date for some reason...OH!!"  Yeah, we moved here 1 year ago!  Tomorrow marks a year that we have lived in this house.  There is something nice about that.  I realized that since we've been married (10 years) we have lived in 7 different homes.  And over the last 2 1/2 years, we've lived in 5 of those.

Just for fun, take a look at this post, from a year ago.  We had looked at the truck, had seen the house and were getting ready to move in.  And look how little the boys look!! 
Anyway, so Happy 1 year here with Campamento Roblealto!  It's been a full year, full of ups and downs for sure, but we are thankful that God has been with us each step of the way.  

Farther Along

It's been sorta a sad, lonely feeling week around here.  Yesterday we learned that 3 sets of friends are leaving the country in the next few months. It's like we have to say goodbye before we even really finished saying Hello.   Our home school group is in a state of transition, and we're not really sure what the out come will be, there is some big changes going on with our mission agency and last night I sat for hours talking with another missionary about the dream she had for ministry and how it seems to be dead and how empty she feels...yeah, it's been a sad week.  There are times when all the bad, the sad, the yuck, of this sinful world feels so strong.

And don't get me wrong, change isn't always bad...but it's change.  And with it comes the end of things, the goodbyes and there is a grieving process that needs to happen.  And many times there is confusing and hurt wrapped up in all of that too.  As I hit play on the ipod this morning, this was the first song that came on, and I was thankful.  It did what I needed, to point me back to the Truth, that the story isn't done yet, and to "cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine, we'll understand this all, by and by."

Farther Along
-Josh Garrels

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both
We’re all cast-aways in need of ropes
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Chorus

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the son of god is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Everything Here Belonged to Someone Else

If you were to look around my house, you would see many things that belonged to someone else at one point.  And I am not just talking things like my leaf bowl from my Gram or the antique bowl from Noah's Grandma.  I mean things like our fans, our dishes, for crying out loud, our car.

Because we stayed in Costa Rica after language school I was able to buy household goods from people that were leaving for their countries.

That means that my dishes, casserole dishes, the dog bowls, Quinn's crib and some toys we bought from a family that is now serving in El Salavador.  Our living room rug, some storage baskets, two drying racks and a foam mat came from a family that is now in Honduras.  Our dinning room table, our 4Runner, the fridge, stove, bookshelves, kids' table and an random assortment of kids' books are from a family that are now serving in Texas.  One of the boy's scooters is from a family who's now in Paraguay.  Quinn's GoPod we bought from sweet friends who are on their way to Spain.  Some little boys clothes and shoes were bought from friends who are now in Columbia and Uruguay. 

Some of Quinn's cloth diapers were from a family that's now in Panama.  The picture frames and throw blankets? Those used to belong to a family that is now in Peru.  And the list goes on and on.  Oh and get this one, through a course of events that can only happen on the mission field, we now own fans the family that helped us move to Costa Rica owned.  They are in Honduras now, but when they left Costa Rica, they sold them to another language school student.  And when that family left, they sold those fans to us.  Weird I tell ya.

We just bought a cookie cooling rack (I can't tell you how often I am making cookies here, people go nuts over them!) from a family headed to, get this, Holland, MI!! Yeah, weird huh?

It's sorta strange to look around my house and know who used these things before me.  I mean, I have always been an avid goodwill shopper, but most likely you don't know who had the stuff before you did.  But now, I know these people.

Some days, this can be a hard thing.  Sort of a constant reminder they aren't here. I miss the conversations we had with these people about life, kids, God, missions, the crazy language mistakes we all made.  But most days, this is a good thing.  I remember the fun we had with people, I pray for them, send them a quick note on Facebook. And marvel that we literally know people all over the world!  Crazy!

Goodbyes

Way back in August of 2011, we were able to help Will and Elaine Savell and their (then) two kids move to Costa Rica from Tennessee.   It seemed crazy at the time.  We had only been here about 3 months ourselves and we were giving advice on what they should pack, what to expect once they got here and just overall being a person on the ground that could help with their transition from the US to Costa Rica for their time in language school.  At the time, they thought maybe they would end up in Honduras (we did too).  Their son is Forrest's age, so they were in the same class together at school.  

While we went back to the States to have Quinn, they were brave and had Ally here!  Quinn and Ally are about 4 months and 8 pounds apart.

Well, as often happens in Missions, we get to have people for a time.  In 2 weeks, the Savells move back to Tennessee.  God has put them at the center of a ministry that provides incredible theological training for poor pastors through tablets of all things!  This means that Will is traveling around Latin America (and maybe the world even) and they need to be the face of the Grace Institute in North America.  So, for the second time in two years, they are moving internationally.  Pray for them!  That's a lot on a family and they've added a little person to the mix since last time.

As Tennyson said, ""Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all"  and so in the spirit of that, Saturday we had a Despidida here.  And what a party it was!    We knew there were going to be tons of kids, so we planned some fun games for a friendly competition over cookies.  There were sling shots and tin cans (because what guy, big or small, doesn't want to shot a sling shot at tin cans?)

bubbles (yes, even the adults got in on the bubbles.  It might have helped I weighted the point structure to be heavy on bubble blowing!)

bean bags and  ring toss

and an oh so hipster photo booth!  This was sooooo fun!  We made sure everyone stopped by the photo booth and wrote a message to the Savells.   I am going to put it all together and send it Will and Elaine (via something electronic, because they don't need to pack one more thing!)  Such fun stuff!

 My kids, however, didn't think it was fun. Whatever.  Other people's kids thought it was fun though.

  And I told Elaine this needs to be their new prayer card!

We grilled, everyone brought something to share and we just had a blast!  The only thing I wish I had done was made coffee for 45 people.  It dropped to the mid 60's that day and was rainy and damp.  Oh well.  Next time.

 We were able to pray with the Savells for this next time of transition, which was a sweet time of other people who understand all that it means to live internationally, be transformed by that, and go back a different person. 

The rain let up a bit and the boys decided to do what all Latin American MKs do...play fútbol.  In the rain. In and amongst banana and mango trees.

It was hard on Forrest when Jack gave him a hug just before they left. He started to cry because Jack is his first friend here in Costa Rica.  Sigh.  This part.  It's not fun.  But, like we told Forrest, we can go visit Jack some time in the States, and who knows what will happen in this life!

We love you Savells!  Thankful for the time we've had with you and so excited to see what God is going to next with you guys!

The Everyday

When I was a teenager and even into college I had this rosie idea of what missions would look like. You know, the sorta hybrid Indiana Jones meets Florence Nightingale life where our days would be full of adventure, helping, seeing amazing things happen for the Kingdom of Heaven. Since we’ve been in Costa Rica, I think that has happened, ummm, once?

Most days this life feels a lot more mundane.  Like all the frustrating parts of life are exaggerated.  Nothing is straight forward or simple here.  Take making ice for an example.  In the States, my refrigerator made ice for me.  Now, I have to fill the water filter, wait for it to filter.  After an hour or so, I fill the ice trays and get them in the freezer, if there is enough room.  Or paying for your car insurance.  You can’t write checks here.  Instead, you go to the bank, wait in line for an hour, give the bank teller the account number where you want to deposit money to pay for the car insurance, or any  other fee.  And then you pray that the system is working and the money can be transferred.  Sometimes it is, and sometimes not.

Now, I will freely admit, some of these frustrations come from being a northern living here.  For people from colder climates, we show respect and value for people by respecting their time.  We don’t want to take up more time that is necessary, they have other things to do and the theory goes, that’s because it’s going to get cold and if they don’t get enough food and wood stored, enough warm clothes made and enough animals situated, they will die that winter, all because you talked to them too long at the bank.  Warm culture folks show respect and value by taking time with someone.  No conversation here starts right out with business.  There is the “How is your family?  How is the weather near you?  What happened in such and such situation?”  And then comes the business.  There is plenty of time to plant crops, to harvests them, and since it’s so warm, clothing is minimal….well, you get the point.  

We need you all to pray for the big things, the times when Noah is leading Bible Studies, when we have camps going on, you know, the exciting things in missions.  But we very much need you to pray for our everyday, for things like

• Patience as we wait in lines for groceries, paying bills, getting visas renewed, going to the doctor
•    Endurance to deal with the very long drawn out process of doing things here, like getting the official paperwork saying we can live here.
• For flexibility, as daily plans change, roads are closed, and things like electricity and water may or may not be working.
•   For the daily stress of adapting to a new culture where we don’t know the nuances of a particular phrase and are always asking ourselves “are we being to American?”
•  For the loneliness that comes from being in a foreign land.

God and Google

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down to check email one evening and saw one from someone we don't know.  But with all the connections we have through different camps and our mission, it could easily be from a connect we weren't thinking of.

As I read it I was floored.

Hi Liz,
We are a small Christian clothing company whose passion is to help
support missionaries. We came across your blog and would love to
feature you on our blog if you are interested. Each month a different
missionary is highlighted on our blog to introduce our readers to you,
your experiences, as well as help raise support through prayer and
funding.We currently donate 20% of our humble sales to missionaries
each month and would love to donate to your ministry for the month you
are featured.

What?!  That's crazy!! Ricardo and Tiffany run a great shop on Etsy called His Love Apparel and they found our blog through Google!  I love how God can use anything!  Google, someone's business, anything.

And I love the heart Ricardo and Tiffany have for supporting missions around the world and how they are using really great t shirts and other cool stuff to help fund it all!

So, stop by their blog, His Love Apparel Blog, check out our profile and then head over to their shop, His Love Apparel and find something fun!  You'll be supporting both Ricardo and Tiffany and us!

Want to Help Train Leaders?

Last week Noah had a message from a voluteer asking how to go about studying the Bible.  She had only ever read Romans and Psalms.  This hit right at the heart of our calling here, to help equip and train the next generation of Christian leaders here in Costa Rica.

One of the things that Noah will be doing with some of the volunteers next year is a Bible study on leadership.  We found a great resource, a 40 minute inductive bible study guide from Precepts Ministries, and it's even in Spanish! No need for translation work on this one folks!  I can't tell you what a help that is to Noah!

So here's where you get to share in this.  We are in need of 10 of the books for our volunteers who are in leadership.  We have looked and we can't get these books here in Costa Rica.  But, if you want to help us out, you can order a book or two by shopping off our Amazon Wish List.  When you order, they will be sent to a stateside address and then we have someone shipping them to us here in Costa Rica. 

So, if your interested, click on over to the Wish List.  Thanks!! 

And We're Off!

It's here!  Today we leave for Costa Rica with an overnight stop in Orlando. 

Here's our itinerary:

11:00 am -Get to Grand Rapids airport.  Unload 15 bags, 4 carryons, 1 diaper bag, 4 backpacks, 2 car seats, 1 stroller, 3 kids and get checked in.  Ha!  Praise the Lord my sister and brother in law are coming with us!  Oh, so add another two backpacks and carrryons into that mix.

1:33 (How do they come up with these crazy times?) Leave Grand Rapids and fly to Cleveland
3:30 pm Leave Cleveland and arrive in Orlando at 5:54

Then it's getting those 15 bags, 6 carryons, 1 diaper bag, 6 backpacks, 2 car seats, 1 stroller, and 3 kids into an hotel shuttle and get to the hotel for the night.

Tomorrow (Sept. 25th)
6:30 am load all that stuff up in the hotel shuttle to get back to the airport.
10:16 am Fly out of Orlando
11:23(Costa Rican Time, they are 2 hours behind EST) arrive in Costa Rica.  Get all that stuff through customs and immigration, find our driver, get the rental car and head up to Campamento Roblealto!

Would you pray with us about these things?  We know we can't do these couple of days without people praying with us!

• Safe flights today and tomorrow
• No issues with checking luggage in Grand Rapids or Orlando
• That if bags are overweight, the attendants wouldn't see it
• That we will be able to keep track of everything!  
• No issues with security in Grand Rapids or tomorrow when we fly out of Orlando
• Health for the whole family
• Easy flights for the boys (this is Quinn's first trip on the outside of mama)
• Smooth customs experience in Costa Rica 
• Smooth transition to Camp on Tuesday
• Wisdom to deal with anything that might come up!

A New Ride

Someone asked us a great question the other night, "so what are you praying for?"  And one of the top things that came out of our mouth was "for a vehicle."

When we get to Costa Rica on the 25th (which just take a peek at the calendar, that's just a week and a half away!) we won't have a vehicle or a house.  Little wierd.  There is always this moment in the airport where I realize, "You know, we don't have car keys, house keys or a phone that works.  Strange."

Campamento Roblealto has graciously offered to let us stay in one of the cabins at camp (yes, it does have a small cooking area and a bathroom) while we look for a house, and we are renting a car for 10 days while we look for a vehicle.

We have two different vehicles we are wanting to look at in the first week.  Would you pray with us about a couple of things?

• The timing of looking at the vehicles, getting them to a mechanic for a complete look over, and getting to a lawyer for the paperwork would work out to all happen while we still have the rental.

• We would have wisdom on which is the best option for our family

• The last $3,200 would come in soon so we have all the cash in hand to buy the vehicle

 Thanks guys!

Guess What?

We are at 100% of our monthly support needs!  It's been an amazing journey and there have been a lot of twists and turns, but we are here! Gracias a Dios!!

That means that we are down to just $5,000 in one time gifts to be able to purchase a vehicle once we land in Costa Rica in a month.  That is top priority.  We didn't have a vehicle last year, but our world was only about a mile in either direction of our house.  This time, we will need something.  We have been praying for a vehicle that will seat 7 (this is a bit hard to come by in our price range) and that will be long lasting.  And did I mention how crazy expensive things are in Costa Rica?  A used vehicle that's about a 1999 or 2000 is somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000!  I know, right?  We were just as surprised.  Would you pray with us, that God would provide that $5,000 in one time gifts?  And that the right vehicle for our family would appear at the right time, preferable the first day we look?

And as of tomorrow, we will have one month until we leave!  Yesterday we started the "official" house hunting.  Really, we have been looking online since January, but now we can actually make some decisions on things.  There is a Craigslist in Costa Rica (weird, huh?) and some other classified add websites.  We've also been talking with the director of Campamento Roblealto and he is going to be doing some of the initial calling for us.  Our hope and prayer is that we could be moving into a house within a couple of days of getting to Costa Rica. 

Thanks for all the prayers and gifts and notes over this past couple of months!  We are humbled by the fact that so many of you are joining us in this work of evangelizing and disciplining the youth of Costa Rica through Campamento Roblealto.  You guys rock!

Paperwork

Well, that was fast.  Remember this post about getting the visa process started?  Well, I managed to get all of our vital records ordered and they came yesterday!  That was super fast!  I was expecting them to take weeks and weeks.  And aren't they lovely with their special stickers?

It is fun to have the special stickers with the seal of Michigan on them all.  I love the state motto, "Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice"  which is Latin for, "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you."
Yep, that's Michigan.

Now we have to wait until we can get Quinn's birth certificate and then we can start on his passport process, which requires a photo of him with his eyes open, on a white background.  Hummm...that is going to take some doing.  And it has to meet certain dimensions too.  I think it would be better if I try and do this one myself instead of enduring the torture, like last time when we took the big boys to get theirs done.  I am a bit concerned about the timing of that all.  Right now the State Department is saying it's going to take 4-6 weeks, which we have about 10 weeks before we leave, but we also have two weeks to go before we can get his birth certificate.  Anyway, pray with me about the timing of this all!  And for a decent passport photo for the kid.

Summing up Because I am too Tired

It seems that another week has gotten away from me.  I told Noah tonight at dinner I feel like my life is appointments and sleeping right now. Yeah, I am up to two short naps a day now.  Goodness, this baby is sucking the energy right out of me.  And now we are doing the doctor's appointment thing once a week until delivery day (which is now June 21st.  We have to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM!)

So let me just hit the highlights of the last week for you and we'll call it a night, because, well, I am tired again.

• We discovered that the community Rec Center has a lovely pool just 3 blocks from our house.  And the family rate is $6 for the whole family.  And they have swim lessons this summer for half the price of other places I've looked.

• Saturday Noah was able to share at one of our supporting churches in Grand Rapids. 
• Sunday we were able to share at another supporting church, this time in Eaton Rapids.  Yep, all these water towns here in Michigan!

• I got all the baby's clothes washed, folded and put away.  Also, all the cloth diapers are washed and ready.  The car seat is ready to put in the suburban, and changing table is ready to go.  Now baby can come.  

• The boys both know how to ride trikes now.  They road the two blocks to the library and back this week.  And they thought they were quite something, let me tell you!

•  Last week, Noah ran the 25K Riverbank Run.  He finished in under 2 hours!  It's the longest distance he has ever run and he was super pleased with his time.  It was quite entertaining for the boys to watch everything going on downtown too.

•  I am needing to drink a lot more than I have been.  So in an attempt to tempt myself to get more fluids in my body, I tried making some decaf ice tea.  And this time I used not only the normal black tea, but added some raspberry zinger to the mix.  And wow, that's good!  I do add a bit of sugar too, but just a smidge and it making me drink a lot more!

900 Hours

This afternoon we officially graduated from our year of language school.  That means we have spend 900 classroom hours studying grammar, phonetics, culture, practicing using all this in conversations.  That's crazy!!

Our graduation was suppose to be tomorrow.  Until yesterday, when the city notified ILE that they will be shutting off the electricity tomorrow.  So (entonces), graduation got moved up to this afternoon.  You know, it's just something that comes with living in Latin America.

It was a neat measure for me to sit through graduation after those 900 hours.  We went to the graduation after our first tri and I understood almost none of it.  Today, I understood almost all of it, could laugh at the jokes and follow what some of the finer points.

The families (some have been here a year, some just 4 months) that graduated today are heading to 9 countries throughout Latin America.  It's crazy how God takes people from their own countries and plants them some where else, to love and connect with a people that isn't their own, in a language that isn't theirs. 

Sometimes I get really discouraged by the fact that I am not where I want to be language wise, but the pastor that spoke today talked about how Jesus choose men from Galilee, who had terrible language skills and used them to build the church.  While it's our job to study and work towards bettering our Spanish, it really isn't about us.  God does things differently than we think.  And I am grateful.  In fact, He often does this on purpose. 

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words (yeah, maybe more like the vocab of a 4 year old!), but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,  so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.  1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Our particular class (those of us who have been here a year) was small to begin with and several families have left early, but of our little group that's left, one family is headed to Mexico, another to El Salvador, a third to Peru.  Two families are staying here in Costa Rica and the two single girls are heading to the US for further study.  Most of us are from the United States, but there was a family from South Korea and one pseudo Canadian (Hi Suz!)

Hard to believe that we are done with this crazy year!  I won't lie and tell you we wish we could stay longer in school, but it is bittersweet to see these great people all move to other areas of the world.  And yet, it's exciting all at the same time, to think about what God is going to do through this group!

God Will Provide The Yarn

It is not often that I (Noah) get to have the honor of having my own post on my wife’s blog.  Therefore let me begin by saying I am so grateful for her creativity, passions, and the time and energy that she has put into this site.  It has helped our ministry grow, given her blessings of friendships, and a wealth of memories for our own family to look back upon. I love you Lizzy.

Ok on with the post

Last night I began to pour over our new ministry’s website (Roblealto.com) and began to get a better idea of  how to communicate that to our supporters.

Last night I also put on Facebook:

“Praying for God's guidance, inspiration, and awesome: "it is only because of God" type provision as I turn from language school towards support raising again. Lord, help me keep the right balance of faith and action while maintaining an attitude of dependence and thankfulness.”

I have been at the process of support raising and maintaining those relationships, for over five years. Five years!  That is a long time and together Liz and I have learned a lot but one thing that I still struggle with is the balance between doing and trusting.

God used a discussion theme in Language class yesterday to help me. It was about “doing something with what you have and not with what you don’t have.”  We discussed how you can’t just wait but you need to be doing something with what God has already given you. And this is what led me to take over my wife’s blog today. I know this would fit better with Liz than I but, we read a German proverb that says “begin to weave and God will provide the yarn.”

Last night I started “weaving” again because I decided to trust that God would provide the yarn; the next steps, the next partners to invest with us in disciplining through Christian Camping here in Latin America. I needed to act and not just pray and wait for God to do something.

God, thank you for your faithfulness when I falter and am selfish and don’t do what I ought.  Thank you Lord, for your patience with me and for always, always providing for my family’s needs. Thank you for helping me to be the man, the husband, and even the support raiser that my family needs of me. Thank you for helping me walk in obedience to you and your Word.

If God has been prompting you think about supporting us let us know and head over to LAM.org to find out how. Don’t worry, God will do the same for you, act upon His spirit and give, for He will provide for you as well.

The Answer!

Remember the whole "We thought we were going to Honduras and now we're not"  situation?  And how it was hard and stretching and we grew in our faith?  Well, finally after months of praying and looking and fussing, and praying some more, we have an answer!  We met with the director of Campamento Roblealto and a representative from LAM Tuesday and we will be joining the work there in the fall!

While we still have to sign our letter of intent, things are pretty set now.  I can't tell you what a relief it is to have an answer, have more of a refined direction and to be able to move on to the next step of this crazy adventure!

Noah's main job will be working with the college aged volunteers (you might call them summer staff).  He will be working along side of them during the camping seasons (January and July) as well as following up with them during the six months in between camp seasons.  You might call him chaplain of sorts, or pastor to these young adults.  He will also be working alongside the program department to help develop Bible studies, themes, and lessons for the campers.  If you are at all familiar with Barakel summers, he will sorta be Roblealto's Dave Douglas.

I will be helping where I can with things like having the volunteers over for a pizza night, or plan a Christmas party or whatever else comes up, the same sort of things I would do during the summers at Barakel, but my main job for a while will be the boys. 

We're excited!  We can see how God has been preparing us for this ministry, everything from our degrees, to our time at Barakel, to what our gifts are.  And there is a huge need here in Costa Rica to train up young men and women who are firm in the Faith, who know the Bible and who have leadership skills to lead the next generation.  This position hasn't existed before us, but it is something that the director and staff at Roblealto have been praying about for a while now.

Roblealto is about an hour from where we live now, up the mountain north of San Jose (thanks google maps for this image!).  It was started in 1948 (how funny, that's right around the time Barakel was started!)  The property is lovely and perfect for a camp.  The camping season is a bit different from the United States because of school schedules. Instead of camp being full all summer, we will be busy all of January and then for half of July. 

We won't live on the property, but somewhere close  Right now we are praying that God would show us the perfect house for our family in the area.  And big on the list of things we are praying for is a secure yard for the boys to play in and a bath tub.  Yep, a bath tub is number two on our list of priorities!  We aren't sure exactly what town we will live in, but Roblealto is going to help us figure that all out as the time gets closer. 

So what's next?  Well, in 41 days we graduate from ILE after our year of language study.  Then we'll head to West Michigan for the summer, to have baby and finish support raising.  We are hopeful that we will be at 100% by the end of September so we can move to our new home in Costa Rica early October.

Thank you all so much for all your prayers for wisdom through this process!  God sure has used it to grow us and for that we are thankful.  We are also very thankful to be on this side of the process too!