Women Preachers...

This past Tuesday I heard one of the best preachers I have heard in a while. The preacher was really sharing from the heart and you could tell the audience was really captivated by what was said and wanted to continue to hear more. The words seemed to flow so smoothly, and the thoughts were deep, yet said in such a way that the common man could easily understand them, and also put the ideas into practice. The words were said in love, yet they were laden with a touch of conviction, but only in service to Jesus from a right heart.

This "preacher" I encountered was in my own home. The preacher just so happens to be my awesome wife Rebecca. I happened to come home during her Maid's Bible Study last Tuesday and was really blown away by what I saw my wife of almost 6 years doing. Not that I ever doubted her teaching abilities, I had just never seen them in action. Not only was I viewing her heart and teaching for the first time, but it was also in Spanish!!! She did so awesome. She filled the heart of her husband with tons of pride, knowing that my wife can spiritually hold her own, not only in English (the mother tounge) but in our new adopted language of Spanish. It is awesome to be able to see ministry take place first hand, and it is even sweeter when it is coming from a family member, in this case my wife. If make me wonder about some of the sermons recorded in the Bible, and how they may have been in Greek, Hebrew, and even Latin all in the same day by the same person. Learning this language has at many times been hard, but to see the fruit two days ago was worth all the pain and studying and embarrasment ect. I was and still am so proud of my "little preacher wife" and cannot wait to see how God is going to use her and her new language in Ecuador as well.

Saying Good-bye

It has already begun. Yesterday was my last Bible Study with the maids. We had a party here at our house. There were 16 of us ladies packed into our little living room...and Sean. I shared a short devotion and a friend came and led us in some worship time. We ate lots of food - all "american" style food that they don't normally eat! It was a special time, though a little bittersweet for me. I am glad to be done with the work that was involved in the Bible Study because my mind is hardly functioning on anything except moving to Ecuador lately. But I will miss each of these special ladies and the time we had sharing together. It went so quickly that I hardly feel that it really happened. But I'll treasure the memories that I have.

It is hard to believe that one month from yesterday will be our graduation. Is it really possible that we've been here for almost a year already?! It was a very fast year. We are done with our Grammar books and our Conversation teacher told us today that we've already breezed through all that she had planned for our class this trimester. There are still things to learn - the nit-picky stuff that many students never learn and we'd be just as happy to go without! It is hard to keep going to school when your teachers admit they've done all they can with you! Oh well, we really only have 2 weeks of school left after this week. We'll go to school all next week but the following week will be "vacation" for Holy Week which is a big deal down here. After Holy Week we'll go to school one more week and a Monday and graduate on Tuesday, April 25. That's it. Doesn't seem real.

Prioridades...

Yesterday my girls went to a birthday party for one of Brooklyn's classmates at Burger King. It sounds like they had a good time, and of course the kids always enjoy things like that, and the energy burn is great, it always makes for good sleep. Last night we went to Outback Steakhouse with another family from school and had a great meal. I guess from reading these last two sentences you wouldn't even know we were in Costa Rica. Yes, Burger King, McDonalds, and the like have covered the Globe. Outback Steakhouse is in the nicest part of San Jose (of course) which means about a 30 minute drive for us. When we got to the restaurant, there were a few other students from our school there. You never know who you will see. It ended up being a good time, not to mention great food.

As we gear up to make our move to wherever, we are trying to really soak up what San Jose has to offer. We don't really know what is offered on "the other side," meaning something as simple as milk in a jug may not exsist, or fresh produce, or my brand of deodorant, ect. Yes, of course these things for the most part are trivial, but you just never know what you truely have until you don't have it, be it a material possesion or something more significant like a relationship.

Beaurocracia (Red tape)

Things are still in limbo with our visa process. We have done everything possible from our end here in San Jose, and our legal representative (lawyer) in Quito, Ecuador is helping us now from that end to get our visas. We should know something more at the beginning of next week. So please continue to pray with us that this will all get worked out.

Nothing other great and interesting to report. We have less than five weeks left here, and it continues to fly by. We finished our grammar book yesterday in class, so now we are going to be learning things that most students won't get to which will probably amount to busy work, trying to keep us occupied for the last few weeks of school.

Of the 6 people in our classgroup, at least one of us has been gone everyday for over the past month. We are not the only ones trying to get visas, buy plane tickets, and really do whatever comes logistically in order to go to our respective countries. One family in our class is going to Mexico, another Panama, ourselves to Ecuador, and another family is staying here in Costa Rica (They were going to go to Venezuela but are unable to now because of the ban on American Missionaries because of certain statements made by a certain televangelist/christian news guy). So among all of us, there are many things to be done, and many different processes to figure out as well.

What a week...

For those of you, including ourselves, who thought our visa process was basically ended and done...well think again. It seems everyday this week we have found out something, or maybe couldn't find out something, regarding our visa process. Yes, the Ecuadorian Consulate accepted our application last week, but we don't have the actual documents in hand yet. That said, we have been asked to bring in more paperwork this week that is unsubstanciated (SP?) and basically stupid, if I may say so myself. In other words, could you all continue to pray for us in this process. Also, the certification of our shipment from Colorado to Ecuador has proved to be nothing short of a challenge as well. It seems for every person we talk to, we get at least that many answers on what we need to do, and when we talk to them the following day, it has changed again. Anyway, this has really worn us out this week, on top of trying to finish school and do well and continue to apply ourselves. We really feel like the enemy is attacking us and trying to discourage us and ultimately damper what we are going to be doing in the jungle. From putting various news items together from around South American jungles, the enemy definetly does not want to give that ground up. There is a LOT of opposition in its various forms throughout all of South America right now for work in the jungle. If something so simple as a visa can be delayed or even denied, that prevents change and life from being brought to the far reaches of the earth. Continue to pray for this as well, that the strongholds will be brought down by the power of Jesus!!!

Cheap Entertainment

Last night we bought Brooklyn some flip-flops. She had been wearing our flip-flops around the house and obviously really wanted a pair of her very own. So we got her a pair for a few bucks last night when we went grocery shopping. She hasn't taken them off since. The kid is thrilled and very proud of her new shoes. When we went in to her room to check on her last night before heading to bed ourselves, we found that she had gotten out of bed, found her new flip-flops and put them on before crawling back into bed and falling asleep! Then this morning she came traipsing into our bedroom with her little flip-flops a-flippin' and a-floppin'. What was really funny was that she had already removed her pajama bottoms and her nightime diaper so she was naked from the waist down wearing her new shoes with a big smile. Who needs pants when you've got some cool new shoes to show off?! Sean and I got a big laugh out of that. Who knew some cheap little flip-flops would provide so much entertainment for all of us?!

Check this out!

Every week we receive an in house e-zine from MAF basically telling what is happening around the world with our personel and any other newsy bits. This week had a cool article, here it is...

"Ever see a plane on standard floats at an airport and wonder how it got there? Or, even better, how it's going to leave? Well, it takes a combination of common sense and air show bravado but, as the video shows, getting a water-equipped Beaver back to work in the spring is a fact of life for bush pilots. Hill Aviation, of Prince George, British Columbia, shot the sequence of the Beaver heading back to its natural habitat. When lakes start to freeze over in the winter, many operators want their planes hangared for the duration of winter -- for maintenance and to keep them out of the weather. The alternative to disassembling the planes and trucking them to their winter home is a visually compelling but relatively common practice. (See NewsWire for the video.) Before the ice seals the lake or river in late fall, the plane is flown out and then landed, on the floats, on the grass median at the chosen airport. As dangerous as it sounds, it's most often accomplished without incident. Then, in spring, the plane is hoisted onto a dolly and pulled down the runway by a truck. At takeoff speed, the pilot lifts off the dolly and heads for the water. A Hill Aviation spokesman said the company has received calls from all over the world since the video [available for download if you have an Internet connection http://www.avweb.com/newspics/seaplanetrucklaunch.wmv ] hit the Internet."

I was able to download and view this video even with my dinky-dail-up, so for those of you with good dial-up or high speed internet, view it, it is AWESOME!

Flying is wonderfull!!!

(Update: Despite the awesome aircraft in this video, the DeHaviland Beaver, I guess only a Ford Truck was worthy enough to get er' airborn again. Ford Tough! Viva la Raza!)

Visa update...

We went to the Ecuadorian Embassy this morning. Actually, we took Brooklyn to school first, picked up our passports with current Costa Rican visas (Praise the Lord!) and then we spent the next hour or so on 3 differnet buses to get to the Embassy for Ecuador. We finally made it and got in line, which thankfully was short, and shortly thereafter we were talking to the "middle man" for the consulate. We had all of our paperwork in order, and it looks like our actual visas will be ready to pick up sometime next week. There was a very funny moment during our meeting, or maybe a tense moment, depending on your perspective. One of the items on the general visa application asks for the "estado civil," or married status. Rebecca with her much nicer handwriting filled in the applications and put "cansado" in the blank. What she should have put was "casado." The first answer meant "tired," "casado" means married. So the "middle man" had a very good laugh at us while we wondered if our appointment was over because of it. He asked us if we were tired because we are married, and we said "sometimes." Anyway, after the dust settled we left with some good handshakes and smiles. We did not get our shipment list approved yet, although it looks very promising as there are a few more things we need to do first. So thank you all for your prayers for this logistical stuff, it surely made a difference.

The visa process continues...

Be in prayer with us again tomorrow and Friday. Tomorrow we should get our Costa Rica visa renewal. Pray that this not only happens, but that we also get our passports back in hand. The reason being we are going to the Ecuadorian Consulate Friday morning to turn in the application for thier visa. If we don't get our passports back, there is no point in even going to the Ecuadorian Consulate. Join with us that our Spanish will be smooth and gracefull, that we will be able to communicate everything that we need, and that ultimately the Lord will be glorified. That is the whole point right? I am finding lately how much I put my own glorification, or that of goals or plans before those of the Lord. God cares about these logistical processes, and we just want to be in tune with the manner in which He wants us to do them.

Tomorrow in class we all have to teach each other something, something in which we can also do and participate in. I am going to take our laptop and my flight simulator game in order to teach the class how to "fly." It should be interesting and definetly worthwhile to learn and integrate this type of vocabulary. If things don't change in the next few months, I might go into anaphelactic (sp?) shock or something. You see, I am extremely groundsick, and I am in need of a birds eye view and the ability to breath some thinner air. Over this past year I have logged some serious time flying the computer, to which I am very gratefull to have, it is much better than nothing.

We should get our fill of the aviation/airport scene when we move to Shell. We just found out that our house location has been changed, and it will put us about 100 yards from the runway and the hangar. Our house is actually the upstairs of the original Nate Saint hangar, for those of you who know his story. We continue to get excited about our move to Ecuador, although it is also getting real thinking of leaving some great friends that we have made here, classmates and Costa Rican's alike. Something else to pray about. Doesn't the Apostle Paul tell us something about praying in all occasions and doing so without ceasing. Here we go...

There Is a Baby in There!

As Sean mentioned in a previous blog, we went in for an ultrasound yesterday. The baby is tiny - just 2.7 cm long - but all is normal and healthy. Honestly, it was nice to have some real confirmation (and proof) that I've been sick for a reason! And it made things more real. We're incredibly excited now. Before it didn't quite feel real but now there is no doubt that there really is a baby in there! We're excited to be parents again and to enjoy those very special moments between now and, well, forever! Brooklyn was actually there at the appointment with us but didn't understand what was going on. The only real participation she took in the event was to tell Daddy she had to go to the bathroom so that he missed the cool 4D image of the baby and hearing the heartbeat. Oh well. We'd like to do another ultrasound later on (perhaps in Ecuador). I'd really like to find out what we are having but Sean still likes the "thrill" of not knowing until the birth. I just want to know how to plan (yes, I'm a control freak)...who do you think will win? Some people take bets on whether they'll have a boy or a girl. I'm thinking we could take bets on whether Sean wins and we wait to find out or I win and we find out the moment we can. Hmmm. Could be interesting! We both agree that we would be just as excited for a boy or another girl. As long as it's healthy...(sorry for the boring, predictible cliche - I always hated it when people said that but, well, it's the truth!)

Around the dinner table

Last night we had a good ol' American dinner of fried chicken, mashed taters and gravy, and corn on the cob. Of course Rebecca cooked it and it was awesome. But the funnest thing was watching Brooklyn eat the meal. Now you must understand, the girl loves butter. If we don't keep a close eye on her when the butter tub is out, she has been known to take a scoop with her hand and put er' right on in. So when she saw the butter all over the very good corn on the cob, she was in heaven. She kept on raising the cob up the the sky, and bringing it down with an uuggghhhhmmm sound, and then chomping down. She liked it so much she ate 2 whole cobs, with plenty of butter of course.

Now what happened at the table after all the food was eaten was even better, well at least for me. Some would take offense to this, so there is your disclaimer. Like all kids, Brooklyn has been learning some interesting things with her other classmates at the school. So after she ate all her food, she proceeded to show us how she learned , pardon the frank word Vicki, to make farting sounds with her arm. She would just lay on her arm as though she was going to sleep, and then let er' rip. It had Becca and me in stitches. Of course we taught her that there is a time and a place for that kind of behaviour, but it is so funny sometimes to see what they are learning. One of the best things about it all was to see us all laughing and having a grand ol' time as a family around the dinner table. Sure, some of the behaviour might have been objectionable, but seeing Brooklyn taking an interest in making her parents laugh, and being comfortable doing so was a neat development. As she gets older it is sure neat to see her personality develop and be able to just stand back and laugh as well as stand in awe of God's little gift to us.

We are "skipping" school today. We are having culture day which consists of various workshops abut the Costa Rican and Latino cultures. It is good stuff, there's no question, but after being through it twice there wasn't much new to see. So instead we have already been to the medical clinic to get some general lab work done for Becca and the pregnancy. Latter this morning we are off to a hospital to have our first ultrasound. On the way home we are going to get some passport pictures taken for our Ecuadorian visas, and then we are going to buy a certain feather for a certain fella. Our remaining days continue to fill up and be busy with logistics. This is a good thing.

Speaking about the visa thing. Our Costa Rican visa should be issued next Thursday. As far as the Ecuadorian visas go, we shouldn't have any problems. The Baptist couple that we have been talking about got their Ecuadorian visas yesterday, so that sets the precedent for us to get ours. We are planning on turning everything in next Friday, a week from today. Thanks for praying with us about this stuff, it is what gets things done!!!

The "Corn Goblin"

Guess what I did?

Can you guess what I did today? I scrubbed our toilets, cleaned the bathrooms, did some laundry, and even mopped. Do you know how long it has been since I've done that kind of work? Over 10 months. This sounds a little weird but I enjoyed it. Our househelper, Isabel, is in Mexico and I've had a little more housework to do. I didn't realize how good old-fashioned work can really make a person feel. We love Isabel - she really is a big help. I miss doing some housework but I know Isabel needs the work and the money more than we do. Plus, it has been such a special opportunity to get to know her. And it has led to minsitry with not only our own maid but also a group of ten other maids. I miss the satisfaction I get from housework (sounds ridiculous, I know) but I wouldn't miss the opportunity to know, love, and work with such an amazing group of women.

We've discovered that the work we do here is a different kind - mostly mental. Sean and I both are the type that need to do some kind of physical work in order to feel that we've actually accomplished anything. That is one thing that has been particularly hard for us here - neither one of us do a lot of physical work and although we are working very hard mentally we still somehow feel like we're not doing much. I don't understand the phsycology behind it but, if anything has discouraged us this year, it has been a feeling of "worthlessness" that really has no basis.

Whenever we doubt that we've done much this year, God is faithful to show us what we have accomplished. For instance, today we went to eat hamburgers at a little place that a man runs out of the side of his house. It isn't far from our house but we hadn't tried it yet. As we sat there we talked with the man (in Spanish, of course). Later it occurred to both of us that 10 months ago there was no way we would have been able to have the conversation that we had. We might have caught a word here or there but as we sat talking to this man neither one of us was even flinching. We understood everything that man said and were able to respond to what he said in complete senteces that even sounded intelligent...and we didn't think about it. Sure, we still have so much to learn. But we've come a long way. Thank you Lord for that little encouaragement!

What have we been up to...

This week is already beginning to fly by. We have been busy with school and other things as well. Yesterday after school I went with a friend and we "climbed the cross." Supposedly about 15 years ago there was a massacre of many women and children by a random crazy guy in the mountains near San Jose. So to "commemorate" the event, San Jose erected a set of 3 crosses on this mountain that overlook the city. It is about an hour's hike to the top from the starting point, and the views are impressive of the valley in which we live the whole way up. Becca and I did this same hike back in December, and yesterday was just as fun.

Today after school Becca had her maids bible study. She "contracted" out her work, so to speak, today. The theme for the past 2 weeks has been worship, and today they actually did that. A classmate of ours, who is also from Colorado, prepared the lesson and led worship with the piano.

While Becca was doing that I was at home with Brooklyn trying to gather info on the process to get our household shipment from Colorado to Ecuador. After a lot of phone calls, a lot of phone calls, I think I know enough now to battle the enemy. It is just like G.I. Joe used to say, " knowing is half the battle." So next time when we go to the Ecuadorian Embassy we will be armed to petition for our missionary visa as well as the documents that allow our shipment to ship.

Be in prayer this Thursday. Currently our Costa Rican visas are expired. In order to recount the whole story as to why, I would be here all night. So rather than bore us all with the detail, this Thursday the Costa Rican visas should be renewed. Join us in pray that they will be renewed without any hitches. The enemy can sure use simple things like paperwork to discourage his opposition and try and send us home. But we don't go down that easy! By the way, only 7 weeks from today and we graduate from language school!!!
























This is the first of the 3 crosses.



























Cross #2 a little bit higher.

























The highest cross. We can actually see this cross from our house which is about 20 miles away as the crow flies.

For all you whiners out there, here you go...

Brooklyn and her favorite thing, a puppy.

























Some of the local produce. That carrot is longer than her little arm. And that is they way most of them are. Suprisingly they are very sweet and tasty.

Just another boring Saturday...

Today we had a lot on our plate to try and get done. Becca began the day by making some great French Toast. It had been a while, and sometimes you don't realize how "homey" a particular food may be when you haven't had it for a while. The Costa Rican's don't even know what French Toast is.
Afterward, Brooklyn and I went to the farmer's market. We showed up a bit late, and found that some of the things we normally like to buy were gone already, like strawberries.
The main task to try and accomplish today was working on some of the logistics for our shipment that is in Colorado and needs to be sent to Ecuador. Becca did most of the work, which entailed putting all of our items in a special little form that itemizes EVERYTHING, while I began a little bit of the translating. We have to have our list in English and Spanish of course. It is wierd to read what we packed over a year ago, and to a lot of it say, "why." But for the most part we are really looking forward to being able to use some of those things and make a cosy home in Ecuador. We were realizing the other night, that after almost a year of "camping," it can start to get old, and nothing really seems "homey." Not to mention we are just getting flat out anxious to make our move to Ecuador. You can also be in prayer for our shipment process. Should be pretty straight forward, but there are a lot of logistics and translating involved.
By the way, the Baptist couple that went to get their Ecuadorian visas had success yesterday. The consulate decided to process thier application, which should make it easier for us. Praise the Lord!
While Becca was working away at the computer today, our neighbor was doing some car repair in the street. This is nothing uncommon nomatter where you live, but he was fixing his horn. You can imagine how well that was going. Always something new here in Latin America.
We just watched the movie "Chicken Little" with Brooklyn. It was pretty good. It has been fun to have all 3 of us sit on the couch lately and watch a whole movie. These beginning "family nights" are pretty fun, especially when Brooklyn cuddles with papa for the whole thing, after eating all of the popcorn of course.
Tommoro we are off to church in the morning and then back to the grind with our shipment stuff. Hope to get it done tommoro. Becca and I have a good chunk of homework for tommoro also. This past week I did a report on Che Guavara (Motorcycle Diaries) and Monday I have to present Hugo Chavez, the current Venezuelan president. I have to present him as thought I were really him, and afterwards allow my classmates to drill me on why I belive one thing or another ect. Should be interesting. One of our classmates was going to go to Venezuela after language school, but he and his family are now going to stay and pastor a church here, because Chavez isn't letting American missionaries into the country. For those that dont know, he is very controvercial and basically communist. MAF just got done pulling out of the Venelzuelan jungle, and the country altogether because of a mandate ordered by him. Of course many MAF'ers are displaced now at HQ and praying what to do next or where to go. He had accused us of hauling illegal contraband out of the jungle (gold, silver, drugs, ect.) and helping the CIA in infiltrating the jungle and the Venezuelan outskirts in order to overthrow his government. Of course this was all published and broadcast over the government controlled media.
The media is just a bittersweet thing, huh? Give them freedom of press, and they screw things up and make the truth whatever they need it to be to make a dollar or promote an agenda. Tell them what they can say, when they can say it, and how, and it is just as bad.
Anyway, all that said, we have a lot to do as the days begin drawing to an end for us here in Costa Rica. It is good that way, so we stay busy and allow the days to go by faster.

Did you know?

Did you know that we only have 8 more weeks in Costa Rica? Woo-hoo! But lots of work to do.

Did you know that we are still working on gathering all the necessary information to obtain our visas for Ecuador? Keep praying for that process. Another couple with a different mission that is going to Ecuador from here was denied their visa last week.

Did you know that we didn't have school today (Friday)? It's a mid-term "evaluation" day. Which means we had an hour-long (optional) grammar exam but no classes.

Did you know our due date is Friday the 13th (October)? Doesn't matter - the bad luck day in Latin America is Tuesday the 13th, so we're safe.

Did you know that Brooklyn likes to pick out her clothes....and that she really has good taste? And she's very picky about wearing what she wants to wear. Is this a bad sign?

Did you know that our househelper, Isabel, is in Mexico? She's there for conferences/training for her future missionary work there and will be gone until March 19.

Did you know that we can now hold real conversations in Spanish? There is nothing quite so thrilling as holding a meaningful conversation in another language with someone that a year ago we would never have been able to communicate with.

Did you know that God is good...all the time? That about sums it up.

Growing

I'm sitting here listening to Brooklyn sing one of her songs. I can't understand many of the words but the tunes are similar to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm." She has a little stick that she's using to bang things around the house as she sings. She's got a pretty good beat going. We are constantly amazed at how much she is growing up and becoming a regular little girl. The other day she grabbed a book of hers and called me in to our bedroom where we have a lamp set up on the headboard for reading. She wanted to just "chill out" with Mommy and read our books side by side. We did that for about an hour and she'd occasionaly reach over and give me a loving pat on the shoulder to mention something interesting she had found in her book. I found myself watching her more than reading my own book! Yesterday I marveled as I watched her play. She's got "imaginary friends" now. She'll just talk away at the "friend" sitting in the swing and then she'll give that swing a good push and say "Weeeee!" Yes, she needs a sibling! We're working on that one. (Speaking of that - everything is going well so far with the pregnancy.)