Poco a Poco

This is a phrase that the mom of the Tico family we lived with would say to us very regularly. It means literally "little by little" and gives the meaning of taking each day at a time. This is something that God has been continually teaching us as we live here longer and longer. Not only do things such as language learning come little by little (although at times we´d like to just wake up one morning and be able to speak Spanish fluently), but also this rule applies to things in general in this culture. Life is meant, not to be rushed through, but to be lived each day....taking each day at a time. It´s been somewhat of a hard lesson to learn. We are so used to speeding from one activity to another and trying to fit as much into one day as we can. We´re learning that here, that´s just impossible.

This week Allison is having the opportunity to participate in a seminar called Peace-Makers. She has been praying about opportunities to be used by God once we get to Atenas, and looks at being able to be used in the area of member care as a possibility. Member care involves encouragement and development of interpersonal relationships among the Latin American team. She sees this as a useful preparation tool that God could use down the road. Although we have a great team in our office, we´ve heard that the number one reason missionaries leave the field is due to interpersonal conflicts.

A big praise is that we´ve been getting more rain this week. It has rained almost every afternoon this week. This is a huge praise because Costa Rica´s power comes mostly from hydroelectric sources. So, if there has not been alot of rain during the rainy season, come March or April, the power will have to be rationed. Due to the fact that we actually LIKE taking hot showers and being able to cook our food, we´re very glad that it seems to be getting back to a normal rainfall pattern for the "rainy season".

Please be in prayer for the teams that are going out this week and next week. There are two different project trips that are happenning this month, both to Haiti to work with various ministries. One is a children´s home that is needing to expand their facilities and are in desperate need of our expertise so they can serve the poor and abandoned children of their community. Pray for safety for the team and efficient and effective us of the time on site as this is a very crucial time of gathering information and building relationships with the ministry so we know better what they need and how we can serve them best.

Snapshots

Well, we just finished our 3rd week of this semester of language school. Even though we are reviewing topics that we covered in the intensive course, it has been great to have more practice and have a deeper understanding of the language. We have found this course to be different for many reasons, but one is that we are absorbing more of the intricacies and able to use alot of the things that we might have covered last semester, but we're actually integrating it into our language skills this semester.

God has allowed us to also use some of our skills to serve him while we're in language school. Josh has been a part of the praise teams that lead worship at Chapel each week. He's playing the djembe (a big bongo drum) and guitar. It's been very refreshing to see how God has already been using us in ways that we might no have even thought to do before we came here. The Lord is so willing to use each person when we make ourselves available. We decided before we arrived in Costa Rica that we wanted to find ways to get involved in the local community so as to have a ministry to those around us, not just those in the countries where EMI has projects. The Lord has already provided that for Josh. An opportunity has come up to be a volunteer coach for a football team here in San Jose. There is a new league of "American football", which we have to distinguish here between soccer which is also called football (futbol). He is coaching the Jaguars, which funny enough, the son of one of our teachers plays for the Jaguars. It is a team of 18 to 24 year old Costa Ricans. Most of them have a huge passion for American football, but are not Christians. Josh's experiences in football gives him automatic respect with the players and opens doors to allow him to share the love of Christ.







We are also official Costa Rican residents...well, temporary ones, at least. We just received our "cedulas" (identification cards, a lot like our Social Security cards in the States) yesterday! We were accepted for two years, and then, after two years, we'll reapply for another couple years before we can apply for permanent residency. I can't say I exactly feel like a "Costa Rican", but I know that the Lord is slowly making this place our home.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers:
1. continued language learning
2. the wife of one of the guys in Josh's class just found out she has a tumor on her kidney, so pray for wisdom and healing.
3. continued peace during a time of transition
4. finding ways to meet and make relationships with locals

Back to School!

Welcome back! Alli and I have been busy during the break between language school semesters! We apologize for being out of touch a little. As you know, we spent a week with Alli’s mother and younger sister. Alli’s older sister flew in towards the end of their stay and we were able to spend a week with her, relaxing and gearing up for school again. We’ve posted a few photos (taken by Christi, Alli’s older sister). After a week of orientation, we’ve begun our last trimester of school. Its already apparent that this trimester of language school will be very different from the “intensive” course we endured the last two months. The pace is much slower and it seems that we’ll be given time to actually commit things to memory!


A FAMILY PLAYING WITH THE THOUSANDS OF PIGEONS AT THE PARK


US AT THE OROSI VALLEY IN CARTAGO, COSTA RICA

During school, we have chapel services twice a week. Those have been a huge encouragement. They have a time of worship followed by a speaker. This trimester, the speakers will be fellow students (missionaries) who are sharing their testimonies and experiences. The emphasis of this trimester’s chapel services is God’s faithfulness. So, all the messages and testimonies will all, in some way, be geared towards or focused on God’s faithfulness in our lives and the lives of the missionaries we’re attending language school with. Today’s chapel service was given by a missionary couple from Bowling Green, Kentucky. They’re in their late 40’s, early 50’s, and will be working with orphans in Honduras. The husband's story was very encouraging and inspiring. He owned his own heating and air company in Kentucky. With no college or seminary education to speak of, he felt the Lord calling them to work with the orphans at an orphanage he and his wife had been volunteering with in the past. After several mission trips to this orphanage, they finally realized what God was asking them to do. They sold his business, she left her job as an accountant and came to language school to try and learn spanish! Their testimonies were very heartfelt and were an inspiration to all of us listening. It is always impressive to be surrounded by people who’ve felt God’s call on their lives in much the same way and to hear their responses. It, somehow, has the ability to impart courage and strength in a time preparation, frustration, and sleep-depravation! HA! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness, not only to us, but to others around us!

Now that we have a secure internet connection, we’ll be updating the blog more often. We continue to pray for all of you and hope to hear from you soon! Please write us whenever you can! We covet your prayers!