Keep moving forward!

We've officially reached the 2 month mark and I can't decide if it feels longer or shorter than that.  The Lord hasn't stopped blowing my mind in so many ways!  My personal morning devotional time has been more fruitful than ever.  It's such a relief to be able to sit for a couple of hours and just hear from His word.  I never thought I could hear so much from the Lord in a book like Leviticus.  I've also seen so many of His promises that He's spoken to me come to fruition.  He has continually done "above and beyond what I asked or thought."  He's changed my heart in ways I never thought possible and has given me peace in areas I didn't think I would ever have peace.  My heart breaks to see the impurity of the young couples I see day to day in the center of town.  I'll walk through the park in the center of town and see at least 2 or 3 teenage couples openly "going at it."  It's simply lust driven and I pray so much for their purity on a daily basis.  I've also had such peace as to spend hours in His word like never before.  For those of you that know me well, I sometimes have a hard time sitting still for too long, especially reading and studying.  I can't say I'm a scholar now that spends hour after hour in His word but I have been able to do it for much longer than I ever have been in my life. 

Besides my personal time with the Lord I want to tell you all about events passed and upcoming events.

About 2 weeks ago Sosi and I went to Dominical to do a surf camp with the street kids of Dominicalito.  It was a test of patience with these crazy unruly kids but truly turned out to be a blessing.  There was one 12 year old in particular that was able to attend whose father is a fisherman.  He goes fishing with his dad everyday from 4am-9am.  Many of the kids didn't know their fathers and spend the entire day outside staying out of trouble or looking for it.  The surf camp was a time for them to get away from normal life and live at the beach and surf for a few days.  A total of 14 kids showed up along with 7 leaders, we needed them all.  We taught the word 4 times, did worship, surf lessons, American football, and a baptism to top it all off.  All in all the kids came back home exhausted, with Spanish New Testaments in their hands, and something more to think about.  I made many connections that weekend and hope to see them again and also see them grow in the Lord.  One of the kids is hoping to formulate a team for the soccer tournament that's coming up which leads me to my next topic.  

Teaching the kids how to play "ping, pang, poing" 3 pretty hard words for them to say

Teaching on Daniel

The whole gang

Chris Angel being baptized

He's going for it!

Playa Chaman

As I've mentioned before, we are planning a soccer tournament for March 19th.  The Lord has done great things with this event and I'm excited to see what else He decides to do.  The original court or "cancha sintetika" that we were really hoping to have, wouldn't allow us to preach the gospel.  The facility to us was perfect in size and it even had some classrooms that we were looking to use.  But the policy for that cancha is no religious or political events or affiliation.  Disappointed at the outcome of this "perfect" facility, we set out to find what we thought would be a lesser cancha.  As it turns out, you guessed it, we found something much more superior to the original court.  This cancha is bigger, 7 to a side with 2 substitutions, they will provide pinnies, referees, and a field next to the cancha for no additional charge. This cancha is also $32 cheaper than the other court.  So we went from a total of 80 expected participants to 108 expected participants.  We're going to hand out Spanish N.T. Bible to all players, trophies, and shirts for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.  I'm very excited to see what the Lord will do as it's obvious that He has His hand on the event already.  I think spots are going to fill up very quickly as we've seen quite a bit of interest already with many people we've spoken to about the event.  Please pray the peoples hearts as we share the gospel and for continued provision for this event.

Cancha Chincilla, where the tournament is going to be

In another 2 weeks the Bible College students will be arriving.  I will be teaching the book of James as well as heading the CCS class (Christian Community Service).  There's also been quite a bit of interest with the Tico's for future Spanish Bible College courses. 

We as a group have become good friends with one of the bus drivers whose name is Gerardo.  He and his wife and kids came to our church prayer meeting on Tuesday.  Pray for them to continue coming and for their son to come to know the Lord.  They're a great family who have been through a lot and genuinely want to seek the Lord.

Lastly, we're leaving for Panama tomorrow morning at 4:30 am for our visa trip.  Every 3 months we have to leave the country for a total of 72 hours in order to renew our visas so we don't get deported if we're over our 90 day allowance. Pray for wisdom and traveling mercies, none of us has ever done this trip and we don't really know what to expect.  Thank you all for tuning in, thank you for your love, support, and prayers.  I love you all very much and am praying for you.  May the Lord continue to bless you.

It's about that time, and it's about time.

Playa Dominical

      It's interesting how when the Lord is teaching you something it seems to come up in everything that you do.  You do your morning devotions and what you read that morning has nothing to do with timing but somehow the Lord turns it into that in your mind.  You read stories about Abraham and how he waited at least 16 years for the son of promise to be born.  We see Jesus escaping the mobs because it wasn't His time yet.  Joseph had to wait for the time for his seemingly outlandish dreams to come about.  Needless to say the Lord has been teaching me about timing, in what seems to be every aspect of my life!  His timing and that He is in control have been themes that I can't seem to escape and I'm excited to see what He continues to do through these lessons.

Without the Lord's impeccable timing and of course His strength, I would not have been able to confidently fill in for Curtis this past Sunday for the Spanish church.  After 2 1/2 years of teaching Sunday school and the youth group, the Lord made it possible and comfortable for me to teach in Spanish for the 1st time in my life.  It went better than I could have ever anticipated.  Once again the Lord proves His faithfulness.  Shirley, the girl we met at the local coffeeshop who I gave the Bible to, came with her younger sister.  I was blessed to teach through Genesis 18 and share on the Lord's desire for a personal and intimate relationship with Him as well as how the Lord works in His timing as we see when Sarah laughs at the Lord's mention of their son of promise.  I was encouraged to see that she was very attentive and inquisitive.  Please pray that Shirley continues to seek the Lord and fight the enemy as he has been making it difficult for her to continue to follow after our Savior.

Pizotes: raccoons of the jungle

     The Lord has continued to put it on my heart to pray for and reach out to the youth here.  I've been praying for ways to get in being that I'm not completely familiar with the culture and obviously haven't lived in Costa Rica my whole life.  It's been a question of "how can I relate" but the Lord continues to lay that burden on my heart and as I continue to pray I know He will show me how to do it, in time.  In light of that Darwin and I are planning a soccer tournament for the month of March.  We're looking to have a maximum of 12 teams play, open to ages 15-25.  Our desire is to kick off the tournament with the gospel message and end it with prizes for the top 3 teams.  We're hoping to give all participants a Bible or at least the New Testament.  We want to give the winning team a trophy and the top 3 teams t-shirts and maybe even soccer balls.  It's all in the planning stages but this is what we're shooting for.  Please pray for direction, wisdom, and provision.  Sosi and I also had the chance to attend a local youth group.  The youth pastor we had met when we first arrived in Costa Rica and had been planning to attend for some time now.  It was a great chance for us to meet some of the youth and to see how churches and youth groups operate here.  In an effort to understand the youth and the culture I'm hoping to as soon as possible go to a local roller skating rink that seems to be very popular with the youth here.  Please pray for opportunity to share and gain wisdom.

Refuge, hamburger joint

Delicious refuge hamburger!

Dominicalito youth group

     I spent this past week in playa Dominical.  About an hour bus ride from San Isidro is Dominical, a very small beach town that survives on tourism and surfing.  It's well known for it's surf but also for the American "hippies" that live there and can sometimes give Americans a bad name as lazy drug addicts.  Mike Chaves, an American from Rancho Cucamunga, California has started a church and burger stand in this small town.  I had the privilege of washing dishes and waiting tables at "The Refuge".  Besides cooking burgers  and fries, Mike is also involved in a youth ministry in Dominicalito, a neighboring town, where 10-12 street kids pile into Edgar Echeverri's house for a Bible study, small snack, and a movie every Monday night at 7pm.  I'm really praying for the chance to attend this group every Monday as the Lord has really given me a heart for street kids in general.  I really love those kids!  This coming Thursday through Saturday Mike and Edgar have organized a surf camp for these kids.  I am blessed with a chance to teach a small devotion about Daniel.  The theme of the surf camp is the blessing of giving your life to the Lord at an early age.  We will be looking at examples in the Bible such as Joseph, Daniel, and David, all of which have given their life to the Lord at a young age.  Please pray for protection as we are camping out and this is many of the kids' first time surfing.  We have very capable surf instructors but there's always potential for danger when you're dealing with something as uncontrollable as the ocean tide.  I'm very excited to be involved in this ministry and to see what the Lord will do.  We're expecting great things from Him as we should because we serve a great God! 

     The Bible college students arrive in about a month.  Please pray for provision for housing and furniture and for life changing experiences for these students.  We're getting more settled in now where I feel like our house in San Isidro is home.  I wait with great expectations for what He will continue to do in and through us.  Thank you so much for your prayer and support, it means so much to me!  May the Lord continue to bless you all!