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!