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.