"One time, when I was in China by myself, a girl asked if God and Jesus were together when they made crocodiles and elephants. I said no they weren't together that one time when I was in China in Pasadena. Mommy where's China?"
A snippet from our conversation this evening on the way home from church. We learn so much from Olivia! In reality it is amazing how much our kids teach us about the most profound subjects in life.
If you have never been to California's Central Coast, it is something to add to a list of to-dos. It is full of rough, rocky coastlines, grassy hills, sandy beaches that double as treasure coves, and tide pools that hint at what must live deeper in the ocean. We were privileged to visit there again last week with our friends the Thompsons (that's Tricia with the whale carcass), and Alipaz,' Hector Pinto, and also the Pittmans who are the field directors for the new SI Fiji site (they are the family sitting on the rocks). It was a wonderful time of relaxing and hanging out. We stayed in Morro Bay and traipsed around some great beaches in the area. The weather was perfect, and the kids had the time of their lives running around in the sand and waves. The following pictures will help tell the story:
The culmination of our 6 week family adventure was 2 weeks in Antigua, Guatemala. We stayed at the home of Fernando and Marianela Saravia, who are our dear friends, as well as field directors for SI Guate. The first week was busy as Jeff helped facillitate a "vision trip"--a group of about 15 people who are interested in leading groups to one of the SI sites, either short-term, or through academic programs (semesters, J-terms, etc.) There were also a few people who came along just for the ride to see what SI is all about. (If any of our dear readers is interested in something like this, let us know--there will be other trips like this in the future. . .)
We had a great time visiting ministry sites (education, appropriate technology (cisterns and water purification), agriculture, art, social work (working at Hermano Pedro Hospital with people with special needs), and health care) We also had a lot of fun with the Saravias, and their girls blessed us immeasurably with many evenings of babysitting so that we could attend meetings with the vision group, go to dinner with Fernando and Marianela, etc. They took us to a great new restaurant in Antigua called Palacio de India. We also got to spend some time with our friends Jose and Norita and their girls. They took us to a great zoo in Guatemala City and then to their home. Jose has done some graphic design work for SI and has expressed interest in running a site where he would teach those skills to youth. (Please pray for them--they are considering CR with us!)
Ending our trip in Guatemala was a refreshing reminder of why we love what God is doing through Students International and why we will continue to be a part of it. It was encouraging to see the unity of the SI staff, as well as the powerful transformation going on in the lives of individuals in the communities where SI ministers and in the lives of students and outreach participants. We are happy to be home, but so thankful for our time this summer in CR and Guate. Many thanks to all of you who have prayed for us during our travels--we were keenly aware of God's grace hovering over us! Please continue to pray for guidance and wisdom as we feel out the details for moving to CR next year! Until our next post--The Dixons
The week of Olivia's Birthday, we did not have internet access since we were at the beach (near Jaco, CR). It was a relaxing time, with our friends, Jeremy and Erin Janzen and their kids, Ella and Judah. We stayed at a great little beach house owned by a Canadian couple, called Casa Amarilla. We were right on the ocean, though the beach in the back yard was better for collecting rocks than it was for swimming. But that was fine because plenty of great swimming beaches were a short walk or drive away. Both Olivia and Sawyer REALLY enjoyed the water (and the sand)--as you can see from the photos. Anyway, here are some pictures in honor of our "free"-year-old, as well as our week at the beach! (July 1-9)
After a week or so of exploring San Jose we have more questions than answers. However, things are beginning to become clearer. Our time in Costa Rica was a confirming time for us that God is leading us to move.
Where exactly we will live and minister we are not sure, but we continue to believe that we will most likely live in or around San Jose. A strong possibility at the moment is Desamporados (see picture in previous post). We are leaning toward an area like this as there are areas of extreme poverty and need, yet there are also places in or near these areas that would be great places for us to live.
Most likely we will not know exactly where we will be until we move to Costa Rica, but it is nice to have a more concrete idea of some possibilities. Please be praying that God would direct us to where he would have us live and that we would have the ears to hear him and the courage to follow.
Following the 2 outreaches in Shiroles we spent a week familiarizing ourselves a bit with San Jose and the surrounding area. We spent time with various contacts picking their brains and asking what they would do and where they would do it if they were us. We spent Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday driving around San Jose with people as they showed us the city and introduced us to people ministering with the poor. Tuesday we met with a language school that could be a potential partner in some of our future student programs and is where we will most likely study next summer. Friday we explored a region of the country called Sarapiqui. Sarapiqui is about 2 hours from San Jose and there is a slight possibility that this could be the area we choose to live and minister.
Here are a couple of pictures of areas we visited:
La Carpio
DesamporadosLet's back up a little and we'll tell you about our second outreach in Shiroles, Talamanca, CR. We were there with a high school group this time, and they were hard workers. They finished the projects that the first group began, as well as beginning a project to filter spring water and bring it into the community. Here are some pictures that will assist in telling the story of our week. 
The kids taking advantage of some front-porch seating--the carseats got cleaned and went outside when the crumbs started attracting ants. . . 
Olivia and some new friends. Our house and girls dorm are in
the background.
Jeff is hard at work here loading rock and sand into the cement mixer. This group is pouring floor for a dorm for the seminary and future work teams.
Sawyer and his "novias" (girlfriends). Seriously, these girls were a huge blessing! They loved our kids and entertained them at every opportunity!
Like I said. . .every opportunity.
These guys are fertilizing the experimental community garden. If successful, Shiroleans will be able to sell produce as well as learn methods of maintaining family gardens.
Olivia and Gabriel. This was our last night in Shiroles. They were sitting by the outdoor oven, waiting for homemade pizza!
We love you all! More updates to come!
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