Oasis de Esperanza

I looked over at the clock Sunday morning as the alarm was going off. 5:32! I had overslept! I leapt (okay more of a groggy roll) out of bed and woke Tracey up. We needed to leave in an hour for church. An hour later we walked out the door, found a taxi to one of Tracey's teacher's houses to go to church with her and her family. We walked into church as the worship team was singing the first song just after 7 a.m.

Tracey's teacher, Anna, invited us to go to church with her and her family. They attend the largest church in Costa Rica (Their website says that 10,000 people attend their services). It feels like you are walking into any large church anywhere in the States, except for the language. The church is called Oasis de Esperanza (Oasis of Hope). We enjoyed a powerful time of praise and worship and were encouraged and challenged by a sermon about walking in the Spirit. Olivia and Sawyer enjoyed their classes as well.

Following church we went to Ana's house and enjoyed breakfast and visiting with Ana, her husband Federico, their daughter Gloriana, and their son Federico Jr., who is the same age as Olivia and in her per-school class during the week. We have spent a lot of time praying for various things in preparation of moving and since we have been here. A couple of things that I have overlooked a bit in prayer have been that we would find a church home and for Tico friends. Sunday was a great day of fellowship that we greatly enjoyed as well as a great time of worshiping our King. Please join us in praying for both a church home and Tico friends.

Minnesota

We have now been back in classes for a week--hard to believe! Our time in MN was a bit of a whirlwind, but we are SO glad that we went. Amid the many blessings were seeing many family members, "Thanksgiving" dinner, and going to Target and Costco (where prices never seemed so reasonable!) The biggest blessing was that we were able to spend a couple of days with my Grandparents at their farm, which was the main purpose in going. Grandma had many good moments, for which we are thankful. Since we left, however, she has been having some hard days--please pray for her. She is not afraid of death, but of pain. Pray for Grandpa, too, as this is, obviously, extremely difficult for him. Also, my Aunt Bonnie is staying up there as a caretaker for the next couple of months and could use prayer as well!

Many have asked if it is hard to be here knowing that Grandma's days are numbered. Of course I say that, yes, it is. (I don't think CA would feel as far away in this situation.) There have been many moments in this past year or so when I have grieved things like this--or the idea of them. When we were at MTI almost a year ago we were encouraged to think about loss and to start grieving all the losses involved with moving to a faraway land. Everything from loss of conveniences, familiar systems of doing things, freedoms (for me, as a woman), proximity to those we love, etc. Our hearts have ached with friends in similar situations, some that live in places much farther away than we do, with more social or religious limitations, higher costs of travel, less access to internet and phone service--they are missing out on births of babies, the lives their friends continue to live back 'home,' funerals for loved ones, birthdays, weddings, etc. These are definitely the hardest things to sacrifice.

So, pray for Grandma and the family, and pray for us, too. Pray that God would provide a community here in Costa Rica--a community that we can call family--and thank him that our team is part of that!! I'll also put in a plug for anyone else you may know living far from home for whatever reason, that God would make up for their losses and the things they sacrifice.

We are so thankful for our families, our heritage. Thank you, Grandma, for the influence you have had on my life, for your prayers, for your faith in, and faithfulness to, God for so many years. Thank you for being someone whose life is worth imitating! And thanks for letting us visit you last week. We know it may have been the last time in this earthly setting, but we know we WILL see you again someday!!

Visiting Grandma Tic Tac

From The Farm

We leave in a couple of hours to fly to Minnesota. In September Grandma 'Tic Tac'(Tracey's Grandma Rosell) was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The doctors have told her that she does not have much longer on this earth. Praise God she will live in his presence forever! So we are making a trip to see her. It is a quick trip as we come back Sunday. Please be praying for Grandma as well as for us during this next week. We anticipate it will not be an easy trip, but we are grateful that God has provided both the opportunity and the resources to go.

Krysta Arrives!!

Saturday afternoon Krysta Williams arrived in Costa Rica. Krysta is joining our staff team and we are thrilled to have her! Like the rest of the team she is fantastic and brings a lot of strengths to add to the mix. We are excited to see how God will use her! Krysta and Cailah have started language school and are adjusting to life here in Costa Rica. A link to Krysta's blog is on the right side of our blog. Please be praying for their transition.

Poás and Sarchí

Monday was a day off school, so we decided to take advantage of it to see some sights. We headed out with the Janzens, Cailah, and the Diems (another family in language school with us). We went to see Volcán Poás. Poás is about a 90 minute drive from San José. Once you get out of the city the drive steadily climbs through the hills passing through coffee growing country. Poás is often covered with clouds making seeing the crater impossible. Fortunately when we arrived at the top we were able to see the crater. It was amazing! After admiring it for a while we took a short hike up to a lagoon that used to be the crater.

From Poás we drove to a town called Sarchí. Sarchí is known for handmade furniture and ox carts. Ox carts are a big part of Costa Rican culture as they were used to haul goods to port or market. Now they are ornately painted and used as decorative pieces. Here is a slide show from our day. Hope you enjoy!

Cailah Arrives!!

Cailah Pritchard arrived into San José last Saturday evening! We are excited to have Cailah as part of the SI-Costa Rica staff team. She has interned with SI for a few summers and has done a tremendous job! We look forward to seeing all the Lord will do in and through Cailah in the next few years. Please keep her in your prayers as she adjusts to life in Costa Rica. If you would like to follow life from her perspective there is a link to her blog on the right side of this page. Here is a picture of Cailah and Tracey on the top of Volcán Poás.

From October 2008

Lamb's Book of Life

From September 2008

This post is about a month late in coming, but none-the-less is the most exciting thing to hit this blog space. On September 14 Olivia invited Jesus to come and live in her heart! She was reading a children's Bible with Tracey and when they read about the Lamb's Book of Life she asked if her name was written in it. After a long discussion with mommy and daddy Olivia decided she wanted to wait to ask Jesus into her heart. Well she waited about 5 more minutes. Needless to say we are overjoyed with her decision and pray that God will continue to shape her into the young lady he desires for her to be.

The picture of her was actually taken that night at an Independence Day celebration. We then had a little celebration of our own at Musmani (a local bakery). We enjoyed some chocolate milk and pastries to celebrate Olivia's big decision.

From September 2008