Sad

Ken = :(
Sherri = :(
Heather = :***(
Kyle = :(
Jordie = :(

Here's what we look like! As if today was not sad enough for us with our church family going home; it has been raining torrentially and is so gloomy which makes it feel worse! Blah!!!

Thank you to the Hickory Grove Team for all your love and encouragement! We were so blessed to have you here and in the same way, we pray that we were a blessing to each of you! May God bless you BIG in the coming days!

And now...off to lay down for a nap!!!

The angels are singing!

Today, we finished all the projects with the team that Ken had on the "list" for us to do. After a 3 p.m. snack, the men cleaned up equipment and got things tidied up around the camp while the ladies headed to the kitchen to cook a spaghetti dinner for 100 men and women at the homeless shelter. At 5:15 we left the camp and made the trip into the Red Zone of San Jose, safely got into the shelter and set up to serve the dinner. Unfortunately, for the second time in three weeks, another church group also showed up and had dinner prepared to serve as well. We called last week and reserved tonight to be able to bring dinner in, and so this was a little frustrating for Ken & I, as many nights the homeless shelter, which operates solely on donations goes without having food for the men, and tonight again they had two dinners. The "new" Director infomed us that this would not happen again. When the residents had gone through the line and been served the Director sent word for our group to come and share their devotional as the group ate. I shared tonight since everyone felt uncomfortable having to work with an interpreter. When I was finished I gave an invitation and two men put their hands up asking for prayer. I asked them if they would mind coming forward and I would get the men that were with me (Norman, Gene, Freddy and Ken)to come back with me to pray for them. When I returned with our men just a minute later, the two men standing there had changed to eight! All the men gathered in a circle and I asked if any had come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and one man said, "yes, I would like to pray for that". The others had very specific prayers and I stepped out of the "Man Circle" and let the men from Hickory Grove take over! I know that the angels are singing tonight and we were all so thankful to have this 1 come to the Lord! Pray that the Lord might work with the seeds that were planted here tonight. I am so thankful that our church group was willing to help us minister in the homeless shelter tonight!

Team Hickory Grove: Day 1 of projects

On Sunday, since our church service here does not begin until 2:30 p.m.; Ken & I took the team out after breakfast to see a couple of interesting, nearby sites. We stopped in to the wood carver and then also went on to the Ujarrus church ruins. We were back to the camp in time for lunch and to piddle around the camp before the service started. After the service, I invited our Pastor and his wife to stay and have dinner with our group. Some of the team played cards while others sat around the tables and talked before turning in for the evening.

This morning after breakfast we began our first day of work after having team devotions near the river which borders the camp property.

Here's a couple of snapshots from the last two days!

Kyle took this picture of me scrubbing the pool concrete deck with a metal brush. Helen, Debbie and Bonnie had already been doing this a little while, but I showed up late having to plan another menu for another team arriving this Sunday and staying until March 8. I needed to get that to the cooks, who will make my shopping list for me, and when we take the Hickory Grove team to the airport, on our way back to the camp we will do the grocery shopping for the next team.

Here is Heather with a watered down bleach solution leaning over the edge of the pool scrubbing the tiles with a toothbrush!

I guess Mr. Gene couldn't stand it any longer, borrowed Kyle's bike and rode with Jordan around the Celebration Center, and Mr. Gene did pass him and take the lead, but Helen thought it best only to post the pictures with Jordan in first place!

Here's Ken pulling the benches off their stands next to the fire pit. He wants the men to refinish them for him as they are rather weathered.

When the ladies finished scrubbing all around the deck with metal brushes to break up molds, etc.; it was dry enough to begin rolling on some paint. But, the clouds and rain soon rolled in and we actually didn't get a lot accomplished today as far as the painting project. We plan on trying again right after breakfast tomorrow!

Around the chain link fencing of the pool are small areas where the big frogs that we have down here can slip under and get into the pool. Once in the pool area they make a mess of the deck, jump in the pool and lay eggs. So, Norman and Gary (a GOM missionary visiting from Spain) got some chicken wire and placed it below the chain link fencing now making it impossible for the frogs to take up residence in the pool area.

On Sunday morning this picture was taken in the Ujarrus church ruins. It's the Hickory Grove Family and the Dundon's together. This is the church that for a split second Brad & Danielle has thought about coming down and getting married in. We love it here and wanted to share this with our family.

This is the beginning of Mr. Gene making the camp's corn hole game. After playing at Gene & Helen's beach house last spring, we knew this would be a wonderful asset to have at the camp for short-term teams or rental groups.

Jordan tried to get a game in, but Helen said it HAD to be painted. Here she is putting on the finishing touches AND we just got back from having a tournament in the Celebration Center!

This was takn after church on Sunday. This is our Pastor here in Costa Rica at the church planted on the campground. His name is Mario and his wife's name is Dinia. Here with the help of Heather, Gene is having a conversation with them.

Once Ken got the boards up to the Celebration Center, Freddie pretty much got to work on sanding the boards down with Norman and Debbie's help, making minor repairs and then helping the boards get setup for a new coat of varnish. Freddie & Norman having more experience with wood were helpful in instructing Ken on what type of varnish he should be using outdoors for the tropical weather conditions.

The sun was out this morning when the ladies began working on the pool and it wasn't too long before Bonnie & Helen needed to find a place to rest in the shade. Most people think that we live in very humid conditions, but we don't. In fact, we have very low humidity where we live, but when the sun is out, it can be very intense.

Tomorrow we will be finishing up some projects around the camp. In the late afternoon the ladies will be cooking a spaghetti dinner to take to the homeless shelter. We will go as a team to do the serving of 100 people! On Wednesday, we will have a free-day beginning after breakfast with going to the Britt Coffee Tour, lunch out, souvenir shopping, a butterfly garden and then dinner on the way home. Continue to pray for the team as we work at the camp and minister at the homeless shelter.

Hickory Grove Arrives Safely!

Bonnie L. just called on Ken's cell phone to tell us that they are on their way "home" to the camp from the airport. That was kinda weird to have her call me from within the country!! Unfortunately, they did not get lunch on the plane, so Ken is stopping to make sure they have a snack and drink (it's 2:39 p.m. our time now). Poor folks! I just wanted everyone, their families who might be reading this, the church to know that they are safe and we would appreciate your prayers over the next few days as we minister together! I'll update tomorrow night! P.S. I wish it could be every single person from our church on this team! Now that would be a mission's team! We miss you all so much! Okay, better go, I'm getting teary-eyed!

God is So Good!

Just a little history. Global Outreach Mission sent their first team to the Camp back in January of 2005. They had just a few weeks before that team came down, officially obtained the property in the end of 2004. We were appointed by Global Outreach Mission to serve as full-time missionaries in Costa Rica in November of 2004, and because Costa Rica was a brand new opening field for Global, having no other missionaries here in the country, Global invited Ken and I to be on the first team that went down in January 2005. Ken's focus for the two weeks that we were here was to begin construction on what would be called the Celebration Center building. My focus was to work at the camp, but also put together our family budget to be able to begin the fundraising process since Global was not quite sure how much to set our missionary budget at. It took us three years to raise our funds, another trip by Ken to come down and work on the building, and at the end of March 2008 we reported to the field of Costa Rica as licensed missionaries under Global Outreach Mission. For the last two years that we have been here, construction has still continued on the Celebration Center and some of the projects that we have worked on with teams/interns have included putting up the insulation into the ceiling, parging the interior and some of the exterior walls, adding new adjoining bathrooms, new windows and doors; and as you can see in the pictures below, we now have a brand new ceiling, ceiling fans and lights! For us, being on that first team that dug with shovels the holes for the beams and now five years later actually being here and seeing a ceiling going in is a five-year reminder to us of God's faithfulness to Global Outreach Mission! Below are pictures, before and after, over only a two-week period...To God be the Glory!

This is the old ceiling with the placement of new tracking for the ceiling panels.

This the brand new ceiling completed with the ceiling fans and new lights! Stunning!

This is the part of the construction team that did the work! Truly, with a "let's get it done" attitude!!!

This week, the next team and prayer requests

So, hope you've enjoyed the recent slew of updates!

Another team arrives in Costa Rica on this Saturday. This week's schedule includes last minute repairs to our van to be able to transport this smaller team around, the menu and schedule for the team is complete, but we still need to do grocery shopping and supply shopping for the team.

This team is special to us! We've been here two years next month and this is the first team from our home church, Hickory Grove Advent Christian Church, in Four Oaks, N.C....whoot-whoot! They travel to Myrtle Beach on Friday, so please pray for their safety on the road. They then depart Myrtle Beach on Saturday and arrive here in Costa Rica just after lunch. Please pray for safe air travel! They will only be able to stay for four days and we have a lot to do. While our church has seen "pictures" of the ministry here, this team is coming to "see" and understand better what we do, and our prayer is that in the future, more teams from home will be coming to Costa Rica! Pray as we serve in the homeless shelter and one team member shares with the people there, pray as they serve in the orphan home, pray as they work at the camp on a couple of different projects that they would be safe in their work, pray for our free-day and our time together here as we work side by side for Him. Needless to say, our family is very excited about them coming and being able to spend time with them!!!

For church family and friends, I will try my best to update the blog every day while the team is here!

Back to "Ministry"

The lady facing the camera is Ruth. She is a missionary intern staying at the camp for two months. She came with last year's January team and stayed behind for three months. Ruth helps us with chores and maintenance projects at the camp, but her biggest ministry is that of encouragement! It is such a blessing to have her with us. She even spoils us with homemade bread and cinnamon rolls! I call her "Mama Ruth"! The other lady in the picture is Amy Beth with her son, Alex, who is facing Heather in the background. Amy came with last year's January team, talked us into letting her stay another week and then returned to the States. In the last year, Amy has signed on with Global Outreach Mission as a missionary candidate and is currently in the fundraising process to be able to serve as a full-time missionary. And the country she has been appointed to? Costa Rica! So, that makes Amy and Alex part of our team! She is an LPN and will be serving as the Medical Missions Coordinator. Please keep her and Alex in your prayers as they continue to raise the necessary funds to report to the field and quite honestly, we need them ASAP!

Back at the camp, we cooked a homemade spaghetti dinner, buttered six loaves of bread, made drinks and brought it here to the homeless shelter in San Jose to serve 90+ men and women. Here, the team is putting together the plates and serving the homeless. This was the first time some of the "stragglers" got to go with us to the homeless shelter.

Dole and Chiquita - BANANAS, of course!

One last picture that I took while we were at the beach is of these banana trees. Dole and Chiquita are well known companies out on the Carribbean side of the country. The blue bags protect the bananas first from bugs and disease, but also helps to "push" the bananas along toward harvest. This was taken from up on the road and for as far as our eyes could see all we saw were banana trees! Ours at the camp look puny compared to these Big Boys!

A day off with the "stragglers"

This year after the two-weeks of team ministry was over, a couple of the members ("stragglers") of the team stayed one extra week hoping to see another part of the country. Ken and I felt that it was our "duty" to take them to the Carribbean side of the country to a small town called "Cahuita" (Kae-We-Tah) well known for it's waterfronts and national parks. Here's a few pictures of our travels there!

While we are very blessed with beautiful flowers right in the campground, whenever we get a chance to be out and about in other areas I always try and look for ones that I've not seen before. We have this type of flower, though I do not know the name, in the camp, but we have a different color combination. This flower was outside a hotel. I just thought the colors were so pretty!

Living in N.C. for a little over 12 years and traveling to Cape Cod, Mass. as a child; Ken and I have always been big fans of beaches. I have now lived in this country for two years and one thing that always captivates me and takes my breath away is the lack of commercialism along the beaches. This is actually what we would consider a "rest area" at home in the States. We just pulled the van off the road and into the sand, and we set up our tailgate lunch! When we came through the next day to return home, there was a tent set up in this area with a family sitting around a campfire. They had spent the night sleeping there. I wished I had a folding chair to sit in because I could have sat here all day just watching the waves.

Having been to Honduras, sugar cane fields always bring back fond memories for Ken. I love the shade of green leaves and beauty of the plant. In our travels to the beach we drove along roads with miles and miles of this sugar cane growing with an occasional processing plant off in the distance.

Ken took this picture of this monkey ironically perched upon this sign with a "What-Evah" attitude on his face! This is in the national park in the town of Cahuita right along the ocean. You just pay a donation to come into the park.

And apparently our family cannot read English or Spanish! Really though, everyone comes here to "feed the monkeys"! We watched various people feed the monkeys bananas, but Jordan, having been here last year knew exactly what these monkeys liked most. Creme filled cookies! This little guy has watched an Oreo commercial or two. He took the cookie apart and licked out the creme!

Our family has had the opportunity to see McCaw's here in the wild and also like this. When we passed this small reserve, I made Ken turn around and go back so our stragglers could get some pictures! There were rows of very clean cages with McCaw's, only two to a cage in them. You can actually go in and get a guided tour and learn more about these birds at this location, but it looked like we came through on a day when it might have been closed. What they are doing is actually mating them and returning them to the wild. I believe that they are becoming extinct in this country.

This was on our way out of Cahuita coming upon the Port of Limon. It is one of the only stops for cruise ships in the Carribbean and here they are in the distance at Port.

"Better to..."

"Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it" - E.Lutzer

And when a team leaves???

Well, the team left Sunday, January 31 and we headed back to the airport on Monday, February 1 to pick up a two-month missionary intern. Four members of this team also stayed an extra week in Costa Rica...AND...well, someone had to take them to the beach!! Here's how Heather finally found some peace & quiet after translating in Children's Ministry for two weeks. More photo's tomorrow on our day off, and how we ministered with those who stayed behind!

Global Outreach Mission - January 2010 Team/Part 3

Here is a "glimpse" of only part of the work that got done during the two weeks that the team was here. There were 5 simultaneous ministries taking place through this team; children's ministry teacher training, orphan home ministry, children's ministry during the medical clinics, construction at the camp and construction at a church. I will try and get some pictures of the new ceiling that got put up at the camp in another post as well as some orphan home pictures.

Here's one patient no one expected to have to see! Ken unfortunately hurt himself when his thumb got smashed between two blocks at the church while he was working there. He had a huge blood blister form and then pop. Gary, a Paramedic, on the team is making sure it is cleaned and bandaged well before Ken can return to work!

A picture of some of the new walls at the church.

In this picture, to the left is the Triage area where a patient is seen to have their vital signs taken before seeing a physician. To the right is the waiting area to be seen by a physician.

This is only part of our construction team this year. Half of them stayed back at the camp to install the new ceiling in the Celebration Center. This small team did a lot of work under very hot conditions. We know it blessed the church in a BIG way!

8 days of medical clinics with simultaneous children's ministry!

In the Triage area Adrianna was one of the nurses who took the patients History & Physical before seeing the physicians.

Global Outreach Mission - January 2010 Team/Part 2

For the first time in the almost two years that we have been here, we decided to also take the construction team, who normally stays at the camp and does projects there, mobile with the medical and children's ministry teams. This year, the construction team spent four days working in a very small, low income church in Cariari, just down the road from where the medical clinics were taking place. While the church had most of the supplies, they had very few bodies to help them build another wall around their existing church building to expand their church. Here's a picture of the wall taken on the second day of work.

Ken had to find our camera and take a picture of this! He couldn't believe how the Costa Ricans placed block! This was physically exhausting work, not to mention that this location is about 3 hours away from the camp, near the coast where it is very hot and humid.

While it took most of the children's ministry team to sort, inventory and prepare crafts for the upcoming ministry that would take place during the medical clinics; there were a few who put together 100 teacher's training manuals that was also going to be taking place on the first day of each clinic. These guys were bent over this table for a few hours putting the manuals into the binders, but we couldn't have done it without them!

Here's the entire team, missing just a few bodies to the left of the picture on the first night beginning to go through orientation.

Global Outreach Mission - January 2010 Team

A team of 35 people arrived at the camp on January 16, 2010. After orientation, the fun began of sorting and inventoring all of the supplies that they brought into the country to carry out their two-week ministry. This is just a small portion of the children's ministry supplies: Bibles, children's tracks, and all the necessary craft items.

This is a neat and tidy picture of how a pharmacy is made mobile for a medical clinic. All of the medications pertaining to "GI" (gastrointestinal) conditions are placed in one plastic bin or suitcase.

This is the pharmacy back at the camp coming to order; placing all the GI medications together in one location and then inventoring what we have to work with before the clinics even start. This has to take place for the neat and tidy picture to happen.