Graduation - a testimony

Just a couple of weeks before Christmas, two of the school teachers from the elementary school around the corner from our house stopped by and introduced themselves. They were wondering if the camp would host their graduation ceremony this year. We have never in the three years we've been asked to host that ceremony, but always wanted too. They've had a principal who has always wanted to have the ceremony right in the school building. Someday, I should walk down to the school and just post pictures of the building from the outside. It is a very poor school. This year the intern principal wanted the ceremony to be "special" and so we of course said that we would be more than happy to host them at the camp. We sat with them at a picnic table in front of our home and discussed their plans for the ceremony and before they left we asked if we could pray for them. As the graduation ceremony got closer we thought it might be fun to offer the kids a hot dog each and some popcorn and drink, but we weren't sure if this would be okay with the school and the teachers. We realized we didn't have any contact phone numbers for the two teachers and couldn't call them, so we walked down to the school. For four days we walked to the school and each time, it was locked up. Not having kids in the school system here, we know "about" when school breaks are, but we never know the "exact" dates. We were kind of sad because we wanted to help out the school however we could, but it seemed as though things were closed down until the actual day of the ceremony and we had a team here at the camp that we were working with. Just a few days before the ceremony and while the team from Threshold was cleaning up their supplies, the two teachers came by the house and asked if they could talk to us. They wanted to go over the "final" preparations for the ceremony. We were so glad to see them. When they had finished talking with us, we explained to them that we had a group at the camp who was just about ready to leave and return to the States, but that they had some drink mix left over and on behalf of that team, we wanted to know if we could offer it to the school children. Tears began to well up in one of the teacher's eyes. She explained to us that this last week before graduation she and the other teachers felt like they were walking in the road and trying to climb over boulders. At every turn, it seemed to them as if their graduation ceremony was falling apart. We asked what was happening. They said the person who had committed to have hamburgers prepared for the kids called just that morning and was not going to be able to donate those for their class party. The school didn't have any money to put towards those and they didn't know what they were going to do. We smiled and explained that for the past four previous days we had been walking to the school looking for someone to talk too about the possibility of donating the juice to the kids and also, Ken and I wanted to donate hot dogs and free popcorn. The teacher began to cry! And we asked if we could join hands with both of them and pray for them!

Simple and inexpensive things for Americans that we just don't think about; a hot dog in a bun, a small bag of popcorn and a cup of juice, but for some schools here, a real treasure!

We got to help with the decorating process and had a lot of fun interacting with the teachers and the kids and parents from our community. Reaching outside the gates of the camp to our community and then to the corners of Costa Rica. Thank God for the opportunities He affords us!

Thank You Scipio Center Community Church in New York State for the camp's popcorn popper!

Dundon Family Christmas 2010

This is our 2010 Christmas tree. Yep, trees that are used here for Christmas decorations are a little "different" than back home in N.C. This actually looks like and smells like a Leeland Cyprus tree that we have planted as a property border back home. It's a little difficult to get the ornaments to hang as pretty as you can on a Douglas Fir, but it's something. In the previous two years we've had a star at the top of our tree. This year, I decided that we had to have a traditional N.C. bow, but I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get one since no one uses bows here in that manner, really. Then, I got the idea of looking on You Tube for a video on how to make one myself. So, this is it folks. Where there's a will, there's a way and this is my double bow tree topper...not too bad, eh?

With Danielle and Grandma visiting for 7 weeks, they were always looking for something to do. Danielle and Grandma like to paint, so what better project than for them to help "spruce" up the house a little, I thought. Actually, our house that we live in had been empty for a couple of years and when we moved in the color of the livingroom and diningroom was a very off-white, but gray color. Kinda gloomy, to say the least. Now, thanks to Danielle's and Grandma's help, oops, and Jordan too, it is a really pretty soft cream color in both rooms with new matching curtains in burgundy, navy blue and cream that Grandma made. Just a blessing to our family to have things updated and fresh!

As in previous years, we received tamales from friends and neighbors for Christmas which are exchanged instead of cookies, though we carried on our American family tradition and had a family baking day. We made six different types of Christmas cookies and handed those out in baskets that we had purchased which were cloth-lined with burgundy-colored linen. Our neighbors and friends always get so excited to receive and actually like the American tradition of cookie exchanging! We have friends who know we are "chocoholics", in fact, they are too! They called us to tell us to go to a particular bakery and pick up this cake that they had ordered for us on the day of Brad's arrival (Danielle's husband) for our family Christmas. It was so beautiful, I had to take a picture!

Children's Ministry Team

The Team from Threshold Church based out of Charlotte, N.C. arrived in the beginning of December for three days of children's ministry (VBS) at the camp. We, of course, did the normal pre-team preparations of lining up their transportation, grocery shopping, snack shopping for the children, etc. This is a team that has come down every January for a week since we've been here and even actually before we were here. They are like stellic VBS pro's and really don't need too much of our help once they get here. Heather and Kyle usually help with some of the translation and program. This year, they served about 126 kids and this is the closing program. 23 children came to know the Lord in those three days...Praise the Lord!

"Oh where, oh where have the Dundon's gone....

Oh where, oh where could they be"?

We're still here in Costa Rica! We have wrapped up our Team Marathon of having three teams at the camp in six weeks and things are just beginning to get back to normal, that is, kinda, since nothing is ever really just "normal" 'round here! I've had some time to sort through some pictures, get some, but still working on obtaining the rest of the statistics for the teams, have a week of vacation, be really sick for a week with an upper respiratory tract infection, and today help Amy finish the medication inventory from the January team in preparation for the medical team coming in May! So, check back and we will take it from where we left off...back in December 2010...

oh, but wait, Miss Lily Olson whom we have never met, nor do we know where you live, but does attend weekly Awana meetings and is learning about missions...

"Thank You so much for your words of encouragement that you left in a comment attached to my last post! Thank You for having a spirit that is willing to listen to the Lord when He is speaking. You may never know or understand how important you taking the time to write your thoughts to us were. We deeply appreciate it! Keep being a Light"! Love, Mrs. Sherri

Prayer Requests

WE,

1. Have family visiting until the end of December and had a wonderful Thanksgiving with them and some guests that we invited in an effort to bless them.
2. With having extra bodies here (family) who are willing to help out, we have been able to spend some time "sprucing up" our mission home. The livingroom and diningroom have new paint and curtains. The diningroom now has chair covers which match the curtains. Our bedroom has a new coat of paint, new sound and light blocking curtains as well. Things are looking mighty spiffy around here! What a blessing to our family!
3. Have three teams coming back-to-back in December and January, and are busy doing logistics and having meetings with churches that will be hosting our medical clinics for those teams. Please begin praying for these teams and their ministry that they will be doing in Costa Rica!
4. Are working on obtaining building permits for a new cabin to be started at the camp in 2011. Please pray for this process, it is often frustrating and is always time consuming!
5. Just finished our Christmas letter that will be sent out through Global Outreach Mission to our prayer and financial supporters. We were happy to report that 255 people (children and adults) came to the know the Lord through this ministry in 2010 and are being followed up in local churches...Praise the Lord!
6. Are having heavy rains for the last two days and are having internet connection problems, thus, the short sentences, but some communication is better than none...right?
7. Appreciate all of you who pray for us, who think about us, who leave comments of encouragement, who financially support us, who love us, who care about us. We could not be here without EACH of you!
8. Often times don't understand why we have been allowed to be here. We are reminded that God does not need us to do His work and so, we are grateful!

Hopefully, another day when the connection will last longer I can post more, but until then, thanks for reading!

Sporadic Internet

Due to having sporadic internet in our home due to the storm, and being very behind in work as well and trying to play catch-up; I realized that I am also behind in updating my blog.

We arrived home Sunday evening around 5:30 p.m. from our hotel hold up with the team of architects in the camp and working along. We left Palmar Norte before noon when we got a tip from the Transit Police that they would be opening one of the highways at 2 p.m. We decided that we would wait in line for the road to open up as many of the truckers were loading up and heading out. We drove about 35 km. and sat for very long periods of time watching dump trucks and back hoes in the distance up ahead in one lane continue to clear debris and large mounds of dirt. When I just about thought I couldn't handle the heat anymore and sweat was pouring off Ken's brow, a policeman came and shouted to us, "pase pequenos vehiculos" meaning that small vehicles were allowed to pull around the 18-wheelers and pass through. What we found up ahead that was holding up traffic was easily a two-story pile of dirt in the oncoming lane with the back hoe driven up the side of it removing dirt and loading it into the dump trucks. We saw roads, power lines and bridges (which were now somewhat repaired for usage) washed out into rivers. Travel was slow at 10 m.p.h. We had to drive through one of the hardest hit areas, Parrita, and as I looked from side to side of house-lined roads I began to tear up. It seemed as though everything that anyone owned was up at the road for the trash men to pick up; clothing, furniture, refrigerators, baby equipment. There were several water trucks and people lined up with any kind of clean container that they could find to fill. There were TV crews interviewing and photographing the devastation. The people looked dazed, tired and frustrated. As we entered the center of town where there was an obvious business district, store owners were sweeping water and mud from their buildings and we heard the sound of cans shaking from the middle and sides of the street before us begging for monetary donations.

Traveling home was emotional. We were saddened, but happy. Before us was an obvious reminder; He is coming again. Lord, let it be soon!

It stopped raining and a window into how people pass time.

We are still in the same hotel, but thankful to be safe and have this room. Our room is near the office and repeatedly throughout the day we have heard the office personnel tell people they have no rooms left available, and each time I feel a lump in my throat. There are wall to wall trucks parked alongside the road and people in this hotel are walking in the parking lot to keep from going stir crazy! While Ken and the boys were out walking to the grocery store this morning to buy milk and cereal, they witnessed a landslide across the river and watched as trees and a part of a mountain came down into the river. This is the first time they have ever seen something live like this, not someone else's video or something you would see on the news here. The grocery stores are running low on supplies, such as milk, since no one can get to us at this point and we cannot get out. We have about a three mile radius that we can drive and from those points are totally cut off in both directions with the roads being blocked. The update this morning was that we will have to wait until Tuesday to leave from the transit police; the road conditions are not just landslides at this point, but also repair work where there are sink holes and large parts of the road washed away. The hotel manager said this afternoon that they have begun the "work" on the roads and "maybe we can leave tomorrow", but with every person you ask you get a different story. There are only two restaurants that we can get to, one Chinese, and one pizza. We are only eating out once a day and eating cereal for breakfast, crackers and chips, apples and bananas in the hotel between meals or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. People are starting to wash their clothes and hang them outside their hotel rooms. We may have to start doing that tomorrow if we cannot leave as well since we only brought enough for three days and we've been gone from home six days now! It's taken all day to be able to get online to write this post with the internet not working.

All this to say, God is good! No rain and for a few minutes sun and then about an hour of baby blue sky before the cloud cover. This all taken in from a very comfortable front seat of our van!

Stranded, but Safe in Costa Rica!

We left Orosi on Monday morning and drove to Panama; our 90 days were up and we needed to renew our VISA's. We noticed that halfway through the trip it was very cool and raining which is unlike our previous trips to Panama. Usually, the AC in the van is running wide open as Panama is usually uncomfortably humid! We didn't know that a tropical storm had begun, but noticed that the travel was slower and it took 8 hours to get to the border rather than the usual 6. On Wednesday morning, we received our re-entry stamp to head back into Costa Rica. We got to the two-hour marker into the trip and the Pan American highway which we were traveling on was closed down ahead and we found ourselves at a "Y" in the road; meaning the only other way home was to the left, but that road too was barracaded off. Initially, we thought perhaps there was a bad accident ahead, but upon further questioning of the truck drivers around us, we found out that the roads had been closed since the day before, Tuesday, due to landslides and sink holes. 16" of rain had fallen in this area on Wednesday alone! At about 5 p.m. we decided to begin looking for a room and Ken came back to the van having received the LAST two rooms in a nearby hotel. We didn't have AC, hot water or a TV, but were thankful for the beds and ceiling fans! It is now Friday and it is still raining with only short breaks to lighter rains. We have since moved within the same hotel to a family room which is much larger and we are all together. For $5 more we now have TV and AC, but we have freed up the previous two rooms for others as well. We can now see landslides on the mountains surrounding this town as well.

It would be easy to complain, I reckon. The kids are tired of each other and we are tired of the kids....LOL!!! We could have been on a road or a bridge driving back home that suddenly washed out as so many continue to do each day. We could be at the side of the road sleeping in our van with our three kids with no bathroom, running water, AC or TV; not that we "need" those things, but it sure feels more comfortable, and there's a grocery store behind the hotel!

Three homes have washed into the river in Orosi, where we are from in Costa Rica, the driving bridge is impassable in our town.

We have had sporadic internet service, power and cell phone service here at the hotel, but His timing is perfect in that we have a team arriving in Costa Rica tomorrow to spend a week at the camp and every time we have needed to "connect" with someone regarding finishing the logistics for this team, He has provided a way, a connection!

We don't know when we will get to go home. We have the transit police office not far from the hotel we are stranded in and they give us updates. It is still raining and they tell us they will not begin clearing the roads of the mudslides until it stops raining due to the instability in the mountains and the danger to the workers. We planned on two days away, but it's been five so far. We know the team will and can go on without us because we know whose team it is as the Lord continues to provide for Global Outreach Mission and the campground expansion projects!

It would be so easy to gripe, but when I look at this picture all I can say is "Thank You, Lord" for having us in your protective Hands!

http://www.ticotimes.net/News/Daily-News/Escazu-Landslide-Leaves-at-Least-20-Dead-10-Missing-Costa-Rica-on-Red-Alert_Thursday-November-04-2010

Lo siento mucho OR sorry!

We've been really busy. More on all of that later!

The reason for this post is to ask you to remember the ministry at the campground this weekend with the homeless shelter in your prayers. We have just a couple of hours behind us and already the walls are being broken down and God is moving. Several street weapons have already been turned in (a picture later). God is moving!

Thank you so much for praying!

Housecleaning...in more ways than one!

I enjoy cleaning at the camp for the most part. Of course, there are always the not-so-fun cleaning jobs that need to get done. Mostly, I enjoy the times that I get to work by myself without interruption; I take in the sights and the sounds of the camp, the small animals, hummingbirds and birds or just enjoy spying different flowers and trees in full bloom as I walk the paths between cabins and buildings. Today, I wished our camera wasn't broken. I caught a glimpse of a flowering bush that for some reason hit me in a comical way; the plumes of bright yellow flowers reminded me of the hair on some of Dr. Seuss' characters! I noticed an orange tree that I couldn't ever remember so many oranges on at one single time!

I also like to spend my cleaning times talking to God. These are often "self-evaluation" times for me. Times when I feel God is revealing changes that need to be made in my life, and then there are times when I recognize I need to change, but I need to ask for His help!

Today, as I saw the oranges and the guava falling to the ground and onto a walking path I was reminded of "The Fruit of the Spirit". Galatians 5:22 & 23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control". As I looked at the display of God's handiwork in the campground today, I questioned myself about what my personal, every day life display looks like to the community in which we live. Am I displaying something that is attractive and what others might want? Is God able to appeal to people in this community through me?

Housecleaning, not always fun, but necessary!

Five months and still praying!

Heather had a dentist appointment today in San Jose. Today, her and Ken opted to take the bus rather than drive the van, but doing this will take the better part of a day which means a late return home this afternoon. The van is scheduled to go in for more repairs again tomorrow. Last week, we were still having problems with the oil leak, but it seems as though that might have been fixed, but when one thing is corrected, it has meant that we have difficulties with something else. Now we have a new problem of leaking gas; from what location, I don't know, only that Ken told me that it is. The van has not been operating correctly since we got the new motor put in, and none of the repairs that anyone has done on them seems to last very long. It is stressful for Ken because he needs to make sure he is getting back to the mechanic before the work warranty runs out. Personally, we are ready to just begin taking the bus everywhere since the repairs are costing us so much money! They weren't kidding when we came here and we were told that it is costly to maintain a vehicle.

Today, I cleaned the green cabin that the Messick Family stayed in over the weekend, folded a large amount of laundry, and did more camp laundry.

This week will be a week of preparation for a large group rental the entire weekend. They plan on arriving Friday morning between 8 and 9 a.m. and leaving late Sunday afternoon. It is the homeless shelter that will be returning, one of our partnerships through Promundo Fundacion, and they always would request your prayers for their work during the weekend. Please pray for the participants who are continuing to work through a restoration program both spiritually and from the addiction of drugs or alcohol.

Well, time for me to prepare for my two-hour English class this afternoon. Megayle is 18 years old and is a Christian, and she is an outstanding student, doing her homework and scoring a 101 on her "other" teacher's exam last week. She sure was excited and returned to my home at 9:15 p.m. last Thursday night to show me the results. Continue to pray for me as a strive to help her learn.

From Kristy

Below is a comment that Kristy left on our blog after returning home from the camp. I just wanted to share it with everyone and to thank you so very much for praying for her, Matt, and the kids as they enjoyed the camp this weekend. They too, were a blessing to us as we attended church together and spent some time just getting to know each other, and encouraging each other! May the Lord continue to bless them, their ministry and their family!

Kristy said...
What a gift it was to be able to come and RUN, PLAY, SING, and collect fruit in such a beautiful garden! We had a fabulous time as a family taking a break from Spanish and just being a family! Thank you for letting Christ's love shine thru you guys and gifting us with exactly what we needed! So thankful to be in His hands! Culture shock isn't fun, but remembering it won't last for ever, and remembering that we all go thru it to some degree makes it a little easier! Thank you for being willing to walk with us thru a bit of ours!

"It's Finally Friday" & Culture Shock

My kids loved that song on Q*DR when we lived in N.C. We would sing it altogether while waiting in carpool line and crank it up! Buncha' rednecks!

It is Friday, but it has been a productive week here at the camp with getting a lot of spring cleaning done. Yesterday, Ken and I spent six hours cleaning out the two main bodegas (storage rooms) in the Celebration Center. One of them is the tool room for construction, and the other houses our medications and medical supplies in a secured storage locker. The other half of that room is divided off by a wall and doorway and has another large storage area with shelving and stores household items for the cabins and the mission homes, and sports equipment. Yesterday, Ken & I literally pulled everything out of the large storage area and into the Celebration Center, cleaned the shelving and reorganized. The "plan" is to move all of the Children's Ministry supplies out of the cabinets in the office of the white house and into the storage area with the shelving.

Last week, I had been reading a blog on missionary blogs.com (a web site comprised of blogs written by missionaries serving all over the world which our blog is a member of) written by a missionary family located near San Francisco, Costa Rica. Their post literally made me tear up in that I felt helpless to help them as they deal with the issue of culture shock. Culture shock is something that all missionaries know they will at some time have to deal with, but it is not something that you can predict the timing of, nor in what manner it will effect you, therefore, you cannot fully explain it to another missionary and tell them exactly how they will experience it. Culture shock by definition is the trauma you experience when you move into a culture different from your home culture. Simple enough, right? Not really...It is a helpless feeling when you go through it, a feeling of literally hitting a wall. You feel as though you have lost what little "control" you might have in living in a foreign country, where you do not always understand the language, where the culture is new and you are walking on eggshells trying not to intentionally offend anyone, and on a daily basis struggling just to achieve simple tasks. I think that about sums it up! There are five stages to culture shock: the first is the stage of excitement and fascination with the new culture in which you live. The second is the crisis period where you begin to feel disappointed where you are, overwhelmed and easily irritated. The third is the adjustment phase when you begin to accept the culture and you begin to have a more positive attitude toward it. I can laugh now, but it took me a full year to get to this phase! The fourth stage is acceptance and adaptation; you have accepted where you live, and you begin to make connections with the people, and are involving yourself in outside activities. The fifth stage is the re-entry shock. When you go back to your homeland and at first you are in a euphoric state, happy to see everyone and be connected again. There is also a crisis state associated with this phase in which you realize that you are not really "home", things have changed, people are not the same, you in some ways feel disconnected because you have been gone and you feel disenchanted. This happens to us every time we go home. We "thought" we were going home, yet, it feels less and less like "home" is there. It initially feels wonderful to have so much available to us when we go back, yet we often shortly upon our return feel angry or frustrated with how much the States has available to them. (Trust me, you really don't want to know all the details of my melt-down in Food Lion in August just trying to satisfy a craving for some American store-bought cookies. End result: Tears of frustration, no cookies, and the inability to literally make a choice because there was SO MUCH to choose from after standing and staring in the cookie aisle for twenty minutes)! When we leave, it's a confusing feeling.

To make a long story short, as I was reading the blog post by the other missionary, the Lord compelled me to leave a comment inviting them to come and stay at the camp.

Please pray for Matt & Kristy and their four children as they come to the camp tonight and spend the weekend. They are here in Costa Rica staying about a year for language study. They are going to be ministering in another country once they have completed their language studies, and will have to make new adjustments to that culture. The Lord has required them to give up much; they have no vehicle while here in Costa Rica. I could not do that with four kids in the States, let alone another country! Matt & Kristy have "hit the wall"! They are frustrated and tired with language study. We can relate to that! They are desperately trying to adjust to the culture. I'm not sure at times I even totally understand this culture and I've already lived here two and a half years. Pray, that the Lord would flood their souls with peace and understanding as they go through this period of culture shock, and that they would hear His voice this weekend as they seek rest in the campground. Pray that the language would "click" in their minds and that they would progress in it! I know that they will deeply appreciate you praying for them! May the Lord work this weekend for His honor and His glory as we offer them respite care!

Rise and shine tomorrow morning for us is 4 a.m. as we travel to Pavas, a suburb of San Jose to join our ministry partners, Promundo Fundacion - "God Festival", who will be infiltrating this suburb for one day with the Good News of Jesus Christ where 90-plus volunteers will work in children's ministry, hair stylists, cooks, lawyers, medical doctors and nurses, pharmacists, and the evangelism team. We partner with them to reach the poor and oppressed in Costa Rica and be His hands and His feet.

"Taps" - Sing with us!

Yes, we are singing Taps AGAIN as we throw away another camera here in Costa Rica! This one was pronounced DOA (dead on arrival) when pulled from Ken's back pocket at the orphan home after three or four of the kids climbed on his back and he heard a very generous "crunch" sound! And our daughter's response back home when asked to please shop for another camera to bring down with her in November when she visits? Something to the effect of "we go through as many cameras as she does diapers for our grandson ...LOL"! That makes three cameras in two and a half years. Others have had more miserable deaths; like the last one going through a wash cycle in Heather's jeans pocket. In other words, our daughter does not arrive in Costa Rica until November 13th and there won't be any pictures posted to our blog before then....sorry! But please, don't let that be the only reason you follow us here.

Well, our visitors have returned to the States, sadly. It's a little lonely now around here. Yesterday after Spanish lessons I cleaned the camp kitchen, doing dishes, cleaning out the refrigerator, sanitizing the countertops and mopping the floor. Ken cleaned the peach cabin, stripping bedding from the Meyer's family visit and cleaning the cabin, doing laundry.

Today, I have been doing laundry in our home after not finding time to do much of any with company. We have an abundance of bananas ripening at the camp, so today I made two loaves of banana bread and two banana cakes; one for us and one for Amy & Alex. This afternoon, I have a new English student; one of Isa's relatives (the camp cook) that I am beginning lessons with. She is studying English in Orosi and paying for her lessons. I won't be charging anyone who wants to learn English because here it means the difference of a better job and pay, and I consider this a means of ministry. I am not sure if this student is a Christian, but my focus will be on building our relationship and earning the right to share my faith with her. Please keep me and my English student in your prayers!

Well, there is always enough to do here whether for ministry purposes or just the care of our family. I need to check over the last two weeks of school work the three kids have done as they progress in their homeschooling. It all keeps me out of trouble!

Thank you for reading and for praying for our family. We certainly need it as we endeavor to serve here in Costa Rica, bringing the Light of Jesus to the Orosi Valley!

Amy's First-Aid kits

When Candace first arrived we took her on a tour of the Carpio Clinic where she is ministering each day this week, with the exception of Tuesday, when it is closed; and then we went shopping for first-aid containers. Candace and Amy put together 18 of these kits for each home with Heather & Javier's help, and while there is a nurse on staff at the orphan home, I know that it will go a long way in helping the mothers to clean scrapes and cuts in their homes, keeping germs at bay until the nurse can get around to check things out!

Ministering at the Orphan Home

We ministered at the orphan home for two days; last Friday and also this past Tuesday. These pictures are from last Friday while the previous post was from this week on Tuesday.

Since the kids in the orphan home go to school for a half day it gave us the opportunity to fit a lunch break into our schedule. We thought that Candace might enjoy having lunch at the Mirador in Orosi (the look-out) to give her the opportunity to take some photo's and also to just enjoy the beauty of the valley in which we are allowed to minister.

This photo is taken from one side of the Mirador, a cleared field overlooking some of the opposite mountains and valleys.

This photo is overlooking Cachi, a town past Orosi. This is the same river that flows behind the campground.

On both Friday and Tuesday we packed a picnic lunch, kind of a "make-your-own" sub-type lunch with baguettes, lunch meat and toppings as well as chips, soda and cookies. Everyone seemed to enjoy this and the team fellowship as well! This is taken from the Orosi Mirador and on Tuesday we went to the Ujarras Mirador, across the valley on another mountain.

And the parachute, a gift from Global Outreach Mission, is still a big hit in children's ministry!

One of the really fun things that Amy & Alex prepared in the hygiene teaching was a video entitled, "The Batman". Amy had found it online and it demonstrates the proper way to protect a sneeze from spreading germs. Of course, Amy didn't have too much problem finding a volunteer on the team to demonstrate "The Batman" following the video, live to the kids! Here's our Batman, Jordan!

Thank the Lord for Heather, always willing to lead music and with Becca & Tate's help, we were well prepared to minister through music with beautifully decorated posterboards!

Keep us in your prayers as tonight we go to minister at the homeless shelter. Candace and Emil & his family will be joining us in that as we prepare in the campground kitchen this afternoon a spaghetti dinner for 90 people. Tomorrow, sadly Emil and his family will begin their trip back home in the late afternoon, so please keep them in your prayers for traveling mercies. Candace will leave on Saturday as well and would appreciate the same prayers. It will be kind of lonely around here, that's for sure!

Visitors & Ministry

On Monday, Emil & Stacey arrived at the camp with their two daughters, Becca & Tate. They are prayerfully considering full-time missionary service with Global Outreach Mission and came from California to see the ministry in Costa Rica! Part of our ministry here is to share our lives with other potential missionaries by involving them in what we do on a day-to-day basis as well as having them joining us in ministry. This week has been awesome because it has felt like we have had a "mini" team here and we are always able to do so much more with a few people than just by ourselves! I really like their family and I wish that we could keep them here. Their girls are so special and Heather has enjoyed having "little sisters" around. It's hard for us to meet people for a short time, bond with them in some way and then have them leave. We don't know if Emil & Stacey will feel that God is calling them back to Costa Rica, but we know who does the calling! I do know that they would make great missionaries and so I ask that you add them to your prayer list for us; that God would give them very clear direction in the future. May God bless their family!

This picture is of Stacey at the orphan home introducing a craft with Heather translating for her.

As I mentioned before in a previous post, Candace is here from Arkansas for one week. She is an R.N. and has been ministering with Amy from a medical aspect in that her and Amy devised a plan to teach general hygiene while we were at the orphan home. Candace has been a hoot while she has been staying in our home. When I think about the scripture, "The joy of the Lord is my strength", I will always think of Candace in the future. She floods a room with "joy" in all circumstances and a love for the Lord that is contagious. She will be greatly missed when it is time for her to go as well.

Also as part of our ministry at the orphan home, we have always tried to minister to the mothers as well. I emailed Candace in advance of her coming and asked her if it would be possible for her to bring some small gifts for the mothers. When she arrived I was thrilled when she opened a suitcase of donations from her home church and friends of small bottles of lotion, candles, notepads, washcloths, etc. and when Ken was out one day he found these cute purse-like gift bags for us! Some were white with silver beaded handles and also red. At the end of the day of ministering on Tuesday to the orphan home kids, Stacy, Candace & Heather went to each home, prayed with each Mom and presented them with a special "ladies only" gift bag! Thank you so much, all of Candace's family and friends who made this possible for us to do. It was a tremendous blessing for the ladies to receive and I know that it encouraged each one of them!

In talking with Amy about what kind of thing we could do "new & different" in ministry at the orphan home, she came up with the brilliant idea one day as she was up to her arm pits in suitcases and sorting medical supplies, that with the extra that we had on hand, we could make miniature first aid kits for each orphan house. From that idea came another to have general hygiene kits for each child, and to set our "program" for the children around scriptural verses relating to God's temple (our bodies) and the care of our temple. Then, came the email to Emil & Stacey who were still preparing back in the States to let them know what we were doing and how they might be able to help us. Never did we expect that Emil & Stacey would take our ideas and prepare so much for us; what a blessing! When they arrived, they had two suitcases full of 60 prepared hygiene kits, each in an individual travel bag and complete with a washcloth, travel toothbrush, a regular toothbrush, soap, hair brush and shampoo.

On Tuesday, Stacey prepared a devotional that pulled everything that Amy & Candace had been teaching on hygiene together using one of the hygiene kits! The kids lined up to leave and go back to their homes after the ministry, and Becca & Tate, along with Stacey placed a kit in each child's hand. The kids were so excited! I saw one little boy, not even looking through his bag as most of the kids were, but clutching it close to his side as if to send the message that it "was his"!

As simple as water

Yesterday afternoon the town crier informed us that the water would be turned off today for line repairs. It's always nice to have advance notice! So, this morning Ken and I were up early to fill the necessary containers to be able to do today's chores; filling pots to be able to boil water to do the dishes later (we only have cold water here and always boil water to ensure the dishes are clean) and for cooking. Of course, taking a shower was high on the list of priorities as well before the 7:30 or 8 a.m. "turn off".

It's not so hard to recall how much easier things "appear" back in the States having just returned back to Costa Rica a little over six weeks ago. What is more amazing is how God has allowed us to adapt back and forth between our two homelands. It's odd how the mission field "changes" you. Most people come here and can't believe how long it takes to do the dishes for a family of five, boiling the pots of water. I go home to the States and struggle with remembering how to load and operate our dishwasher, and my daughter or son-in-law have to hold a "reminder session".

Simplicity, it's not as bad as it sounds, and later today, I will be reminded of how nice it is just to be able to turn on the tap and watch the cold water flow.

Scipio Center, NY

One of the churches that we were invited to while we were home in the States was the Scipio Center Community Church located in Scipio, NY (Central NY). They asked us to be their guest speakers for their week-long VBS program. The theme of their VBS was the Rain Forest! We came armed with all the fascinating photos for their kids that we could find on our cameras; you know, the tarantulas, iguanas, bananas on the trees, the monkeys, all things Rain Forest and Costa Rica! We had a great time sharing with them on a number of different levels; what it means to be a missionary, what a missionary does in a foreign country, what our family does in Costa Rica for work and for fun, etc.

This first picture is of Jo Beth and Heather leading the music. Jo Beth has actually been to Costa Rica and served alongside of us on a children's ministry team. Heather and Jo Beth hit it off and since this is my sister, Wendy's, home church; whenever we get to visit her and her husband, Gary, Jo Beth and Heather get to see each other. They make a GREAT team, along with Jo Beth's sister.

This is just a few of the preschool kids. They are so much fun! Many had a lot of questions about missions and living in a foreign country. You never know what seed God might have planted in the heart of one of these small children.

I found a Dr. Seuss book entitled, "If I Ran the Rain Forest" and while it didn't have any Biblical basis, the book itself, had lots of whimsical drawings of rain forest animals and the four floors of the rain forest. This was an educational tool and I read it to the younger groups of kids while I was there one day. They all had lots of questions about the rain forest which this book helped to answer. Though, the rhymes in true Dr. Seuss style were real tongue twisters!

Five days of being in front of the kids, while only for five to ten minutes, by the last day, I was hoarse! I shared a couple of different illustrations, tye-dying a coffee filter with different colored food colorings each representing a "difference" that we saw in the Costa Ricans when we first arrived to Costa Rica, but explaining they too are made in God's image, and that God sees them as equal to us. When I held the folded coffee filter up and began to unfold it, the kids began to squeal at the beauty in the tye-dyed filter and I explained that "differences" make us all unique and beautiful before God.

One day, Heather, Kyle & Jordan joined me up front, and we just sat casually and answered all the questions they could think of to ask; what do we eat in Costa Rica for food? What is our favorite foods in Costa Rica? What do we miss eating while we are in the States that we can only get in Costa Rica? Did Heather or Kyle have a boyfriend or girlfriend in Costa Rica? What do we do for fun as a family when we are not working?

On the last day, as I was wrapping up all that we had talked about, I had one of the Youth Group help me out on an illustration using a remote controlled car as I did an invitation. I used scripture from Romans and had the Youth represent "me" and demonstrate how without Jesus, and me controlling the remote car, I tend to steer my car in different and sometimes wrong directions. But, when I accepted Jesus, He took control of my life, and the car was on a much better, direct path. Praise the Lord that 7 children accepted Jesus at the end of the week! Thank you, Scipio Community Church, for investing in the children of your church and community. Truly, they are the future of your church. And, thank you for allowing us to participate in your VBS. You were a blessing to our family and we enjoyed feeling like part of your family!

Not "Big Steve's"

One place we love to go to when we are at home in NC is actually only about three miles from our home. The name of the restaurant is "Big Steve's" and he's located in the Food Lion Plaza at Hwy. 210 and I-40, Exit 319. He specializes in bagels and I really do mean "specializes". They also make The Best chicken salad..."evah"! I love to go there for breakfast and especially when my son-in-law, Brad, takes care of ordering for me. I guess he knows me, probably more because he is married to my daughter, Danielle, and we have similar tastes in food. I always order the croissant sandwich, bacon, egg and cheese and wonder how in the world I am going to finish that! And Brad always adds in a cinnamon-raisin bagel with plain cream cheese for me knowing that's really what I want too. (He did it to me last time I was home too and when we sat down to eat at the breakfast table and I questioned the bagel in addition to the croissant, Brad rolled his eyes, and we both busted out laughing!)

Needless to say, we don't ever get to eat bagels here in Costa Rica because we can't afford them at over more than $1 per bagel, frozen, Lender's bagels. There is a restaurant called, "Bagelman's" here, but it is so far away, about 45 minutes from the house, that we can't justify driving to get a breakfast sandwich there. The other day when reading another missionary blog, I found that she had made some bagels from a recipe she found and posted a link.

Well, they are NOT "Big Steve's", but they are whole wheat and cinnamon-raisin, and they are easy and taste so good! Some days on the mission field, we just thank the Lord for being able to eat something that comes somewhat close to familiar from home.