Ministry Update: November/December 2013

Hello Everyone!  

We are anticipating a wonderful Christmas season.  We have put up a few decorations and lights, but not too much since we will leave for the USA soon.  We are excited to be at home in Iowa for Christmas since it has been seven years since we’ve been able to do so.  Yeah!

We have a very nice Thanksgiving dinner at our home with 20 people in attendance including the LeGrands, Sickels, Brandon Blower (missionary in San Jose with MAF), the two MNU student teachers, and the Clem family who live in Atenas.  It was a fun night with lots of laughter and great food (Thanks Anne for the huge turkey!).  Here’s the bad part…no one took any photos!  Sorry!

It has been a super busy November and December with David taking many trips.  The bridge project in the Indigenous area continues to surprise us all as God begins to bring all the resources together including government agencies and donors to make the bridge a reality in 2014.  David and Stephen Sickel (W&W Coordinator) have traveled to Limon a number of times recently for planning meetings.  We hope to be a part of building a vehicle bridge into the Indigenous area, but it will depend on funding.  It may be a walking bridge as originally planned.  We also want to thank the EMi ministry (an engineering ministry – they help with architecture and plans) for their assistance and expertise. 

David also has traveled to many parts of Costa Rica recently.  He was in Upala (almost to Nicaragua) for a combined church service for the North CR District.  It was very well attended with approximately 700 there.  Many traveled long distance to arrive for the 9am service (including David who left at 5am).  

Combined Service for CR North in Upala.

David also traveled into the Indigenous area in November.  As always, it was an adventure as he hiked through the rivers to arrive at the small villages where the Church of the Nazarene has cell groups and churches.  In the next year, David and others will be working on training and developing these new missions.

 Just this week David went to Sarapique to pick up Pastor Franklin and his family. They have decided to return to Nicaragua to work there. There are many reasons for this, but his wife’s health and the difficulty to getting a visa are two of them.  We are so proud of Franklin for his hard work in planting two churches in the last few years.  Now local leaders will take over and David and the district will be working with them closely to help them disciple and develop the ministries of the church.

SENDAS held their graduation, which is always a great event and a highlight for the year. 

Some of the SENDAS graduates for 2013.

The graduates during the service.

Esdras and Scarlet (they live and work at SENDAS) enjoying a fun moment as Scarlet graduated with her master's degree.  We are excited to see the addition to their family (Sarita) in January!

Shelley taking photos at Graduation. The resident photographer.

Congrats to Helen (Shelley's office assistant in PR) for completing the course of study (30 courses).

Also, SENDAS held their yearly assembly with a new council in place to assist with future plans. 

The Executive Board of SENDAS with Dr. Ruben Fernandez (President) in front.

CALL continues to grow and we have loved having the Gentrys here (from Indiana).  They are a volunteer couple that will serve for one year until September of 2014.  They are both (Luke and Liz) teaching ESL and Luke has been helping with the video conference equipment.  They have done a great job of assimilating into Costa Rican life.

Enjoying the National Museum.

Working with David at the Maximum Mission project in Pavas.

Also, we have enjoyed having two MNU student teachers here with us.  Jaime and Angel have been a joy to have around.  They do their student teaching at Kayley’s school and two afternoons per week they take Spanish classes with CALL.  This weekend they are staying in the homes of local families, learning more about the culture and life of Costa Ricans.

First trip to the fruit market.

Jaime's classroom at ICS.

Gallo pinto for the first of many times!

We have one more week of busyness before we leave for the USA.  This is the first time we can think of that we have travelled completely for pleasure (no work involved) since we left for the mission field 8 years ago.  We are really looking forward to it!  And another great part is that Joshua will join up with us in Chicago.  Pray for him and Kayley as they enter their exam weeks on Monday. 

Thanks for your prayers and support,

The Webb Family

Update on Kayley: If you don’t know, Kayley had a gymnastics accident in November (see previous blog), but we glad to report that she is mending up nicely.  She is still under treatment (weekly shots – ouch!) but the wound seems to be healing nicely. 

The Busted Lip Saga

As you probably already notice, this blog has a strange title, a title that well describes the last couple of weeks for the Webbs in Costa Rica.  Although we could write about the ministry aspects of the last few weeks (graduation at SENDAS, two MNU students study with CALL, the Gentrys continue their volunteer work, David leads local assemblies and travels to various churches in the two districts, etc.), what has most been on our minds lately is Kayley’s busted lip. 

Let me (Shelley) start at the beginning (and I’ll try to keep this short)…

It was a Tuesday morning when the call came from the school, something about Kayley’s been hurt in gymnastics class and something about her knee and stitches.  So, I hurry to ICS and there is Kayley on the cot.  I look straight at her knee and think, “What’s the big deal, it’s just a small cut.”  But then I look at her face.  Oh my.  We have a problem, Houston.  There is basically a hole in her bottom lip.  Ouch!

Apparently, in gymnastics class, Kayley was practicing 360’s on the soft mat.  She jumped higher and faster than ever before (she loves gymnastics and is getting stronger each week) and flipped in the air with such force that she could not control her speed as she headed for the floor mat.  Instead of getting her legs straight out in front of her, she landed on her bottom with her knees up.  With the full force of her momentum, her top teeth went through her bottom lip and into her own knee, leaving a beautiful two teeth impression there as a reminder.

Ok, so with the damage done, the medical service came and the stitches began.  Eleven stitches later, we headed home with ice and pain medicine.  The dentist wanted to see her right away, but thankfully, although the front teeth moved back, it does not appear to be any serious damage.

As you can imagine, the swelling was worse on day two, expected.  But day three and four brought little improvement, and this Mom began to worry.  Day five found us at the clinic, seeking help once again.  The infection was bad, so two antibiotics were given, the strong kinds, hard on the stomach. 

Finally, a week after the incident, Kayley returned to school, still having trouble eating and speaking well, but she was brave and returned to classes. The infection cleared up, but there was still a big problem.  The lip had not healed correctly, but what to do? 

A day later, God led me to the website of a local hospital, and I searched for a plastic/reconstructive surgeon.  There were six on the list, but who to choose?  All the doctor’s qualifications looked the same, and with no one to ask, I did the most logical thing.  I choose the doctor with the name I liked.  Yep, it’s the truth.  I choose the doctor with the first name of “Christian.”  I called and made an appointment and prayed it would work out. 

Nine days after the accident, we visited the specialist.  We waited a good, long time and finally at 6pm we entered the office.  Dr. Rivera took one look, heard the story and began to work on Kayley, the whole while asking us as missionaries what we do and where we do it.  We visited about micro-finance projects, helping the poor, ending the cycle of poverty, compassionate projects, etc. and 45 minutes later, we were leaving the office with a new friend and Kayley with 5 more stitches. 

David shared with the doctor that there are no coincidences with God, and I shared how I make important medical decisions (based on first names!).  As we left, we made a follow up appointment and asked about the payment.  The secretary said,

“You do not pay.”  I just stared at her and kept staring until she repeated, “You do not pay…the Doctor said you are not to be charged.” 

It took a minute to sink in, this unexpected blessing, but it finally did.  The tears wanted to start, but I managed to stop them before being too obvious about it.  I hugged the receptionist and asked her to pass the hug along to the Doctor as a thank you.  We practically floated to the parking lot, not only pleased with the unexpected blessing, but so glad to know this journey was coming to an end.

There are still more follow up appointments this week, but the wound is healing as it should.  At Thanksgiving dinner with the crowd of 20 people, we shared our thanks to God for Kayley and for God’s healing power.  The scar on Kayley’s lip will likely remain (hopefully not too noticeable) to remind us all of God’s care, protection and leading during a tough time.

Thanks for your prayers for Kayley as she heals. 

Blessings to all…

The Webbs

P.S.  The next blog will be published very soon with ministry updates and many photos.

October blessings

How great it is to greet you in the great and marvelous Name of Jesús Christ.  Our family thanks you for your prayers.  God, as always, is good and He continues to bless and to help us.  Here are some of the highlights of the ministry trips that God has permitted David to be a part of over the last four or five weeks.

In the last half of September, David was able to travel with the evangelism coordinator of the Costa Rica North district in order to meet with pastors of four different zones.  In their four days of travels, they were encouraged to see the hearts of these pastors respond to the challenge of working together to plant a new work together in each zone.  Our hope is in two years, that we will see four new organized churches in this district that currently has 15 churches.

new church in Alto Palmera

10 baptisms in the Zent River

The first week of October, David traveled with three pastors of San José to the indigenous area of Bajo Chirripo.  They worked with church planter Brother Elber and David was able to help with the baptism of 10 new believers as well as visiting the new church that they are building.  They visited another new village called Serenache where Pastor Elber is beginning to work.  God blessed a Jesús Film presentation that evening and one of the new believers is the wife of the community leader.  We look forward to see what will happen there as God continues to open doors to enter this community. 

Jesus Film showing in Serenache

After returning home from the indigenous zone, David visited works in Sarapiqui and a very new work of Loma Larga that is in the province of Cartago.  Loma Larga is in a beautiful location in the mountains and we rejoiced to spend time with more than 20 people from different households in this community. We rejoice that God is opening works in all parts of Costa Rica.

Loma Larga

The following week, David visited Pastor Armando of David, Panamá.  Pastor Armando is one of the church planters with whom David works.  One of the highlights of this trip was to worship with the believers in a church in the community of Los Abanicos that was officially organized in September after being started with a Jesús Film presentation in February of this year.  It is so exciting to see this work grow in a community where there is so many needs, both spiritual and material. 

Los Abanicos

David made another trip to Panamá the following week for evangelism meetings where evangelism coordinators from Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Panama shared about what God was doing in their countries. 

The last week of September David was able to attend a very special event.  Fourteen different denominations are working together to evangelize all of Costa Rica.  On September 26, pastors from all over the country of Costa Rica met to pray and to commit to a plan to distribute copies of the Jesús Film all through the country. Some churches are beginning special times of prayer for the evangelism of Costa Rica. 

 

We feel very privileged to serve the Lord here in Costa Rica and Panamá and ask that you please continue to pray that God will continue to raise up workers for the harvest.  He is able!  

Much love in Christ, David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

"What's the best part of your work as a missionary?"

Sometimes missionaries get asked questions something like these:

“What’s the best part of your work?  What do you do that you most enjoy?

I enjoy all the different aspects of my work including translating documents, administrating a Spanish language school, writing publications for SENDAS, and updating webpages and Facebook pages, but here is the best, most lasting part of my work as a missionary…

I get to be part of helping people discover God’s call on their lives.  I say “part of” since this is completely God’s thing, but I’ve got to say, I love watching God lead and guide people in their calling whether it be to serve as a missionary, a pastor, a teacher or a  ____________ (fill in the blank). 

My work with the CALL language school is key in this.  Volunteer missionaries, newly contracted missionaries, and other professionals come to CALL to learn the Spanish language, but it’s really a lot more than that.  Students learn to live in a new culture (How do I get to…? What is that?  Why do they do that?  What does it mean when…?), they discover their strengths and weaknesses, and through a time consuming process (sometimes up to year or more) they begin to see how God would have them serve, whether on the mission field or elsewhere.  Witnessing this process is super fulfilling, sometimes exasperating and always wonderful.

Recently, our Regional Director, Dr. Carlos Saenz, asked me a question I could not answer.  “How many people have studied with CALL?”   I could only answer, “Muchas.”  I really didn’t have any idea, so the next week I began to research by viewing all the monthly reports since CALL started in fall of 2009.  I was amazed to learn that 70 students have studied with CALL during that time.  Wow.

Here is the part that really gets me excited.  Some of these folks have felt a call to continue serving as missionaries.  Here are few of them that are serving as missionaries today:

Lora Wooster, serving with Partnerships for the Mesoamerica Region

Stephen and Anne Sickel, Work and Witness, Costa Rica and Panama

Bub and Rickie Honea, Work and Witness, CA4 Area

Dan and Janet Reinhart, serving with the Eurasia Region

Darin and Tonya Kucey, serving in Haiti

Others are in the process now, taking classes and serving as they study.

Patrick and Kim LeGrand, serving with Work and Witness, Costa Rica and Panama

Luke and Liz Gentry, serving with SENDAS

Gary and Naomi Faucett, currently taking online courses and will arrive in January to continue studying with CALL.

Of course that's not all of the CALL students with a call to missionary service, and there are many others who serve in other ways:  pastoring, teaching, serving children, administrating, etc.  Each of these people used their CALL and Costa Rica experience to build language skills to serve others.  One of our former CALL students now teaches Spanish in an elementary school in Washington D.C. and she does not have a Spanish major, but improved her skills through CALL. Now that’s an awesome ministry!

One last thing…I’ve learned I cannot predict who God will choose for missionary work or how He will have them serve.  Sometimes I think it’s obvious how someone should (or should not) serve.  These four years of CALL experience have shown me that God’s will in a person’s life does not always make human sense.  Actually, it usually doesn’t make sense.  Watching God mold and shape us (that includes me!) into who He wants us to be is an amazing process. 

I ask you, “What could be better than that?”

Two Special Mission Areas

 Hello to all our friends and family,

That's David in the Red 4-Runner, making his way through the jungle.

We would like to highlight two special areas of Costa Rica this time around:  The Valle de Estrella (Star Valley) and Las Marias in Sarapiqui. 

Patrick, David, Stephen and O.E. having an afternoon meeting (Looks like the white sock convention to me!).

This month, David went with a group of five others to the Indigenous Area of Valle de Estrella.  This is in the southeast part of Costa Rica, just southwest of Limon and a Caribbean port city.  David has been there many times, but this trip was for a new purpose of investigating the possibility of a bridge project.  In the area of Cuchey, the people are isolated by the river.  To reach medical attention, or to buy food or supplies, one must cross the river.  Thankfully, when the team went, the river was low and it was not difficult to pass.  But many times during rainy season, the river swells to a level where it is dangerous to cross, but many times the people try.  Every year more people die trying to cross the river. 

The terrain in the Indigenous Area.

So, since the COTN has churches and contacts in the area, the idea of building a walking bridge has been brought up.  Still we are not sure if this will be possible since the cost would be high and governmental support needs to be obtained, but this is project that could be a huge help to the people in the area of Valle de Estrella, which has a population of just under 7000 inhabitants.  We have one church and preaching points in nine other nearby communities all under the direction of Pastor Arcelio.  Pastor Arcelio’s son-in-law Elber is starting Nazarene works in another indigenous area in Costa Rica as well. 

Hiking from one village to another.  David, Leyla and O.E.

This was a tough hiking trip.  The team parked on the east side of the river and walked into the villages from there.  They slept in hammocks and tried their best to keep the mosquitos away.  It was hot and humid during the day, but cooled off at night.   The second day they hiked a total of 6 hours to visit 2 villages.  They showed the Jesus Film one evening and had a worship service in the community of Cuchey the following evening.  Spanish is actually the second language as the inhabitants of this part of Costa Rica speak Cabecar.  We ask you to pray that God will continue to raise up indigenous leaders as this is vitally important for the growth of the work there.  

Jesus Film showing

Typical structure in the indigenous area.

Another trip is planned for the near future to make plans to set up an educational extension center there for the pastors from all denominations who are wanting Biblical training from SENDAS.  Educational opportunities are very limited there, and we thank God for the door He is opening to make disciples.

Another area where David travels to often is called Sarapiqui.  This area is filled with banana plantations, and Las Marias is one of many villages there, in northern Costa Rica, not far from the Nicaraguan border.  Pastor Franklin is doing a wonderful job as the Pastor of two churches there:  Las Marias and Jerusalem.  

Pastor Franklin with the biggest yuca I've ever seen.

Pastor Franklin and Pastor Mayorga in Las Marias.

David has kept busy with preaching opportunities.  He preached at San Pedro de Poas, Pavas and at Barrio Mexico Church of the Nazarene.

David preaching at San Pedro de Poas.

David at the Pavas Church of the Nazarene

Shelley is busy making future plans for CALL as there are many students beginning in January.  Also, she is preparing for the arrival of new volunteers to the field, the Gentrys. It will be great to get them settled in on September 19^th.  ESL classes will start in two weeks, another W&W team will arrive at the end of the month, and the translation projects just never end. 

Kayley and Joshua are both doing well.  Kayley has been in school now for a few weeks and is settling into a routine.  Joshua has begun his RA position at MVNU and starts classes next week. 

Yesterday we said goodbye to Juarez family.  Helmer and Susy have been our neighbors for four years, and although we all travel lots and don’t see each other as much as we would like, we will miss having them nearby.  They are moving to Guatemala to continue working with Compassionate Ministries there.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray with us for a new Spanish professor for CALL.  The program is growing, and we need another quality professor.

2.  Pray for David as he travels.  He has upcoming trips to Sarapiqui, to many local churches in the city and to Liberia in the near future.  

3. Pray for the new SENDAS educational center in the Cuchey, the Indigenous Area.

4.  Pray for our kids as they adjust to their sophomore years (Kayley in HS and Joshua at MVNU).

5.  Pray for the Juarez family and other missionaries families in transition.

Thanks for your prayers and support.   Many blessings to you all,
David and Shelley Webb

Home Again

Hello to All,

Once again we are home in Costa Rica after being in the States for Home Assignment.  We enjoyed seeing all our friends and family across eight states and look forward to seeing you all again in two years (summer of 2015).   It is not as far away as it sounds.

Life has been hectic as we jump back in to a daily routine in San Jose.  Kayley is back to school in 10^th grade and Joshua will be starting his sophomore year of college at MVNU in a couple of weeks. 

We reconnected immediately upon our return to CR with our missionary friends and some other guests at Micah Sickel’s 1^st Birthday party.  Micah is a growing fast and walking is just a few days away.  He’s almost got it!

We really wanted to visit the Alajuela Church since they have had three Work and Witness teams to help them put a second story on their building in downtown Alajuela.  It is prime property, but small, so a second story was the only way to create more space.  Thanks to the Chicago Central District teams who helped to make this project a reality! 

Another exciting development is the continuation of the work at SENDAS.  There are two important projects going on now on campus.  One is for the water (sewer) system to be connected to the city water and the other is a new bathroom facility for the gymnasium/auditorium.  Thanks to the team from Pennsylvania who just finished up the water project (2^nd stage).  We really enjoyed having you on campus.

The new bathrooms for the auditorium.

The PA team digging and digging some more.

The PA Work and Witness team with representatives from SENDAS at the thanksgiving and prayer time.

At the Los Angeles church, preparing for the new driveway.

The PA team also spent one day helping at the Los Angeles church near SENDAS.  They have new property and needed some manpower to move dirt for a new driveway.  Looking good!

CALL Language School had students throughout the summer.  Two students recently completed their time with CALL:  Pastor Miles McPherson from San Diego and Ryan Krestel from Chicago. 

The LeGrands continue their studies with CALL but they have begun to lead Work and Witness teams as well.  Their three boys are also studying and all are advancing well with the language.

Patrick and Kim LeGrand, CALL students and Work and Witness volunteers.

This week, David, Shelley, Kim LeGrand and Dr. Helmer Juarez went to Los Chiles (a border crossing town into Nicaragua, about a 5 hour drive) to visit the church there.  It was great to see the new parsonage, completed a few months ago and to see how the church has plans to increase their ministry to children. They have had 20 children attending on Sundays and for special activities.  Pray with them for more workers for the harvest there in Los Chiles.  

Dr. Juarez, David and Pastor Henry.

Finally, we are so excited that the Gentrys will be arriving soon.  They are new volunteers who will serve with SENDAS in computer programming needs as well as the teaching of ESL for Nazarene Academy.   

The Webbs and Gentrys at the General Assembly in June.

They are a wonderful couple who are leaving their jobs in the USA behind to serve for the year.  They could use your financial support.  They need to raise nearly $20.000 for their year in Costa Rica (tickets, food, lodging, visas, etc…).  If you can help them, it would be a HUGE blessing to them and to SENDAS.  The link for more information is this:  www.lucasgentry.com

There you can read about their plans and help them financially to get to SENDAS to serve the Lord.  When you help them, you help us and SENDAS!  They hope to arrive in September. 

Here are a few prayer requests.  We sure appreciate your prayer support.

1.  Pray for David’s trip to the Indigenous area next week.  They are visiting a church and investigating the possibility of a bridge project so people can cross the river safely (without having to walk through the high waters).

2. Pray for Kayley as she gets adjusted to her classes in 10^th grade and Joshua as he begins his new RA position and classes for the fall very soon.

3.  Pray for CALL as Shelley searches for a new Spanish professor.  The program is growing and we need more teachers. 

4.  Pray for the Gentrys are they sort, pack, repack and raise funds for their year of missionary service in Costa Rica. 

Thanks again.  God's blessings to you all.

The Webb Family