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.