Giving Thanks 2014

Hello Friends and Family,

We had a great time with the Crosspointe Church of the Nazarene from Lutz, Florida (near Tampa).  They worked so hard at the San Pedro de Poas Church, also called La Finca.  There were 12 people on the team, including two great children.  Kayley had a great time getting to know this group, but could not stay with the team all week with her class schedule. 

Here is a photo summary of their week in Costa Rica.

Pastor Harv meets Carlos Jaime.

George and Darald worked really hard on the drop ceiling.  (Darald is from the Tampa First Church).

Moving the dirt, sand and rock to the road.

Mixing concrete near the entrance to the Finca.

Pastor Johnny painting at the local elementary school.

The Crosspoint team at the local school.

Enjoying the Poas Volcano - great day for the tour.

The team worked on the road entering the Finca, mixing concrete to make a smoother entry.  Others worked on the new bathroom and shower rooms, sanding walls, cleaning and finishing plumbing.  A few more worked putting stucco on the outside walls.

The Coronado Church recently held a weekend event in a nearby community.  It was great to spend part of a Sunday morning with them as they ministered to the people there and invited them to church.

The Coronado Church serving in their community.

We are near Thanksgiving and have so much to be thankful for: good health, great ministries, a wonderful family. What more can one ask for?  We plan to spend Thanksgiving at home in Costa Rica, decorating for Christmas, making a turkey and seeing a new release movie.  And relaxing is in the plan as well.

We are so excited to see Joshua for Christmas.  He will be here for two weeks with us, leaving January 2^nd for his final semester of his junior year.  Kayley is studying hard to finish up the term and she is taking the ACT exam in December. 

Joshua working at a concert at MVNU.

Kayley's 11th grade class at ICS.

Here a few prayer requests for our family:

1)  To finish the year strong in ministry and to make some fun memories together as a family during the holidays.

2) That both Joshua and Kayley would finish strong in school.

3) That the Third Wave Conference in January would be a blessing for all.  There are many logistics involved in this event for 280 people.  SENDAS is hosting the event.

4) For the new students who will arrive in January, the Schrage family from California.

5) For Kay Lynn Robson who is planning to arrive in February to study Spanish and volunteer with SENDAS and CALL.  We are so excited to have her with us.  If you have a few extra dollars and can help this volunteer get to the field, you can find her volunteer page here: 

http://tinyurl.com/mnafhcn

6) For the Florida District team who will arrive in March to work at SENDAS.  We cannot wait!

Many blessings to you all this week as you enjoy time with family and friends at Thanksgiving.  

David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

David's November Update

Greetings from Costa Rica!

We continue to rejoice in God’s goodness and His provision and blessing on His church here in Costa Rica.  Here is a summary of David's travels over the last few weeks.

Two weeks ago, David traveled to one of the indigenous zones in Costa Rica called Tayni with two pastors from San Jose.  The church planter's name is Pastor Maximiliano Diaz.  Brother Maximiliano has a small Jesus Film set that he is using to help him open new works and he is currently meeting with people in ten different villages.

David visited two of Pastor Maximiliano’s works on this three day trip.  During this time, he and Pastor Leyla were able to be a part of three baptisms and a wedding for three couples.  God blessed in the journey as there was no rain, which helped as they had a 2.5 hour hike to the nearest work after driving in as far as they were able. 

lthough the Jesus Film has been very effective in Spanish in the indigenous area, we know that it would be even more effective in the heart language of Cabecar for the folks that live in the territory of Tayni.   Please pray with us that God will provide the resources for the Jesus Film translation to happen.  We have been able to meet one of the folks who helped translate the New Testament into Cabecar, and he is ready to help with the Jesus Film translation.

Last week David visited pastors in Guanacaste in northwest Costa Rica and also visited the Costa Rica North District Center in the city of Muelle.  We thank God for His provision through the Chicago Central District and through Alabaster to purchase the property in October of 2013 in Muelle, and we are looking at possibilities to construct a multipurpose building soon.

The building at the District Center...yep, it needs some work!

This past Saturday, we celebrated the organization of a new church in the community of Tres y Tres (yes that’s right, Three and Three in English).   This is a small community where a mother church began the work less than three years ago.  The church was organized with 53 members and an average attendance of 125 people.  Although the community had a great deal of distrust of evangelical churches when the work began, the testimony of God’s faithfulness is very special.

Beautiful entrance to the new sanctuary.

Pastor Alex who lives in Alajuela (3 hrs away) is the Pastor at Tres y Tres. 

Founding church members

This new church is the only evangelical church in the community and has received an invitation by the community to host the kindergarten and sixth grade graduations this year.  They built a bus stop for their community two years ago and are currently trying to help the community build a playground area for children close to the city park. The land where the church is located was donated by one of the families that have come to know the Lord through this work.  As the apostle Paul wrote, “Love never fails.” 

Turrialba Volcano

 An interesting event happened on October 29th that has not occurred for 150 years.  The Volcano Turrialba, located just 18 miles from SENDAS, exploded.  It threw ash over the east part of the city, including where we live.  It was just a light dusting of ash, but it sure smelled like sulfur that day.  Then, as usual, it rained hard in the afternoon and the rain looked like skim milk as it ran down the streets.  The volcano has not stopped exploding yet, but so far, no more ash has reached us.    

Can you see the ash on our plants in the our backyard?

Poas Church building.  The Florida team will be working here starting tomorrow.

Thanks so much for your prayers for our family. Shelley has been extremely busy with many ministries including the preparation for the graduation at the seminary, which takes place Saturday.   David will be working with a US Work and Witness team from Lutz, Florida, who arrive tomorrow.  

Kayley is working hard in school, and we are looking forward to Joshua’s visit during his Christmas break from Mount Vernon Nazarene University.   

Many blessings in Jesus Christ. Thanks for keeping up with us through the blog.  See you next time.  David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley