Update #2 - Carlsbad Team

Kayley dressed and ready to help with VBS.

Hello Everyone!

As promised, this week we will share a bit more about the hard work of the Carlsbad, CA Team. If you remember, they spent a few days in Venado (NW Costa Rica near the beach) working with national leaders to assist in planting a new church. After that, the team moved on to San Pedro de Poas (north of San Jose).

The team enjoyed getting to know Johnny Calvo and his family, along with all the other wonderful people at the San Pedro Church. They worshiped on Sunday on the grounds of the “finca” or farm/campgrounds. One of the pastor's from the team, Phil, preached the sermon, while Alex translated.



The afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying the first ever international soccer game at the finca. What fun! Let’s just say that the California Team placed 2nd but they sure looked good!



The work for the week involved much digging, concrete mixing and hauling, a little painting and even a bit of gardening. You can see the hard workers giving it their all in these photos.









The team had the opportunity to present the VBS at a local school. After much practice in Venado, they were experts in all songs and actions. Great job, Team!




Showing the kids a craft project...no spanish required!

After having no rain in Venado (until we were loading the bus to leave!) the team learned what a Costa Rican rainy season is really like. Of course, any rain at all is a lot to this group from the Southern California desert! When they couldn’t work, they kept up their spirits by playing games and visiting.



In a few days, I’ll finish up the report of this team and conclude with a short summary of their time in San Jose.

In other news, the Webb family is celebrating a BIG event tomorrow. Joshua is celebrating his birthday tomorrow – Monday the 25th. It is hard to believe he is 14 already! He just learned he made the high school basketball team at school as a freshman. He will be challenged this year playing with kids older and more skilled than he, but he is looking forward to the challenge. He loves the sport as much as his father!

Please pray for David who is with another team (from Yakima, WA) working in Nicaragua. They have already had a great time working on the island of Ometepe and are now in Rivas working on an educational center there that is in dire need of repairs. The team brought a set of Jesus Film equipment but the sound system did not arrive with the rest of their luggage. As of yet, its location is unknown. Pray we'll find it so this set of equipment will be complete.

David will return on Thursday and we (all but Joshua) will leave for Guatemala for meetings. We appreciate your prayers as we interview with the Regional Advisory Counsel for the MAC Region. Joshua will enjoy a 3 day camp for the high schoolers while we are gone.

God bless you all! We appreciate your prayers.

The Webb Family

Update #1 - Carlsbad, CA Team

Playa Lagarto, Costa Rica and Playa Junquillal (just before the rain hit began)

Hello Everyone!

We have had an eventful 13 days with a team from Carlsbad, California. Their church sponsored team of 25 included 14 teens/preteens and 11 adults. It was a great blessing to have them here in Costa Rica assisting in Maximum Mission activities. Part of the group was here last year, so it was fun to see old friends and make some new ones. Here’s a summary of our time in Venado, a small community in Northwest Costa Rica about 2 km from the beach.

We finally arrived in the area of Playa Junquillal to our hotel called Tatanka. We were thrilled that the hotel was nice since the reservations were made sight unseen. The team was thrilled to have air conditioning since the temperatures were very warm and it was incredibly humid, something the team from CA was not used to. We even had a pool, but only got to use it for a couple of hours since the work took priority to enjoying the pool.



The “town” of Venado has about 300 occupants whose homes are stretched out all around the elementary school, a soccer field and a bar. That is all there is in this small town. There are no churches, not even a Catholic church, which is almost unheard of in Costa Rica. The church in Liberia (about 45 minutes away) had some contacts in this community and a small cell group is already meeting regularly.

The current church location. Plans are underway for a new structure.

We worked to impact the community by helping in the local school. The school has a decent roof, but does not have drop ceilings, so the heat in the classrooms can be unbearable. So, part of the team worked very hard in the heat framing the ceiling for a drop ceiling.


Before the work began...


The framing is finished!


The drop ceiling is going up!

The rest of the team split their time between painting and VBS presentation/playing with the children. The team had a number of folks who spoke in Spanish so they were able to do the VBS all on their own. What a blessing for us to be relived of some of the translating work.




Prayer time with the children in the local church.



The painting crew straining their necks to reach the highest spots.

We also showed the Jesus Film on Friday night on the soccer field. Everyone listened so attentively and around 30 people responded to the call to receive Jesus as Savior. It was a great night!

Next week we’ll share more about the team and their 4 days of work in San Pedro de Poas…

In other news, school began this week. Kayley started 5th grade on Tuesday and Joshua began 9th grade on Wednesday. It was a short week with a holiday on Friday since it is was Mother’s Day in Costa Rica. The banks and government facilities are shut down this day to honor the Mothers so I guess you can say it is a big deal.



We are thankful that the kids are off to a good start to the school year and that the team had an excellent 10 days of ministry. Please pray for David as he leaves on Tuesday for Managua to host another team. This team will work on the island of Ometepe in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Another beautiful place!

Until Next Week!

The Webb Family

Summer Vacation in Iowa

Hello Everyone,

This week we want to share a bit from our (Shelley, Josh and Kayley's) trip to the USA.  While Shelley attended a wonderful conference in Chicago, met new friends and learned a lot about helping marginalized kids around the world, Joshua and Kayley enjoyed their time in Iowa with their Grandmas' and all the families.  

The cousins in a pile: from bottom up, Joshua, Karly, Kayley and Brandon

The kids spent 6 days with Grandma Preussner (Shelley's mom) in northeast Iowa.  They enjoyed time with their cousins and of course all of Grandma's great food.  The even got to swim which was a surprise to Kayley who thought we were going to Iowa in the winter since it is winter in Costa Rica this time of year.  She was pleasantly surprised when the weather was hot and perfect for the swimming pool!

Then the kids got to visit with Grandma Webb in south central Iowa. 

 

They enjoyed two days with Grandma Webb before Mom finally returned to visit for the weekend.  Shelley brought along two other cousins from Chicago and we had a great time on Saturday night visiting with many David's nephews/nieces and their kids.   What fun!

The crazy cousins and the more serious cousins:  from left, Jake, Tessa, Kayley, Gracie, Lydia, Joshua and Conner.

It was a wonderful vacation and as usual the kids were amazed by the smooth roads in the USA and Kayley is sure the coolest appliance in the world is a dishwasher.  She would love to have one!  Thanks everyone for a great time!

We returned on July 23rd and hit the road running!  It has been nonstop ever since.  We have a team arriving on Tuesday night from Carlsbad, CA.  We met the leaders for this team a year ago and are sooooo excited to work with this team again.  We will have lots of great photos of the Maximum Mission in Venado in less than two weeks! 

Pray for all our planning for upcoming teams.  We have this team from CA then two days after they head home, David leaves for Nicaragua to lead another team that will work on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua.  David arrives home on the afternoon of the 28th and we leave for meetings in Guatemala on the 29th.  Please pray for safe travel, good health and success in ministry.  Also, the kids start school on the 12th so we'd appreciate your prayers for their first few days of adjustment in 5th and 9th grade.  

We are already looking forward to September when we will have a little more time together.  

God bless you all and thanks for your prayers!

David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

Youth Team from Monroe, Michigan

Dear Family and Friends,

My apologies for not posting a blog for sooooo long. It has been a whirlwind of activity and we have lots to share but we’ll start by dedicating this blog to our good friends in Monroe, Michigan.

Pastor Dale at the Cartago site.

We hosted a 44 member youth team who arrived on July 2^nd. The group worked in two communities to assist the nationals in planting 2 new churches, worked one day on the seminary grounds with painting projects and also worked in San Pedro de Poas to finish various projects at a local school and district “farm” site. Here’s a quick review of their trip.

Day one was spent on the seminary grounds assisting in various painting projects. The team painted many roofs and also painted part of a floor of what will be the new Regional Office. The afternoon was spent in training time learning some basic Spanish, actions to Spanish kids’ songs and how to present the evangecube. They worked hard to take in all they could before the Maximum Mission events began.

On Days Two and Three, the team split in half to tackle projects in two communities about 45 minutes from the seminary. The group in Cartago cleaned a park that was in such bad shape that the government had closed off the area. After much trash pickup, cutting high grass and building and painting playground equipment, the job was finished and the kids of the neighborhood were already enjoying it.

The team in Huaso worked at a local school. They painted the outside walls as well as playground equipment. They cleaned classrooms and floors and of course played a lot with the kids. Much of the teams’ efforts were spent presenting the VBS program. In Huaso, the group performed the VBS 5 times and in Cartago, one time. It was time well spent.

Day 4 was a Sunday and the team split once again to visit two different churches. They performed some wonderful skits set to music that had a big impact on everyone. Great job, Monroe Team! The afternoon was spent shopping for souvenirs and relaxing.

Day 5 started early with a drive to San Pedro de Poas in the North Costa Rica district. The team worked at a local school that is populated almost completely by Nicaraguan children and also the team worked at the “Finca” or farm/retreat center where the district has big plans to build a large multipurpose center and classrooms to teach basic skills in various occupations to those in need in the community.

Day 6 was Tour Day and the group seemed to really enjoy their time at La Paz Waterfall Gardens. It is a beautiful place and if you come here you don’t want to miss it!

On July 9^th the team headed for the airport. About two hours after they left, Shelley and the kids headed that way as well for a long travel day to Chicago. They arrived safely in Chicago at 11pm and enjoyed a great two weeks in the states.

We want to give a special thank you to our friend Teresa who volunteered to help us with the Michigan team. Her translation skills were in high demand and she was a blessing to us each day. Thanks Teresa!

But that is enough for now! Next week we’ll get you all caught up on what happened in the USA. God bless you all!

The Webb Family

Way Behind!

Hello Everyone!
I apologize for being so late in posting a new blog. It has been quite a whirlwind. I (Shelley) am at Wheaton College in Chicago for a conference. It is beautiful here with a nice breeze and good temps. The conference is just getting started so I will have more to tell about that later.

We had a wonderful time with the Monroe, Michigan team of 44 youth/adults who visited and worked along beside the national leaders in Costa Rica from July 2-9. I will wait to tell you more until I have the ability to post photos - probably next weekend.

The kids and I arrived in Chicago on Wednesday late evening and then drove to Iowa on Thursday. I enjoyed a day with family before heading back to Chicago in time for the international conference on assisting children worldwide with their needs... poverty, education, health, etc...

So that's all for now as the conference is about to start once again and I am already a minute late! (This is not Latin America so it does matter!)

Gotta go. More later!
Shelley