Carlsbad Team Highlights and Birthday Boy

Hello to Everyone!

This week we are thankful for a slow down in our schedule which has allowed for much “catch up” work that needed to be done. We are busy already planning for the 7 teams (those are the ones we know about thus far) that will be working in MAC South next year. These teams will be doing a variety of projects involving everything from construction work to compassionate ministries to evangelism. Looks like an exciting year ahead.

We ran out of time and space last week to tell you more about the great visit we had with the Carlsbad, CA team. They divided their time between children’s VBS programs in the Coronado community and their construction work on the new leadership center here for the area. They came well prepared for their work with the children. They had learned some songs in Spanish along with the actions to make the VBS go off without a hitch. We were able to visit a local government run children’s center (kind of like Head Start in the USA) and share the VBS as well as a dental hygiene clinic. The team also performed their VBS (puppets and all) with a preschool that is run in the local Nazarene Church. They worked hard in all of their projects and we are excited for them to return in 2008 with the youth from the Carlsbad Church.



This team also enjoyed a couple of tour days at the beach. Part of the team went out on a fishing boat and caught a whopper - an 800 pound marlin! I saw it myself on their video and it was huge! In the end, the monster fish cut the 300 pound line with its tail and was free once again. Since he is still out there, we feel sure this team will return! This was the biggest fish ever caught on this particular fishing vessel and yes, it counts as a catch since they had it on the line for so long. Congrats, Carlsbad Team! And thanks for your work here in Costa Rica Central. You are a blessing! Here are two of the smaller fish they caught - I think it is yellow fin tuna.

The team also enjoyed surfing and a zip line ride. Sounds fun!!!

In other news, a milestone was reached in our home this week. Just yesterday (Saturday) we entered the world of Life with a Teenager. Yes, Joshua turned 13. And yes, we had party to celebrate. Joshua and three friends from school spent the night at our home. They ate and ate and ate and did not sleep near enough, but that’s how it’s supposed to be, I suppose. A good time was had by all, but Mom and Dad are glad these parties only happen once a year. WHEW!!!

Joshua's party with his friends Diego, Kevin and Dakota in the background. Ruthie, our missionary friend joined us for the party as well.

The school year has gotten off to a good start for which we are very thankful. The kids had a rough semester last spring, but we’re looking forward to a smoother ride this fall.

Thanks for your continued prayers. We sure do appreciate each one of you. God bless!
Until next week,
The Webb Family

La Carbonera, CA Team and First Day of School

The Work and Witness team from Ohio!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it has been two busy weeks here which is why we’ve not had the time to post a blog. SORRY! Our schedule has finally slowed down to a normal pace, so here’s what has been happening.

David spent 6 days with a work and witness team in North Nicaragua. The team was from Ohio and their project was to continue construction on a new church in La Carbonera. La Carbonera has a thriving congregation but no church building. This building will also be used for a children’s center for after school and weekend programs. This children’s center is funded through Child Sponsorship. There are more than 30 children in the program but during this trip, the team members decided to sponsor ten more children so they can be an active part of the program as well. David thoroughly enjoyed his time with the team in La Carbonera. It was amazing to see the ministry offered to children there as this is an area of great need in the north Central part of Nicaragua. Maybe next time, Shelley can go as well.

David returned on Friday night and after some delays with their flight, the team from California arrived on Saturday night around midnight. This team was a special blessing and we will tell you more about their trip next week. For now, we’ll share how they ushered Joshua and Kayley into their first day of school. They made a special banner and hung it outside our home to surprise the kids and they made balloon creations which hung alongside. What a great beginning to the school year. You can see them here waiting for the school van with Joshua and Kayley.

It was a good first week for both kids. Joshua got to attend middle school camp for three days and although he returned very tired, it was a good way to start the new year. Kayley is enjoying her teachers and has a new friend as well.

We had another group of visitors this week as well. The Slingerland family from Guatemala arranged to spend a few days here for some meetings but we managed to find some time for relaxing as well. Here are Kayley, Abby and Hannah enjoying time together. It’s always hard to say goodbye, but we look forward to seeing them again.

So, as you can see we’ve been quite busy. We’ve enjoyed having visitors and teams, but we’re looking forward to Monday. It is Mother’s Day (actually it was Wednesday, but the government changed the holiday to Monday to give a 3 day weekend). Maybe we’ll take in a movie or eat out. I’m sure we’ll find something to do.

God bless your week.

Love from the Webb Family

Beach Week

Dear Family and Friends,
We were blessed this week to spend 3 days at the beautiful Costa Rican Pacific beach called Manuel Antonio.

It was a beautiful 3-4 hour drive to Quepos, Costa Rica, a small town just outside of the Manuel Antonio National Park. We were all ready for a break and enjoyed the relaxing time off.



We enjoyed the beach the first day. Perhaps we enjoyed it a bit too much as Joshua managed to get a bad sunburn. Yes, we used sun screen but those waves were strong and apparently wiped it right off of him. Kayley liked the pool at the hotel more than the ocean since the waves were a little strong and scary for her. You can see us below enjoying pipa juice- which is the juice from a green coconut.



Since Joshua was incapacitated (burnt legs and all), Kayley and Shelley spent one morning exploring the National Park. It boasts a rain forest, beach and swamps all wrapped into one.


There were beautiful hiking trails with monkeys and sloths above and crabs all over the beach coming in and out of their little holes. It was warm, but God gave us some clouds to block some of the sun's rays.



So, we enjoyed a great week at the coast and arrived back at the seminary on Friday evening. We spent Saturday catching up on emails before taking David to the airport once again on Sunday morning. He will return in time to help with another team that arrives on Saturday.

The saddest part of the week was saying goodbye to the Rice Family who have served as missionaries for over 20 years. They are headed to Oklahoma City to care for their parents. They have been good friends. Saying goodbye is becoming a common occurrence here. We are already looking forward to greeting some new friends sometime in the future. The one exciting thing for the children is gaining a new animal friend. We have inherited Tawny, the Rice's dog, as a parting gift. The kids have wanted a dog for sooooo long, let's just say they are pleased.



God bless you this week. Thanks for your prayers for our family, our traveling, our busy schedule and of course, our continued learning of Spanish.

The Webb Family

Busy, Busy, Busy

Dear Family and Friends,

David just returned from a great trip to the Panama City area to assist with a team from the United States with Jesus Film Harvest Partners. Jesus Film is a DVD or video that is used to tell people about Jesus and has been very useful and effective in many world areas. There were 16 people on this team from all parts of the United States.

They donated 3 sets of Jesus Film equipment for use on the field. Two sets will stay in the central part of Panama and the third will be utilized in the west side, called Bocas Del Toro (Mouth of the Bull). These teams also helped to show the film and evangelize in other ways by sharing the Evangecube and working in communities with children. Here you can see a VBS event taking place in Panama.

David returned on Wednesday night just in time for retreat with the youth of MAC South. We’ve spent the last few days with 380 youth from our Area of Nicaragua, Panama and of course Costa Rica. They all spent 2 nights (some 3 since they will stay Sunday as well) here on the seminary campus in a retreat sponsored by SENDAS, the Nazarene Seminary. The purpose of the retreat is solely for Spiritual Growth. The main speaker was Pastor Alex from Brazil. He is a youth pastor at one of the largest Nazarene Churches in the world in Campañas, Brazil. His youth group has over 1,500 kids in it. WOW! Now that’s a youth group! He was very nervous since Portuguese is his first language and English is his second and then it’s Spanish. But he did very well and everyone enjoyed his preaching.

Above: A part of the crowd at the youth event, Todo o Nada (All or Nothing).

Below: Here is the Webb Family along with Benjamin and Marlen (sitting, they are Youth Leaders for the Region) and Pastor Alex from Brazil. We had a great time visting Cafe Britt.

As usual, Kayley manages to make friends wherever she goes. Here she is with Pastor Felipe and Maru's daughter from Panama as well as her cousin who lives in Costa Rica, at the youth event.

We are privileged to have the opportunity to work with such great leaders, young and old, across all 3 countries and even in other world areas such as South America. It gives us such hope to see so many young people gathered together with the purpose of knowing God more. We are already looking forward to an even bigger event in one year, July of 2008, when the entire region, Mexico down through Panama, will be sending their young people here, to Costa Rica and the Seminary, for a huge gathering of young people. It promises to include many late nights, great preaching and music and of course fellowship.

We are now looking forward to a few family days together. We promised the kids a trip to the beach before school starts and time is running out. We should have some great pictures next week of the beach (Pacific side) and the rain forest as well. Have a great week in the Lord.

Thanks for your continued prayers for us. You are appreciated.

The Webb Family

David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

Waterfalls Galore!

Dear Family and Friends,

As usual, it has been busy here in San Jose. We hurried before our short vacation to get completely caught up and now, after our break, we are scrambling to catch up once again. But how fun it was to have Grandma Webb and Aunt Tina (David's mom and sister from Iowa) visit us here in Costa Rica. It would have been fun enough to just hang out together, play cards, eat good meals and relax, but in addition to that, we spent Saturday at a wonderful place called La Paz waterfall Gardens.







It is a serious of 5 waterfalls in succession with built in walking paths down the mountain with wonderful views and sounds of each one. They are gorgeous, loud, powerful and wet. Another example of God's great creation.






The gardens were also beautiful with an avery filled, of course, with the birds of Costa Rica, as well as a butterful viewing area and places to watch hummingbirds (I should say "feel" as they whizz by your head), frogs and snakes.



Another stop along the way was a coffee farm where Tina, Virginia and Kayley had their photo taken with "One Dollar Juan" (appropriately named for the $1 price tag to have your photo taken with him, his animals and his ox cart). These types of ox carts are the national symbol of Costa Rica and can be found in many bright colors and designs.




Our time together flew by and too soon it was once again "goodbye". But for David, it won't be too long to wait as he will see his family in September when he visits the states for work and witness conventions.

For now, David is off to Panama this weekend, to return in 5 days just in time for an area event here for youth called "Todo o Nada" (All or Nothing), a weekend focused on spiritual growth and development. We're looking forward to making many new friends and seeing some familiar faces from Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

God bless you week. See you soon,

The Webb Family