Jinotega, Nicaragua

Dear Family and Friends,

We are nearing time for Christmas vacation. It is hard to believe that it has been almost one year that we've lived in Costa Rica. So much has happened that in some ways it seems like 10 years and in other ways it seems like yesterday that we arrived. We will fly out next Tuesday to Miami and then Chicago, hoping that the weather will allow for good travel days. Joshua has exams this week and Kayley mostly has parties! (Joshua doesn't think that is too fair!). All week there are only half days of school, so Josh doesn't have too much to complain about.



This week I want to share about Jinotega and the Child Development Center there. The day started early, 4:3o or so and finally we left the small town of Somoto around 5:45am. It was a beautiful drive south and then east up into the mountains. About 4 1/2 hours later we could see the city of Jinotega. It has about 11o,000 people and is spread out in a large valley surrounded by mountains. This is the only area of Nicaragua that grows coffee, in fact coffee is a main source of income there.



The Church of the Nazarene there began reaching out to poor children in the community and since has developed into a thriving center for children. Since the city is large and the children come from all parts, they normally have activities on the weekends when the kids have enough time to walk or take a bus to the center and still arrive home before dark. There are 49 children sponsored in the program at this time, but many others participate as well.



We were there on a Sunday morning so during the normal worship time, the children held a special activity so we could get to know them. They sang songs and even performed a special Nicaraguan dance.



It was special for me to see the faces of the children. I know many of their names, but now I can see them in my mind and remember where they live. I thank God for the leaders Jinotega and La Carbonera who sacrifice to help the children. It was a great trip and I hope to travel that way again in the next year.

David is in Nicaragua this week, in the area of Puerto Cabezas. Remember that it was hit by the hurricane a few months ago. David and the other leaders are making plans for the Jesus Film Team that will be arriving in February. Pray that David arrives back to San Jose safely on Friday.

Well, this may be the final blog for this year as we will be traveling until the New Year. God bless you during this Christmas season. May Jesus be the center of your celebrating.

Love to all,
Shelley, David, Joshua and Kayley

La Carbonera

Wow! What a great week! OK, One thing at a time...

First, David traveled to Panama last week to make arrangements for a team going there in March. Unfortunately, he was there during Panamanian Independence Day (from Columbia) so because of the parades and festivities it was impossible to get to the locations they needed to visit. But they did what they could and it will all come together in God's time.

David returned on Thursday night just in time for Shelley to leave on Friday morning. I (Shelley) had a wonderful trip to North Nicaragua. I stayed in the town of Somoto which is less than 10 miles from La Carbonera, the location of one of two Child Development Centers in North Nicaragua. But getting there was an adventure. The pavement ended as we left Somoto and headed northeast. Ahead of us was a huge truck with a flatbed that held, oh I don't know, maybe 40 people all of whom were attending the Building Dedication of the Children's Center/Church in La Carbonera. (You can see it in the photo below). Following close behind was Denis the District Superintendent in his 4x4 truck and then Eliezel (MAC South Work and Witness Coordinator) and me (as well as a bunch of others in the bed of the truck).



Of course the roads were washed out and bumpy, but my biggest concern was the Coco River which separates Somoto from La Carbonera. During the rainy season it is often not passable, but with little rain lately we were hoping to cross without problems. Well, you can guess what happened as we got stuck halfway across and had to be pulled out. (Sorry no pictures of that, just of the guy behind us who got stuck as well, but you get the idea!)

After picking up more folks along the dirt road, we finally arrived at the new building. There are only two buildings in La Carbonera (besides simple homes) : The Primary school and the Child Development Center. So, it is very noticeable and quite a blessing to the community. On this day, the community and church were dedicating Phase One of the building. The next phase will include adding some classrooms all around the building. The building was packed with many children and adults from La Carbonera and neighboring communities.



It was a blessing for me to see the children and put faces with names. They are wonderful kids with many hardships but they are happy and all have big dreams for their futures. I am proud to have just a small part in helping them fulfill their dreams. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, there is always a need for more sponsors. The website is www.ncm.org.



The area surrounding Somoto is simply beautiful with its mountains, rivers and trees. In some ways it reminds me of Iowa (OK, not so much the mountains) since it is very rural and there are fields everywhere. They grow corn and beans (not soy beans like Iowa, other kinds) and there are people riding horses here and there.



There is another part to this adventure that I'll save for next week about our visit to the Center in Jinotega: coffee country.

I arrived back in San Jose at 10 am on Monday morning while David was boarding his plane for Guatemala. He'll be gone this week so I hoped to see him in the airport, but instead our buses passed on the runway. (Yes, they use buses to transport passengers to their planes.) So, our 3 minute phone conversation was all we could arrange.

Please continue praying for travel safety as David will return on Friday for only one day and leave once again, this time for Nicaragua and the hurricane-stricken area of Puerto Cabezas.

God bless you all this week!

The Webb Family

Lots to tell...

Hello Everyone!

This week has been full of traveling and adventures. We started off visiting the local church in Poas last Sunday morning. The church was absolutely full and no one sat together as there were only seats here and there. After the service we visited a nearby town called Sarchi which is known for making wood furniture. Rocking chairs, beds, and about everything you can think of. It is also the home of the largest oxcart in Costa Rica. The oxcart is the national symbol of Costa Rica and this one was BIG as you can see below.



After working for three days, we were ready for a great Thanksgiving. We spent the day with a Methodist missionary family here in Costa Rica. It was a wonderful day with too much food. We didn't even eat supper and hardly any lunch the next day. WOW!

On Friday we surprised the kids with a day at the amusement park. Parque de Diversiones is about 45 minutes away (well, an hour the way we went!) but after the long way around we finally arrived and had a great time. Here's proof of the fun...




On Saturday we attended a special Pastors and families event in Costa Rica North. It was especially fun for me (Shelley) to see all the children in the child sponsorship program after reading their names each month. Kayley and Joshua joined in the games, ate fruit and gained some candy from the pinata.



On Sunday David left early for Ciudad Quesada to lead a church planter training event. It was a great success with 5 new church planters trained. They will begin their new cell groups within the next month or so. It will wonderful to watch their groups grow and learn.



Things will be crazy between now and mid December when we leave for Christmas in the USA. David will be gone 15 days between now and then, yes, that's almost the entire time, except for the 4 days I (Shelley) will be gone to North Nicaragua. You can pray that we'll be safe and well in our travels and not too tired with all there is to do. In the meantime the kids have finals coming up so there is some extra studying going on around here.

Thanks for thinking of checking our blog! We love you all,
The Webb Family

District Assemblies

Hello All,
It has been a very busy two weeks here and so here is our official apology for the lack of blogging happening in the Webb household in Costa Rica. But finally, tonight I have found a few minutes to share what's happening here.

These last two weeks have been the annual district assemblies in the area of MAC South (Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama). There are 8 districts, so that means 8 assemblies. No, we did not attend all of them simply because of the cost of extensive travel, but we were privileged to have a part in three of the meetings: Costa Rica North, Costa Rica Central, and David attended the Nicaragua Southeast assembly. All the assemblies were great times of celebration of a year of God's blessings in each area.

Here in San Jose, we enjoyed a wonderful ordination service for three pastors in the area. Nina Gunter, General Superintendent, preached a great message that night and our friend and pastor here in San Jose, Leyla Ramirez, was one of three ordained.





Early Thursday morning the crew of 6 leaders left before sunlight to head north to the border with Nicaragua. From there, after crossing the border, they boarded a boat headed toward San Carlos.


Moody and Nina Gunter in front, Rod Rivera (Communications Director for the Region) and Dr. Carlos Saenz (Regional Director).

Finally arriving around 11am, the assembly was held with a room full of pastors and leaders. After only 3 hours of meetings, the group left for the border once again and finally arrived back to the seminary at 9pm. A long day, but a good day.

With the Assemblies behind us, we are now looking forward to a couple days off this week with the Thanksgiving holiday. We plan on spending Thursday with a some friends, missionaries with the Methodist church and seminary here in San Jose. So we'll enjoy plenty of turkey and fixings, I'm sure. And the Packers on TV, surely we'll keep busy cheering them on.

We are very thankful for a wonderful year here in Costa Rica. We are looking forward already to a great 2008 after a brief Christmas break in the USA.

God bless you all this Thanksgiving as you enjoy time with friends and family. There is much to be thankful for.

The Webb family

The Cell Phone Blues

Dear Family and Friends,

We have a story to share this week...

Every country is different. Every place has its pros and cons. Life in Costa Rica is beautiful with the tropical rain forests, mountains and beaches, but there are a few drawbacks as well.

In the good 'ole USA and in most developed countries, having a cell phone is as easy as saving the money to buy it, purchasing the perfect plan for your needs and before walking out of the store, you are set to go. You can begin texting as you leave the building. Simple, right?

Not so simple here. Here people wait on average six months on the waiting list with the government to get a line. And of course, you can only get on the list if you are a resident of Costa Rica (we're still working on that...another long process for another blog). Then you must buy a phone and this little tiny card called a SIM card (never heard of that 'til I got here; it must be inside all phones, I don't know!).

So we arrive here and find that the Evangelism Ministry has this wonderful cell phone that can be used both in Costa Rica and Panama. What a blessing.



When David is gone I can reach him if there is an emergency, right? Not so fast. The beautiful phone (it really is neat with a camera and all) is missing an essential piece of equipment...the SIM card. Where did it go? I have no idea. Apparently it was lost in the moving process, maybe even flushed or burned...Not sure how it met it's untimely death, but the fact remains, it's gone to Cell phone chip heaven. Which unfortunately leaves David without a functioning phone. But good news, the SIM chip is cheap...only about $1.25. No big deal, right?

That was in January. Since then we have learned that only the person whose name is listed as the owner of the line can purchase the SIM card. Unfortunately we learned that just after the owner left the country for good. Ugh. So, this nice individual named Eric Buell formatted an official letter giving permission for our friend Ana Betsy to buy the cheap little chip. Eric signed it and somehow we managed to get our hands on the original. But another glitch. After driving to the local grocery store Mas Por Menos (More for Less- Yeah, right!), the phone company didn't like the signature on the letter, as it differed a bit from the copy of the passport signature. So, back to the letter writing. A few months later we receive letter #2, this time with a signature perfectly matching the passport. They couldn't possibly deny us our tiny chip, now. Oh, but there's more...

After another trip to Mas Por Menos, we were a bit irritated but not totally surprised when they now required an attorney to verify the signature. Ana Betsy kindly pointed out to the nice man who kept saying "No" that maybe he did not realize that it would cost 4 times the amount of the chip to have the signature verified, but to no avail. He simply did not care, not that we expected him to.

But finally, after more trips to Mas Por Menos than I care to mention, we received the tiny little chip that fits perfectly in the tiny little slot under the battery. (I won't go into how still then the phone didn't work and Ana Betsy had to call the company who had somehow forgot to activate the chip!) Finally David made his first call on the phone, calling me from upstairs while I was down. Yes, I could hear him through the phone and from upstairs, but it worked. He's pleased. I'm glad it's over. And the kids love to play with the camera. All is well.



David at his desk listening intently to someone's Spanish.

So that's our story for this week. The end of an 11 month saga has come. Praise the Lord!

In other news:
Joshua has been sick with a throat infection and a virus. We're thankful for a good medical clinic nearby where Joshua received care on Sunday morning. He was to have braces put on this Friday, but after missing 3 days of school already, we've postponed that appointment to January. We're hoping he can attend school tomorrow and get caught up in his classes.

Thanks for your prayers. God bless your week!

The Webbs