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

5 Day Vacation!

Dear Family and Friends,

We had such a great time with David's family that I am not sure where to start! In only 5 days we packed in enough excitement for a month! Here goes!!!

David's sister, Tina, her son Ryan and Ryan's wife Danielle visited us and before they arrived we made plans to visit an area a few hours north of the city where the active volcano Arenal is located. The crew arrived a bit tired after an overnight layover in Miami, but after a few hours rest we were on our way.

On Friday we drove through a town called Zarcero for a quick pit stop and a visit to their central park. It is very unique with these bush designs made into animals, people and faces.


We arrived to our hotel at noon and then headed to La Fortuna waterfall. It was a quite a hike down and we were all thinking about the hike back up as we descended. Everyone hiking up said it was worth the effort so down we went. The waterfall was beautiful and amazingly powerful! It was hard to even stand in that water (which was a bit cold by the way!).


We enjoyed the hot springs pools in temperatures from warm to hot but the hit of the pool was a tie between the two water slides and the American football we managed to sneak into the swim bag. I've never seen three guys think of more ways to compete with a football. We were entertained for hours!


Saturday night it decided to rain so we were not able to see the lava as we had hoped, but the next morning made up for it with a wonderful canopy/zip line adventure. Here are a few shots of our time together. We were most worried about Kayley thinking she might get scared and chicken out but she was right up front and loved it even more than the rest of us. She looked like a professional out there!


We enjoyed worshiping together on Sunday morning and then did some souvenir shopping. Monday morning we left early to view Poas Volcano. It was a little cloudy but the wind blowed some clouds out of the way to view part of the crater.


It is always great to have family visit and we needed the break to spend some fun time together as a family. Needless to say, the regular routine has begun once again and already David is in Nicaragua to visit 3 of the 4 districts there. We are busy preparing for the 44 member team that will arrive in two weeks. All the plans are coming together and we are excited to see what God will do in and through this teen group.

May God bless your week. We miss you all!

The Webb Family

WV Team Part II

Dear Friends and Family,

The “winter” weather has begun here in Costa Rica, which is to say the rain has come. We had a tropical storm move through this week which brought days of continuous rain and flooding in many areas. But it has now subsided and the routine will return to regular with clear, sunny mornings and rainy afternoons. Such is life in San Jose.

This week we’ll continue the highlights of our time with the Pierpont Team from Morgantown, West Virginia. There was only room on the last blog to share 3 days of their trip, so we’ll sum up the rest of the week here.

On Sunday afternoon we traveled with the team to Rosister Carballo. This is a poor and drug infested area near the airport. Last year, Pastor Casey, now the Pastor at Pierpont, was involved in the planting of this new mission. It is now a growing and thriving group of around 70 people who meet in homes each week.

We arrived at 3pm to share a time with the local children in the community center. We shared two lessons of the VBS with around 90 children. Then we did a quick craft with the kids and they had a snack before heading out the door in the rain. The team had compiled 100 Personal Care Kits which included a shampoo, a washrag, soap, toothbruth and toothpaste. The children and moms were thrilled with their new goodies.

Three people from the team returned to Rosister later in the week to help paint the outside of the community center that had been absolutely covered in graffiti. In only a few hours all the new paint was on and it looked beautiful.

The team spent the rest of their time working on what will be the new Regional Office for the MAC Region. They painted the entire 3^rd floor, not once but two times. They hung about 30 new light fixtures and scrubbed and mopped all the floors. The building looks beautiful with the new peach colored paint and all the trimmings.

And of course the team had a day for touring Costa Rica. They first enjoyed a special evening out at a famous restaurant here known for its great views of the city. The rain hampered that event a bit but the team did get a glimpse of the city lights between the clouds. Plus we enjoyed watching the traditional dancers.

On their tour day, they enjoyed seeing the Poas Volcano, the hummingbirds and even the rain forest, even though it rained a bit for that part. A lovely dinner out completed the day and they returned to the seminary a bit tired, but happy.

Their team left San Jose at 1pm but did not make it home to West Virginia until 6am after their delays and plane changes. We appreciate their sacrifice of time and money to help the work in Costa Rica and we are already speaking with them about a return trip in late 2009 or early 2010.

We finally celebrated Kayley’s birthday with a trip with two of her friends to a local amusement park. We had a fun time and God provided a beautiful day after many days of rain. There was almost no one in the park so we never had to wait to get on any ride. WONDERFUL! Sorry, but Mom forgot the camera that day so we’ve no pictures to share.

More good news is that we received the kids’ grades and found that they completed the semester with flying colors. The kids are so glad to not have homework, although Mom is assigning a few things during the week to keep their minds busy.

David has a trip planned to travel to Panama City this week and he’ll likely be taking a couple of professors from the seminary along with him. Pray for their safety on this long trip.

We are excited for Aunt Tina (David’s sister), and her son and his wife, Ryan and Danielle to arrive. They will be here in two weeks and we’ll visit Arenal Volcano and fly through the rainforest on a zipline. COOL!!!

God bless you all and have a great week!

The Webb Family