Kayley is 11!

Hello Everyone Out There,

The big news this week is that Kayley turned 11 years old and had a big party last Sunday afternoon.

It was such fun to watch the kids play games, eat cake and brownies with ice cream, destroy the piñata and crawl all over each other for the candy inside.


Here are a few photos from the big event!

Keep praying for David as he hosts the Trevecca University team in Nicaragua. They have had a great trip so far even with the long first day of travel. (6:30AM until 11pm EEEEK!) They will return to Costa Rica on Tuesday afternoon and the team will fly out on Wednesday morning with many amazing stories to share with their churches, families and friends.

I am sure David will have tons of info to share next week about this Maximum Mission Church planting ministry team.

Until Next Week,
The Webb Family

Quito, Ecuador

Dear Family and Friends,

What a special week! Shelley had the opportunity to travel to Quito, Ecuador to learn more about a Spanish language program called NILI (Nazarene International Language Institute) that the Nazarene Seminary there has implemented. The Seminary here in San Jose is considering such a program so Shelley got to check it out.

Here are a few photos from the trip. As you can see the mountains are beautiful. Quito is at 9000 feet so Shelley found it a bit difficult to breath after walking up the seminary hills.
The NILI program is a Christian Spanish immersion program in Quito. The North American students live with Latin American students and have lots of neat travel opportunities in addition to top-notch language classes for 3 hours each weekday. Probably the neatest thing about the program is the ministry focus, with includes many opportunities to be involved in Christian ministry including evangelism, compassionate ministries and work projects.

There are slots for both university students to study as part of their university majors or for professionals wanting to improve their Spanish skills. It is a great program that we hope to done day replicate here in Costa Rica. Thanks to the leadership in Quito who were open to sharing the NILI program with us.

Of course, the equator is located in Ecuador (hence the name in Spanish!) and so no trip to Quito would be complete without a visit to the equator. It is true that water runs straight down the drain and does not swirl in either direction! I saw it for myself! A special thanks to Stan and Sherri Hall and also to Jen Staudt, missionaries who shared their homes and city with me.

David has been busy preparing for a team who will arrive on Monday evening. They are group from Trevecca University in Nashville, TN. It will be a great adventure as the team travels from just north of San Jose to a town called El Rama. They will go by bus and boat to reach this area and will travel approximately 14 hours on Tuesday to reach their destination. Pray for this team as they travel and minister in Nicaragua Southeast.

Kayley’s birthday is today – May 3rd – and she is waiting now for her friends to arrive so her party can start. The kids will enjoy games, cake, ice cream and of course, a piñata. Turning 11 is a big deal and we are so proud of Kayley for her sweet heart and kindness to others. She is known for her big smile.

Have a wonderful week and God bless you!
Shelley, David, Joshua and Kayley

Jesus Film Trip to Managua

Hi Everyone!

Many blessings in the Name of our great Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. David just returned from Managua, Nicaragua after an evangelism trip. The Church of the Nazarene has four districts in the country of Nicaragua. One of these districts is currently working on a project to plant between 18-20 new missions over an 8 to 11 week time span.

David had the blessing to work with a team from the United States that came to participate in the planting of 3 of these new missions over the past weekend. In three days, the team helped at three different church plants where the Jesus Film was shown each evening.

The first day we worked at the community of Cristo Rey. This is a very poor community as you can see in these photos. The families that live here were relocated by the government after flooding where they lived by Lake Nicaragua. Although there is not an official census, there are probably over 5,000 people living in this community.

The local church did a compassionate project of building walls on one of the houses made out of cardboard (pictured above), had Bible schools





and childrens events, did personal evangelism and showed the Jesus Film. There is great openness to the church as they are also helping the community dig a well as there is no water nor electricity here.

In great need there can be great openness to the gospel. We rejoice in the Lord as we saw 160 decisions for Christ this day as over 40 people received Christ with the presentation of the gospel after the Bible School (the photo above shows some of the children who raised their hands to receive Christ) and 120 came forward to receive Christ after the showing of the Jesus Film.

After the presentation of the Jesus Film, the district superintendent, Brother Oseas shared, "Tonight we saw God give birth to a new church!" Praise God for the salvation that only is found in His Son Jesus Christ and that it is freely available to all who seek it. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

On Saturday, we worked in the community of San Rafael and on Sunday we worked in the community of Nejapa. In San Rafael and Nejapa, the new church plants did more community service projects. The team had the opportunity to help with Vacation Bible Schools, games with folks in the community, dental hygiene clinics and play against the community basketball team (this really was suffering for Jesus as the temperatures were between 95-100!).

We praise God as over the three days we saw a total of 322 decisions for Christ as a result of evangelism presentations after the Bible Schools and decisions made following the Jesus Film presentations. Please pray that God will continue to bless and to move in these new church plants.















A picture of the team with members from Texas, Kansas and Ohio with Chuck Watson from Jesus Film Harvest Partners and missionary Bernie Slingerland with David

Thanks again so much for your prayers and support. The harvest is ready, please pray that God will continue to send workers into His harvest field.

Much love in Christ,
David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

Easter Week and more

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks to a few extra days of vacation, the Webb family took a surprise vacation to Playa Bejuco, which is located on the Pacific coast about 3.5 hours from San Jose. It was a wonderful time of relaxation and enjoyment for the family. Here are a couple of photos from our two-day excursion.


On Saturday before Easter we had an Easter egg party for the missionary kids. This was a new concept to those from outside the USA (Panama and El Salvador). The kids got into the fun decorating and searching for eggs. We even had a teen egg hunt, but in the end, everyone had to help. They were so well hidden!


On Saturday the 18th, Shelley and the kids assisted at a community service project not far from the seminary by taking photos and singing along with the children's songs. It was a collaboration between the local government, our local Nazarene church (El Alto) and Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child.

Joshua and Kayley remember putting together shoebox gifts for children and sending them off to the world, and now they have been a part of giving them out as well.


David is with a team in Managua, Nicaragua but will return later this week. Then Shelley has a trip to Quito, Ecuador. She will leave on Sunday and only be gone a few days. She will visit the Nazarene Seminary there to learn about their Spanish language program that offers courses for universities and individuals in the States who want to spend time being immersed in a Spanish speaking culture. If things go as planned, Shelley will be directing this new NILI site in the future here in San Jose.

Another big event this week is that a volunteer, Nicki Bodenstab, will arrive on Thursday. We are so pleased she will be living with us for her first few months (really we will all be together for only 4 weeks before the Webbs leave) and it will be a blessing to have someone in our home during the summer so it does not sit empty. She will be working with Shelley with projects for the Seminary, as well as assisting with the Child Sponsorship program. She will get lots of translating experience in both positions!

That’s all for this week! Thanks for your prayers as we are trying to wrap up projects here before our departure to the USA on May 23rd. There is much to do, but we know the Lord will help us get it done before we leave. We are looking forward to seeing many of you very soon!

God bless you all,
The Webb Family

Regional Office Dedication/DS Retreat

Hello Everyone!

It has been a whirlwind of a week with all the District Superintendents from the MAC Region (Mexico and Central America countries) visiting us here in San Jose for a special leaders retreat. There are 37 Superintendents and with their spouses and other special speakers there were over 80 people in attendance. Meetings and trainings were held each day and at night a special service took place. Shelley sang with the worship team (sorry, she is not in the photo as she was hidden a bit behind a speaker!) but really, she did sing with the group and all went well.


As part of the festivities, the Regional Office building was dedicated. The special service time included words from Dr. Carlos Saenz our Regional Director, words from General Superintendent Nina Gunter and words from World Mission Director Louis Bustle.
Many of the Superintendents brought a item from their country or region to put on display at the Regional Office. There are lots of walls without decoration, so these gifts are very appreciated.

Well, just as we all get settled into the Regional Office building, Shelley is busy moving out! Her new position with the Nazarene Seminary of the Americas has begun, but for now, she is trying to do both jobs to not leave the Sponsorship program with any loose ends.

Another highlight of this past month has been our new friend, Jim Lane. He has been involved in missions work for many years and came down to San Jose to help with some small construction projects. It has been great to have him working with us and we appreciate his hard work and his friendship. God bless you, Jim!


This is Holy Week, which for Costa Rica means everyone is going to the beach!

Kayley and the other missionary kids have been enjoying the summer weather playing in the sprinkler and eating lunches outside. This is our "spring break" so the kids are off of school. Most businesses close this week and it is basically a national holiday week here.


Just yesterday we learned that we have some extra vacation days this week for working so hard the last week so guess where we are going! That is right - the beach is calling. We like a small beach called Playa Bejuco and when we were there in November, we were the only ones there! It will be a different world this time with all of Costa Rica nearby. But a family vacation is needed, so here we go.

We will tell you all about it next week! God bless you all and Feliz Dia de Resurreccion or in English....HAPPY EASTER!

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