English Club

David's bday celebration at English Club.  Check out that candle!  I thought the sprinklers might come on, but thankfully we don't have those!

Hello Family and Friends,

This week, I want to share about the Nazarene Academy.  This is a separate association from SENDAS, but affiliated with SENDAS (the Seminary in San Jose).  This program is a continuing education program for the local communities.  Currently, the Academy holds classes in computer skills and English as Second Language classes.  A new Basic ESL class and a new computer course will start in April.  Just around the corner.

I have been super blessed to teach the English Club Class.  This class is for advanced intermediate to advanced level students of English.  The main objective of the class is to improve speaking skills in English.   Maybe you are thinking, well, if you have studied English for years, and if you can read it well, why can’t you speak.  Speaking is the last skill mastered as anyone learns a second language (unless you are talking about babies and children who learn differently!).   Also, did you know that pronunciation in English is very difficult?  In Spanish, the vowels have just one basic sound so that as I was learning Spanish, I could read many things even when I had no idea what it meant.  Not so in English.  You must hear and repeat word after word after word to pronounce correctly. 

So the class is like a round table discussion of different issues.  Right now we are talking about our families, learning the words and sayings related to the family (infant, toddler, adolescent, senior citizen, baby boom, to take after, to be named after…) and sharing about our families.  Plus, we talk about interesting issues related to the family like how families differ culture-to-culture, single parent families, divorce and custody issues, adoption, etc. 

Then we have about a half hour of something called Language Partners.  I bring in two or three native English to talk in small groups with the students.  This has been a BIG plus for the class since they get even more practice. 

The class is a 12 week class and we are now at week 8, and I can really see improvement in the students’ English.  They are a great group and I am so pleased to teach them every Thursday night.   

In other news, we are sad that the Faucett family is nearly done with their first 10 weeks of CALL Spanish study.  They will be leaving us later this week. 

They are volunteers who are learning Spanish to serve with us on the Mesoamerica Region in the future.  We are so excited to know they will be at General Assembly to help with the SENDAS booth.  They have studied very hard and learned so much in these 10 weeks and they have plans to return in the fall for more intense learning.  We are blessed to work with such great people!

Thanks for keeping up with us and for your prayers and support.  Maybe we will see you this summer as we make the rounds in the USA.

Shelley, David, Joshua and Kayley

Kingdom building in Costa Rica

Greetings All!

Our desire is that you are growing in your knowledge of the love in Christ in all that you do.  God is good!  God is blessing in many ways with many open doors for ministry in Costa Rica and we thank Him for a great start to 2013.  Thank you for your prayers and your encouragement.  David has been making several trips within Costa Rica and rejoicing how God is working throughout the country.  Here are some snapshots to share.

We start here at the seminary as three missional zone church planters came to take an intensive course.  David met with them off and on during the week following working withe the Lynden, WA team in Palmeres.  Two of the church planters are from the indigenous area of Costa Rica (Valle de la Estrella) and the other church planter is from Western Panama.  In this photo they are meeting with Brother Franlym from our San José seminary SENDAS to discuss opening new educational extension centers.  Praise God for the access to education our pastors and church planters have.

As the church planters prepared to head home, David travelled with the Costa Rica North evangelism coordinator to lead evangelism workshops in Liberia (northern Costa Rica).  They were blessed with the participation of 24 people.

The day after evangelism workshops, David preached in the Barrio Mexico church which is where the District Superintendent Mario Vargas pastors.  We had a great lunch with Mario and his wife Sharon afterwards. 

The following week, David went on a three day trip to one of the indigenous areas here in Costa Rica.  David traveled with two leaders from San José to visit two different missions, to distribute clothing collected by the Costa Rica Central district and to distribute school supplies which were purchased through funds donated by Vacation Bible school offerings from Los Angeles, Ca.  Our school year here goes from February to December so a January trip worked perfectly

loading up the car! (please pray for it :-)

worship service in the indigenous zone

Donating school supplies

One of God's greatest gifts is the ability to identify, to train and to encourage new leaders in the faith.  In this trip, David was encouraged to meet with 9 different people that are being trained to lead cell groups in different villages.

Leaders of missions and preaching points

We then had the privilege of attending the annual NYI (Youth) convention for the Costa Rica Central District before heading up to another youth event in the Costa Rica North district.  Jesus is moving in the youth in Costa Rica.  Please pray that the Holy Spirit has his way as He calls, equips and works in our youth here.

Drama at the Costa Rica Central Youth Convention

Youth in Costa Rica North that participated in a weekend of evangelism and compassion

The following week, David visited another church planter, Brother Franklin, in north central Costa Rica.  Franklin lives in a poor area but is bringing the riches of Jesus Christ in three different communities.  Here is a picture of Franklin's new chicken project that was funded by Nazarene compassionate ministries to help him raise revenue to support his family.  David had a special blessing as Brother Helmer Juarez, Regional Coordinator for Nazarene Compassionate ministries was able to travel with him

Brother Helmer Juarez, Compassionate ministries coordinator and Brother Franklin, in case you are wondering, Franklin wrote on the door of the chicken coop, Christ loves you and is coming back, we need to get ready

Franklin, his wife and son and a family from San Jose that traveled with David

We truly thank the Lord Jesus Christ who is moving, calling and equipping people for ministry here.  Please continue to pray for revival in every part of Costa Rica and Panama.  We are seeing new works grow and we know that true renewal only comes through God's grace.  God is good, He loves you and He is coming back soon....as Franklin wrote, we need to get ready. 

Much love in Christ, David, Shelley, and Kayley (and Josh by extension :-)

So much to tell, so little time!

January has come and gone.  What a month of activitiy starting with the Work and Witness Evangelism team from Crosspoint Church in Washington State.  (See the previous post for more info and photos).

Since then, Kayley started back to school (9^th grade) and is enjoying her photography class, David took lots of trips within Costa Rica, Shelley attended planning meetings for both the Seminary and CALL, SENDAS held intensive courses on campus, Kayley participated in a friend’s 15^th birthday (Quinciñera – very big deal here), we enjoyed the “Rally” Obstacle course at the new misión Tres y Tres and we attended the Costa Rica North District’s Assembly.  Now that's a lot of activity!

Joshua has started his second semester at MVNU taking Calculus, American Lit, Creative Writing, a Business course and Intro to Art.  It looks like he enjoyed watching the Superbowl with our friends the Armstrongs, missionaries who live in Panama. 

David also made a special trip to the Indigenous Area this month, but that will just have to be another blog – just too much to tell!  

Photos best tell the story!

Kayley all dressed up for her friend's 15th Bday party.  They are more like weddings here!

Some of the students and professors at SENDAS for Intensive January classes.  They are from Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Mexico. 

One of Kayley's friends used her camera to take this awesome shot.  She is growing up too fast!

Kayley took this photo out the classroom window.  Neat reflection!

The CALL Team:  Zeidy, Hellen, Shelley and Gaby

CR North Assembly with General Superintendent Middendorf.

Two pastors were ordained this day!  YEAH!

The two newly ordained Pastors:  Alex and Henry

The whole gang:  Youth from Tres y Tres, Barrio San Jose, Upala churches and Poas.  Ag

One of the 4 teams making their way to the top!  They had even more fun coming down.  

David is in Panama this week to direct the District Assemblies there. He returns just in time to direct the Assembly for Costa Rica Central on Saturday.  

There is a work and witness team here from Fort Meyers, FL.  This same church came about 15 years ago to build the roads we drive on!  They are back again working on the renovation of the Guanacaste dorm.  We are so thankful for their help!

Sanding and painting doors, painting the rooms and setting up the new bunk beds is all in a day's work for this group!

  

If you would like to bring a team to help SENDAS, we have many projects planned for the next 2-3 years.  We would love to partner with YOU!

We hope you are staying warm wherever you are.  If not, hop a flight to Costa Rica where the sun shine every day (during dry season!).  

God bless you all,

La Familia Webb

Christmas and New Year Happenings

Hello Everyone!

J and K enjoying downtown San Jose.

It has been a wonderful Christmas and New Year season here in Costa Rica.  We celebrated by having all 4 Webbs under one roof once again.  Joshua visited Costa Rica for two weeks and we enjoyed the family time.  We spent two nights at the coast, visited with friends, saw some movies at the new Lincoln Plaza Mall and spent one day in downtown San Jose.  

Lovin' the beach!

It was sad to say goodbye to Joshua, but we jumped back into work hosting a Work and Witness Evangelism team from the state of Washington.  We worked in Palmares and San Ramon, areas located northwest of the San Jose, doing compassion, evangelism, VBS and light construction.  Here are some highlights of our time together with the team of 12 persons.

David and Pastor Felipe on Day 1 of work in Palmares.

The Church of the Nazarene in Palmares - notice the roof is being replace, thanks to this team!

Preparing for VBS

The before photo...

The after photo

Kayley and friends paining the outside wall in a San Ramon School

The Lynden, WA Church team at Poas.

Now we are looking forward to a great rest of the month of January.  Monday we will be back to office work preparing for the upcoming Costa Rica Conventions and Assemblies.  The Seminary is hosting intensive classes for the next two weeks, so it will be great to have extra students on campus.

A new volunteer couple have arrived to the field and will begin their time by studying Spanish.  Gary and Naomi Faucett, who joined up with the WA team highlighted above, will be staying on campus until mid-March.  We are thrilled they will be here to study and work alongside us for these months.  Here is their blog so you can read all about them:  thefaucetts.weebly.com

School starts on Tuesday for Kayley.  She had a great fall semester, so we know the spring will be wonderful too!  Joshua returned to classes on January 3^rd, arriving late after a flight delay and overnight stay in Dallas. His J-term will end soon and the second semester will begin.  For now, his plan is to double major in Journalism and International Business, with a minor in Spanish.

 

May God bless you all as you begin the New Year.  We have had a great start and can't wait to see what the LORD will do in the 37 churches and 30 missions of Costa Rica this year!

David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

Hello and Merry Christmas to ALL! 
We have lots to share on this post, so let's keep things organized with a 10 point list!

1.  Christmas Party – Missionaries and More

Great time with around 25 people in our home for the annual Missionary and More Christmas party.  The majority of the folks are missionaries, but a few just have to put up with us.  We fellowshiped, ate, laughed, drank Anne’s apple cider, passed Baby Micah around, talked about the meaning of Advent and prayed together.  Great way to send off the missionaries headed “home” for deputation. 

Vanessa and Pablo are two who have to put up with all the missionaries!

Ana holding Micah, while a very attentive Gordo looks on.

2.  Finals Week for two

Joshua (far left, yes with the beard) and some guys from his hall at MVNU.

Both Joshua and Kayley completed their exams on Friday.  Both have worked so very hard this term and we are super proud of them for their very high grades.  Kayley is half way through 9^th grade and Joshua in his freshman year of college at MVNU.  Joshua will be home with us soon, and as he puts it, “dreaming of a green Christmas!”  The beach is awaiting us next week!

3.  David – January Team Preparation

David has been busy with travels with two recurring locations:  Palmares and San Ramon.  These are the two cities we will be working in with the team from Washington State that arrives on Jan 3^rd.  Pray with us for safety and good days of evangelism as we help to support the existing work in Palmares (a church that has grown from 25 to 70 in one year!) and start a new cell group in San Ramon, a nearby, even larger city.  We will be working in the city park, in an outlying community of Palmares and in a school in San Ramon.

Palmares Central Park:  The team will paint this kiosk in January!

  

4.  Los Chiles – Dedication of Parsonage

David and Stephen Sickel drove to Los Chiles (near the border with Nicaragua) for the dedication service for the new parsonage there.  Pastor Henry is working hard in Los Chiles and we are so pleased he now has an great place to live.

I love the decoration around the doorway.  It is made of braided leaves and is Pastor Henry's creation.

  

5.  MNU student teachers – highlights

The six MNU student teachers finished their teaching this week and have now returned to the Kansas City area.  We so enjoyed having this great group of young leaders in our home for morning devotions, sharing time with them in the evenings (Kayley loves the Dutch Blitz games) and watching them learn about Spanish and the culture of Costa Rica.  They enjoyed spending a weekend with a Tica family, traveling to the beach for a 3 night stay, and visiting La Paz Waterfall gardens.  You can view more photos of their adventures on the CALL facebook page: Christian Academy of Language and Learning.

 7.  Graduation SENDAS

Graduation was held on the 8^th and as always it was a great celebration.  There were a total of 23 graduates this year, but only 4 in attendance since most live in other countries and take classes online and by video conference.  The first graduates from the Master’s program in Peru were honored at the event:  a father, mother and daughter.  That's awesome!

8.  SENDAS Christmas gathering

We also had a Christmas party for the Seminary.  The staff enjoyed the pool for the morning, had a lunch together and then played some Christmas games.  It was a great way to relax together.  Here is a photo of some of the faculty and staff of SENDAS.

Shelley with the CALL professors, Zeidy and Gaby

9.  This is Pineapple Country!  

Did you know that Costa Rica is the largest exporter of pineapples in the world?  That is amazing when you think of the small size of Costa Rica.  Here is Stephen Sickel next to the pineapple truck.

10.  Sun is out again

 Lastly, it seems the “winter” is finally ending and our “summer” is beginning.  Although we expect to see a bit more rain in December, it is less rain and more sun each day.  Lovely! 

We sure miss being with family for Christmas, but we will be happy to be all 4 Webbs together once again.  

God bless you all.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

The Webb family