KC Central Team to Nicaragua - Construction

Hello!  We hope the New Year has started off well for you all.

We returned from a trip on January 7th and have been busy making plans for 2011 ever since.  It looks like the Seminary will finally be able to start the ESL classes soon in partnership with the Costa Rican government.  We have a final meeting at the end of the month and classes will start in February or early March.  This has been a long time in the making, but it looks like we are making progress.  YEAH!

David is keeping busy taking trips to the districts and training in many different areas in evangelism and discipleship.  He loves it!  He is in North Costa Rica today, will be in Panama next week and Nicaragua the week following. 

This blog is all about the Central Team from Lenexa, KS.  That was our home church just before leaving the USA for Guatemala, so we have many friends there.  It was wonderful to see them and to make some new friends too. 

We did so much in 10 days that I cannot tell it all on one blog.  This blog will focus on the construction of the new church building.  There is a new chapel factory in the Nicaragua South district and this was the 3rd building to be built using that facility. (The idea is that the materials are prepared beforehand in the chapel factory and then transported to the site to the local people can more easily put up the structure). 

The construction site when we arrived.

This is how things looked when we arrived.  The ground had been prepared and the columns put in.

Josh (in green), and many from the team with their shovels.

David and David, seeing the lay of the land.

Our good friends David and Jodi Cooper were the team leaders.  It was awesome to work with them...two of the nicest and patient people we know!  Here are David and David talking about the project on day 1. 

Each day the work continued, bit by bit.  Everyone on the construction team worked very hard to break up the ground, haul materials, shovel the dirt, etc...

Kevin and Angel, showing off their muscles.

Here is the project after a couple of days.  The roof is almost complete!






It was an exciting moment when the cement mixer arrived!  That was an unexpected help, but the work would never have gotten done the old-fashioned way.  Too much floor and not enough time.  (Of course it took 2 days to get the motor started, but finally Jerry got it figured out.  Thanks, Jerry!)

Faith, Kayley and Katie with Sarah in the background.

Of course, it wasn't all work.  There were plenty of times for fun too. 

The work was completed in time for the final service with the team.  It was great to be able to worship together on the new floor with a completed roof overhead. We know the church in La Paz Centro will grow even more having this new building.  We hope to hear soon that the walls have been put up so the building can be completed.

Beautiful views of volcanos in Lake Managua.

KC Central Team

Thanks to the KC Central team for working so hard!  You all did a wonderful job!

And next week, we'll tell you more about the other mission projects that the team was involved in (Children's events, Women's workshops, Jesus Film showings, compassionate ministries projects, etc...)

One more thing...the kids went back to school today.  It was hard to get up and get going so early after having a month off, but I am hoping for good reports when they arrive later this afternoon.  Thanks for all your prayers.  We appreciate you!

The Webb Family
David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

Jesus Film Showings in Costa Rica

Bible School in San Jeronimo

Hi Everyone,

A toucan in one of the communities where we were working

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and great start to 2011.  What a great hope we have as Christians as we know Immanuel, God with us, and have the peace of His presence.  It is not just a promise, it is a reality!   December actually began and ended with 2 different teams from the US, one team in Costa Rica and one in Nicaragua.  We are going to share about the Costa Rica team first and then the next post will share more on Central Church of the Nazarene team from Lenexa, KS that arrived on December 28.

On Dec. 1, we were blessed to receive a team from near Houston, TX.  They came to participate in evangelism and Jesus Film projects on the Pacific side of Costa Rica where we are working to plant new missions.  In our planning with Costa Rican leaders here in San Jose, we were able to see God open amazing doors.

Bible School in one of the local schools

Decisions to receive Christ after a Jesus Film showing

We worked on painting and repairs in a public school in a very small community called San Jeronimo.  The director is a wonderful lady who was very appreciative in receiving this help and gave the team permission to show the Jesus film to the 42 students who attend there.  God receives all the glory as over 30 of these students made decisions to receive Christ after this presentation.

Jesus Film Showing in Quebrada Ganado

We worked in two other schools in two other smaller communities in this same general area.  In the community of Quebrada Ganado, we received permission to show the Jesus film in the school in the evening after doing painting, Bible schools and a soccer clinic with the kids during the day.  It was a special evening as 108 people came to see the Jesus Film and over 40 people made decisions to accept Christ.

Sharing the Gospel through the Evangecube

Although there is much to share, we give thanks to God as He allowed us to be a part of 189 decisions for Christ over a three day period including our bus driver Luis Carlos.  Another special memory for David was after a Bible school where some children saw an evangecube and wanted to know what the pictures stood for.  David was able to share the story of salvation with them at this time.  When he asked if any of the children would like to receive Christ as their personal Savior, six children prayed to receive Christ at this time.

Thanks so much for your prayers.  God is more faithful than we can share in words!  We are excited to see the doors to ministry that He will continue to open here. 

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

Team members with Pastor Leyla, volunteer Cami, David and their bus driver and new believer Luis Carlos

Webb family Year in Review: 2010

Dear Family and Friends,
We decided to show you all the blessings of this year, instead of writing about them. Our course, we couldn't include every blessing from the year, but many of the highlights are in this video.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas. We are so thankful for Emmanuel, God with us, who left his home in heaven to show us how to live with Him now and forever. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

We will celebrate the holiday in San Jose, but we will leave soon after for Nicaragua to work with a team for a couple of weeks. Pray for safety in travel and in work for this team of 27 people.

God bless you all! Until next year...
David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley Webb

Big Events

Hello to All,

Two exciting and big events happened in the last couple of weeks.  The first being the 40th Anniversary/Graduation Celebration at the Seminary.  Shelley worked in planning this event which included an evening chapel service/graduation and a dinner.  One hundred and fifty people attended the dinner!  Wow!  What a night!

This year I have had the blessing of having a student assistant with me in the office.  Mercedez has been a life saver this year, helping with Communications and whatever else I need.  She will finish her master's degree in the Spring and return to Guatemala and I am already sad about that!

The other big event was the arrival of some of the Hill clan from Iowa for the Thanksgiving holiday. David's sister, Tina, and her son, Ryan and his family joined us.  We love to go to the beach at Thanksgiving, basically because no one else is there! 

We had the beach to ourselves and it was wonderful.  But first, before the beach, we had a HUGE Thanksgiving meal with 15 people in attendance.  The Armstrong family (missionaries here with us), Alvaro and Monica (long time Columbian friends of the Webb family who live in San Jose) as well as the 9 Webbs/Hills.  Great food and great fun!

We had wonderful weather the entire time and it only rained when we were driving somewhere.  Amazing!  Here we are on a tour of Manuel Antonio National Park.  Do you like sloths?  They are the ugliest things that God made (that's Shelley's opinion!). 

We also attended church on Sunday in San Pedro de Poas, one of our favorite churches to visit.  It is an outside sanctuary and we were there on the day of the ground breaking for a new building that has been a dream of the church for years now.  Want to bring down a team to work in the construction of the multipurpose building???  We can help you with that!!!  Here is the group, along with Roberto Hodgson, Coordinator of Hispanic Ministries in USA/Canada, all eating ice cream.  Yummy!

Oh, and then we got to visit the World's Largest Oxcart (the national symbol of Costa Rica), which I liken to seeing the largest ball of twine in Kansas.  VERY EXCITING!

 

David is with a team this week near Jaco, Costa Rica, with a group from Texas who are doing evangelism ministry.  We look forward to his return next week when I am sure he will have lots to write about to keep you all updated. 

Oh, I forgot to mention the wonderful tour day I had with Dr. Douglas Hardy (from the Seminary in KC) and Glynda Wesley (from Global Mission Headquarters).  We had the absolutely WORST day for tour, but they made it a blast anyway.  I show you this photo to prove just what a rotten day it was for viewing Volcan Poas....yep, it is right behind them...somewhere!  Thanks guys, for a fun day!


We want to say a special HELLO to our new LINKS district in Kansas City.  We have enjoyed getting to know many of you and look forward to seeing you next year in June. 

God bless you all.  Until next time,

Shelley, David, Joshua and Kayley

Update on the MKs

Hello Everyone!

This week I just want to post a little bit about the kids.  Joshua and Kayley are now a fourth of the way through the school year and are anxiously looking forward to Thanksgiving break.  Yes, the school we attend, since it runs on a USA schedule, does honor the holiday of Thanksgiving.  TDay has become our family vacation time since it is not a holiday here and there is no one but us at the beach.  AWESOME!

They are also very excited since Cousin Ryan and his family (David's nephew), along with Aunt Tina (David's sister) will be visiting for the holiday.  It will be good to have a break, but especially sweet with family to share it with.

Joshua continues to be involved in the praise team at church, playing drums most Sundays.  His skills are improving as he gets more opportunity to play.  Basketball practice starts this week.  ICS is offering BB as a spring sport this year.  Joshua is starting to think more about college since he is in 11th grade this year.  He is seriously considering some different Nazarene Universities throughout the country, including Mount Vernon, Point Loma, MidAmerica and Olivet.  Joshua enjoys the church youth group and you can see below he got surprise with a cold bath the other day!  He is good sport!

Kayley has grown lots this year, and although she is still petite, she has gotten lots taller.  She has had her braces on now for 6 months and just this week the orthodontist added bands.  OUCH!  But she is a trooper with a high pain tolerance - thankfully!  She loves her art and craft class at school and more than anything enjoys spending time with friends.  She is as social as her Daddy and finds it hard to do homework when everyone else is playing!  She enjoys the youth group and her friends at church and just recently joined the dance group that do actions to the worship songs at church.  Here she is having fun with the youth group, being thrown into the air from a blanket. 

Well, that is the update for now.  David has traveled much of November and will have lots to tell about all the yearly assemblies in the districts when he returns.  Also, be praying for this Saturday, as the Seminary celebrates both graduation and their 40th anniversary with a service and evening meal.  We'll share more about that event in the next couple of weeks.

God bless you all,

The Webb Family