Ministry Update

Hello Dear Family and Friends,

Life has settled into a routine here in Costa Rica with the kids busy with their studies and Mom and Dad busy with ministry in Costa Rica.  

Joshua has been enjoying his basketball team even more than in the past since more players are on the team this year.   Here is a moment from a game last week when Joshua had an assist to another player, who unfortanately missed the shot, but it was a good assist anyway.  They are truly an international team with kids from Costa Rica, USA, Korea, Japan and China.  The team is 3-1 so far, but they are playing a really good team from the Brittanica School this week, so we are hoping for another win, but it will take all the team has to make that happen. 

 

Another exciting event was the parrot who decided to enter our office space last week.  Bub Honea is a volunteer with the Work and Witness ministry and since he has experience with birds, he managed to catch it.  Now, the parrot lives the life of luxury as their pet.

  

Joshua and Kayley are back into the routine of their minstries as church.  Kayley enjoys the dance team and Joshua plays drums with the worship team.  

David and Shelley have been trying to visit ALL the different Nazarene churches in Costa Rica.  So far we have visited 3 (other than our local church El Alto) and we have had a wonderful time at each one.  Usually the most adventurous part of our Sunday mornings is finding the churches!  Remember there are no street signs or numbers here, so it is all by point of interest.  This makes for interesting drives!

Today (Sunday) we visited Tejarcillos where Pastor Harry is in charge.  The church looks very different than when we visited one year ago since they have built an entirely new building on their corner property with the help of two Work and Witness teams.  They have hopes to purchase property behind them to expand the sanctuary and teaching spaces even more.  Here are a few photos of the church and the view from this side of the city (south side, overlooking the downtown of San Jose).  

The next few weeks will be busy with Shelley preparing for the Seminary Board meetings at the end of the month as well as for the upcoming semester of CALL in January 2012.  David will continue his work with the church planters and with all other ministries in Costa Rica (youth, compassion, discipleship, missions, etc...).  The kids have a week off from school in mid October, so we plan to spend a few days of family time, resting up and preparing for the rest of the year.  Then the Regional Meetings will be held the 19-23 of October in Guatemala.  David will be attending while Shelley holds down the fort and helps Joshua as he prepares to take the ACT that Saturday.  Lots to do!!!

We pray you have a wonderful October.  Thanks for your continued prayers for us.  God bless you!

The Webb Family

Report from Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Hello Family and Friends,

Today is Independence Day in Costa Rica, as well as many other Central American countries, so we are celebrating with a day off.  There is no school today or tomorrow (Friday) here in Costa Rica as families celebrate by attending parades.  There were not as many fireworks last night as we anticipated, but they may appear more this evening. 

Kayley is "celebrating" the holiday by recovering from a dental surgery to remove an extra tooth up high in the palate.  She is doing well and we are so thankful to live in a location with good medical and dental facilities.  Now the orthodontist treatment can continue and Kayley hopes to be braces free in a couple of months.  YEAH!

Kayley has had a new companion these last few days as we adopted a street dog.  This little dog has been around the SENDAS campus for nearly two months and finally the gardener lured her into our back yard.  So I guess she is ours now!  She is a Minature Pinscher (Min Pin).  Her new name is Chispa (kinda like Sparky in English).  She was very hesitant around people at first, but we see now that she has been owned by someone before.  Thankfully she is already house trained, which gives Mom one less thing to worry about.  Kayley has wanted a small dog for a long time, so she is certainly pleased!

Joshua has been playing BB with ICS and the team is having a very good start to the season.  They are 1-1 so far, beating a team that they have lost to for the last few years by about 20 points.  The team even has a bench this year so Joshua can take a break if needed.  We hope to have some photos for you for the next blog.

David has been very busy with trips the last few weeks.  First he went to Panama to visit the West District.  There is a team from the Iowa District coming in February, so it was a good chance to make some preliminary site visits and make plans for this Jesus Film team.  The team will be working outside of David, Panama in an elevated area.  That is good so that the temps will be a bit cooler.  Panama is one HOT place!

Location of the Iowa District team, schedule for Feb 2012.

Then David travelled to Nicaragua for his "farewell" meeting with the leaders there.  It was sad for David to be saying goodbye to all his friends and ministry partners there, but it was good to be able to introduce them all to Giovanni Monterroso, who is the missionary they will be working with in the area of Evangelism.  We know that Giovanni will do a great job there, helping to grow the church in Nicaragua. 

Giovanni presenting to the Nicaraguan leaders.

New Mission near Liberia, Costa Ric

Now David is focusing his efforts in Costa Rica.  There are two districts here and David has been meeting with leaders from both districts to strategize and plan.  The doors are wide open as David now is helping to coordinate ALL ministries in the two districts (Youth, children, sunday school, missions, discipleship, evangelism. compassion, etc...) so there is much to do.

The north district is experiencing great growth and one location is starting the building of a large multipurpose structure.  We are excited to see the work continue in San Pedro de Poas on the property they call the "finca" or the farm.  We know God has great plans for this community through the use of this structure in the days to come. 

Another new mission in the Costa Rica North District

The first stages of construction for the new gym.

The trusses for the new building - they are HUGE!

Joshua sitting outside the new lodge for Work and Witness teams.

CALL (Spanish Language School) is also doing well and Shelley is keeping busy with the current students as well as the future students for 2012.  There is a good sized group coming in January and Shelley is praying for a wonderful experience for all the students.  The Tooleys and the Honeas have been studying this fall with wonderful results.  Click here to learn more about what has been happening with CALL: Article about CALL, August 2011.

The Tooleys in the CALL classroom.

October will be busy as the Districts begin their yearly meetings.  Also, there is a very special event in Guatemala that David will be attending.  It is the first ever Mesoamerica Regional meeting with representation from each of the 30 countries in the new Region.  It will be an exciting time for all.

Thanks so much for your prayers!  Here is a list of a few prayer needs we have in the coming weeks.
1. Safe travel for David as he drives in all parts of Costa Rica.
2. For Joshua, as he takes the ACT in October and prays about choosing a college for next year.
3. For Kayley, for a good 8th grade school year with lots of good friendships to make it more fun.
4. For the CALL ministry as it grows, that God would provide the workers needed for the program, perhaps in the form of full time volunteers to serve.
5.  For a strong vision in each of the Costa Rica districts with a focus on developing leaders and pastors.

Thanks again for your prayers for the work in Costa Rica.  May God bless you!

La Familia Webb

Final days in USA/Back home to Costa Rica

Hello! 
So sorry it has been so long waiting for an update from the Webbs.  It has been a little crazier than we thought to adjust back to life in Costa Rica, but all is well now, with the kids back in school and Mom and Dad back to some sense of normalcy in their work.

First, let us update you on the last few days we spent in the USA.  We were in Chicago for our last services, so we enjoyed staying with David's brother, Steve, in Chicago.  The cousins had a great time together playing cards, watching movies and bowling. 

At the bowling alley.

We even had a special evening out eating at Maggiano's restaurant.  Wow!  That was some great Italian food.  I think I will save my pennies so we can treat the whole family next time.  These before and after photos tell the whole story - Yes, we ate way too much! 

 

We also got to spend time with both Grandmas while in Chicago.  Here is a photo from our final evening together with Shelley's Mom and Stepdad, Don.  We are still hoping to get Don on an airplane down to Costa Rica one of these days!

Leaving for school in the taxi (taxis here are always red!)

The kids have entered into school slowly but surely.  We arrived to classes a few days late, then the kids had camp (Joshua elected not to go but to work on college applications instead) and then finally, this week, classes are in full swing. Joshua's BB team is practicing already and it looks like a promising year with the good group of seniors who are on the team.

Josh with his new Football magazine, once of his bday gifts.

Joshua celebrated his 17th birthday yesterday, and probably his last one at home.  Boo-hoo!  We had a small missionary family get together last night with brownies, chocolate chip bars and ice cream.  Then we enjoyed watching old home videos of Joshua as a little guy.  (We had all our old VHC tapes converted to DVDs this summer, well except one that is missing since the company mistakenly gave us someone else's video of a 50th anniversary.  Happy Anniversary to the Rhoads', whoever you are!) Joshua sure was a cute little guy (now a cute big guy!). 

Last Sunday our church celebrated Mother's Day (it was officially August 15th) and Kayley and some of the dance group sang a song for all the mothers.  Very nice!

David is back to his traveling once again.  He has travels both to Panama and Nicaragua in the next couple weeks.  This will be his last trip to Nicaragua, so pray for him as he says goodbye to all his friends there.  We will be concentrating more in Costa Rica now, not with only Evangelism, but with all ministries as David is the newly appointed Country Coordinator for Costa Rica. 

A big thanks to all the churches who hosted us this summer.  We loved seeing you and hope to do it again in two years! 

The Webb Family

Touring the USA

 

Hello to All,

We are now on the home stretch of our deputation time in the USA.  We have spoken in about 38 services with one more to go as we head toward Chicago from West Virginia.  It has been wonderful to see so many friends in Tennessee, Ohio and West Virginia.  Here is a quick review of the past few weeks.

Tennessee is our home church district, and it is always great to see our friends there.  We visited the district primary camp, Waverly, Woodlawn, Park Lane, Old Hickory, Joelton, Nashville First Church, Erin and Clarksville First Church.  We also had time to visit Trevecca Nazarene University.

Beautiful Camp Garner Creek

Four wheeling with Mr. Green.

Joshua's reserved parking at Trevecca.

Kayley enjoying the horse at the campgrounds.

 We enjoyed staying at Camp Garner Creek for a few days and then in Woodlawn, on the farm with our friends, Steve and JoAnn Green.  What fun! (especially the Reunion party and 4-wheelin').

Then we moved on to Ohio with a visit to Mount Vernon Nazarene University.  Joshua is considering a number of Nazarene Universities for his college years, and with the senior year upon us, a decision will need to be made in the spring.  Pray for Josh as he makes his future plans. 

We enjoyed visiting with our friends Jessica and Paul Dawes, who attend the New Life Nazarene Church. They took us out to supper and then for ice cream.  Truly some of the best ice cream at the best prices we have ever seen  The Dairy is a good reason to attend MVNU!

Awesome ice cream from The Dairy!

Paul and Jessica Dawes

Then we moved on to Summersville, WV for the District Missions convention.  Joshua presented his PowerPoint in front for the large crowd and was not even a bit nervous.  That kid has nerves of steel!

Joshua presenting at the Pierpont Church.

We took advantage of the day in Summersville to see the Summersville Dam and the longest arch bridge in the world over the New River Gorge.  The river runs North!  Amazing!

New River Gorge Bridge

Kayley at Summersville Lake

Then we moved north to Morgantown, the home of the University of West Virginia.  Our former Pastor, Casey Shorr, pastors the Pierpont Church who have brought a team down to Costa Rica for the last couple of years.  We enjoyed staying at their home, doing our laundry and using their Internet (essentials for deputation travel!)  We also got to see our friends in Mannington, who sent the Fabulous Five with the district team in March.  Shelley really enjoyed her reunion with those awesome ladies! 

The Fabulous Five from Mannington

Now we are preparing to head home to Costa Rica in one more week.  There is lots of packing and repacking on the agenda along with seeing the Grandmas one more time before flying out. 

Thanks to you all for a great summer of mission services in eight districts (seven states).  We hope our paths cross again in the near future when we see you in Costa Rica!  God bless you all!

The Webb Family

NYC - Youth Event 2011

Chelsea, the beautiful bride with her handsome Father, Steve (David's brother).

 Hello Family and Friends,

Kayley and Joshua with their cousins Tessa and Jake.

Well, the deputation trek continues with recent visits to Iowa (family wedding included!) and the Ames Church, then Chicago, then Louisville, and now Tennessee.  It has been a great summer for us all, but we’re getting ready to transition back to life in Costa Rica.  We have 3 weeks left before we head south to Central America once again. 

In the middle of our deputation experience, Joshua and Shelley got the privilege of attending Nazarene Youth Conference in Louisville, KY.  This is a once every four year event with awesome music, speakers, workshops and concerts.  Since this is Joshua’s year to attend and since the Missionary Kid Group was in need of a sponsor, Shelley got to tag along as well.  So it was a first for both of the Webbs. 

The group of 29 MKs was amazing with kids from all over the world.  They formed a cohesive group quickly even though many of them had never met before the event.

These highlight photos say more than words can express about the 6 days at NYC 2011.  

Group games to get to know each other.

The Bundles of hope project provided 65,000 baby items for the Louisivlle community.  

6,300 teens in the new arena.

The Toby Mac Concert was awesome and Joshua got to be on the floor, up close to the action.

Driving go-carts on the longest track in the world with Norm Henry. FUN!

The last few days we have enjoyed staying at the TN Campgrounds.  We worked with the primary children’s camp and then visited the Waverly, TN church.  The kids got to swim one afternoon, we skipped stones in the creek and Kayley enjoyed petting the horse. 

Now we have moved north to Clarksville, TN where we spoke at our home church of Woodlawn Community in the AM and at Park Lane Church in the PM.  Just one more week in TN and we are off to Ohio, then West Virginia and then back to Chicago for our last few days in the USA.  

Thanks for your prayers for our summer travels and thanks to each one of you who has prayed and supported us financially.  We appreciate YOU!

The Webb Family