April Update from the Webbs

Hello Friends and Family,

It has been a full week of activities here in San Jose.  David hosted the 6 church planters who were able to come to the city for a 2 day training session.  All the participants enjoyed the time together, learning from each other, sharing resources and being encouraged to continue the work.  There were two church planters from Taij Cabecar, the indigenous area of Costa Rica, one from the Sarapaqui area, one from here in the city, another that lives here but works in Ciudad Quesada and one from the western part of Panama.

David is now in the north Costa Rican district doing workshops and leading meetings.  We hope he will get home late tonight, but if depend on the rain and the roads.

We enjoyed our Easter Sunday with two church services in the morning and a delicious breakfast of gallo pinto.  The kids loved their Easter baskets with candy and a gift for each of them.

Easter church service at Mozotal/Los Angeles church on their new property.

I (Shelley) have kept busy with CALL.  The Language school is growing leaps and bounds this year with the addition of partnerships with two Nazarene Universities.  The MidAmerica students (from Olathe, KS) are here now doing student teaching and studying Spanish.  The three seniors are excited to graduate in May with their education degrees, all hoping to get teaching jobs soon.  With this additional international experience, that should not be a problem.

The MNU students will be leaving the first week of May and then on May 7th, a group of 7 students from Point Loma Nazarene University will be here for the first session of Spanish classes.  We are looking forward to meeting the students, helping them to learn Spanish and show them a bit of beautiful Costa Rica.  But more on that later....

For now, how about some photos of the MNU students and their experience in Costa Rica.  They have visited downtown San Jose, all the local areas, the Poas Vocano and the San Pedro de Poas finca where they joined a Work and Witness team from Michigan in working on the new multipurpose building there.

If you want to see more photos from CALL or learn more about the program, find us on Facebook at Christian Academy of Language and Learning.

First day of school at ICS for Jake, Alyssa and Ashford.

The beautiful coffee fields on the way to Poas Volcano.

Joshua working at the finca on the foundation.

MNU student, Kucey family and Kayley in downtown San Jose.

The CALL classroom!

Enjoying an evening of fellowship and tacos.

Before the next CALL student group arrives in May, we will take a few days to visit Panama for the first Mesoamerica Region Missionary Retreat.  We will get to meet many missionaries from the old Caribbean Region that we have heard about or worked with in one form or fashion.  It will be good really get to know our counterparts from other countries.  

An update on the kids:  Joshua is in the process of choosing a university for the fall.  We have two that have offered scholarships that will make it possible for Joshua to attend, but he still waiting for the final word from one more before making his final decision.  Pray with us that God will make it clear which direction to go.

Kayley is studying hard as she finishes up her 8th grade year.  The Science Fair will be in May, so that process is in full swing once again.  The kids finish their classes the last week of May and have final exams the first week of June.  

We are planning a short visit to the USA in August to do a few deputation services in Iowa and to get Joshua settled in at college.  It will be good to see family once again.

God bless you all!  

Shelley, David, Joshua and Kayley

He is risen indeed

Greetings from Costa Rica.  As I, David, write this the day before Easter (or, as it is in Central America, the Day of Resurrection), we rejoice in what our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for us about 2,000 years ago, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). 

While we celebrate the forgiveness we receive through Christ's death for us on the cross and are humbled by His sacrifice, we also recognize that the story did not end in the grave. There was a resurrection and, when we put our faith and trust in Christ, we receive this resurrection life too...Wow!! Paul wrote in Romans 8:11, If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.  Praise God for His love, forgiveness and freedom that He longs us to know and experience so that every day might be the Day of Resurrection for all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our prayer is that all who read this will know and experience this abundant life found only in Jesus (John 10:10).

The past couple of weeks have flown by.  Here is brief update.

On March 17, Nazarene youth from across Costa Rica came together for a special time together of games, workshops and promotion for the Mesoamerica Region Nazarene Youth Congress that will take place in Panama in July (please pray for this youth event as it only happens once every 4 years). This event was exciting as the youth in both districts of Costa Rica have not had a united event of this scale for over 10 years. It has been very encouraging to see the leaders from throughout the country getting to get better acquainted and to see how they are eager to learn from each other.  This was a special day for me as Joshua was also able to participate.

I also met with two new potential missional zone church planters.  Please pray as we look to start aggressive church planting in Alajuela (the second biggest city of Costa Rica) and another part of the indigenous zone of Tjai Cabecar.  Here is a photo of Brother Anderson, who is ready to be a new missional zone planter in Tjai Cabecar.

Shelley and I had a great time with the New Hope Community Church of the Nazarene and Pastor Ken Morrison and his wife Carol in Denville, NJ as we spoke at Faith Promise services there.  We thank the Lord for their friendship and partnership in the gospel.  Unfortunately we do not have pictures as they were in Shelley's computer which died last week (that is another story).  Thanks New Hope Community for a wonderful time!  The international food potluck on Saturday night was incredible as always and the fellowship a great blessing.  

I spent three days in Panama for regional evangelism meetings with evangelism coordinators from the Mesoamerica Region.  Here is a picture of the group in the new regional office in Panama City with Bernie Slingerland (far left) who is the Evangelism Coordinator for the region.  This was a very encouraging time as we all were able to share and hear what the Lord is doing throughout the region as well as receive trainings that we can share with the leaders on each of our fields. 

This past Tuesday was an exciting day for me as one of our local Nazarene churches in San José has felt a prompting from the Lord to be more involved in one of our missional zones in an area called Sarapiqui.  We have not had any works in this area as of two years ago, but that has been changing.  The church planter there, Brother Franklin, has planted over 15 cell groups and missions over the last 2 years and while I have been working with him in trainings and discipleship material, we have been longing to see the district partnership to grow with the work there.  I accompanied the Church of Coronado of San José with their Pastor Rolan and 5 other lay people from his church to spend the day in workshops, knowing the area, and praying and dreaming with the brothers and sisters of Sarapiqui as to how God can use their partnership to continue to train and raise up leaders for the new works in Sarapiqui.  One of the workshops had the people of this new mission do a presentation of what their dreams are for the church.  Here is a picture of one of the children groups showing their collage.  It is exciting to see the work grow and multiply (the harvest is ready!) as well as to see how the Holy Spirit is moving and a growing passion is beginning in the Central District of Costa Rica.  Here a group photo of leaders from the Coronado church and leaders that are working in the missional zone of Sarapiqui. 

In the midst of all this, Shelley has been very busy in her work at the seminary and with the CALL Spanish language learning program that she administrates.  We are leaving for the airport in an hour to pick up 3 students from MidAmerica that will be here to do study Spanish here with the CALL program as well as to do student teaching where our kids attend high school.   She continues to work with other students in the Spanish program and is excited to see the program grow as well.

Please pray for these new arrivals.  Please also pray for special missional zone church planter training that will take place April 16 and 17 here in San José.  This training will have church planters from across Costa Rica and Panama.

Again may God bless you in this time as we remember the Day of Resurrection and, better yet, our resurrected Lord who alone provides salvation for this hurting world....He is risen indeed!!

Feb and March Happenings

            This last week both my Dad and I got back from a trip to David, Panama with a work and witness team of pastors from the Iowa District. We had a great time, managing to show the Jesus Film three times, work at and clean the elementary school of Portachuelo, and evangelize the Portachuelo community in the span of five days. One of the Jesus Film showings we did on the spur of the moment at the Portachuelo School at the urging of the school’s director. Afterwards we were able to give every child at the school their own children’s Bible and assorted collection of candy, necklaces, bracelets, and superballs. Hard to say what they liked more: superballs or Bibles; just joking, they thought the Bibles were cool too.

Preparing for the Jesus Film and spending time with the kids.

Pastor Armando choosing who will get first crack at the pinata.

Jesus Film Showing in the local school.

 We also had the privilege of having an awesome bus driver go with us. Leonel, also known as “El Jefe,” was an awesome guy from Costa Rica who jumped in and worked just as hard as the rest of us. He was a super honest guy, which was awesome because he ended up helping me a ton with my Spanish accent. Really “Pura Vida” (cool.)

Leonel, our awesome bus driver!

Church Planter Armando and Pastor Walter working together.

            My Dad and I also had the opportunity to work with Armando, the new Church Planter in David. Armando and his family moved to David in the last month and a half to start planting churches.
Even though David is a city of at least 70,000+ people, the Church of the Nazarene doesn’t have a very strong presence there. However, I feel strongly that God is going to use Armando in a really cool way. All you have to do is talk to him for five minutes, and you can tell he is totally on fire for God. The only place to go is up.

            I am very thankful I was able to go on this trip. To God mostly, for giving me the chance, but also for the team that I went with who ended up paying for my meals, and for all the awesome Nazarenes in the city of David who made working there a blast. Hopefully, I’ll be able to go back soon.

The Iowa District Team, along with David, Joshua and the school teachers.

It was also my Dad's birthday last Saturday and since he has been gone a lot in the last few weeks, we gave him the day off!  Here is how he spent part of the day...

 On Sunday we went out to eat at Applebee's just to give us some good American food.  It was a special treat that we all enjoyed, as you can see!

 Keep praying for us.  We sure appreciate you all!

Joshua (for the Webb family)

Jukari and Honduras (Costa Rica Indigenous areas)

One of the river crossings into the indigenous area....read below!

Hello Dear Friends,
We hope all is well in your corner of the world.  Life is moving at a fast pace here in Costa Rica.  The kids are keeping busy with school, Shelley with her work at the Seminary and CALL, and David is with a Jesus Film team in Panama.  Joshua is thrilled to be with the team as well near David, Panama.  The IA district team arrived on Wednesday and left for Panama on Thursday (from Costa Rica).  Here is a photo taken just before they hit the road.

Here comes the bus!

Before the team arrived from Iowa, David traveled to the indigenous area of Costa Rica (southeast of CR) to visit the missions we have there.  These missions are in Valle de las Estrellas (Valley of the Stars) and you first must drive about 5 hours to the area south of Limon.  Then the car is parked and the walking begins. 

Here are some photos showing the great visit they had to one existing mission and one new mission.

Part of the evangelism team from El Alto church with their guide in the middle.

The walking bridge into the indigenous area (no car bridge exists).

 

 

David and Leyla hiking to the first village.

Not much of a trail to follow.

The first village with a new cell group - Jukari.

 

 

Ted, CALL student from MO got to return to the area.

The Jukari Worship team in action.

Bathtime!

David finds some friends.

Ted's morning hike was rewarded with this awesome photo.

The next day's hike to Honduras was a little shorter than normal after the team hitched a ride in the back of this truck.  But this is the end of the road, so David is paying the man for his trouble.  It's all by foot from here...

The Nazarene Church in Honduras constructed by Ted's Work and Witness team two years ago.

 

 

 

Pastor Arselio rides to meet the team.

David, Pastor Leyla and the rest of the team (5 in all) had a great visit to the two villages.  The first village is a new cell group so the team did some discipleship workshops with the new believers.  The second village (Honduras) is the mission where Pastor Arcelio lives and pastors.  He is also the church planter for the area.  He takes the Jesus Film and other resources into the other villages to bring the good news of Jesus to them.  He is doing great work in the Valley of the Stars. 

That's the update for now.  David will have more to tell when he returns from Panama with the Jesus Film team.

Blessings to you all,
Shelley and family

February in Costa Rica

Hello Dear Friends and Family,
I know that many of you are in the middle of a cold winter and so I hesitate to mention the beautiful weather we have had here in San Jose for the last 6 weeks.  But, it has been lovely with little rain, just the normal windy, mostly sunny days.  We know it will not last, so we enjoy these days to the full, until May arrives with the rainy season with it. 

Beautiful view from the Assembly at Poas.

The partially completed multi purpose building (sanctuary) at Poas.

Johnny Calvo, District Superintendent, giving the benedicti

We celebrated the annual district assemblies here in Costa Rica (2 districts: Central and North) last weekend.  David led the Assembly in the North, Shelley did some translating and then we listened to the Central Assembly as Dr. Middendorf and Dr. Saenz presided.  The growth in the Central district was not what all hoped for (remained steady) but the North district had a good growth to share.  The day ended with a meal shared with all the missionaries, Dr. Middendorf and Dr. Saenz.  It was a good day.

Dr. Middendorf preaching at the Central Assembly.

David left for Nicaragua the day after to assist the General Superintendent with the Assemblies in Nicaragua South and North.  They even got to preside at a wedding in the South district.  Both districts showed good growth. 

Shelley has stayed busy with CALL.  We began the January term with 3 full time students and now we are down to two with Pastor Don completing his one month study time.  We had a wonderful tour day to Poas and Cafe Doka.  The views were brilliant.

This week our friend Ted will be completing his 6 week study time and returning home in Missouri.  But we are not saying goodbye for good as he is learning Spanish for the sole reason of helping on the mission field as he is able.  Already we have him scheduled to help with a team here on the Seminary grounds this summer.  And then our new friend, Neal, will continue his studies through the month of March before heading off to Cuba with his family to work with a mission organization there. 

Tomorrow two professors with the Education department from MidAmerica Nazarene University will be arriving to make arrangements for a new program combining a month of student teaching with some Spanish study.  The first students arrive in April with more to follow in the fall.  This will be a great experience for the MNU students who will have the opportunity to teach in another culture and gain Spanish language skills at the same time. 

David is returning tonight (Saturday) from a two day trip to the the missions in the Indigenous area of Costa Rica (Tay Cabecar).   I am sure he will want to share his experiences in Nicaragua last week and info about the new church plants in Costa Rica Central.

Last photo with braces.

In other news, Joshua and Kayley are doing well.  Kayley just had her braces taken off and will share some photos very soon.  Joshua is contemplating university options as he tries to remain focused on his last few months of high school.  He graduates in mid-June.  He is excited to be able to help with the Iowa District team, travel with them to Panama, later this month. 

Joshua also had the opportunity to help with and enjoy a new Seminary Events ministry designed to encourage even more youth groups to rent the campus facilities.  PAINTBALL.  Today was the first day for this new ministry.  Look like fun (if you like pain!).

We are looking forward to David's preaching tomorrow morning at the San Isidro Church located in Heredia, not far from our home.  We hope your Sunday is blessed with a wonderful time of worship.  God is so good.

The Webb Family