Third Wave 2015

Our family was so blessed to have been a part of a youth leaders conference called Third Wave.  It is held every 4-5 years in a different world region each time.  David attended the event 8 years ago in South Africa and the last event was held in Thailand.  But this year, Costa Rica was the home of the event, and to be more precise, SENDAS hosted the event.  

USA and Canada Delegation at Poas Volcano.

It started off for us with the arrival of the delegation from the USA and Canada.  Jan 3 was arrival day and we met up with the group of 53 (yes, that is a 5 and a 3) persons at the Holiday Inn where the pre-tour started.  From there we enjoyed a three great days together visiting Poas Volcano (no view at all, too cloudy – booo!), Las Colinas for lunch (and trout fishing) and then the coffee tour at Doka. 

That night we arrived to Punta Leona where we enjoyed the pools, beaches, canopy tour and a trip to Jaco (beach town nearby) for shopping.  The monkeys at mealtime were a hit!

On Tuesday January 6 we arrived to SENDAS for Third Wave.  It was wonderful to get to know people from all parts of the world.  There were 169 participants from 35 countries.  Each one a leader of youth in their part of the world.  Awesome!

Another highlight was to see our Costa Rican friends serve the participants all week long.  Kayley was part of this group.  They were much appreciated and received a standing ovation at the end of the event.  Kayley was a big help with her translation skills.

Kayley and Estella, who met at the event, be stay connected on Facebook from now on.

Hugo, Andrea, Kayley and Helen - great leaders for now and the future!

But the best day of the week for us was the Ministry With Others day.  So much planning went   into this day by many, many people, but in the end four different Costa Rican locations were shown the love of Christ.  There were about 43 participants along with 45 or so Costa Rican volunteers at each site.  San Ramon, Heredia, San Pedro de Poas and Orosi de Cartago were the four locations with San Ramon being the furthest from campus and a location where we had no church presence, until now!  

The Costa Rican volunteers at San Isidro de Heredia.

Love the new murals at the elementary school.

Painting fences at community centers, walls at a school, holding event for children (200 kids in attendance in Heredia), picking up trash, talking to folks in the streets and going door to door, and dental clinics were just some of the wonderful service projects for the day.

Our role in the event was of a support nature.  We have great leaders in Costa Rica. With our friend Gaby Bustos coordinating with them all, we could focus on filling in when and where needed.  A medical clinic visit, a quick run to find a supply or two, asking if anything was needed.  It was great to watch all the leaders and volunteers in action, and even better that we were not needed to lead the event.  Can you tell we are a bit proud of the Costa Rican leaders? 

And even though the Packers lost their playoff game, and I hate to bring it up, we did have a great time watching the game against the Cowboys with a great new friend from Australia, Cameron.  He is an avid Packers fan who David picked out of the crowd early on.  These two were fast friends.

Well, we are now back to a more regular (whatever that is) schedule with David’s trips, Kayley’s school, occasional Skype calls with Joshua,  and Shelley's work with CALL and translations of books into English. We are blessed each day to be serving with such great leaders.  Can't wait to see what God will do to grow the churches of Costa Rica in the future.  It's looking bright!

Until Next Time,

The Webbs

Christmas 2014

Well, we are nearing the end of an exciting week with a youth conference called Third Wave that is happening on our campus.  But we realize we are a bit behind in the news, so for this post, we will just focus on Christmas in Costa Rica.

Mainly, we just stayed home, played card games, completed one puzzle (that was missing a few pieces) and ate too much food.  We enjoy just being together as a family of four (yes, Joshua joined us this year for Christmas).  But we did manage to leave the house for two special getaways.  One to visit the beach for a day and the other to attend a building dedication event in Cañas Dulces located near the Nicaraguan border.

We always enjoy our stays at Playa Bejuco and our one night there was enough to warm us up and tan our white skins just a bit. 

For the Cañas Dulces trip, we made a quick stop at the Panama Beach near Liberia before enjoying a wonderful evening at the local “hotel” otherwise called the Liberia church floor.  But even that is fun when you are with family.

The dedication of the church building at Cañas Dulces was special, especially for our friends the Nyreen family, who served as missionaries in Costa Rica in the late 1980s and started the church under a mango tree.  We are so happy to know some of those who paved the way for church growth in Costa Rica.

Pastor Omar of the Cañas Dulces Church of the Nazarene

Former missionary Carlos Nyreen who shared some memories of the early days of the church.

The ribbon cutting ceremony in the new sanctuary.

David said a few words on behalf of the teams who worked there to add the addition to the building.  And Pastor Omar was so pleased to have the majority of the previous pastors in attendance that day.  It was quite a celebration.

The New Year has already brought many great moments like the time with the USA Canada delegation (4 days with 53 people) and the Third Wave Youth Conference with 170 in attendance, not to mention the volunteers who worked the event and the 175 youth and leaders who served for the Maximum Mission.  But, that is another blog for another day. 

Our kids find friends wherever they go.

For now, please pray for our kids as they both begin classes once again.  They are both juniors (Joshua in college at MVNU and Kayley in high school at ICS) and the classes are demanding for them both. 

Pray for the trips David has planned for January to Panama and to Liberia.  Pray for the new CALL students (4 people) arriving soon to take Spanish classes and volunteer.  God is good to keep sending students our way. 

Thanks for your prayers and support.  Already we are looking forward to seeing many of you this summer when we are on home assignment in the USA.

Until Next Time.
The Webbs 

Poas All District Service Nov 2014

Hello Everyone,

Each year the Costa Rica North district holds a “Culto Unido” or “All District Service” where the churches and missions of the district gather together in one place for one day of celebration.  This year the event was held at La Finca Poas Church and we had a great time seeing many pastors, leaders and friends.  There were nearly 1,000 people there from all parts of the North district.  Many got on buses at 4am to arrive for the 9am service.  Becuase of delays with the transportation, the service did not start until 10am but it was worth the wait!

The worship team did a wonderful job of leading the music and praise. The Poas church was decorated with bright colored banners with the names of the churches and missions. David was invited to say a few words as well.

 Rev. Johnny Calvo, Superintendent for the North district received special recognition for seven years of service. 

Two new churches were organized this year:  Quebrada Grande and Tres y Tres. 

Pastor from Quebrada Grande (near Liberia)

Member of the Tres y Tres Church receiving the plaque for the congregation.

Pastor Jorge from the mission group in Miramar gave greetings.  There were 14 people from his church who attended the event.

Pastor Jorge García was recognized for his many years of dedicated service to the Church of the Nazarene.  He is officially retiring this year.  He is a great man of God!

Pastor Felipe Flores preached the message with his usual energy and wonderful spirit. 

We are so pleased to work with such wonderful people.  Congrats to the North district for having a “vivo, unido, santo y creciente” district (alive, united, holy and growing). 

Kayley always enjoys seeing her friend from Poas, Keythel.  These two always enjoying spending some time together at Poas.

Kayley has completed her semester by exempting all her final exams!  This means she has a 93 or higher in every main course. Way to go, Kayley!  And Joshua has completed his finals as well and will travel to Costa Rica on Sunday to spend a couple weeks with us here. Yeah!

In upcoming events, be praying for the Third Wave conference in January.  It will be held on SENDAS campus, so we are expecting a FULL CAMPUS for this event with approximately 280 in attendance. 

As we celebrate the growth of the church in Costa Rica, we also praise God for the growth of the church around the world.  David spent three days in the Dominican Republic last week to meet with evangelism coordinators from Haiti, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and El Salvador.  They meet twice a year to share strategies, successes and challenges and to continue to develop a regional plan to reach our countries for the Lord.  The harvest is very ready.

A Merry Christmas to all.  Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  We love you and appreciate you so much.

The Webbs

Giving Thanks 2014

Hello Friends and Family,

We had a great time with the Crosspointe Church of the Nazarene from Lutz, Florida (near Tampa).  They worked so hard at the San Pedro de Poas Church, also called La Finca.  There were 12 people on the team, including two great children.  Kayley had a great time getting to know this group, but could not stay with the team all week with her class schedule. 

Here is a photo summary of their week in Costa Rica.

Pastor Harv meets Carlos Jaime.

George and Darald worked really hard on the drop ceiling.  (Darald is from the Tampa First Church).

Moving the dirt, sand and rock to the road.

Mixing concrete near the entrance to the Finca.

Pastor Johnny painting at the local elementary school.

The Crosspoint team at the local school.

Enjoying the Poas Volcano - great day for the tour.

The team worked on the road entering the Finca, mixing concrete to make a smoother entry.  Others worked on the new bathroom and shower rooms, sanding walls, cleaning and finishing plumbing.  A few more worked putting stucco on the outside walls.

The Coronado Church recently held a weekend event in a nearby community.  It was great to spend part of a Sunday morning with them as they ministered to the people there and invited them to church.

The Coronado Church serving in their community.

We are near Thanksgiving and have so much to be thankful for: good health, great ministries, a wonderful family. What more can one ask for?  We plan to spend Thanksgiving at home in Costa Rica, decorating for Christmas, making a turkey and seeing a new release movie.  And relaxing is in the plan as well.

We are so excited to see Joshua for Christmas.  He will be here for two weeks with us, leaving January 2^nd for his final semester of his junior year.  Kayley is studying hard to finish up the term and she is taking the ACT exam in December. 

Joshua working at a concert at MVNU.

Kayley's 11th grade class at ICS.

Here a few prayer requests for our family:

1)  To finish the year strong in ministry and to make some fun memories together as a family during the holidays.

2) That both Joshua and Kayley would finish strong in school.

3) That the Third Wave Conference in January would be a blessing for all.  There are many logistics involved in this event for 280 people.  SENDAS is hosting the event.

4) For the new students who will arrive in January, the Schrage family from California.

5) For Kay Lynn Robson who is planning to arrive in February to study Spanish and volunteer with SENDAS and CALL.  We are so excited to have her with us.  If you have a few extra dollars and can help this volunteer get to the field, you can find her volunteer page here: 

http://tinyurl.com/mnafhcn

6) For the Florida District team who will arrive in March to work at SENDAS.  We cannot wait!

Many blessings to you all this week as you enjoy time with family and friends at Thanksgiving.  

David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley

David's November Update

Greetings from Costa Rica!

We continue to rejoice in God’s goodness and His provision and blessing on His church here in Costa Rica.  Here is a summary of David's travels over the last few weeks.

Two weeks ago, David traveled to one of the indigenous zones in Costa Rica called Tayni with two pastors from San Jose.  The church planter's name is Pastor Maximiliano Diaz.  Brother Maximiliano has a small Jesus Film set that he is using to help him open new works and he is currently meeting with people in ten different villages.

David visited two of Pastor Maximiliano’s works on this three day trip.  During this time, he and Pastor Leyla were able to be a part of three baptisms and a wedding for three couples.  God blessed in the journey as there was no rain, which helped as they had a 2.5 hour hike to the nearest work after driving in as far as they were able. 

lthough the Jesus Film has been very effective in Spanish in the indigenous area, we know that it would be even more effective in the heart language of Cabecar for the folks that live in the territory of Tayni.   Please pray with us that God will provide the resources for the Jesus Film translation to happen.  We have been able to meet one of the folks who helped translate the New Testament into Cabecar, and he is ready to help with the Jesus Film translation.

Last week David visited pastors in Guanacaste in northwest Costa Rica and also visited the Costa Rica North District Center in the city of Muelle.  We thank God for His provision through the Chicago Central District and through Alabaster to purchase the property in October of 2013 in Muelle, and we are looking at possibilities to construct a multipurpose building soon.

The building at the District Center...yep, it needs some work!

This past Saturday, we celebrated the organization of a new church in the community of Tres y Tres (yes that’s right, Three and Three in English).   This is a small community where a mother church began the work less than three years ago.  The church was organized with 53 members and an average attendance of 125 people.  Although the community had a great deal of distrust of evangelical churches when the work began, the testimony of God’s faithfulness is very special.

Beautiful entrance to the new sanctuary.

Pastor Alex who lives in Alajuela (3 hrs away) is the Pastor at Tres y Tres. 

Founding church members

This new church is the only evangelical church in the community and has received an invitation by the community to host the kindergarten and sixth grade graduations this year.  They built a bus stop for their community two years ago and are currently trying to help the community build a playground area for children close to the city park. The land where the church is located was donated by one of the families that have come to know the Lord through this work.  As the apostle Paul wrote, “Love never fails.” 

Turrialba Volcano

 An interesting event happened on October 29th that has not occurred for 150 years.  The Volcano Turrialba, located just 18 miles from SENDAS, exploded.  It threw ash over the east part of the city, including where we live.  It was just a light dusting of ash, but it sure smelled like sulfur that day.  Then, as usual, it rained hard in the afternoon and the rain looked like skim milk as it ran down the streets.  The volcano has not stopped exploding yet, but so far, no more ash has reached us.    

Can you see the ash on our plants in the our backyard?

Poas Church building.  The Florida team will be working here starting tomorrow.

Thanks so much for your prayers for our family. Shelley has been extremely busy with many ministries including the preparation for the graduation at the seminary, which takes place Saturday.   David will be working with a US Work and Witness team from Lutz, Florida, who arrive tomorrow.  

Kayley is working hard in school, and we are looking forward to Joshua’s visit during his Christmas break from Mount Vernon Nazarene University.   

Many blessings in Jesus Christ. Thanks for keeping up with us through the blog.  See you next time.  David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley