San Carlos Mission Trip

A couple of weeks ago Gracey and Jeff went on a mission trip with some folks from our language school. Gracey and I helped with kids programs at a local school and orphanage, while others did door to door evangelism and some repairs at the orphanage.

We met up with John Stuart from Christ the King (PCA) in Norman, Oklahoma. He is doing some photojournalism in a slum where students from our school volunteer on Thursdays. I have included his video of our trip as well as a video from the slum.

Worship

We have really enjoyed worshipping with our brothers and sisters here in Costa Rica. In the morning we attend a church called "Amistad." Many people in this church are students or teachers from a seminary that trains Spanish speaking missionaries to go to unreached and less reached peoples. In the evenings we go to a church plant starting about a block away from our house. It is exciting to be a part of the global church. Check out this great video they showed in church a couple weeks ago

http://sitioscristianos.blogcindario.com/2007/06/02936-videos-cristianos-gratis-varios-ahora-es-el-tiempo.html

Our house

Here is a map of our neighborhood in San Jose. Our house is marked in red if you scroll to the east (right). We pass the sports track on the way to school. The school is near a big park west of the sports track.

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Update from Heather

We’ve finally arrived! It feels so good to finally get settled and we love it here! Although we learned a lot of things during our time of preparation through the required training, fundraising, selling our possessions, and saying goodbye, we are so glad to be in this next phase of culture and language learning. I can’t express how good it is for our family to feel settled and to begin our missionary adventures here in Costa Rica.

We live in a small 3 bedroom one bathroom house with a beautiful view of the mountains in every direction. I love the palm trees and tropical plants. Most people here have no yard or a very small yard, but the Lord has blessed us with a nice little backyard where the kids can play. We even have a mango and papaya tree! The weather here is very nice. I’m guessing around 80 degrees in the morning and then the temperature drops as the rain comes in the afternoon. It rains every day anywhere from 2 to 10 hours. We feel very blessed to be here.

The language school is perfect for our family. There is a school for the girls and a preschool for the boys. Praise the Lord the kids have adjusted very well and all 4 really like their classes. The school used to be limited to missionary kids but is now open to Costa Ricans. This is a blessing as it allows our children to know the culture even more and it opens a door for our whole family to know Costa Rican families. It also gives us the opportunity to share the gospel to with some who have not heard the good news. About half of the students are Costa Rican. The girls learn their subjects in English and take Spanish class every day. The boys are cared for by very sweet Costa Rican women who speak to them in Spanish all day.

Jeff and I are divided into small classes of 5-10 people who are at the same level of learning. Being back in school has been fun yet demanding. It is quit a different experience going to school and having the responsibilities of four children. One of my favorite parts of the school experience is being with so many other missionaries. We have student led chapel twice a week. It is such a privilege to worship with and learn from other student’s testimonies and insights into Scripture. It is neat to hear their stories of how God has brought them to this place and is bringing them to countries all over Latin America!

We live about a mile from the school and walk everyday. We walk on bumpy roads and sidewalks (and often in the rain) which takes about 15-20 minutes. Pray for safety during these walks as there is danger from traffic, stray dogs, and muggers. Cars zoom by and pedestrians here don’t have the right of way, but have the right to get out of the way. Also a few weeks ago Jeff was bit by a dog and had to go to the hospital. Thankfully there has only been one case of rabies in San Jose in the last 10 years.

We do love it here and feel so thankful to all of our partners for being a part of expanding the Kingdom by sending us. Costa Rica is a very needy place. I thought some of you would be interested in some details of adjustments we are getting used to. We don’t have hot water but we do have a widow-maker for the shower, which allows some warm water on very low pressure. We don’t have a bath tub but use a big Tupperware type bowl and boiled water for bathing the boys. We do not flush our toilet paper but throw it in the trash (which is very hard to remember!) The kids must have shoes on to play outside due to parasites and a certain slug that will make one sick. We don’t have a dishwasher or garbage disposal, but do have a good size refrigerator, washer, and dryer. There is an incredible farmer’s market 5 min walk from our house each Saturday. We load up on inexpensive beautiful fruits and veggies for the week and wash everything in bleach water.

We´re back online!

Our new puppy Canela, which means cinnamon.

Hey everybody, we´re finally connected to cyberspace. We arrived in Costa Rica on August 15th. We are attending The Spanish Language Institute. The girls are enrolled in a Christian school, and the boys attend day care while we are in classes. Although the separation was initially hard for the boys, they have grown to enjoy their classes. Last Saturday Sammy said, "But I want to go to school today." That is a huge praise. Both Heather and I did well on our first exams.

Getting an internet connection has given us an interesting glimpse into Costa Rican culture. All the "t"s must be crossed and the "i"s dotted on any paper work. I was tempted to get angry and frustrated, but the people were just so nice. The employee who helped us with the paper work gave me his personal cell number and had me talk to his wife in English at home. It took three weeks to get the paperwork in order. Then we had to wait for almost two weeks for someone to come to the house and wire in a connection. Now we have internet service as long as it´s not raining, which it does everyday. We are beginning to learn how to slow down and be patient.

The rain is another tool teaching us to slow down. We don´t have a car, so we either walk or take public transportion everywhere. Every afternoon it rains hard. Traffic slows down and pedestrians often stop where they are and wait out the rain. One of the good things about this slower pace of life is that the people spend more time talking with one another. We had some Tico (Costa Rican) friends over, the rain started and they stayed all afternoon. This friendly/relational lifestyle is great for language learning.

Yesterday, the girls had two Tica friends over from school. Their parents own a local bakery we pass on the way to school everyday. Their bread rivals anything we had in Europe last January. It´s a good thing we are doing a lot of walking.

I´ve got to pick up the girls from school and study for a test tomorrow. But we´ll get some pictures posted soon.

New Name

We need your help. The title "Borderlines" is being used by one of our team members (oops). Do you have an idea for a catchy title for our blog and newsletter?

Growing up in the desert, I know the importance of water. God uses this metaphor throughout the Scriptures. I humorously thought of the play on words "Water Writes." But I'm seriously thinking about water or rain being the theme. When our family visited El Paso to interview with the team, it had just rained. I opened the window and told the kids to smell. The creosote and sage brush give off a delicious aroma. There is no more refreshing scent than desert rain. So I thought of "The Rain Report." Just as the parched desert blooms after the rain, we are waiting for the Spirit to shower us with his grace and bring this wasteland into spiritual bloom.

Let us know your thoughts. Thanks.

Introduction

I was doing some research on immigration and came across a discontinued periodical called "Borderlines." I thought it was a catchy title and so I called our new blog Borderlines. But if you are interested in immigration and immigration reform there is a lot out there to digest.

Check out Mission to North America's Hispanic church planting resource page. It has some great tips for reaching out to your Hispanic neighbors.

A New Beginning

We are excited to announce that will be serving with Mission to the World (MTW) on the US/Mexico border. This ministry capitalizes on our gifts in mercy and evangelism and our passion to see Christ glorified through the planting of local churches. It also dovetails with our vision for identifying and equipping leaders to start churches and reach out to the poor.

The border is a strategic place for ministry. Millions of Mexicans are drawn to the border looking for a better way of life. For many, moving to the border is like a young adult heading off to college. Many immigrants fall into vice because they are not bound by traditional social constraints. But this spiritual and social vacuum is an incredible opportunity. Many are open to seeing things in a new light and hungry for community. This provides a window of opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and connect them into a community of believers.

Ministry on the border has a huge impact in the United States. No wall will stem the tide of immigrants, but we are putting up a wall of churches along the border to reach these immigrants for Jesus Christ. As churches on the border grow, we would like to send bilingual church planters to immigrants throughout the United States. Our country has focused on the 12 million illegal immigrants of today, but what are we going to do with their 24 million children tomorrow.

Not only does the border ministry have the potential of training leaders for Hispanic churches in the US, but it is also strategic for bringing the Gospel back into Mexico. For several years, I have been teaching English as a Second Language to Hispanics in Wichita. Many of these immigrants are from states with only 1-2% Protestant believers. I encouraged two young believers from our ESL to return home and provide spiritual leadership for their families. As immigrants respond to the Gospel, they can carry the Gospel back to these less-reached parts of Mexico.

The story of Miguel Gonzales demonstrates the power of the Gospel to transform someone moving to the border for economic prosperity into a missionary. Miguel moved from Durango, Mexico to the border in 1988. He met his wife Myrna in a factory where they both worked. In 1995, both came to Christ through the testimony of Josué and Martha Mayo who were just beginning the Vida Nueva Church. Miguel attended the San Pablo Seminary, and then served as the pastor of Vida Nueva. Now Miguel and his family are bringing the Gospel to a remote village in Mexico.

God has called Heather and me to facilitate church planting movements in strategic border cities through evangelism, theological education, and community development. We desire to see a movement of God’s Spirit along the border that will spread throughout Mexico and the United States and bring revival to all of North America.


Our team is located in three regions along the border. Following language school, we will spend two years in the central region. We will be part of a team of both Americans and Mexicans who work on either side of the border in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. I will apprentice under Manuel Padilla, a church planter in East El Paso—a community that is 90% Hispanic. Manuel had 15 years experience church planting in Spain before relocating to the border, and he will be a great mentor. I will also have the opportunity to teach at the San Pablo seminary in Juarez. Heather has a heart for the poor and for broken families. The border is teaming with opportunity in both these areas.

We thank you for your partnership with us in our plans to go to the Philippines and invite you to join us in this new endeavor. There are many ways for you to get involved. We need your continued prayer and financial support, and we would love for you to come and join us for a short term mission trip. There are opportunities to build buildings, lead vacation Bible schools, and teach English camps. But we also need people to train Sunday school teachers, worship leaders, lay counselors, and elders and deacons. Sports ministry is another exciting opportunity to get the whole family involved.














Please visit http://www.beamm.org/ for more details on our vision and work.