Journey of Godly Reminders ~ Part 3

The sunset is creeping on us fast.  Here in Costa Rica the days start very early.  Dusk is around 4:40am and it is dark at 6:00pm.  We had been hiking for several hours, pretty much a very steep incline the entire way.  We came upon a school where a woman shouted from the porch asking what we were doing and where we were going.

{school}

We stopped, rested our backs and our feet, and chatted with this lady.   And gladly used the facilities {an outhouse} she offered.  A 4X4 vehicle passed by and she looked at us like we were crazy...."Why didn't you ask him for a ride to get you further," she asked us.  Hindsight....we should have all gone running like crazy chickens asking for a ride!  

We loaded back up and hiked some more, daylight is ending and we are not going to make it to Roca Quemada tonight.  Our options of places to pitch a tent are scarce to say the least.  We are about thirty minutes from dark, you can see the thunderstorm rolling in from a distance, and our options on each side of the road are a wall of red clay or the deep valley of jungle {a drop off}.  Moving as fast as you can when hiking and hauling 30-40 pounds on your back, our goal was just keep moving.  We came across a small open spot where a couple horses were grazing.  An answered prayer, I am sure each of us were praying about.

We all waited outside a bamboo fence while Keith stepped inside the yard of a very humble home {a bamboo and grass hut structure} of a Cabeccar family.  This would be where we camped for the night.  A man walked out to the field and staked the horses.  It is 5:50pm and thunder rolling in.  I think we all pitched our tents in record timing.  

I have to throw some humor in here for you.  I am a girl who loves a soft bed but likes to camp as well and can rough it when need be.  I knew this would be a rough trip.  My question to David before I left was, "Will there be a river?  Anywhere?  Anything to get clean?"  He assured me that would not be a problem.  Ummmm, yeah that didn't happen.  Remember back when I said I would never truly be able to relate the entire experience to you because it would be void of the things you could see with your own two eyes, feel with your heart, taste, and let's not forget the SMELLS!  I am beyond disgusting.  I will just say, I wasn't the only one in the same condition..ha.  There are about 179 layers of sweat, grime, and mud.  My hope of a bath tonight vanished around 5:00pm when I knew we would never make it to the river tonight.  My cleaning up consisted of unhooking a small black hose, soaping up a washcloth and washing my face and arms, filling my water bottle, and running back to the tent.  The lightening in Costa Rica is wicked...WICKED.  I love storms here, the lightening is beautiful, and I love the rain.  But not when I am at the top of a mountain in an open field.  

This trip brought an whole new meaning to the verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  As the lightening flashed and the thunder was crashing, I prayed constantly for God's protection over each one of us.  And, at the same time was so thankful that this lightening was not striking where we were at, because it strikes so close to our house all the time that the windows rattle and your heart takes a few steps out of your body.  This trip was definitely a journey of lots of prayer with the Lord.  A reminder that we get busy in our daily routine and my prayers just become routine and not hours of uninterrupted communication with God.  

I finally fell asleep and managed to nap for a few hours.  My camping mates did not fair so well with the rain that poured continuously until the early hours of the morning.  Reid was floating in his tent and moved in with his parents in their two men tent with all of the gear.  Jessica was semi-floating in her tent.  And, I believe the others managed with only the bottom of the tent being wet and everything that was sitting on the bottom of the tent being wet.  Everyone was up and packing bright and early and we were heading down the mountain by 6am.

{all packed up and ready for day 2}

This part of the trip I think was definitely the hardest.  It was hours of down, down, down....sliding down, slipping, falling, and so much mud caked on your shoes that they were coming off and added several pounds of weight.  

The further we went the muddier it got.  About an half hour into our hike, we came to the most amazing view.  Pictures cannot capture the justice that God's majesty portrayed.  Breathtaking, and really silence, was an appropriate response as we all stopped and took in the peace that surrounded us.

                   

We finally reached Roca Quemada, much later than we had anticipated.  At this point we met Yamileth, one of the women who is working with Dr. Judith in helping teach prenatal care and newborn care, and most importantly she is saving lives.  Her stories are an entire other post all alone.  

{Yamileth, Keith, & Emily}

We were supposed to meet Yamileth at the "store" ( a small shanty consisting of tuna, sugar, rice, and beans) the night before, but we did not make it.  She was sitting in the doorway waiting for us when we arrived at 9:30 Thursday morning.  She told us her plans to visit a pregnant woman in another village later that day and asked us to come with her.  We agreed to meet her in this village later in the day.  We headed to the river to filter water and restock and then continued our trek further into the jungle where we camped in the yard of another young woman who has also helping the women on the reservation.  

{This is the Chiripó river where we filtered water and treated the filtered water with 

bleach.  Let's just say I wanted to cover all bases.}

While we were down at the river there was a woman washing clothes in the river with her children.  I mention this because many people have died on the reservation doing this very thing.  One particular family we know adopted two children whose parents and other siblings all died one morning when they were down at the river and out of nowhere a huge wall of water came.  It was a sunny morning when this happened, but it had been raining higher up the mountain and the river started rising fast and went downstream, taking the lives of this family, except two children.  Drowning is the number one cause of death on the reservation.  Every time we went down to the river to do this or had to cross a river this was always in my mind.  Everything can look fine, and then in an instant life is gone.  You never know when life will be over.  It can be any second of any day.  I know this, there are things that remind us of this, but when you are literally standing in a place where you know people have died from something they didn't expect it seems even more surreal.  Another one of those Godly reminders, a reminder of why we are here, a reminder of what we are doing, and that the journey to these people is worth every bit of the hardship.   

Journey of Godly Reminders ~ Part 2

This trip to the Chirripó Reservation included myself, Keith Avaritt, Lesa Avaritt, Rob Moore, Heather Moore, Jessica Moore, Reid Moore, and Emily Siemens.  Just sharing this journey with these wonderful people was a Godly reminder in itself of the sheer blessing of being able to call these people friends who are family.  We had some fun times with lots and lots of laughter and some tears.

We left the home of Isaias piled into the back of his little 4X4 truck and along the way picked up two more people, a woman named Gladys and her six year old daughter along with a couple of newly purchased chickens.  We all found it totally ironic that the chickens were being transported in the plastic sack bearing the name "Pipasa," the Costa Rican chicken processing company (same as Tyson for those of you in the states).  We all became a little bit closer in the back of this truck with 9 people, 8 packs, 8 backpacks, and two chickens.

Gladys is a woman that David and I had heard about.  She is a very petite woman with the most muscular arms I ever seen on any woman.  The unanimous story we keep hearing is that she is one of the strongest women on the reservation and carried 2 bags of concrete, each weighing 50kg (that is more than a 100lbs each).  She carried this the entire way from the point where we started hiking which is approximately 8-10 miles to the entry of Roca Quemada (the first community in this part of the reservation).  Talk about some phenomenal stamina and strength.  It is almost unbelievable, I mean to carry 200lbs of concrete, but if you only knew what kind of terrain she is climbing and the grade of the descent make this unfathomable.  

She and her little girl climbed into the back of the truck with us and sat quietly.  The sweet little girl with her had sad eyes; she looked tired and uncomfortable.  Lesa pulled out a little sucker and piece of bubble gum and you could see the whites of her teeth as she broke her lips for a beautiful smile, a little hesitant at first as she looked to her mom first.  This little girl had sores on her arms that looked so painful.  My first thought was that she had been beaten and burned on her arms.  They were whelped like a what you would see on a slave that had been beaten with a whip.  But, yet they also looked like something had bitten her in the middle and it had become grossly infected.

The time came for us all to pile out and start the hike in.  Our driver thought if he emptied all of us out of the truck that he might could make it further with our packs and help us out a bit further.  I was hopeful but not confident that it would happen.  The steep grade of the roads and the incredible amount of very wet mud made it impossible.  He made it about 300 feet when it was determined that would not be happening.  Deflated, but oh so thankful that he was able to take all of us and our packs this far.  

What an awesome view to be engulfed in when you are out on a stroll....well, not a stroll,

because I was sweating like some 500lb man.  I didn't know my body was capable of 

producing so much sweat.  Just keeping it real : ) 

This sweet man unloaded our packs, grabbed one of our backpacks and hiked with is for a couple hours and then turned around and hiked back to his truck.  This part of the trip is hiked on what they call a road, with steep grades that are not even legal in the states, and is red clay.  The first couple of hours were a hard climb...up, up, and up.  We passed several people and almost every one of them that stopped asked me "Where are you going...What are you doing...Who are you...Who are you going to see?"  They are all curious as to what in the world are crazy white people doing out here.  And us white people are SLOW compared to their almost run.  From where we were dropped off they can make that hike in 3.5-4 hours, our pace doubles that time.  

{Pictures never truly depict the grade of places here.  And this mud is 

wet, wet, wet...and my shoes weighed like 20lbs...I know they were!}

Gladys hiked with us for a couple hours before she went on ahead of us so that she would make it home before dark.  She told us during this time about her daughter's arms and that she had just gone into town (a 7-8 hour hike each way for her) for the second time to get medical care for her daughter. I can't recall the exact name, but there is an insect here in Costa Rica that causes severe lesions on the body and can only be treated with an injection of a certain medicine.  There is nothing you can take by mouth or any creams that you can apply that will make it go away.  And with children the lesions usually become worse and worse because they touch them.  This was the second time she had taken her for this exact thing and they would not give her the injection.  They keep telling her that isn't what she has and tells her to come back later and they will look at her again.  This is typical social medicine here.  They've given a her a cream but nothing is helping and her condition is worsening.  She had taken her this second time because she was having a hard time breathing through her nose.  The insides of her nose were swollen and red.  This mother left a doctor's office again with nothing to help her daughter.  Before she went on ahead of us we stopped and prayed that God, the greatest Physician of all, may heal her and give that precious child comfort and take away her pain.  

{Pictured Left to Right ~ Gladys, her daughter, Jessica, Lesa, Reid, Emily, 

me, Heather, and Rob}

When we see these situations that seem so helpless, and you feel like there is nothing you can do to really help them, there is.  We can advocate for them, we can show them love, make God's love present to them.  We hold the most powerful help to them.  We have God on our side.  We have Him any time of day or night.  We can call on Him at any time for anything.  And we can share Him with others.  You begin to feel so deflated when you see first hand the harsh realities of life for these people here and you wonder what in the world am I, one person going to be able to do to really help these people.  There is so much need that there is just really not a tangible place to begin.  There is only one place to start and that is showing and sharing God's love.  

"Puentes de Vida" ~ Bridges of Life

A little over a week ago our entire family made a very long day of it and headed to the edge of the Cabeccar Reservation.  And I am so thankful for good little travelers who really don't complain about long hours in the car.  Daddy's only complaint is the too frequent bathroom stops...usually instigated by Mom.  I know, I am as bad as the kids.

It was an amazing day!  Several months ago we met a Costa Rican doctor who has dedicated his life since his medical career started to the Indigenous people of Costa Rica.  We got to meet his wife the other day as well.  She is an American and is also a doctor.  They went to Med School for the sole purpose of doing medical mission work.  They don't just do things here and there, these people live to help these people.  You would just have to meet them to fully comprehend their love for these people and see their desire to serve, completely and fully serve.  

They live about a mile outside of the reservation in a very small and very modest cabin.  He drives into the city to work in administration in one of the private hospitals where he has been able to make contacts and raise awareness for their work on the reservation.  The rest of their time is spent on the reservation serving these people and teaching them life skills that these people may not have ever had the opportunity to learn without their help.  They have raised funds to build foot bridges as drowning is the number one cause of death.  I could go on and on telling about the many different things they have in progress.  I don't know when they sleep!  

I have mentioned before the program that they started for the Cabeccar Women.  Judith (the American doctor) started a program 16 months ago.  The first 8 months she had several women enroll in a coarse she had developed to educate women on basic prenatal care, postnatal care, and newborn care.  She has taught these women basic things and this basic knowledge has saved lives.  These women went through the 8 month coarse and have been on the ground for 8 months now educating other women and helping other women.  She gave them something that will give for generations, and that is education.  

During election time in Costa Rica it is the law that government officials have to deliver ballots to the tribes.  One of these women who completed the coarse was seeing a women at the end of her pregnancy.  From the basic things she had learned she knew that a particular woman needed to leave the reservation and get to a hospital.  She did not know all of the physiology of what was going wrong, but she knew that something was wrong and if this woman did not get help, then she and her unborn baby would both die.  This young woman prayed that God would help her, help her find a way to get this woman the help that she needed.  These people are hours from the nearest hospital if they have transportation by a vehicle, and a vehicle can only get to the very edge.  Government officials arrived via helicopter to deliver the election ballots.  This woman acted quickly and used every resource.  I believe without a doubt that God answered her prayer with that helicopter.  I mean, what are the odds?  That is a God thing!  Only He sends a helicopter at the very moment it is needed.  She was able to arrange for this woman to be transported on this helicopter to the nearest hospital.  She used the knowledge that she was given, the resources God gave her at that moment, and she acted.  Her actions saved this woman and her unborn baby.  Had she not been able to be transported out by that helicopter she and her baby would have died.  She was having a placental abruption.  For those who don't know that medical lingo, that is when the placenta (what supplies nutrients and complete oxygenation to the baby) starts separating from the uterine wall.  She noticed the beginning signs of an abruption.  The doctors told her that she would have not survived if she had not gotten to the hospital when she did.  They did an emergency c-section.  When a placenta completely separates from the uterine wall you have minutes to do a c-section and get the baby out.  AKA....a nurse's nightmare!!!  Everyone on the unit moves at LIGHTENING speed!!!!  

{Left: Dr. Judith, Yamileth, & Gendry}

 

I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that there isn't a nice labor and delivery room for these women with state of the art external fetal monitors, 4D ultrasound machines, epidurals, and an OR steps away from the delivery room.  These women don't have that.  They were born in a place, not of their own fault, where these aren't options.  Their reality is laboring on dirt floors without medicines, no idea what is happening to their body, no doctors, and at times delivering a baby completely alone.  They don't have everything that so many of us take for granted.  

I don't know to what extent or frequency that I will be able to help these women and this life-changing program that Dr. Judith has started, but she has extended the offer for me to help her with this program.  This is an answered prayer for me.  I was able to sit in on the last meeting with two of the women who completed the coarse.  I am in complete awe of their example to serve others and to love others like Jesus.  These women walk hours and hours to see just one woman or one newborn baby.  And then they do it the next day and the next.  They are changing lives, one life at a time.  If one life is saved, one life is changed, one life is able to see the love of God, truly know the love of God, and obey that awesome command that will free them, then the many hours in a car, hours hiking, the horrible Montazuma's revenge that strikes will be worth every second of my time and my family's time.  Because this is what it is all about...following Him, wherever the path may lead.  Please pray for this opportunity that has been set before us and that we will be able to plant seeds.  Keith, Lord-willing, will arrive with a group of 7 on July 28, and it is planned to travel to the reservation and go in further on July 30.  David wants me to be able to go on this trip.  I have only been to the edge of the reservation and not completely in, so this will be my first time.  As much as he wants to go, he is staying at home with the kids so that I can do this and spend some time with some of these women.  That is the most difficult thing about some of our work here, it means we each fly solo, because the kids can't always come, and this is one of those times.  So, please pray for all of us.

It Takes A Village

Some of you have already volunteered your time and money for the Days For Girls Project that was led by Melanie Gaddy for the girls and women in Haiti.  But for those who have never heard of this, it is an awesome organization and I wish I had known about it before.  Because it is awesome.  It makes me want to have my sewing machine here.

{Click Here for more info about this organization}

There are women all over the world who endure their cycle every month without the needed hygiene products.  There are more women who don't have these things than women who do have these things.  As inconvenient as that time of the month can be to some, imagine living in conditions where you had no access to the things you needed, and if you did have access, having no money to pay for these things.  That is the reality all over the world.  

I have so much to blog about and share with everyone.  First off, the medical clinic that I have mentioned in some of my recently previous posts is becoming a reality.  The building materials were purchased last month while Keith Avaritt was here.  The main idea and focus of this clinic right now is for it to be a place that women can stay if they need medical care during their pregnancy.  We want this to be a place they can stop on their hike out to seek more medical care, or a place where a doctor can come in and treat them.  While thinking about a supply list for the clinic, one of the most basic things came to mind.  These people do not even have access to feminine hygiene products, much less postnatal pads.  Then Melanie Gaddy ran the Days for Girls Project for the women and girls in Haiti, and I believe this was God showing me a way to help these women now.  No need to wait for a clinic, these women need these items now.

{This is Magdalena, a native of the Cabeccan tribe, a women who is dedicated to educating and helping the girls and young women of her tribe.}

I NEED YOUR HELP!  This Indigenous reservation is home to thousands of women.  I am dreaming big, but how awesome if all of these women could eventually have these items!  The Days for Girls organization is helping make this possible.  This organization has figured everything out.  My initial goal is to have 50 regular kits and 25 postnatal kits brought with Keith Avaritt at the end of July.  We have exactly 3 1/2 weeks to do this!  The organization asks that we donate $10 a kit to cover the costs, so they can turn around and make more.  Please pray about this and see if you can help just one women or more.  With God all things are possible and I know that He will supply the need.  Huge things happen when everyone helps.  With a village of people working together, a huge task, is nothing.  Anyone who would like to make a donation for these kits can make a tax deductible donation here.  Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see the donate button for the Days for Girls Project.

2 Years and Counting...

Be warned.  I did not proofread.  No time for that.

Time flies.  In some ways it seems like just yesterday that we were going through the stress and trials of an international move with a family of 6.  And today, I sit here in shock that we are now legal residents of Costa Rica.  It is kind of surreal.  In my wildest dreams, ten years ago, I would have never imagined this would be my life.  Amazing how God works in our hearts and changes our lives, sometimes in a blink.  In some ways the past two years seems like just that, years, and then in other ways it was a blink, a blur.  But, it is official, we are residents and pray that the Lord will guide our steps and keep us here as long as he wants us here.

What is going on in our life?

• I have a daughter who starts 4th grade in two weeks!!!  What???  She passed third grade with flying colors and tested way above grade level on her standardized testing.  Post Grad on some of them!!  Go Olivia!
• Two little boys who have two more weeks of 1st grade and then will be BIG 2nd graders.  Whom also did amazing on their standardized tests and tested way above grade level.  Go Carson and Logan!
• A little Princess who is starting Kindergarten, a year early.  She is bored and is ready to start school.  So, I have a very eager Kindergartener who is ready to start in two weeks.  Wish me luck!!  4 kids schooling.  I already have NO spare time!  Yikes.
• David is juggling 2 services every week and 3 every other week, 2 different locations.  And was in much need of his two Sundays off while we were in the states.  He does this along with everything else he has going in the middle of the week.  He is an amazing man!  And all of it in Spanish!  And the best husband and father!!  Kind of love him!
  
  {hehe..I couldn't help it.  This was one of those 
  things I just happen to catch with the camera.
  He usually proof reads and checks my posts,
  but not this one.}
• We have been so encouraged by the new group of Brothers and Sisters in the Atenas area that are meeting in our home on Sunday mornings.  They make me feel like home.  Mrs. Gloria is my second Mama and also doesn't miss a beat correcting my Spanish and making me repeat everything a million times until it meets her satisfaction : )  And she doesn't let David be my crutch when I don't understand.  They are family!
• Spend every Saturday evening studying with the Atenas group for 3-4 hours.  Love that I get to go to these.  We have an amazing neighbor, Rita, who loves our kids to pieces, and is always here in a second to help out.  She and her two daughters come over every Saturday night to watch and play with the kids.  The kids love her and her family and love going to her house and them visiting us.  This was a huge blessing meeting her almost a year ago.  She looks out for us all the time!
• Keith visited the reservation while he was here and looks like the clinic is going to happen.  Construction has not started yet.  My understanding is the lot is being cleared.  Things may be slow on this front for now, the rainy season has begun.  I don't think the supplies could be taken in there right now.  
• Have spent the last week recovering from our whirlwind trip to the states.  The kids and I spent 6 weeks there and David came for 2 1/2 in the middle.  It is hard being there without him, but you have to make those plane tickets worth it!  I say whirlwind because we didn't stop until the last week we were there.  When you don't buy anything for over a year, except a few things here and there we have brought down, it makes for major stress trying to get every SINGLE person clothes and shoes...especially when kids grow out of clothes while we were there!!!  WHAT???  
  
• Working on getting supplies for the five Indigenous women who are helping fellow women on the reservation.  So far we have a fetal doppler donated and also a TOCO/FHR monitor donated.  I am working on obtaining some other supplies and getting prices for the items that are needed now, clinic or no clinic.
• Starting the process for Days for Girls for the women and girls of the Cabecar Reservation.  I am hoping to get this going and have the first of, I hope, many projects of this down here at the end of July when Keith and Lesa Avaritt visit and Rob and Heather Moore visit.  Time cruncher!!  It will be here before I know it.
• Have got to get my continuing education credits done sometime  online, so I can keep my nursing license.  Planning to meet with the Doctors who have been working on the reservation for years and start volunteering doing medical things (I couldn't think of a better word!).  I miss medicine and nursing so BAD!!  I need this.  Looking forward to this meeting.
• Trying to find the time to study Spanish, but lately there has not been any dedicated book study time, just using what I know and correcting what I can and learning from the real life experiences.
• Meal times are Spanish practice for everyone at the table. 
• Trying not to get stressed...I am a lot better than I used to be, but then some days I think about things too much.  Usually I am so busy I don't have time to think and that is a good thing..and bad.
• Still waiting on Cool Whip to be imported.  My friend Dom says the local Coope grocery store will import anything.  I think I am going to test his theory soon.  I will keep you posted on that.
• Trying to make my kids be bookworms.  Carson is a natural bookworm.  Liv is a bookworm with my old American girl books.  Logan, well, we are working on that.  Leia makes up her version of the story : )
  
  
  
  
• I actually missed "casados" (typical tico cuisine) while I was in the states.  But, I was filled with Larry's and as much Mexican food as I could get.
• We need a beach day.  I mean we live 40 minutes from the ocean and we haven't seen it since January, when my parents were here.

Our plate is full but our cup runneth over will all the blessings we have received from living here.

{Glasses are a bear}

April Newsletter {by David}

Here is David's newsletter for April if you have not already seen it.  If you are not on his email list and would like to be added please send me an email.  Simply click on the green envelope icon with wings under the FIND ME, and it will pop up an email.

To enlarge this, simply zoom in or click on the image.

Reservation Update

Several weeks ago I shared about our visit to the Cabecan Indian Reservation and our hope to help them in a humanitarian way in the future.  From talking with Israel, a medic who works for the Costa Rican public health system, we initially thought that building them a small building to function as a clinic would be the best thing.  During this visit he gave us contact information of a husband and wife, who are both doctors, that have helped the Cabecan Indians for several years in many different ways.

A couple weeks ago we were able to meet the husband, Dr. Alexi.  It was a very informative meeting and he was able to explain a lot of things about the public health care system here in Costa Rica, the needs of the Indigenous people of Costa Rica, obstacles we could face, and current projects that he currently has going to help the people on the Cabecan Reservation and other highly impoverished areas of Costa Rica.  There were so many things we would have had no way of knowing if we had not been able to meet with this man.  It was also nice to be able to discuss these things in depth in English.  It was more difficult speaking with Israel, the Cabeccan, because we were both speaking our second language.  

Dr. Alexi explained to us that he has had several run-ins with the CAJA, the public health care system that operates here in Costa Rica.  During his many years of devoting his time and private funding, he had confrontations with the CAJA.  They informed him that they did not want him helping them.  He simply told them he was simply enabling the Cabecans with skills to help themselves medically and to be able to recognize when they need to leave the reservation and try and seek medical help.  He has also been teaching them basic skills like hygiene, basic prenatal education, and other similar things.  

Unfortunately, what Israel had hoped to accomplish by having a small building for a clinic will not be able to happen the way he was originally thinking because of the CAJA and him being an employee of the CAJA.  The CAJA will not send a doctor to work on the reservation.  Israel had hoped that the CAJA would allow him to work from the clinic, but Dr. Alexi said the CAJA will not allow that because he is only trained to give out immunizations.  So, a clinic built by an outsider could jeopardize his job with the CAJA and the few things that they do receive from the CAJA.  Dr. Alexi said the only way that we could possibly get cooperation from the CAJA is to meet with the director of that reservation and ask them if they would man the building if we constructed it.  The downside to that is we are essentially building a clinic for the Costa Rican government that may or may not be used.  Dr. Alexi says the Ministry of Health administration changes with every president and while maybe one administration might man it, the next one might remove anyone from there.  And the building would be the governmen's do with as they wish.  We do not want to get involved with the government, so we need some more time to figure out how our help can be the most beneficial and how we can do that without the CAJA getting involved. 

{what you see is the "town" that is a 3/4-1 day hike from the edge of the Reservation}

We are still brainstorming and looking at all the different options and things that we can do to help them wether it be constructing a new structure (without the involvement of the CAJA), possibly making modifications to existing structures, supplies, or many other things.  To see what would best meet their needs, we need to spend some more time talking with the people on the reservation.  

Keith is coming in May to give David a little break and allow him to meet us in the states to visit with our family.  While Keith is here, he is currently planning, Lord-willing, to visit the Cabecan Reservation and talk more with the people and Israel.  Distance and time are keeping us from being able to move forward at a more timely pace.  We have faith that the Lord will guide this work and will make it very evident what we are supposed to do in the right time.  Please keep praying for the work here and these people on the reservation and that they may see God in everything we say and do and lead them to the truth.

{Israel and David- first meeting}

Love Knows No Boundries

There is pain and suffering all over the world.  There is sickness.  There is poverty.  And there is no God in so many of these places.  So many people have no idea what the concept LOVE really is.  They have no way to know what LOVE is because they have never truly seen it or felt it.  How will these unloved people all over the world ever know what LOVE is, if we do not show them what LOVE is.  We have to LOVE them for them to know LOVE.  We have to be the light that brightens their world.  Their world can only be brightened by God's love.  And we are the vessel that can show them.  The ways of showing love are endless.  There is just really no end to how we can show and share God's love.  

We have been here in Costa Rica full time for over 21 months.  Everyday here is a new day with new challenges, many celebrations, and heartaches too.  Living here has been such a blessing to our family.  We are blessed to be able to see the broken, because seeing it truly changes you.  It changes the way you think about everything.  This place has changed me.  And I pray these experiences that I live everyday, keep changing me to be a better servant for the Lord.  

Our life is truly full here.  There is so much work to be done and not enough hours in the day.   We continue to have church services in Los Altos and studies with the people in that community.  David continues weekly to try and make new contacts in the area and share the Gospel.  It has been so encouraging to see members at the church in Los Altos take the initiative and share Jesus with those they meet.  One of the young men have been accompanying David when he is out trying to meet more people.  Developing relationships with people weaves you through a web of meeting more and more people.  Through this process we have met more people who live in other areas.  

{This is Alejandro.  He has been going with David and meeting new people.}

We have had weekly studies with a group of people in an area called Barrio Jesus.  These studies have been a major course of encouragement for David and I.  These people are so hungry for the truth, in its simplest and raw form.  They are eager.  They are thirsty for the word of God.  We sit for hours at a time engaged in His Word, asking questions, and looking straight in the Bible for the answers.  Please pray for this new area of work and that God will be glorified and His will and truth will shine brightly.  It is our hope and prayer that we will soon have a church meeting in this new area.  

There are so many other things that are in the works here in Costa Rica, and we are just in the beginning stages of planning and praying about.  I cannot wait to share all about it.  Some of you who personally know me know that I am a registered nurse and I have a passion for medicine and helping people heal with the knowledge of medicine and the miraculous healing powers of God.  He hears prayers and he answers.  And it is such an awesome thing to be a part of helping someone back to health and witnessing miracles of life through beautiful births.  That being said, I have missed that part of my life from the states.  I have missed medicine.  I have missed delivering babies terribly.  It was not just a job to me, it was a service to the Lord.  And, it has been on my heart since before we moved here to be able to use my knowledge to help people here in Costa Rica.  Like I said, I can't wait to share more, but this is it for tonight...just pray, pray for God to lead us down the path and show us the possibilities and that everyone involved will know the Love of God because it is so great.

{one footprint at a time...}

Recap of 2013 by David

Since I am a bit technologically challenged, I didn't know how to export David's newsletter into the blog without making it a PDF and then changing it to a JPEG, so sorry for the small font.  I was able to zoom my screen in and see it fine.  You can simply do that, or you can also click on the image and then zoom in on the font.

A Battle For Jesus

You share the Gospel, you plant the seed,  and show love, and share love, and live love. This is what we tell ourselves, this is what we try to live.  So many of us Christians have had "normal" lives, have known of Jesus and really known Jesus for more years of our lives than not, and we all have struggles.  We all have moments where we aren't living like we should, making the choices that God would approve, and living a complete Christ-centered life.  And in those moments, maybe some of us have people who love us, nudge us in the direction we should be moving, or God intercedes and takes his hand and carries us where we need to be.  We have love.  We have God's love, true love from our family.
I was and am so fortunate that I have parents who truly love me and have always showed that love.  I had a loving family that included a father figure and a mother figure.  Some are less fortunate, and maybe only have one of those, but that is still one.  Then there are some who, by tragedy have neither of those.

Think on this....

How does one know what love is?

How does one grasp that God, the most amazing father in the world loves them more than anyone?

How does one imagine what this love is?

How does one Believe this Father is different?

WHEN....

At the age of ten years old you were sent from your home country to neighboring Costa Rica to work as a babysitter.  REALITY HERE!!!!  My daughter is 9 years old.  I cannot imagine doing this to my child.  You come to this country you have never been to before to care for children, when you are only a child yourself.  And you do this for the next 8 years.  You are all alone!  You are a child alone in a foreign country caring for another person's children.  For the better part of the next 8 years, you never hear from your family much and do not see them.  In this time, your family has grown without you.  You were sent away.  How does that make you feel?  You have nothing!  You are a child with no family.  

Your family moves to the country where you are living at the age of eighteen.  You have yearned for this for so many years.  You just wanted your family.  You wanted to be loved, to be accepted.  But, the reality is they moved on without you, they grew without you.  For whatever reason they chose to send you away.  In your heart you know the situation for what it really is, but it is so hard to tell yourself that they must not have really loved you.  You now find yourself with 4 children, living a life that you wish was better, wishing it could be different for your children.  You are not married and have 4 people who depend on you, but you live constantly in war with life and yourself.  

As I think about this woman, I think about how us Christians who have Jesus struggle at times in their life with their faith, and we know Jesus.  We had and have people who love us, who didn't send us away, who didn't abandon us.  And, we have times in our life when we think, how can I get through this, but we know we have Jesus on our side and we have him to lean on.  He is there to comfort us, to carry us, to carry our load.  

My heart breaks for these people who don't know love.  They cannot even comprehend it.
I can't expect them to understand that God is love, when they don't even know what LOVE is.  

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." ~ Heb 11:1  

With faith, there is love.  And this is the battle that Jesus fought.  He is a warrior for love.  And I have faith that God will show this person what love is, that they will see it. Because the Gospel is LOVE. I think circumstances make things harder or easier for people, but at the end of the day we all have to make the choice to know God's love or to not know God's love.  Please pray that this one who does not know love, will know love, will have faith in the God of love, and act on that love in obedience to the one who showed the biggest sacrifice of love.

And the Saga Continues...No Time

It is always on my mind, although at the back, to update this blog more often then once every 3 or 4 months.  I just have not had the time.  Between homeschooling the kids and then just everything that our daily life entails here, I just haven't made it on here.

Then, the few times I had a second, I just did not even know where to begin.  And, again, that is my story today....Where do I begin?

2013 was a year full of so many blessings and trials thrown in as well.  We are so thankful that we are here and celebrated our second Christmas and New Year's here in Costa Rica.  When we moved we had no idea what our time frame for being here would be and we still do not know, you just never know what the Lord has in store, but here is 2014 and we are still here.  

So many people always ask how the kids are doing, and have they adjusted?  

{ pretty sure they are doing just fine...perfect if grandparents lived here }

We just celebrated all of their birthdays!  Carson's isn't until March, but we had a party for all 4 of them when Papa and Nana were here.  They are growing so fast, Leia is 4, Logan 7, Olivia 9, and Carson will be 6 in March.  We are midway through our school year and it is my highest of high hopes that we can be all completed before we leave to visit the states in May.  I know, I am dreaming high, but I will try.  

The kids have thrived so much since we moved into this house that we are in now.  We have now been in this house a year and are so thankful for where we are at.  The location is perfect, our neighbors are wonderful, and the kids are at home.  Before we lived here, I cannot say they were adjusted, doing well, or thriving.  But now, they are!  Praise the Lord.  Because you want happy, smiling, laughing, screaming, giggly kids!

Olivia joined her friend Jimena in swimming classes for 6 months out of the past year.  She could swim before but now she looks like a little professional with all her strokes she has learned.  She finished that up in December and will not be continuing that this year due to the location.  She has decided that she would like to give Volleyball a try, so we will see how that goes.  And she is learning how to play the guitar.  She has asked for a guitar for several years for her Christmas and Birthday, and she finally got one this year!  When Keith arrived here last week, he gave her some instructions to start with and we shall see if we can find someone to teach her.  At the moment, David and I are trying to teach ourselves so we can help her.  I think David is picking it up pretty fast, and I should probably just stick with woodwind instruments!  But, I have not given up yet.  I just can't feel my fingertips in my left hand, even now as I type this.  

Logan and Carson continue to play soccer and have improved so much over the past year.  They are now scoring goals and kicking up the dirt on the field.  They look forward to playing every Saturday morning.  Logan begs to do Karate here, but we just don't think that is a good idea to give him and Carson instructions on how to fight with each other better! : )  They are both now reading really well. Some days they shine with their brilliance and then other days David and I wonder if their brains escaped....the life of a boy!

Leia is a ball of fire, and needs to start school soon, so maybe she will be less detractive to the others while they are doing school.  She loves going in and out all day long and has pretty much stolen the hearts of all our neighbors.  At any time if she is not at home, she is at someone's house playing.  She has two little friends that are the same age as her and one just as equally spirited as her.  They have their moments and one goes running home and then they are ready to play again in 2 minutes.  She does not want to play any sports and has no interest in even watching the boys or Olivia when she was playing soccer.  She has asked ever since we moved here if she can do ballet.  She is finally old enough and will start that in February.

That is it.  There are four of them and they can choose one thing to do, and that is it.  I don't know how people keep up with all of their kids in every activity and sport.  I would be running circles getting no where.  Now I know why my mom gave us limits on what all we could do.  It is expensive and then there is no time for anything else.

David and I just had birthdays too.  He is 34 and I am 31....how in the world did that happen??

The last 7 weeks have been crammed full of fun and memories.  We have had my mom and dad and David's mom and dad here 5 out of those 7 weeks.  So, it has been crazy, crazy here, David still trying to get work done and cram in some family time.  The kids and I had lots of time at the house just hanging out and then some days exploring this beautiful country.  No school, itself, was a VACATION! We were so thankful for those days of having fun thanks to our parents.  It was some much needed fun time!!

 { Top of Volcan Irazu }

{ Playa Tamarindo }

This past year we have developed more relationships with people here and continue to strengthen the old ones and build more on the new ones.  Our days are full!  Praise the Lord!  

Sunday Snapshots

It is my goal to take family photos of all of the families we go to church with.  This is something we have been wanting to do for them for a while, but something always comes up, or someone would be sick, etc.

It is quite comical trying to take photos of them.  Through the past year I have taken tons of photos and the good ones I get here and there are when they have no idea I have my camera out.  They all have a phobia of smiling for the camera.  It makes me laugh so hard.  I know this is something normal for lots of other cultures too.  They are not conceited like us Americans who love to smile in front of the camera and take tons of "selflies" for the world to see.  LOL!  They all stand there like we are burying someone, solemn faces and eyes.  You have to be creative and tell them to do funny things, say funny things.  Saying funny things isn't too hard for me since my Spanish is probably equivalent to a 4 year old...maybe.

CAMPOS FAMILY

I snapped these a couple Sundays ago after church.  It was hot and SUNNY.  Let me say that again, "It was HOT."  I WAS HOT!  We don't have that perfect sweet hour of light right now.  Some days you might have it, but other days it goes from blinding sun to dark with torrential rain.  There is no scheduling a time to take some photos.  With raining season, you just go outside when you can.  

I thought (above photo) was cute.  Little Valeria just wasn't quite big enough to get her face above the rail.  I was working on getting some smiles...no one was impressed but Mom and Dad.

We were walking around looking for some shady places to take some photos and we ran into these people.  Their grandmother offered for us to come in their gate and take photos in her beautiful flower garden and rancho.  I have some of those too, but that will have to be a later day.  I edited these couple of pictures during school today and this little bit of computer time is about all they can handle today...there is chaos in the house.

And, I do believe this photo is a SUCCESS.  While it may not be prefect lighting, I think these are some perfect facial lines!

p.s.  I don't have time to reread and check for grammatical errors and typos...I am smarter than my typing and writing may always appear, just busy and trying to formulate complete sentences with 4 kids talking, laughing, and at times screaming.

Muy Ocupado

Translation - VERY BUSY

Yes, that pretty much sums up my life.  For years I have had goals of less.  Less stress, less work, less daily over commitments.  And, it is a never ending fail situation.  I quit doing some things only to find other things that I need to do and commit to do and have to do.

In all of that, the blog just gets lost and completely forgotten.  I said, "Forgotten."  Sorry.  I remember late at night when my brain is not coherent and I am in a slumber of really wishing I could sleep but too tired to get up do anything in the middle of the night sleepless state.

Life in Costa Rica.  Crazy!  Good!  More crazy!  New things!  New friends!

Major Blessing- To all those prayer warriors that prayed along with us for so many months that our house situation in the states would work out with a sale or a new rental commitment, God answered.  We literally received a contract just days before we were going to be out the mortgage with no rental income.  While we definitely are taking a monthly loss in order to secure that rental contract we are praying God will provide.  Another Year!!!

July seemed to come and go in a complete blur.  The kind of blur, you know the one that is just circles
of blur.  I thought I would have a few weeks to catch up on "my things," the non homeschool related activities that just are a passing thought.  Things like swimming at the pool, reading books, taking pictures, trips to the park, and ice cream cones were on my agenda.  Well, I think we went to the pool once, I read one book, once to the park, and we managed lots of pictures (that still need to be edited) and ice cream cones a few times.  It went by in a blur.

We take all visitors to Tio Mano's for some local "helado."

{New Friends - Africa, Vietnam, Taiwan, United States, Germany, and Israel represented here in 

Costa Rica.  Love Diversity!!!}

During that time David and I painted the church building (still not complete, need to cut in the ceiling, but hey it looks better than it did) and we had tile laid in the church.  Before it was varying types of concrete from cracks everywhere, finished spots of concrete, to unfinished, and unlevel.

{We have had a full house almost every Sunday for the last 6 or 7 weeks.  This particular Sunday there was not a chair left.  That is such a good problem...people sitting on paint buckets.}

Nana came for a visit, of which was part of the radial whirlwind blur of activity in July.  She was here and then she was gone.  She came with puppets for the kids and they loved that and have had some hilarious puppet shows for us and have entertained company as well.

And we still have crazy, funny, and loud kids.  Some things never change!  : )

I have so much news to share that I do not even know where to begin.  So, for now this is a start.  Along with our normal daily activities of survival, learning, teaching, meditating, and so many other things I am wanting to start doing photography here as a free-lance.  I am not a professional by any means and have so much to learn, but I think this is a good place to start.  I have had lots of people here ask me to do this and others encourage me to do so.  So, that has pretty much consumed my little tid bits of spare time lately.  I am one of those OCD kind of people.  If I am going to start this then I want to do it right.  That means more prep work on the front end, but to me it results in better organization and less hiccups...or so I tell myself.  I have been working on building my website (talk about a brain zapper and time consumer...and I am using a template).  I started with what would be my logo.

Then I made my Facebook page.  Let me just tell you the couple different times I have attempted to manage more than one Facebook page linked with my name it is a disaster.  And, this time was no different.  But it is working now.  Yay!!!!  Finally after fighting with it for 5 weeks...yes, sadly, it is true.  FIVE long frustrating weeks.  You can check it out here.  I will let you know when I am ready to launch the website.  While you are probably living in a different country, you can still take a look and see what I am up to in the wee hours of the night, staying up really late and going cross-eyed.  Because, we all know, especially homeschool moms, that there is never any time in the day for this sort of activity.  I decided to take the plunge and do this.  I figured if I can even do a few shoots here and there that will help pay for plane tickets to go back to the states, once a year hopefully, and maybe not drain the bank....have you seen airfare prices lately??????  And for a family of 6??  Whew! 

So, Kristin, thanks for the shove!!!  I laughed when I got your message this morning.  Hopefully, I am back from my extended leave.  And I will give the latest and greatest snippets of life here in Costa Rica serving a mighty God.

Night All!