Hey! Yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I'm still in Costa Rica. Sorry I haven't gotten around to posting in a long time. It often gets pretty crazy busy around here. Many things are much the same: classes, ministry, Bible study, church, and daily life at the Villa are all still rocking and rolling. God's hand is so visible everywhere and yet every time it still amazes me. Instead of trying to tell you all that's happened recently I'm just going to mention some pretty awesome praises that I have.
First, I've had some crazy cool opportunities to speak Spanish. Our class has changed a little in respect to the fact that we have quit doing just random busy work and have started practicing giving our testimonies and sharing the Gospel in Spanish. Each day my teacher will start one of our hours and say "Ok, today *insert name* is going to witness to *insert other name*." Yeah. Relevant practical practice in another language. Cool!! And we do a lot more translating too. When one of us gives a testimony, another of us translates. It's perfect. Also we started reading a book in Spanish - a chapter or so every day. It's really good for learning vocabulary, plus we have to listen hard and practice our pronunciation when it's our turn to read. I love it. And I'm getting better!! Yay!! Then this past Saturday, I went to Coronado in the morning like always and then to a friend from church's house for lunch, then youth group. All day in Spanish :) But it didn't end there. As we were leaving youth group JR and I were talking with our pastor and he's always said that JR is going to be a good pastor someday. He even calls him "Pastorcito." Anyway he asked him to preach on a Saturday night sometime soon. So not this coming Saturday, but the one after that, JR is preaching and I'm translating... INTO Spanish. YIKES!!!! I have been praying to be stretched in my Spanish in order to improve.. I guess I have to be careful what I pray for! It's going to be a real challenge for sure. Right now I can translate into English from Spanish with pretty much no problem. But going the other way is a whole different animal. I'm really really excited, but also very nervous! But I'm most definitely thanking God for this crazy cool opportunity.
Second, the ministry in Coronado is blooming. It's soo cool!! We have an average of about 40 kids every Saturday, and they are always so excited to be there and learn more. Then there are a bunch of women that come to the Bible study on Saturday afternoons and are being mentored by Bethany and Valeria (my Spanish teacher who lives at Coronado as the SCORE missionary there). One of these ladies is the mom of two adorable little boys, Gary and Keylor, who come every Saturday. She has told Bethany recently that Keylor used to have a HUGE problem with getting up for school. He would hate getting up in the morning and would cry and throw a major fit. But then on Saturday mornings he would get up by 6 am and be begging his mom to leave for "camp." So she began to tell him that if he wanted to be able to go on Saturdays he would have to learn to get up for school in the morning too. She has seen such a major change in him, and says that it's incredible to watch God change his life from the inside. Praise the Lord!! THEN... this past Tuesday 3 boys that come every week showed up on the property and just hung out with Bethany for a while. They told her that they wanted some help growing in God. She has some material for new believers and is going to, with the help of a few of our guys, disciple them. Wow!! So pray that the desire they have stays and grows, and that we can help them learn more about living for Christ even despite their strict "religious life" catholic background. But it's been amazing to see all of that this week because it means we're making a difference. We're touching lives with the love of God!! Glory be to his name :) But the Coronado ministry doesn't stop there. We had the first Sunday church service there today. There were close to 30 people total there. It was incredible!! The pure message of the Gospel was preached from John 14. Jesus is the only way to Heaven, not by works, not by someone else, not by anything other than faith in his blood. I can't wait to see this part of the ministry grow. God is big and he is good. Keep the prayers rolling in!!
Third, I get another vacation-like take-advantage-of-being-in-another-country experience this weekend. We get to spend two days at the beautiful beach, Punta Leona. Two days of no classes, no work, just relaxing in the water in the sun on the sand with all my friends :) I'm so excited. It's going to be a perfect break before we hit the books hardcore as finals are coming quicker than we realize. I love everyone here and can't wait to just chill out with them all for a weekend. Costa Rica to the max ;)
Fourth, a prayer request. One of our sisters had to leave yesterday because of health problems. Her name is Devin and she had brain surgery over the summer because of an aneurysm. She recovered well, but recently has been having pretty terrible headaches again. She went to the hospital to get checked out, and they found that it was her medicine causing the problem. Although this is a good thing because it wasn't her brain, it's still a pretty serious situation and she needed to go to her own doctor and be with her mom to get it figured out. It's been hard for us to loose another girl, but we know that she's going to be coming back with us in January all fixed up. It's only a short time before she can join us again. Please be praying for her as she deals with missing out on our last month, healing up, and staying up enough on the language that she's not completely lost by the time January comes around.
Fifth, I got to skype my sister for her birthday!! I got to talk with ALL of my family (including Lucas over skype/speaker phone). It was so fun :) They did eat delicious Mama Starrett desserts in front of me though.. that was painful... but all in all it was really cool to see the fam and watch my little teenage sister open gifts. I love them all :) God has truly blessed me with an incredible family not only here but at home behind me as well.
Alright. This post is long enough. Thanks for all your prayers they are much appreciated! Keep them coming as we have one month to stay kicked in high gear before we head back for the holidays. Praise God for what he's doing down here, I thank him so much for the opportunities and growth that I've personally gone through and am still going through. Join me in praising him as well for the blessings and success in all our ministries here. He is sovereign and reigns with a perfect plan. God rocks! I love you all :)
