Here is a slideshow I made of our journey from FPO until here in Costa Rica. We enjoyed lots of fun times with our family and friends. It was very difficult to say goodbye but we made a decision to follow the Lord wherever he may lead us and this is where we have ended up! One of our “heart songs” is “I have decided to follow Jesus.” It is a song we both heard so many times growing up in church but has taken on a completely different meaning in the recent turn of events in our lives. It is a song that was repeated in our hearts as we packed our bags, said our goodbyes, and stepped on the airplane. And it is a song we must remember when times are tough and when we feel like packing up and going home. We promised to follow our Lord wherever He may lead and we know that He will give us the strength to go.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers . . .

. . . and she spoke to me . . .

"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart . . ." Proverbs 15:30

For the past few weeks, Travis and I have walked at the same time, on the same route to school every day. And every day, there are several people we pass on our route. We try to say good morning, in Spanish of course, to each of them. Most of them reply back but there is one little older lady who never would. Every morning I give her my biggest and brightest smile with a friendly ´´Buenos Dias´´and every morning she would look me in the eyes with a frown on her face, say nothing, and then look away. That is, every morning until today! This morning, we saw her coming, I looked at her and again, gave my cheery good morning greeting. She looked at me, looked down, and then mumbled a quiet ´´Buenos Dias´´ almost under her breath. But, she did it! This woman has been placed on my heart for the past week or so. Every day I speak to her and every day she gives me a mean look and then walks on without saying anything! Others have been praying that God would allow me to break through to her and I did! It was just a small step but it was still a step nevertheless! Thanks to those of you who have been praying and we ask that you keep on!

We don't really know enough Spanish yet to communicate very well with people. Yet, we do know how to say hello and we can smile when we do so. This is how we minister!

Please pray for us as God gives us opportunities to minister to others through our smiles this week!

. . . My hope is in you all day long . . .

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. " Psalm 25: 4 -5

This week was a very good week for us. Tuesday was our second anniversary and our Tica Mom baked us a wonderful cake! It tasted very similar to pineapple upside down cake and she promised me the recipe!

On another happy note, Travis and I each had several tests this week in our Spanish classes - so far all A's! We are learning so much and are so excited when we are able to practice with the locals. This weekend, we had a good conversation with a lady in a local market who is a Chrisian. We were so proud to be able to communicate back and forth with her. It seems as if our years of Spanish in high school and college are finally coming back to us!

Saturday, we went downtown and checked out some of the local sites

.

We visited the Cathedral of San Jose and I think we both felt the same overwhelming sense of sadness while we were there. Travis describes it best by saying he felt like we were "in the enemies territory." There were many images and statues of Mary and Jesus within the cathedral but one in particular captured our attention the most. In a side room, there was a glass casket surrounding a statue of Jesus. The casket was within a gated room. You can see in the picture below that on the floor of the gated room many coins and folded prayers stuffed through the gate to this "dead Jesus". My heart felt very burdened for those worshiping in this cathedral. I have hope knowing that I will spend eternity with the Father and I no longer have to pay penance for my sins. Many indivudals do not have that hope.

Please pray for us this week as we continue with our language studies. Pray that we would have patience as we study the language and patience as we learn all that we need to know before we can continue on to our place of service in Mexico.

Please pray that our love for the Latino people would continue to grow and that we would continue to build relationships with those we come in contact with throughout the week.

Also, please pray that we would have opportunities to share with those around us who do not have hope in Jesus Christ.

We praise you this week Father for our . . . hope is in you all day long . . . .

We aren't in Kansas anymore . . .

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. " James 1:2 -4

Sunday, we went to the Primera Iglesia Baptista de Desemperados. We had heard about the church and wanted to try it out. It was a little far from our home (about an hours walk) but it was exactly what we needed. The worship service was full of praise songs to the Father. The Lord directed us specifically to that church on that day because the message preached spoke right to our hearts. The pastor spoke from James 1 and gave examples in his own life of difficult circumstances. He told us he has asked God the very same questions we asked God over and over again this week: Why God? Whose side are you on anyway?

These questions have been running through my brain for the past couple of days.

This morning, I got up and prayed for the Lord to give me strength to face the day ahead whatever the circumstances. I decided that today was HIS day and I was going to give it to Him and let Him take care of my fear and anxiety.

Around 11:00 this morning, someone at our school came to find us. An individual had called the school looking for us because they had found my backpack dumped in a park trash can on the opposite end of town, very far away from where we live. This individual met us outside the national theater and returned to me the stolen backpack. The only things missing from it were my voice recorder and a little bit of cash. My bible, all my books and things, and MY RED SHOES were inside it - these were the same shoes that were recovered from the stolen truck! One thing you have to understand is that San Jose is a large city. Two million people live here and one person found my backpack and returned it to me. Praise the Lord for He is our sustainer!!!

We praise the Lord this week because He is in control of all things.

One things I have learned - We aren't in Kansas anymore, my friend. We are in God's territory and He controls the ruby slippers!

We were robbed today . . .

An honest question I have for the Lord today: "Why when we try to follow God's call do bad things happen to us?"

Granted we know the answer but it is still very hard to deal with.

This afternoon on our way home from school, in broad daylight, two young men got out of a taxi and approached us with a gun. They demanded our backpacks and any cell phones ( we had none) then, they took off with our belongings. Thankfully, we didn't have our computers or check cards in our bags. The only things our "robbers" got were our schoolbooks, notebooks, digital voice recorders, Bi-Lengual Bibles, dictionaries, my planner, and my favorite pair of red shoes ( this is extremely ironic because these shoes were in the truck when it was stolen and were recovered when they found the truck, so they have been stolen from us twice now).

Please pray for us this week - this was an extremely difficult event for us. We still do not have internet or a phone and to know now that we are not even safe in broad daylight is tough. Please pray that we will have strength. Honestly, I was ready to pack up and go home today. However, I know that God called us to this place and He is going to provide us with the strength to carry on.

Toros de la Tica

This is the first time I have ever written on our blog so please excuse the poor writing quality as compaired to what Danielle normally writes.

I just wanted to put some pictures of the bull fight that I got to go to with our friend Tim and his son Noah. It was a really neat time. They have a festival here in San Jose in an are called Zapote. It is actually the part of town that Danielle and I live in. The festival is a combination Christmas and New Years festival that last for about a month and a half. Sunday was the last day for the festival and so we decided to go to the bull fight. The bull fight was every day at 3 and 7. When we got to the bull fight there were hundreds of people in line. We did some figuring and decided to just buy some tickets from some of the "independant sellers" outside of the arena. Once we got in we realized that there were as many people inside as we had seen outside. It was a huge crowd.

Just a little background on bull fights in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is the only country where it is legal to be killed by a bull in a sport, but you cannot harm the bull. It is called "humain" bull fighting ( at least for the bull). The other thing is that only part of the time are there actual matadors. The rest of the time there are about 100-200 people just running around the ring trying not to get hit by the bull. It was really quit neat. They also play games with the bull. One was that they drew three circles on the ground and put 6 guys in each. They would then get the bull to charge the circle and the last guy that didn't run away or get helped out of the circle by the bull won.

I really enjoyed getting to experiance part of the culture. I think that Tim and Noah and I were the only "gringos" in the whole place. We actually got to be on tv. The whole thing was live and the camera man walked by and so we made Costa Rican tv the first weekend. I really look forward to all the other things that we will be able to experiance while we are here.

When you pass through the waters . . .

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior . . . .” Isaiah 43:2 -3
“Cuando pases por las aguas, you estare contigo; y si por los rios, no te anegaran. Cuando pases por el fuego, no te quemaras, ni la llama ardera en ti. Porque yo Jehova, Dios tuyo, el Santo de Israel, soy tu Salvador . . . .” Isaias 43: 2 - 3

For those of you who have been wondering where we are, we are HERE! We made it to Costa Rica in one piece – including luggage! We arrived Friday afternoon and do not yet have internet in our home so haven’t found an opportunity to post on our blog until now. There is so much to say and so little time! We are really enjoying this beautiful country so far. The weather is beautiful – a wonderful breeze blows across the mountains and down into the city of San Jose cooling the warm days. Our family we live with is extremely nice – they make us feel very welcome. The food is incredible – we may be waddling home after eating so many delicious things! And – Classes officially begin Monday. We are ready to learn Espanol!

On a more somber note, many of you may have heard or seen on the news about the 6.2 earthquake that occurred in Costa Rica yesterday. We are about 20 miles from the epicenter and so we didn't get the major affects. However, in some areas of Costa Rica, lives were lost and many homes and businesses were destroyed. Please pray today for those who were affected by the earthquake.

Also, please pray for us as we begin classes. Until later, Hasta luego!