On the way to school Scarlet and Maverek took Kelly
and I on a "field trip" to the plaza. They
were eager to show us a plant they had discovered
with their profesora last week. It is called a sleeper
plant because whenever it is touched it closes up
and appears to fall asleep. For those homeschoolers
out there, this is a carnivorous plant. It's amazing
design allows it to close and catch small insects
within its leaves where they will then dissolve and
be absorbed. Fortunately, we were all just a little
to quick for to be breakfast for these sleepers.
There are monkeys in Costa Rica but so far we've only
seen this type.
Que es esto? You might be asking yourself, "What
is this?" Well if you guessed some Costa Rican
delicacy you would be incorrect. Instead, this is
what homemade chocolate chip cookies look like when
they are made with Costa Rican margarine (movie popcorn
butter) and then have to be flipped half way through
the cooking time because our tiny oven only heats
from the bottom! Ugly, but a sweet taste of home anyway!
Prayer requests:
- For our continued learning of Spanish, endurance,
wisdom, patience....many new words are going in to
our brains but its rarely easy to get them out when
its time to talk.
- We are preparing for our first sports clinic to
be held on Friday afternoon at the local elementary
school. Pray that the rain will hold off and for open
hearts that will be hearing the gospel.
- Pray for Kelly as he is working on sharing the Gospel
in Spanish.
Thursday
Some afternoons we have an additional "Conversational
Class" which forces us to speak even if we don't
have a clue how to say what we want.
Maverek's swimming buddy Tommy.
Friday
Friday was an extremely busy day, that stretched
us in many ways. After our intial three hours of classes,
which took us on a field trip to practice comminicating
our wants or needs around the local town, we held
our first SR clinic. We were able to play with and
share the gospel with about 15 Costa Ricans (costarricenses),
13 of which are already members of the local church
we are here to support. It was great practice for
us and everyone had a good time. We will start doing
this every Friday afternoon so please pray that it
continues to grow as we spread the word. We are also
working on getting into the public school here to
do clinics during P.E. time.
Here Kelly and Maverek have some fun coaching some
basic basketball skills. This small group was so lively
it left us wondering, "How exactly will we as
a family handle a bigger group?" Thankfully,
we know the One whom we serve and His mighty power.
There's always a couple of "jenni's" in
the group who really have no interest in playing sports.
Here Scarlet and her friend Heather, practice their
newly acquired espanol to find out what these two
little girls WOULD like to do. They ended up running
races, pretending to be horses and holding hands alot.
Kelly with the help of Daniel, one of the founders
of our language school, take the opportunity to share
the gospel using the "ball of many colors."
Although the vast majority of our audience already
had a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, many
commented on the use of the ball and how simple and
clear it made the gospel presentation.
Finalamente, en la noche de viernes pasado.....Finally,
last Friday night, Kelly and I, with NO translators,
were responsible for leading a "small group"
devotional time at one of the neighbors houses. I
say small because usually these groups have 5-7 people.
However, our hostess invited ALL the neighbors, Praise
the Lord. Therefore our small group consisted of 30
mostly catholic Costa Ricans who speak NO ingles.
Again, praise the Lord for his grace, wisdom and mercy.
Kelly led a short Bible study on Galatians 1:13-16,
using these verses to explain how God choose us from
our mother's womb, even knowing the kinds of mistakes
we would make; to know, love and serve Him. I followed
that by sharing my testimony. No first time decisions
were made during the meeting, however, several of
the neighbors are now pursuing a closer relationship
with us.
Saturday-Rios de aguas vidas
After Friday being an entire day of being pushed
to our limits, understanding, speaking and sharing
Christ Jesus in espanol, we were all in need of some
time to catch our breath. Instead Kelly found and
activity that took our breath away and pushed us to
our limits in another way! Canyoning. During this
adventure we repelled 4 waterfalls, crossed through
the jungle canopy on 3 different zip lines, experienced
2 free falls from tree tops at about 65 feet, rock
climbed and crossed a rope bridge.
We spent much of the day in a fast moving river,
finding the footing slippery, bloodied knees and elbows
common and the current sometimes overwhelming....Isn't
that just a little like God. I have always pictured
the "rivers of living water" to be tranquil,
refreshing and easy, after Saturday I have a better
understanding. Being in the midst of the river was
in fact beautiful and refreshing, but at the same
time difficult and occasionally painful. The water
directing your steps, determined to push you further
than you thought you wanted to go, the footing unsure
but at the same time rock solid, the waterfalls taking
your breath away as they leave no part of you untouched
or unwashed. So much like the will of God, as Christians
we can walk upstream for awhile, but eventually the
current will purify, wear down the rough edges and
carry us to the end of the river and into eternity.
Praise God with us that He is the River of Life (rio
de agua vida), the Master, and the Lord directing
each of us.
Scaret & Maverek repelling with their guides
Me, Jenni trying to negotiate the footing while seeing
how long I could hold my breath. Mercifully, Kelly
caught this photo before I accidentally sat down....upside
down!
Grayson fearlessly doing his thing.
