New Beginnings

Since arriving here in Costa Rica to study Spanish I have had the privilege to be a part of a ministry began by one of my colleagues who has since passed the baton on to others, who have in turn passed it on to us. The place is called House of Restoration for Men. There is also a women's house that you can read about on this site where Kirsten serves as well.

Visiting the House of Restoration has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone, as least what was left of it after uprooting our family and moving to a foreign land with a most-foreign language. Here, men are struggling to leave a life on the street, a life of substance abuse, violence, and despair. It is not the typical recovery center you would find in the States. There are no counselors or professional treatment programs. There is simply no money. What is there is a commitment to the use of Biblical principles to teach faith and reliance on God to overcome life's challenges.

That is where we come in. Each Monday, a few of us language students come to share a time of fellowship and study in God's Word. We are welcome and one of several teams from various ministries that come in during the week. This week was a particularly uncomfortable one for me as I had finally stepped up to lead the Bible study after struggling just to communicate and understand others for months. The meetings are held entirely in Spanish so the anxiety factor was high. Anyone here can tell you I am not very functional in Spanish, but the need is great and our God is greater.

There are a lot of new faces at the house since the Christmas break, so I thought I would share a basic evangelistic message that I thought would be a shame to take for granted that all have heard. I began the time together asking the men why they were there. This drew, as you can imagine, a few blank stares. I clarified by asking them not why they were in this house or this program, but rather why are they here on this planet. What were they created for? More blank stares.

I lead the men through the story of creation and how God created us in his image. Why? A relationship with Him. I showed them the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22 - "...love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind..." How can we do this if we do not have that relationship with Him. What hope is there for any of us?

We then began to search through the text of Romans. What is God's purpose for us? What prevents us from having that relationship? How did God remedy that problem? And lastly, what will our response be to God's provision for us through Jesus Christ?

Now, my Spanish is atrocious. It was all I could do to read my pre-written comments. I told the men up front that I would be asking them a lot of questions but would most likely not understand their replies. They assured me that it did not matter. They are a very patient group and used to putting up with us gringo language students. So, with a sense of impending embarrassment and humiliation I pressed on.

God showed me something that day. He showed me just how powerful His Word is and how sovereign He is. He showed me that the Gospel was His and His alone. It did not come in the door with me. It was there with Him when I got there. When we came to the end of the "lesson plan" I asked the men to consider what they had heard. I asked if there was anyone present who would be willing to put their trust in that provision alone and turn from all other attempts to be acceptable to God, to please God, and to earn what they were looking for. Who wants to have that relationship, that forgiveness, and that assurance? To my amazement, at least 15 men bowed and prayed to receive Christ as Lord and Savior of their life.

The man in me wants to analyze what happened and ask myself if they really meant it. Were they just going through the motions to make the Missionary Man look good on his Spanish debut. I don't think so. I think God showed Himself real that day and I cannot wait to get back to hear how he is working in their lives already. I think He showed us in no uncertain terms that when you speak to people about their Creator, the language is universal and very personal.

Please pray for these men and others who will be coming through the house in the weeks and months to come. Pray that God will show them just how much they mean to Him and that He has already won the victory they so desperately seek. For the men who are now my brothers in Christ, pray that they will grow in their desire to know Him more, that they will know what it means to overcome through faith in the Overcomer.

For us, pray that we will be able to begin a discipleship of these men and that more students will join in the work. We only have a few short weeks or months to spend with the men as they pass through the house. May our time with them count. May this place indeed be a place of new beginnings.

One drop of Crimson

Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles is located in Cartago (about 25 minutes from San Francisco de Dos Rios). It was originally built in the mid 1600s, but has subsequently been rebuilt several times over the years due to earthquakes. On August 2, 1635, Costa Rican folklore says that the Virgin Mary showed herself as a small, black doll to a young girl named Juana Pereira. After the doll disappeared and reappeared several times at the creek where Juana had found it, the Catholic Church agreed that the Virgin wanted a cathedral built on that spot. The Basilica is today considered the holiest church in Costa Rica, and every August 2, the faithful make their way from all over the country, many walking for days on the side of the road, to pay homage to "La Negrita", the little black statue of the Virgin Mary found by the little girl over 370 years ago. The statue can still be seen today on the same rock it was supposedly found on.

People come to the Basilica in hopes of redeeming their loved ones from purgatory. You can purchase gold charms in front of the church to receive a healing. You can purchase charms in different shapes like arms, legs, stomachs, hearts, etc... Holy water runs from a spring there at the church and many people believe that it has special healing powers. Just about anything can be purchased in front of the Basilica... charms, holy water, rosaries, toys, even lottery tickets. I wondered if Jesus would have cleared the place like the temple 2000 years ago.

Probably the most moving sight for us when we visited earlier this month was that of people coming to the door of the church and immediately dropping to their knees to begin the long slow procession towards the front of the church on their hands and knees. Many are petitioning for healing of an illness. Some are pleading forgiveness for past sins. Sadly enough many are making this painful crawl for loved ones that have died in hopes they will be released from purgatory. All of this moved me to tears. As I sat in a pew and just took it all in, my oldest sat next to me and asked me why they were crawling to the front. I explained, "They don't understand, honey. All they need is the blood of Jesus. This statue can not bring them their healing, remove their suffering, or save their loved ones. Only Jesus."

The song is "Crimson" by Nicole Nordeman.

Birth Pains

Thursday afternoon at 1:11 our world was literally rocked. About 20 miles from us in a tourist area we visited during December, an earthquake of 6.1 magnitude shook all of Costa Rica and our neighbors in Nicaragua and Panama. What seemed like an eternity actually lasted only 40 seconds. As it first started I believed, like previous tremors we have felt, that this was just a little one. I discovered as the bed I was studying in did not stop jiggling, but actually started moving across the room that this was not just a little tremor. I heard Ken and the kids going to the front carport and realized Cade was still in his bunk bed in his bedroom. As I reached to get him the jiggling stopped so I thought, "Oh, it must be over." The jiggling turned into the kind of swaying one might experience on a small boat on the high seas. I quickly snatched up our youngest and ran for the door. Our Tico empleada was praying out loud "Santo Dios, ayudanos!" (Holy God help us!) I realized this was the real deal and started to pray myself. When the earthquake stopped I realized almost all of my neighbors had left their homes and were in the street. With all the power lines I'm not sure that is the safest place, but we have decided to have an emergency plan for the future now.

My neighbor said he thought we were close to the epicenter. Come to find out we were 20 miles from it. The town that was hit hardest is still searching for those missing. The death toll is at 34 with 64 still missing. Many children were killed in large mud slides while playing outside. Tourists in the area were also killed. Scarily enough there have been over 2,000 aftershocks. We have felt several of them.

We watched the coverage late into the night as the rescue workers tried desperately to get to people buried beneath the dirt that slid down the sides of the mountain. Connor asked me at one point what was that white bag they were trying to dig up. As I listenend to the newscaster I realized that they were trying to get to two little girls that had been buried alive while selling candy on the side of the street to tourists during their summer break. This picture is of the parents of those two girls. Please keep them in your prayers.

As you look at these pictures I ask that you would pray for the people of Costa Rica, especially those from Alajuela where the quake hit hardest. There is an active volcano there (Poas) that some believe could cause problems if we continue to have many quakes this year. Most of all please pray that the people of this area would seek the Lord as their source of comfort and healing. Thank you for your prayers and for your concern for us during this time.

...There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All of these are the beginning of birth pains...

Matthew 24:7-8

That's a bunch of bull!

Every year for 2 weeks in December, San José hosts what some Ticos claim to be the event of the year. Los Toros, the Costa Rican annual bullfights are a sight to behold. Never having a desire to see a bull slowly tortured to death, attending one of these events has never been on my "do before I die" list. However, here in Costa Rica, a bullfight is not the fancy-pants show you have seen on TV and movies. There is no three-cornered and fringed hat, no silk hosiery, and certainly no red cape. Instead, what we have is more like the product of a mixed marriage between the running of the bulls in Pamplona and the WWF. We don't kill the bulls here. In fact, the bull has the upper hoof most of the time.

The object here is to release a large, highly irritated bull, complete with goring apparatus into a redondel (bullring about the size a rodeo ring) to be taunted by a few hundred of Costa Rica's judgement-challenged, machismo-obsessed, allegedly sober citizenry. In fact, sobriety is a test before entering the ring. Though safety is not sacrosanct, at least they strive to give these poor hombres (and a few mujeres) a fighting chance by ensuring they have command of what is left of their senses. They run around the bull, swatting at his back side, trying to pull his tale, and generally anything else they can get away with to get the bulls attention and provoke an adrenaline inducing few seconds of sheer terror as he attempts to run them down with the aforementioned goring apparatus positioned for maximum effect. Most scamper away safely, but a few leave with permanent reminders of their flirtation with death.

They hold two shows a day for the duration, resulting in a great number of battered and bruised participants. And, just in case you are wondering, gorings are not terribly uncommon. They even have a special medical treatment facility accessible from the ring fully manned with paramedics and replete with the necessary life-saving equipment.

My colleague, Anthony, invited me to a show one evening after Christmas. Being the culturally sensitive lifelong learner that I am I said yes. The video pretty much says it all, so take a look and see for yourself. Except for the occasional electric goad, I would think most animal activists would find this turning of the tables acceptable. In the body count, the bull always wins.

¡Disfruta!

Ken

Doka Coffee Plantation and Sarchi

A Tico Christmas

A Tico Christmas is the same and yet different than Christmas in the US. One big difference is the food. Most people here have rice and chicken and tamales for their Christmas feast. It is a family affair the first week or two of December to make tons of tamales and freeze them for the whole family. They will gather together for this event and each take their share of the bounty home to last the month of December.

Another Tico tradition is celebrating on Christmas Eve with family instead of Christmas day. Family gathers around 8 or 9pm and they eat all evening and shoot off fireworks all night until about 3am. They actually use the large professional fireworks that you would see in the states for Fourth of July city celebrations. All this time we thought when we heard these loud booms they were some sort of canon, only to find out these are very large fireworks! Apparently these fireworks are a nightly occurrence until after the 1st of January.

Although this year was our first Christmas away from family and friends back in Alabama, God was gracious to give us family here. My mother came down for 9 days and we had another missionary (David) and a Tico family (Francisco, Yolanda, and their son). It was so different from any Christmas that we have had, but I was so thankful that God had provided us with new friends to spend this special day with. Mom and I cooked all the day before and Christmas morning (sweet potato casserole, stuffing, salad, chicken supreme, pumpkin cheesecake, and red velvet cupcakes). I can say for our Tico friends that it was very different from the typical Costa Rican fare. A special shout out to Mom, Nana, and my best friend ,Teena, for the wonderful gifts of pecans and pumpkin that helped make the feast happen!

The children had an amazing morning of opening all their presents. Grammie brought a suitcase full and Nana sent a huge box from our family in Mobile with all kinds of goodies for the kids. It was such a wonderful surprise! The children had so much fun playing with all their new toys.

My favorite part of the whole day though was being with our new church family that night. They had a special Christmas service that evening and asked one of the other missionaries (Ash) to play guitar and me to play piano with the praise band. It was so wonderful to be a part of the praise team. Even though most evangelicals here do not sing many Christmas carols (usually only the Catholic churches sing the traditional carols), the pastor asked Ash and me to play a few of our traditional carols. We chose 3 that we knew were also sung in Spanish (Silent Night, Angels We Have Heard On High, and O Come All Ye Faithful). It was beautiful to listen to the people sing the words in Spanish as we sang them in English, praising the birth of our Savior together. Afterwards they had a Christmas dinner that started at 8:30pm. Believe it or not this is considered early by some Latinos. The food was sweet, and the fellowship even sweeter.

Dios le bendiga este nuevo año. (The Lord bless you this new year.)

Our Christmas Card

Make a Smilebox greeting

And your address is...?

Yesterday while giving my mailing address here in Costa Rica by e-mail to someone the question arose "What is your zip code?" I hear these kinds of questions often and the answer is never a simple one. You see, here in Costa Rica, and other Latin America countries as well, it is common to not have physical addresses like those in the United States. Most streets do not have names outside of the old downtown section of the city, so we have to be a little creative in describing our whereabouts for any and all askers.

While the address you see on the right hand side of our blog is indeed a mailing address, it is a post office box for our language school. It serves a couple of hundred folks here as the location to receive mail and packages and we have a mailroom on campus for that purpose. Now if someone wanted to actually come to my house the address "description" is a bit different. We give addresses based on landmarks in a particular sector of the city. We start from known landmarks such as a park, police station, school, well-known building, etc., and then proceed to give directions and distances along with a description of the edifice we call home.

The physical address of Casa Nelson is as follows:
San Francisco de dos Rios - De la casetilla del guarda del Parque de Bosque, 300 metros al oeste y 75 metros al sur, casa blanca y verde con portones negros, mano derecha, en frente de la pulperia.

Now for you non-Spanish speaking gringos out there this loosely translates to:
In San Francisco de dos Rios (a "suburb" of San José) - From the small guard house at Parque Bosque, go 300 meters (3 blocks - however long that may be) east and 75 meters (3/4 of a block) south. Our house is the white and green one with black burglar bars (which incidently make up a sizable portion of the architecture). We are on the right hand side across from a small convenience store (ran out of the neighbor's garage).

This complete description is on our cable, phone, internet, and power bills. It is required to request a taxi, order a pizza, or get a membership card at the local PriceSmart (which is a Tico Sam's or CostCo). Get the picture? By the way, the car in the picture here is a prop. It does not exist in reality.

One of the things "veteran" language students do for incoming new students is to take them to a nearby copy center with "physical" address in hand to have multiple laminated copies made for the refrigerator and wallets. Don't leave home without them. I might add that our address is one of the more simpler ones due to our proximity to such a well-known landmark as Parque Bosque. Some of these poor guys here need a full index card to lead the taxi-driver home. It gives back-seat driving a whole new meaning.

And don't even think about trying to MapQuest me!

Big Things Come in Small Packages

The other night we came home to a hand written note by Connor that a package would soon be arriving from Nana full of candy, grits, and other goodies. Ken and I had gotten to go on a rare date thanks to a soon to be leaving student from a college in Ohio that is doing just one trimester down here. (Thanks Brandi! We will miss you when you go back Sunday. ) Any way it made the children's day to know that something special was coming for them in a care package from Nana. It was an unexpected gift.

A couple of weeks ago we received another unexpected gift from Mrs. Bredbenner (Mom to Brett, one of our fellow M's down here). She apparently told Brett's wife her Sunday school class and her wanted to bless a couple of families down here during the holidays with a care package. What a blessing it was! Complete with stickers, Christmas bags, garland, cookie mix, spices, a beautiful stocking (Connor was threatening to use his nasty stinky soccer sock for Santa to fill), chicken packets, stuffing, even Christmas napkins a table cloth, and a great dvd! What a wonderful and totally undeserved gift. You rock Mrs. B!

Ken and I had been a little bummed as it is the end of the school year and we are missing our family and friends. Ken was missing his annual game of Trivial Pursuit with his brother Jeff and seeing all of his family in Mobile. I was missing our ladies annual ornament swap from Sunday school and our Christmas program at church. To top it all off apparently the rainy season is still not over yet. We were especially bummed that we wouldn't be receiving any mail at Christmas, but the director said we could check our mail if we were willing to bring everyone's mail to the school during the Christmas break! (So feel free to send those Christmas cards and letters if you want to spread some holiday cheer!) That is a gift that we are so grateful for.

All of this reminded me of a gift that arrived 2000 years ago in a small package. This gift was foretold and still it was unexpected by the people. When the angels told the shepherds in the field they probably knew the prophecies concerning the Messiah. They probably did not expect to see Him face to face in a manger filled with straw in such lowly conditions or heralded by a host of angels singing , "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth and good will toward men."

When the Wise men followed the star from the east for years, I am sure they too were not prepared for the tiny house and the simple surroundings that greeted them when they found the Christ child. They were probably surprised too at the manner in which God provided salvation to the nations. A small child, born to young, poor parents. Why in the world would God send his only son to earth in such a way? Why was there no palace, no royal clothing, not even a parade? Why was this gift wrapped so simply in human flesh? This was God after all, incarnate. Why would He be willing to leave the splendor and majesty of heaven to be born in a stable for animals with only scraps of linen for his clothing?

Every year I am reminded of the wonder of this small gift that has been the most important gift I have ever received. I do not deserve it, but I am so grateful for it! Our prayer is that in the midst of all this holiday rush, everyone will take the time to think about that one special gift given to us more than 2000 years ago, unexpected and undeserved, but oh so grateful!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It at the Museo de Niños

Life of Significance

It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Yes, even here near the equator, it is begining to look like Christmas. Because the Ticos do not celebrate Halloween, the stores here start putting up their Christmas decorations in September after their National Independence day. We actually put up our donated Christmas tree (thanks Blackstock family- we'll be praying for you every time we light it up as you go to El Salvador to serve the Lord!) before Thanksgiving. A first in the Nelson house, I assure you. Now we have our very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree and it couldn't be lovelier.

Now Costa Rica does not have snow, but they do have rain!!!!! They even have a special type of rain in their "winter" (invierno) season. It is called "pelo de gato" which means "hair of the cat". When it first starts falling you feel like it is tiny little snow flakes, except it is 60 degrees instead of 30 degrees. We do get down into the 50s most every night, and so it does feel a little more like Christmas outside with the weather being a little cooler and definitely wet.

Costa Ricans love their Christmas music! We had the privilege of learning some songs in language school. Many of them are about the first Christmas. Funny enough most of those songs are about Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and the donkey...yes, I said and the donkey! Apparently a Christmas song is not complete without the little burro in the lyrics. There are also many songs with words that even the ticos could not really give the definition of (just think ra pa pum pum from drummer boy or fa la la la la). My favorite was a song that talked about asking the virgin Mary to come and help the people because the angels were taking all the chocolate for themselves. Yes, very creative to say the least!

The best part for me though was the piñatas. I always thought that piñatas were for children, but not so here! They had one for the female students, one for the males, and one for the teachers. It was funny to watch the teachers (who organized the whole event) trick us gringos with moving the piñatas. As the gringo would be blindfolded and try to hit the piñata, the teacher with the rope would move it up and down, and another teacher would sometimes pull it completely out of the way leaving the gringo swinging fruitlessly in the air. This was all very amusing, but the best part was when the teachers did the same thing to their own people hitting their piñata. Even better was the baseball dive all of them took after the piñata broke and candy went everywhere! They were all spread out on the floor just scooping in the candy with both arms. ¡Que divertido!

Last, but not least, is the upcoming Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It is because of this annual offering we are able to be here and to be a part of the mission work God has given us. We realize the economy is struggling globally right now. We even feel it here as food and utility prices are much higher here than in the US and it tends to make this time of year a little more difficult. We pray that despite the economic struggles that Americans are facing, giving this year will be able to sustain the more than 5500 missionaries currently on the field with the IMB. We know that God is in control, and we thank each of you for your continued faithful support of this vital work God is doing around the world.
This next week is the week of prayer for international missions. We encourage everyone to please take the time each day to pray for missionaries around the world. Christmas is difficult for all of us as we are away from our family and friends, adjusting to a new culture, and missing many of the simple comforts from home during the Holiday Season. Despite all this we are so blessed to be able to share what this season is really all about with the people we are serving. Thank you so much for your prayer support and continued support to Lottie Moon. We would not be here without it.

Blood Brothers (and sister too)

So how do two brothers (and a sister) become blood brothers? They merely spill their blood at the same moment by not following directions, of course. It all started Saturday after we came back from the feria (farmer's market). I needed to wash down the stroller and after I was done I let the kids play in our painted carport area to cool off. It was like a slip and slide for them, and I just told them to not run and fall down, but rather just slide on their knees. All went well for an hour as Kayleigh and Cade slid around on the ground. Then Connor got home from soccer practice. He too was sweaty and wanted to have some fun in the water. As I was cleaning vegetables I heard Cade start crying. I looked and Cade had fallen and smacked his head on the step by the door. He had a nice little gash in the middle of his forehead. I realized right away that this one was going to need some skin glue. Ken went for the always handy first aid kit and I told Connor and Kayleigh that the fun needed to stop. As I was preparing to bandage Cade I heard an ear piercing scream outside. Sure enough, Connor decided to go ahead and slide anyway and was now sporting a deep gash in his leg from the bottom corner of the half-open iron door that he had just inserted his left thigh into. So our little Costa Rican home quickly turned into a M*A*S*H unit. Who knew my nursing triage experience would be so handy here on the mission field? As Ken held pressure on Connor's cut, I cleaned, glued and bandaged Cade. Then I cleaned and bandaged Connor so we could take him to the ER for his necessary stitches. Three hours and 3 stitches later, we were back home and laughing at the whole scenario.

We realized that Connor learned a very valuable lesson about being obedient. It was a teaching moment I do not believe he will forget any time soon. It reminded me too of the times I have been disobedient with the Lord only to learn the painful consequences of my disobedience. Sometime it is momentary pain; sometimes the scars stay with us for life. Regardless of the pain I felt, I know how much it really hurt God to watch me suffer the results of my actions, just like it hurt me to watch Connor suffer the pain from his disobedience.

On a less serious note, Kayleigh too qualifies as a blood brother/sister by losing her first tooth! Although it was not nearly as traumatic (or quite as bloody), it was definitely entertaining. I have been informed by her that I am to cut all of her apples for lunch as she has another loose tooth and does not want it to end up in her apple at school!

Fall of Fun

Our Fall of Fun

This fall has had a flurry of activity for the kids as we have tried to stay busy during the rainy season. The kids have creatively decorated the house with pumpkins, scarecrows and cornucopias.
The school has had some fun days like crazy hair day and dress up in your favorite time period. Connor was a cool rapper with bling. Kayleigh even made some bling for little Cade. Kayleigh was a hippie from the 70's.

Luisa had her birthday in October so the kids made her some cupcakes, a card, and we gave her a new Bible that is bilingual.
Kayleigh continues to take ballet 3 hours a week at the studio around the corner. When she first started she complained about how difficult it was. Now she loves it! They are preparing for a recital during Christmas, just in time for Grammie to come down and see!
Although it still rains everyday, the amount of rain is less than it was in October, so we are able to get outside a little more than before. All this activity has made for some really tired kiddos. This weekend poor Kayleigh was so exhausted I found her asleep laying draped over the chair. Good times for sure!

A Change of Heart

Recently at our women´s Bible study at the House of Restoration we had a discussion of what our lives are like with and without Christ in them. As I looked around the room I was in awe of the visible changes I saw in so many of these women just in the last three months.

Tasha (one of the other Miss.) told me that Liliana came to the house hollow and empty, covered in sores, hair matted, and completely broken. Now I look at her and I see the beauty of Christ. She has a wonderful glow in her smile that shines from inside out. She is a life that was changed by Christ.

Karla was devastated when she arrived at the house. She had recently been diagnosed HIV positive and did not know where to turn. She resented the man that had given her this disease and she was bitter because she felt that now she had to suffer alone. Today she has a peace and a joy. Every time I see her she has a big smile and is so excited to learn more about the new life she has in Christ that she wants to share it with others, even the man who gave her HIV. She is a life that was changed by Christ.

I distinctly remember the day Maria arrived. She came to the house during the middle of our study and looked like she would rather be anywhere but there. I heard her ask another lady, "When will this be over?" Maria now has to return to her parents home. She is only 16 years old and her parents had placed her in the home because of her alcoholism. She is excited about going home, but she does not want to leave the Bible study. She eagerly volunteers now to read Bible passages out loud each week and keeps up with her daily Bible study journal. She is trying to arrange to have her mother bring her each week to the Thursday Bible studies. She is a life that was changed by Christ.

I could go on and on about others like Isabella, Yolanda, and my dear sweet Kalyn (her name in Spanish sounds like Kayleigh, so I call her my hija/daughter). All of these women have gone from death in transgressions to life in Christ, enemies of God to children of God, following the ways of the world to standing for truth and Christ, enslaved to Satan to free in Christ!

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Do people really see Christ in our lives? This question recently convicted me greatly. Have there been times I just tried to blend in with the crowd and go along with what others were saying because I did not want to take a stand, because it was easier? When people look at me do they see me standing for truth in my walk and convictions, or just caving into worldly desires for more stuff, power, pleasure, etc..?

Each of these women is now making a stand. They are telling their families, their friends, even the people they once called enemies about the change Christ has made in their lives. It is easy to hide behind that wall of just saying, "Well, they know I am a Christian, I don´t need to say anything about my life in Christ, they can just see it." But is that all we are really suppose to do, or is there more?

1 Peter 3:13-15 says: "And who will harm you if you are passionate for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, but set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."

These women are living that example in their lives. The change they experienced began in their heart, but enveloped their entire lives. They are willing to stand up to the fears of the past, the peer pressure and remain passionate in their Christian walk. We too cannot be shy about speaking the truth in love. We must be the salt and the light in this world, especially in times of darkness. John the Baptist did this and lost his head for it. Most of the apostles also sacrificed their lives for the truth. Elijah ran for his life because he obeyed God and would not deny God's truth.

We can do no other as children of God but to obey what the words of Paul : "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." 1 Cor 16:13

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

I wish some of you could walk a mile in our shoes. I do not say this to infer we are holy or special. Quite the contrary, this has nothing to do with why we are even here. This week I have felt a pressing need to earnestly pray for America, more so even than the people of CR or the next country we will be going to serve in. Before I tell those of you in the states why I wish you could walk a mile in my shoes, let me first place this disclaimer: I am not trying to offend anyone or get anyone upset, I am merely stating the facts of what change seems iminent, and what this change will mean for my fellow Americans.

We currently are living in a country that is a socialist country. I believe that in less than one week the American people will probably vote for a change in our government. With this said change I believe we will go from a representative democracy to a socialist type government. I would like to tell you what it is like to live under a socialist government.

1. Free healthcare for every citizen. Now to obtain this free healthcare all you have to do is go downtown to the one hospital offered to said residents at around 5am. You wait in line with your number until around 9am when one by one you are allowed to see the receptionist. The receptionist will then help you make an appointment with the appropriate health professional. Your appointment will be sometime later that afternoon, so you need to go ahead and pack a lunch and plan on staying the day. When you have your appointment with your doctor you will probably have to get some form of tests, x-rays, etc. performed. To schedule these tests you will need to return the next morning to make the appointment with the appropriate department. You can call to make this appointment, but chances are slim that you will actually reach one of the people that can help you. When you make the appointment you will be seen for your test sometime in the next 3-6 months. If your results require further treatment or surgery, you can add yourself to the appropriate list for this and then wait your additional 3-6 months for your procedure. My empleada told me how she had to schedule her EKG 5 months in advance and her annual physical 6 months in advance.

If none of this sounds appealing to you, you can go ahead and pay out of pocket and go to one of the private facilities where the foreigners (like us) go for treatment, that is if you can afford to...

2. Redistribution of wealth. There are price controls on certain products here in efforts to make life easier for the poor people. For example, rice, beans and flour are very cheap here. When they tried this with other products as well in the country where we will be serving, it caused many farmers to lose their farms because they could not afford to grow the crops due to price controls. This then trickled down to the fact that no one could now purchase: chickens, flour, eggs, milk....you get the picture.

Here they have a yearly aguinaldo (bonus) for every worker. It is required by law that all employees who are legal residents receive this bonus every Christmas. Great, we all would love a bonus right before Christmas, right? Problem is, it amounts to one month's salary for each person, so the small business owner is now strapped down with end of the year expenditures and now they cannot even purchase Christmas gifts for their own families. We are even feeling the squeeze from this one with our empleada.

3. Monopolies run amuck. Just take a look at this article written just a few months ago. We continue to have blackouts on a semi-regular basis here that often appear city-wide.

Just about two weeks ago, Costa Rica suffered a historical blackout that darkened the entire nation for about three hours... Just a few days later, the Electricity and Telephony Monopoly (ICE), asked the Costa Rican Government to allow them an average of 23% in rate hikes, citing the increased cost in petrol to power thermal energy plants. According to La Nacion, the countries biggest newspaper, the Utility had already used 80% of it's operating budget for the year for Thermal Electric generation. When the government refused, the Utility commenced with rolling blackouts over the entire nation for the last nearly two weeks. Every day for 3-4 hours, communities have their power shut down. Those companies with backup generators are forced to bear the cost of paying for the generation of their power. Smaller businesses and individual families, simply suffer. The imagery is amazing.... Meat markets forced to lock up all their meat in freezers and unable to take the meat out for fear of losing the cool in the freezer, are losing money every day.
Other small businesses, including offices of various types, are basically without productivity for 1/3 to 1/2 day. And to make matters worse, they change the time of the outages per area, seemingly AT RANDOM! Last week our power was out every day from 2-5pm. Yesterday it was 7am-11:30 am, and today 11:00am-2:00pm, making it impossible to plan...

4. The powerful get richer and the poor get poorer. Costa Rica on a regular basis devalues their currency by 8 to 18% a year. If you are making $450 a month (this is more than the average college graduate salary) anything you save will be lost through inflation. You will never accumulate the savings needed to escape poverty level. The government that claims to be working on your behalf is really working to keep you poor and dependent. The money made from the productive economy will never be reinvested in the factory or machinery that could provide you with a safer, more productive job. It will be spent in so called “administrative costs” or used to buy votes. You can really appreciate this when you see the average Costa Rican house and neighborhood...think Bronx circa 1970.

5. Public transportation, the only way to get there. We found out shortly after arriving here that people with drivers license plates ending in odd or even numbers are only allowed to drive certain days of the week. This apparently is also in effect in our upcoming country of service as well. We have seen the police spend much time at the local intersections checking to make sure this law is inforced. I am told however that you can "pay the officer" to make sure it is not counted against your driver's license...which brings us to number 6...

6. Bribery, the new game in town. What else is the average rich person supposed to do? So while you are hoofing it or taking public transportation on those days you are not allowed to drive, you may be mugged. Why? Because that officer is following his mandate to be at the intersection and make sure that only cars allowed on the roadway are there, and also making sure he has his extra money for a little extra retirement thanks to those with the extra cash. This also holds true for certain government services, etc...

7. Changing separation of church and state to a national religion. Something that is commonly found in socialist countries is a national religion. For Costa Rica it is Catholicism. For other socialist countries it can even be agnostic or atheistic in nature. Does this mean a difference for America? Well let me ask you this, how many people would stop paying tithes if they knew that they could no longer deduct it from their taxes (tithes that incidently fund our work here). What then happens to most of America's churches if they too have to start paying taxes on any revenue? It doesn't take long to figure out what will probably happen...one religion for one nation...Anyone remember why those Pilgrims came in the first place?

I know this is lengthy and that most of you are aware of the gravity of the situation. All I ask of each of you is to seriously consider praying earnestly and even fasting with me next week as our nation reaches a precipice. To ignore this situation or to say that it is merely a change that is necessary for the good of the whole is to ignore the very foundations that our great country was built upon. The Bible says we are to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. To me this means we keep informed (and I mean by more than just one source), keep praying (for all of our leaders!), and keep exercising our right to make a difference in the government that will affect us and our neighbors. Remember that Jesus' second-most important commandment was to "Love thy neighbor like thyself" What better way than to make sure the people placed in charge of us and our neighbor has our best interest at heart? I can think of two wonderful examples of this in the Bible; Esther and Daniel. Both of these wise people changed the course of history in their countries when they chose to engage in the political process. We have that privilege ourselves in our great nation, so remember, " if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. " 2 Chronicles 7:14

A Taste of Humble Pie

Coming to another culture can be a very humbling experience. Quickly one realizes that their “gringo” ways of doing things are just that, gringo. Not everyone in the world feels the necessity to stick to a rigid schedule or to be punctual at the risk of being offensive. For example, when we were reviewing for a big test in our grammar class, another teacher came into the room and told our teacher, Oscar, that they would be singing in 15 minutes and his assistance was needed. Singing? During class???!?? Some of the gringos wondered what could be so important to interrupt class, especially during an exam review. Well, one of the teachers was having a birthday. I had the wonderful privilege of watching a group of people that put relationships over personal agendas honor one of their friends by not just singing happy birthday, but also a local song of blessing from God to that same person.

Ken had a humbling experience of his own when a man walked out of the store across the street as we were leaving our house for school one day. The man was speaking in rapid Spanish to Ken and Ken had a quizzical look on his face. The man switched to broken English and said to Ken that he remembered Ken from the House of Restoration for men, and that Ken had been there to share the gospel a few weeks ago. Like Ken said, he is fairly certain one of the more advanced students probably did all the talking, but this man remembered Ken being there. Ken said it humbled him to know this man saw him as an evangelist, and that this inspired Ken even more to apply himself to learn the language.

It has really humbled me to think that these people understand what so many of us gringos take for granted. People and relationships are so much more important than schedules and agendas. The average Tico will be very offended if you come to a meeting and do not go to each individual to ask how they are doing, how is their family, etc…They will honestly think maybe you are angry with them or something is wrong. Every time we go to the House of Restoration it takes about 5-10 minutes to go all around the room and hug and kiss everyone and ask how they are, how is their family, etc…The same applies when it is time to go. Much time is spent hugging and telling the other person you hope that God will be with them this week and that they will be blessed, etc…This is not just a custom either, or at least not with most people. This is for real. They genuinely care deeply for one another. I think of all the times in my life I have just kind of waved and said hi to people and gone on my way, when I should have stopped and said, “Hey, how is your child doing? Have they adjusted to that new class yet?” Or, “How are you feeling since losing your loved one? “

Yes, it has been quite a taste of humble pie, but I am learning to appreciate the flavor. Just call it the blue plate special. Would anyone else care for a piece? There is plenty to go around….

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

This week started off a little dismal as the rain has been relentless. We have tried to entertain the children with little forts, mini fiestas, nice hot bowls of chili (thanks Nana!), and mugs of hot chocolate. Who knew that Costa Rica could get down into the 50s during the day?

All the rain has helped everyone sleep a little better I think, as we have metal roofs and the noise of the rain drowns out most of the street noise. I just listened to Ken go over a passage with the children in Matthew where Jesus says, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." As you can see Kayleigh really took that passage to heart the other day waiting for her evening Bible story.

This week had a really bright spot in it, though. We received some packages from Nana and Papaw, Grammie, and our friends Miss Beth and the Dickinsons. There were some hand made cards, skittles, jelly bellies, spices, grits, and some cool tattoos the kids are sporting for the camera here. It felt like Christmas had come early for all of us! Ken lamented how one of our friends at school said he gets a little more glum with each day his mail box is empty. (I noticed that Ken did not volunteer any jelley bellies to him though...) So thank you so much for brightening up our very dreary week.

We have been told that this current tropical depression, or whatever it is that makes me feel a compelling need to start constructing an ark in the back yard, will leave by the end of this week and we will go back to only 12 hours of rain a day instead of 24. ¡Gracias a Dios!

Ballad of San Francisco

Here is a collage of our favorite photos from our area of San Jose called San Francisco de Dos Rios. There are some photos from our neighborhood, the parks nearby, and our school. We also included some pictures from the cultural day we had at school last week. We hope you enjoy it!

Rain, rain, go away!!!!

Yes, it is the height of the rainy season! Everyday now we can expect the rain to come by 12pm or 1pm and continue on until around 11 or 12 at night. This constant rain does have a tendency to wear down parents of young, active children, but you should see how it wears down the roads! We are including one of our favorite gringo trap pictures. We have to cross in the middle of this busy street just about every day, and this is a very common sight. The depth of this "pot hole" is about 6 feet deep. The width is big enough for a large horse to sit in comfortably. As you can see the locals have a special way of making sure drivers see these pot holes until the road crew can get around to fixing them. By the way, this has been here now for over a week. So, next time you are driving down the street in your car and complaining about the state of the roads there in your city, remember, at least you don't have to worry if your car will be falling INSIDE of the pot hole!

A New Day

Every day it rains here. Usually the rain occurs just as I am leaving the school with Cade to go home for his afternoon nap. When I say rain, I mean torrential downpour! I call it "La Tormenta". We have had several of these and have learned to adjust to the fact that the rest of our afternoons will be spent inside (kind of like most of our day was spent inside in class).

It has posed a few little inconveniences for the kids when they need to run around and get their sillies out. Cade came in the living room after getting buck naked and covering himself in diaper cream the other day. (I'll save those pictures later for his humiliation as a teenager :).

Anyway, the other day as we were finally getting dried out Ken said, "Hey, the sky looks kind of funny doesn't it?" Now anyone from the tornado belt does not like to hear that comment because it usually indicates impending doom, but this was a different kind of funny, so we went outside our casa to look. Sure enough there was a purple sky with a huge beautiful rainbow! What a pleasant surprise. It was a reminder to us of God's promise. The rain will not last forever, the flood waters will recede, and God will give us a new day.

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:23

Costa Rican Views

Iron Eyes Cody

I know that this will no doubt date Ken and me, but does anyone remember Iron Eyes Cody? He was the "Indian" (actually of Sicilian ancestry if you read wikipedia) featured in a public service ad back in 1971 which had a tremendous impact on our attitudes regarding littering in the United States. I have gone ahead and included it here for the benefit of those lacking the years of wisdom that can only be obtained through living in the 70s first hand! The reason Ken and I were reminiscing about old Iron Eyes was because of the experience we had this last weekend at Tarcoles Beach. Needless to say, the video says it all. I wish we had a Tico with us when I filmed "our" beach clip. It would no doubt have made a great commercial to play on the television here in between news casts of graphic scenes from car wrecks and drug busts. Well, maybe it wouldn't have had quite the impact on the Latinos as good old Iron Eyes Cody had on us.....

"Hey, wait a minute Mr. Postman!"

There are a few times in my life I have related to the character Charlie Brown in the Peanuts comic strip. Most recently I have found myself looking longingly in the empty mailbox at our school kind of like Charlie Brown does in the cartoon. You know you really miss mail when you wish you could receive a bill or an advertisement, ANYTHING!!! So today I received my first actual piece of mail in our mail box since we arrived. I believe my Mom felt sorry for me, so she sent me 2 newspaper clippings from the Mobile Press Register. I have never been so happy to read a story about a tiger having surgery in my life. Yes, just call me a little homesick. So, I want to give everyone an opportunity to send a note, a postcard, a long letter, junk mail ...whatever to the Nelsons, especially those of you that know Connor, Kayleigh, and Cade. Here is our Costa Rican address:

Instituto de Lengua Espanola

Apartado 100-2350

San Jose, Costa Rica

If anyone wants to send a package, send it in an envelope in the mail. It is much cheaper than sending something in a box. Hey, if someone just wants to send a copy of the comic strips from the newspaper in English, that would be great too!!!!