In the states

Well I'm back in the states. I had a great year in Costa Rica. I learned so much. It's a little hard to be back though. I start back to work on August 8th. I'm sure that will help. I'm trying to get moved into my new place. I miss everyone in CR very much. I'm planning a trip in December. We have two of our beca girls that will graduate this year so I definitely have to be there for that. I would also love to be there to help with Christmas again too. Thanks to everyone who helped make it possible to be in Costa Rica.

Pictures

Here are some photos from my trip to the states.

Miraculous Healing

I should have posted this a month ago but of course I'm always behind. While a team from Atlanta was here we had the opportunity to witness a healing in the precario. In our ladies bible study is a lady who has a 8 year old daughter named Cindy. Cindy's grandmother also comes to our bible study as is very much part of Cindy's life. Cindy had been bitten by a mosquito, which had somehow placed a worm of some kind in her arm. The worm was some kind of flesh eating parasite. Another lady at the bible study told us about it to see if we could help. We took her to our doctor that helps us in the precario. He said that he thought that was probably what it was too but to be sure she would need a culture. The treatment would be injections directly into the site of the wound for 14 days. The medication was very expensive and there were only two packets of it in the WHOLE country! We were to take her to the clinic on Monday for a culture. In the meantime we had a team come in from Atlanta. While we were walking through the precario with this team we saw Cindy sitting and crying. Her arm looked TERRIBLE! There was a large hole that was full of infection and bleeding. We stopped to pray for her and her mother. Our plan was still to take her to the clinic on Monday and this was Saturday. We were back in the precario the next day and Lucia, Cindy's grandmother told us about the miracle. Right after we left she and Cindy were listening to the radio. There was a preacher on speaking about faith and healing. Lucia asked Cindy if she believed that the LORD could heal her. Cindy said yes. Lucia told her to touch the radio and they prayed together. Immediately the wound stopped bleeding! We were in awe! God is so great! We had Cindy come by on Monday to see her and the wound was already starting to heal. Two months later it's completely gone. There's a scar but I think that's to help her share her testimony.

Back in Costa Rica

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this. We were very busy moving and then I went to the states for Phil and Jill's wedding. I spent lots of time in the car. We made it back to Costa Rica on Tuesday afternoon. We had Beca on Wednesday. The kids were glad we were back. Thursday we went book shopping for the kids, grocery shopping because of course there was no food in this house and I would like to add not one clean towel. What's up with that?! We had ladies bible study today. It looks like most of our thieves are back in Nicaragua. We don't know exactly what happened, but the ladies said it's been pretty quiet. We are busy preparing for our next team. They will be here on Friday evening. We also have 5 baby baskets to deliver while we are getting ready for the team. It's good to be back.

Beca

We took three days to get the kids their uniforms. They used to take all of them at once. I don't think so! So we took 3 small groups. It was definitely easier. The girls of course took the longest to pick their things. It really wasn't that bad though. Jen and I have been packing up their supplies in their backpacks. The first night for them to be with us is the 13th. We will get a book list then. The kids here have to buy their books for school. That's part of why it's so expensive for them to go. There are lots and lots of kids that can't afford to go that's why this program is so good.

We've also been busy trying to move. The rent for the ministry house was going to be raised so we are moving into a new place. We still have lots to do. The sorting and purging has to be done by Phil. No one else can do it. We just have to convince him of that. The new house is a little smaller but it will work out really well for the Beca. Here's some new pictures.
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGHo

New School Year

Well we have been preparing for the new school year. We have been trying to decide which kids should be included in the Beca program. That is always a hard thing. You want them all to be in it but there just isn't enough room or money for that. We have our first meeting on Saturday. We meet with the kids and their parents to go over the program, answer questions, take pictures, schedule shopping trips. We take the kids to buy their uniforms and shoes. That should be lots of fun. After the kids get their list of books, we get to go shopping for them. Of course none of the books from last year will work so we will be buying new ones. It's crazy!

Happy New Year

Here's some pictures for December.
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGHb

Gifts

The gifts have started to come in. It's really funny actually. Jennifer and I were talking and we were just saying that it didn't really seem like Christmas, then Phil and Russ pulled up with a van full of presents! It turned things around pretty quickly. It's definitely starting to feel like Christmas. We have lots of work though. We have to sort, label, and bag almost 500 gifts! We will have help with the sorting. It may just be the three of us on delivery day though. It will be lots of work but lots of fun too. I'm so glad I got to be here last year for this. It was awesome! I'll be sure to get lots of pictures

On my own

Well I feel like I don't have much to write about. I guess I should have been writing about my experiences while I was here alone. Phil, Josh, Russ, and Jen all went to the states and left me here. It really wasn't that bad. I went a few places by myself and bought some stuff I needed. I just looked up what I needed to say on the internet ahead of time. I understand most of what's being said to me it's just being able to talk back that's trouble for me. My Thanksgiving was spent at the beach. Which is great for me, I love the beach! The ladies at bible study were very sweet to me while Jen was gone. They made sure they were there on time and wouldn't leave until they were sure I had a ride to get home. They didn't want to leave me alone. I continued with Beca as well. It went well. A couple of the girls speak English pretty well so they were a big help. I was definitely glad for Russ and Jen to be back though. Things are winding down here for the year. I'll try to be better about keeping you posted. I do have some new pictures. Here they are....http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGHK

Protection

Well Russ and Jen are in the States. Becky and I have decided to continue ladies bible study on Friday by ourselves. It went pretty well. I think the dictionary will be my best friend now that Jen isn't around. I tried to speak to the ladies and the kids as much as I could. They told my I had 3 weeks to learn. I think it will take more than that. After the study a couple of that ladies wouldn't leave until Andrew got there to pick us up. I think they were worried about us. It's funny they walk all over all alone but they didn't want to leave the two of us by ourselves. It was really sweet.

Pictures

Here's some new picture's from the last month or so. Enjoy!
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGG9

Children's Home

We were able to visit a children's home this week. It was pretty amazing. It's in the mountains with an incredible view. They have 75 children right now. They take children that are being abused or maybe their family just can't care for them right now. The maximum amount of time that they spend there is usually 2 years. They then are returned home if the situation has improved there. They take kids from age 2 to 12. There is a school on the grounds. They also take children from a nearby town. They have one class that is devoted to children with special needs. There are 8 houses with house parents, each house with approximately 10 kids, not including any of their own that they may have. We were able to visit a class and have lunch with the kids as well.

The Boda

I had the opportunity to go to a Costa Rican wedding. It was not typical tico. The bride is Costa Rican but the groom was American. I've been told that most weddings take up to 3 hours. There is a complete church service that includes praise and worship. This one was only about 30 minutes but it was beautiful! It was to be held in a garden but we have been having so much rain that it had to be moved indoors. It was still very nice. Phil and his band performed at the reception. I have several pictures from the reception. I will get them downloaded soon.

Electricity

Things have been a little different around here. The man that collects for the electric bill in the precario ran off with all the money. (about $4000) So now one section doesn't have power. It's our section of course! We haven't had power for about two weeks. We are hoping that it will be turned back on today. Because there hasn't been lights we haven't been able to have English or computer classes. Everyone is asking when they will start again. Computer classes will have to wait but Jennifer has decided that if it's not back on soon we'll just move the classes close to the front of the rancho and make them earlier in the day so we can use as much natural light as we can. We have also been contemplating buying a generator, but they are very expensive. So who knows what will happen. We are going to do a clothes outreach this week. I'll let you know how that goes.

Driving

Well my latest adventure has been driving here in Costa Rica. I had the opportunity to drive the 15 passenger van to pick up the team from SCCC. Keep in mind that Jennifer has been here 5 years and still will not drive the van! Anyway, back to the story. All went smoothly until we picked the guys up. No accidents but I'm sure everyone was out to get me! A GIGANTIC bus decided that it wanted in my lane while there was a van in the next lane leaving me no where to go. We made it and the truck stayed where it was. Then on the way to the precario a rather large truck tried the same move. But I held my ground and we made it through. My next experience was driving alone. Phil had to take Josh to the doctor and I had to get the van back to the Precario to pick everyone up. Yeah right! No I did make it. I think I made an illegal turn along the way. Who knows. Besides the rules of the road are just suggestions here. (Gene, just to let you know. Jen didn't yell at me once!) I've since been taking Phil to the precario in the evenings so he can spend the night in the rancho. I even pull in the yard with very little difficulty. Now Jen says I get to teach her how to drive the van. I'll let you know how that goes.

Here are some new photos. Keep in touch!
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGGs

Classes

Phil came back from the States ready to start construction. We will be adding a second story to the rancho. Stevens Creek is sending a team on September 1st. Hopefully we can get a lot accomplished when the guys are here.

We have implemented a new plan with the BECA kids. Just a side note. Beca in Spanish means scholarship. Anyway back to the plan. Some of the kids were having attitude problems. Can you believe that? Teenagers with attitude problems? So we decided to implement a point system. The earn points each night and can cash them in on things like a Coke for dinner, a cook gel pen, notebooks, and then the prizes go up to the big one which is a shopping trip, a CD player, a trip to the movies, or dinner. They all wanted to go shopping but they are starting to cash in their points. We'll see who holds out the longest. It really seems to work. If they think they didn't get the right amount of points for the night they make sure to ask Jen about it.

There are still lots of babies. We have two baskets to deliver this week. I'm sure by the time we get these out there will be at least two more.

English classes are going well. The kids are learning vegetables in one class and the other class is learning clothing. The adult classes are learning adjectives, and verb tenses. I feel sorry for that class. My Spanish tutoring is going ok. I have a long way to go. I still don't feel like I can respond when someone asks me a question. Jen says it will come. I just have to make myself start talking to people. She said I will say it wrong but they will understand or they will just laugh at me. Great!

Russ started computer class. He has two classes on Sunday. Both classes filled up pretty quick.
It's neat to see how eager people are to learn.

My sister is coming to visit me. She gets in today. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures from out time together. I'll get them loaded as soon as I can.

Routines

We are pretty much into our routines here. Sunday: Church and then 2 computer classes and 3 English classes. Monday: errands and Beca in the evening. Tuesday: our day off. Wednesday: errands and Beca in the evening. Thursday: Family day. Friday: Women's Bible Study. Saturday: every other is a food outreach. Of course there are always baby baskets to be delivered and work to be done at the rancho or ministry house. Those things get done when there's nothing else to do. HA! HA!

We had quite a rainstorm Sunday afternoon. It took us 40 minutes to get home from the precario. It's usually a 10-15 minute drive. The water was really deep and the car kept stalling. I offered to push.

Today is Mother's Day. It's a National holiday here. No school and lots of places are closed today. Learning about the culture is really cool. Some things are the same but there are always some differences.

I got my driver's license! That's scary isn't it? You have to wait in lines for a couple of hours just like in the states! I could have driven with my license from the states but it's only good for 90 days. I figured I was going to be here longer than that so I'd better go ahead and get one.

I started Spanish lessons. Jennifer gives an outrageous amount of homework! Even the Beca kids felt sorry for me. I can translate what I read pretty well and I understand some of what is said but I definitely can't say anything back yet. That will take a long time. I'm not complaining though. After sitting through the advanced English class and them having to learn all the exceptions to every rule they learn Spanish isn't so bad. It sounds just like it's spelled unlike English. For some reason I keep having trouble with the "A" sound. It's funny but that's the sound that the English student's have trouble with too.

Sorry about the mix up with the pictures. You'll have to go to the website directly. For some reason I can't put in a link. Also the new pictures are at the bottom of the page so just keep scrolling down. www.joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/
Hey it looks like it might be linking for me. I guess just try it. Keep writing!

July

We had about a week break between teams. We got a team from LA/New York. The pastor is from LA. He travels around the country telling people about mission opportunities and brings teams down. The team was from New York. With that team we cleaned the rancho. Phil had to do some repairs as well. The rancho had been broken into. They were able to get a small radio, a fan, and extension cords. He replaced fencing with rebar. That should keep people out. The other project we worked on was concrete for the faucet. We mixed the concrete right in the street. We also showed the kids the movie Toy Story. Now they want to see part 2. We'll have to do that the next time.

The team went to the beach. It was beautiful! Black sand beaches, cabanas, all the food/drink you want; what more could you need?! It was great. I hope we get to go back there at some time.

The rancho had some damage to the roof. I thought I was going to have to get on the roof to help Russ fix it. Lucky for me Julio was home. He jumped right up there and got it done in less than an hour. Julio lives in the precario. He has helped Russ and Phil do lots of construction around the rancho.

The next project we have is to replace the bathroom sink. I somehow managed to break it. There is a candle on a shelf. Well........ The candle has a glass lid that fell on the sink. It broke the corner into about three pieces. OOPS! I'm hoping it won't cost too much to replace it. Russ said that the toilet they put in the rancho cost about $40. I'm hoping a sink won't be too much more than that.

English classes start back this week. Russ will be starting computer classes this week or next. I am supposed to be starting Spanish tutoring with Jennifer this month.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. For some reason this won't link so go to this site to look at the pictures.
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action

Keep in touch. Email me.
joyncostarica@yahoo.com

Pictures

Finally! Sorry it's taken me so long to get these pictures downloaded. I will get better. This was my first time doing it by myself. They aren't in any particular order. I promise to get better at editing. Keep writing. Thanks for the support!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeAMWzly5at3DiA&open=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=0

Team Time

Well I did take my camera to Price Mart. I promise to get the pictures downloaded so you can see. We have 4 carts full of food and cleaning supplies! The team flew in on Friday. Because of the rain we weren't able to get into the precario that day. We went to a 4th of July party on Saturday. We had lots of fun. I did at least. We played volleyball most of the time. I was a muddy filthy mess! I just can't help that competitive spirit. That afternoon was a clothes outreach. We were able to give away 650 pieces of clothing! Jen is hoping we can do another one soon. Later that evening the team went to church. Gene preached and Pedro translated. It was very good. We were able to participate in their very first bilingual communion. Pretty neat! VBS was on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It went very well. Just typical of how God works; We had just enough crafts to finish the last group. We were cleaning up the tables and the glue sticks were completely empty but every child was able to leave with their project finished. Great isn't it?!

We are preparing for another team to come next week. Just 10 loads of laundry his time. Cleaning the house and food shopping are next on the list. I promise to get pictures in soon. Keep in touch. It's always great to hear from you!