Greetings from Costa Rica!

Beloved of God and ours,

By the grace of our Almighty Lord and Savior, we are sitting here in an Internet Cafe in Costa Rica! How long have we waited for this time to arrive?...as long as the Lord allowed.

We are so grateful for His love, His provision, and His amazing plan.

We arrived Monday evening, without a glitch. Our 3 boxes went through customs, and our gracious friend (and landlord) Gary was there at the airport to meet us. Upon arriving "home" we found "Gallo Pinto" waiting for us in the frig! Estelia, Gary´s wife, prepared the typical Costa Rican dish consisting of rice, black beans, onions, Salsa Lisano, and cilantro. It was DELICIOUS! We are so blessed to have this godly couple as our friends and neighbors - they truly make us feel at home.

Tuesday we headed to Perez Zeledon, to Dad´s farm, to bring in the New Year with family. The 3 hours and 45 minute drive is through the mountains, and is only one lane each way...it has its "ups and downs and turns". When we were almost there, Geiner felt something give in the brakes. It was tricky...they continued working as we headed down the mountain, but they felt strange. Sure enough, upon arrival to our first destination, they gave way. They were down to the floor, and no longer stopping the car. But how amazing is our God? He safely brought us through the dangerous road, and did not allow the brakes to finally give way until we arrived in a place where a mechanic could fix them. It just so happened that the mechanic´s name is also Geiner. He recently lost his 37 year old brother to alcoholism, and the family is broken and grieving. Geiner had a chance to pray with his mom and him, and offer some comfort, in the name of Jesus.

For now we want you all to know that we are here safe and sound, praising our Lord, and praying that you all bring in a new year full of blessings and praise for our Almighty God.

We will let you know as soon as we are "connected" at home.

Blessings from hermosa Costa Rica! Pura Vida! Thank you for your prayers. We will update as often as we can, and will try not to make them too long!

4 days to departure

4 more days????

Well it’s Thursday again!!! It is funny how a day can mean so much to a person…Other than celebrating our Creator’s entering into this world, meditating on His life, death and resurrection, we ought also to think about His redemption of those who accept Him and what all of this mean to us… I don’t know what it means to you but for us it means a chance to start all over again, a chance to make our lives new, rearrange our priorities and put His Kingdom first…if you would. We are about to launch on a mission, this is our last Thursday in December 2009 in the USA, at least for now, we will come for furlough if The Good Lord allows…yet I look back to the past 19 years that I have been here (US) and see the schooling of God’s plan and I see the future and expect growth. My wife and I have a lot to learn, we are students in the great ocean of God’s will, It is something, we look ahead and can’t see anything, but we walk with confidence…nothing is for sure except that through His redemption we are bought free, and based on that, we walk forth expectantly knowing that tomorrow is in His hands.
Merry CHRIST-mas, you all.

Ok, real quick

We packed the car....














We visited with our dear friend Doyal and his beautiful wife Carol in Mesa, Arizona, some of you know them…and they are doing well. It was wonderful to remember our times with our beloved friend Rick Martin…We talked, we ate, we laughed, we prayed. We thank them for their fellowship, their love and hospitality, and offering their home for our stay that night.
















We dropped off the boxes in Santa Ana.
















We visited with our friend Daniel in San Diego. Again, we appreciate his wonderful hospitality, the best tour and best food in San Diego. Daniel is a wise young man and brother whose priority is to love the Lord. His friendship encourages our spirits every time we see him. His fellowship is missed here in Albuquerque, and it will be missed in Costa Rica as well.






















We also visited Tucson, where we got to spend a little bit of time with our niece and nephews, and the rest of the family who live there. We said “hasta luego” (see you later), and we headed towards Albuquerque, where we arrived last night.




















We will be leaving early tomorrow morning for Juarez, Mexico for the “Shoebox” trip. Please pray for us…for traveling mercies, and a fruitful outreach.

27 days and counting-down!

Our house got smaller.....

Our journey begins this month by putting everything we own in Juan’s (my "adopted" father's)pick up truck and taking it to Santa Ana California, so that the 12 boxes can be shipped to Costa Rica in the middle of January 2010. There is no telling really when they will get there because the container doesn’t leave the coast until it is full. Because of low business the shipping company has closed the warehouse so now we have to pay for the storage, but God is good and this company is willing to give us a break in the price because of it.

On our trip we will be visiting and saying “good bye" to friends and family in Phoenix, and San Diego and at last in Tucson, Az.

As our departure time approaches we feel very, very, very excited, the uncertainty of what God has for us is as certain as the growth we experience… the Lord is awesome!!!!

The prayers of the people, the love of the people, the care of the people, it is all such a blessing to us. It humbles us to the point of our bended knees and we thank God for such a wonderful spiritual family. We are sooooo blessed!

27 days is all that is left, pray with us dear reader. Bring this ministry to the throne of grace and pray that God will use it mightily for the furtherance of His Kingdom…

We will be coming back (Lord permitting) Tuesday the eighth, only to turn around and go to Juarez Mexico on the tenth where we will be serving with Global Advantures on the Shoe box trip.

Please keep coming back to see what God is doing and also take advantage of the study tools on the right of this page.

Lord bless you and until next time…