Birthday Celebration and two month mark!

Beloved of God and ours,

Hard to believe that we will be here two months this Sunday the 28th! The Lord has taken such good care of us, and we continue to seek His direction and plan.
As promised, here are some pictures from the birthday celebration we had last weekend for Dad. It was such a blessing to see his face light up as family members greeted him on his special day.


Arroz con pollo

One of the attendees of special note was Dad’s tia Lela. She is 87 years young, and sharp as a pin! We had not seen her for 15 years, and yet she remembered so much about us, including a hat Denise wore on that visit!

Most of the Alvarado gang where there…or at least those who live in Costa Rica. The joy is evident on Dad’s face as we all sang Happy Birthday (Feliz Cumpleaños) to him.



Praise God for his health, and his continuing to seek the Lord for truth and life.



The carpentry project is underway! We have some beautiful cypress panels that were cut from trees right here in the neighborhood. Geiner will be sanding and varnishing before any construction starts. We will continue sharing the progress as it develops.






Please continue to pray for the people of Chile and Haiti.
Until next time...

One brick at a Time!

Beloved of God and ours,
Since our last posting we continue to see the internet connection come and go, and frankly this is the last we are going to post about it. It is just too frustrating. We are blessed with using the wireless connection on Gary’s porch, if need be, and do what we can when we can.

The good news is our boxes arrived at our house yesterday!! Tomorrow Geiner and his uncle will begin the carpentry project with the wood you see in the picture below, so that we have a place to put the contents of the boxes. Geiner is excited about having his books here, and I made rice in my long-awaited rice cooker last night. Life is good, and we continue to experience the hand of God working in our lives. We are so grateful to Him for His provision.



With the boxes comes the last segment of our settling in. However, we just might be doing this again in the near future. As of last week, the property we live on is officially for sale. We were expecting this down the road, and how long it might take is unknown to us. There are many properties in the neighborhood for sale, but we know the Lord has this perfect timing worked out as well. If any of you have been thinking of moving to sunny Costa Rica and might be interested in living in a beautiful, paradise-like area, you can see the house on Craigslist (http://costarica.en.craigslist.org/reo/1604458929.html)…and we can vouch for the neighbors in the back ;) !! Well, it was worth a try!



Last Friday’s Foundations class presented some challenges. The air was thick with unresolved issues, on top of a very strong question from a 9 year old little girl (see below) . She asked about the incarnation of Christ and how Christ managed to create the world…the second part of that question was easier than the first. Well I don’t think I did a very good job explaining the “incarnation” to the nine year old in terms that she would understand…I try two different ways, but I don’t know if she really grasped it. Anybody have any ideas? I would love to be clearer to her.

Ministry this week has included some outreach…We have been talking about visiting the nearby parks to talk with people and hand out tracts. You see, the parks here are in the center of town, usually situated in front of the Catholic church. They are popular meeting places, and you can find people congregated just about any time of day. On Monday we put our feet to the task, and spent some time handing out tracts. Geiner did get to talk at length with Juan, an older gentleman who is a believer with mixed questions. He told Geiner that his discussion with him gave him peace. We invited him to the study, and also to join us for an outing we are having in two weeks.

On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to distribute tracts at a famous bus station in San Jose. The reactions to my (Geiner) surprise were some rude and a few grateful, never the less we gave out about 35 tracts. Eventually we are thinking to do the same at the bus station that brings people back and forth from Heredia. Then when we are ready we will have somewhere to invite them for fellowship.




This weekend we will celebrate Geiner’s dad’s birthday in Perez Zeledon. We have planned a surprise for Sunday…the first time Geiner’s dad (Elias) has had a true birthday celebration with most of his family. The Lord has been working in his life, drawing him closer to Himself through unexpected hardships. But through his bible readings Elias (Geiner’s dad) has come to know that God has not left him nor forsaken him, and that the Lord continues to be there for him through the tribulation…and will be there afterwards as well. Our hope is that this family gathering will be a testimony of God’s affection for us all, and that seeds can be planted for spiritual growth. Next time we will post some pictures of the celebration.

Seeds of hope!

1Cor 3:6-7I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

As the son of a farmer I see great potential in the seed that is planted. My father plants yuca, rice, plantain, bananas, fruit trees, etc. and to see the fruit and provision that God gives is very rewarding.

This is the way I feel this week, blessed to be part of what God wants to do here.

Beloved of God and ours,
We hope you are well, and receiving from the Lord daily…refreshing your souls.
We would first like to apologize to anyone who has attempted to contact us via email, Skype, Facebook, or any other means that requires an internet connection. Just when we thought we were finally connected, and our internet problems were over, we are faced with more challenges to stay connected. Without belaboring this already exhausting point…we are back on our landlord’s porch using his wireless and exercising patience! Please know that it is very important to us that we stay connected to you all…that is why we are letting you know here on the blog. We feel we can reach more people quickly by posting a blog entry, than individually. So with that said…let’s get on with some news!!!


Costa Rica has a new president…or we should say “presidenta”! Laura Chinchilla was voted in as the first female president of Costa Rica yesterday. Costarricenses are incredibly patriotic, and yesterday the streets were filled with supporters for each party, working side-by-side, to encourage passers-by to vote for their candidate. It was exciting to see the unity of the crowds working together, in spite of their differences. It is good to see the democracy of Costa Rica in action.




We are so excited to share a praise report of how the Lord is moving. This past Friday we continued with week two of Foundations. Family members and friends continue to grow, and this week the children sat with us, with the bibles that we had given them in hand, with no prompting from their parents. When they knew it was time to start the study, they went to get their bibles, and sat quietly listening, and asked us to look up scriptures for them. It was encouraging to see their enthusiasm. We see the willingness to grow in those who are attending, and they also asked if they could invite others.

Another praise report…our boxes are here in Costa Rica! Remember the 12 boxes Geiner was loading into the white pick-up? They made it here, and should be delivered to our house during this week. Geiner will have his books…and Denise will have more clothes, kitchen gadgets…and more. Thank you Lord! With the arrival of the books comes a construction project. Geiner will be building shelves and exercising creative carpentry!

Just to let you know…the car is fixed as well! We see the Lord’s blessings in so many different areas. The gentleman who fixed the car worked for a Toyota dealer for years, but charges much less. So he knows enough to trust that he is not taking shots in the dark, and also trust that it will be done according to Toyota standards.


We continue to pray for wisdom and guidance, and for you.

This week...at one point I felt like I needed to be way more prepared than what I am and started getting discouraged. Then yesterday (Sunday) we went to church with our landlords and God showed me that I am just like the little boy with the five loaves of bread and two fishes, and I learned that "a little is always plenty in the hands of Jesus". Then this morning I read a prayer in one of our books that applies to my search of God's will for our lives,...see, the heart with which you do things makes the difference between a miracle that it was thought impossible and a simple lunch. God glorifies Himself in what many think impossible, and the prayer is this:


“Dear Lord, I know that You have made all of the necessary preparations for me to do something significant with my life. I’m not walking this journey alone. I ask that you open my eyes to see the doors of opportunity that lie before me as well as give me the faith to walk away from those opportunities to do something that look important but are really not necessary for me. Please keep me focused on fulfilling Your plan for my life.” Miles McPherson. “Do Something” pg 77.