Back in Action!

Beloved of God and ours,

In the past several weeks we have not had an opportunity to update our blog…Sorry.

For those who don’t know, Denise’s father was rushed to the hospital on February 25th and we left Costa Rica immediately to be there with family. He could not breathe because his lungs were filled with fluid and his kidneys failed. He was on a ventilator and we honestly thought that we might not make it there in time. By God’s grace and prayers from many of you around the world, he is improving. He was in the hospital for almost a month, and as of this Tuesday has been moved to rehabilitation to regain his strength. Please continue to pray for him and mom, as they face some adjustments that will need to be made upon his release from the rehab center.

With dad improving we felt comfortable returning to our God-given ministry, and we arrived back in Costa Rica last Tuesday at midday. We hit the ground running, and proceeded to go home, clean up, and returned to the airport that same evening to pick up Julie, our dear friend from our care team in Albuquerque, who arrived at 7:20P.M. Julie came on her own personal mission trip and her timing could not have been better...she was such a big help. She will be sharing some thoughts in a blog post soon.


The following day, Wednesday, we went to the church and began planning for an outreach to a neighborhood called Los Guizaros de Patarra, which is about 35 minutes from the church. By 9:00 A.M.Saturday morning ten of us were at the church ready, praying, and waiting for a van that would transport us. We had originally set aside about 3 weeks to plan this event, but because of circumstances we only had 3 days…and more room for the Lord to work His wonders.

We visited the children of this neighborhood…we played with them, served them a lunch of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and showed them a movie about Samson.

...and they even washed their own plates!

Then, about 12:30 we asked them to return to their homes and invite the adults back at 2:00 for coffee, pastry, and a movie. In the meantime, some of us visited the neighborhood inviting others to come.

(This grandmom is raising this young man after his parents abandoned him...he asked for this bible so that he could read to her, since she cannot read...and you should hear him recite scripture!)

The afternoon turn-out was not as good as the morning, but the Lord was glorified…in fact He blessed our socks off, Pura Vida! We got to meet Luis, Jose, Elian, and many more! Faces were painted, people were blessed, we were blessed, and we shared our hope in Christ and began new relationships.





Two boys gave their lives to Christ. But sometimes I wonder, “did they?” so I asked them a question to see if they understood what they were doing…and you know, they did! They both gave me answers that you just have to say “yes, they know what they are doing!” Now do you? Please pause for a moment today and ask yourself this question. There is a reason for Ephesians 6:17a, and why Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, advises us about the helmet of salvation.

Lord bless you. Please continue praying for us and for the people of Costa Rica. Hope you enjoy the pictures!