Sweet Friendships that Renew the Soul

“A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” Proverbs 27:9 (The Message)

Beloved of God and ours,

Since our last post we have had the blessing of a visit from the Pittmans. Dave, Wendy, Mariah, and Nathaniel came to Costa Rica for their family vacation, and we were privileged to spend time with them, as they experienced Costa Rica.




Wendy lived in San Jose for about 6 months…but that was 19 years ago, when her parents were missionaries here. Her Spanish skills returned quickly, and she was able to communicate very well. We were blessed to have them join us at our Foundations class on Wednesday evening…to share with them just a bit of our current ministry, and the plans for future ministry just ahead.

We are also glad they had opportunities to enjoy a Costa Rican vacation as a family, visiting Volcano Poas,





taking part in a coffee tour,


and Dave and the kids venturing out on a canopy tour that lasted 5 hours!



On Dave’s birthday we joined them for an excursion through the rain forest on our way to Quepos, which included some time on the beach.


Dave and Wendy are members of our care team, and we are so grateful for their partnership in this ministry. We wish we could have spent more time with them…to have them visit the study in Perez Zeledon...and we want to thank them for allowing us to take part in their family time, and for having hearts for the people of Costa Rica. Our prayers together with them were lifted to the Throne of Grace on behalf of the many here in Costa Rica who do not know the Truth. May our Heavenly Father continue to use us mightily, to show His love and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to this nation.




We press on in our ministry, and know that the Lord’s timing is perfect. The study in Perez Zeledon is going well, as we continue through Ephesians…and the enemy is working hard to get in the way of some attending. Our prayer is that His truth will set them free from the traditions that bind them, and they will come to know that Jesus is real, alive, and wants to “sup” with them personally.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” Acts 3:19

BEFORE and AFTER

Yesterday we celebrated 18 years of marriage!. It seemed like it was just yesterday… but the truth is it has been about 6570 days, and we learned and are still learning.

It hasn’t been easy, but in God’s grace He has carried us through. Carried in the honeymoon stage…carried in the love stage, the work hard stage, the business stage, the stressful stage, the lying stage, the unfaithful stage, and the worst stage – when the truth comes out and we stop living the masqueraded life that buried us in our own deceitfulness, which created a false reality from which we needed to escape. “How?” we say…“Marriage is over” we say…and then we hear “I LOVE YOU!” yelled from the heavens. We hear a voice that with grace resounds the echo of the phrase “it is only a potential battle…an opportunity…don’t give up – grow up.” “How I desire your happiness, your joy. Since you got married I knew that being alone was not good. So I gave you that person to be by your side…for you to love. So now that the lie is over, start again and learn from your mistakes, and be the husband that I made you to be.” And I said “yes, Lord…I will love like You love – unconditionally, sacrificially, forgivingly, obediently.” And Jesus gave us the strength; He gave us the love, the patience, so that we could be victorious in this potential battlefield called marriage. Jesus showed us how to forgive and be victors over every lie. Jesus showed us how to be obedient, so that the failures of the heart will not prevail. Jesus showed us how to love so that we would not hate and be lost. Jesus showed us how to trust so that the ungrounded jealousies would die, and the grounded ones will be the sustainability of the stronger prayer. How happy are those who are willing to go the extra mile in their marriage…just like Jesus did when He went to the cross!

God in His loving grace has kept my marriage…my part is to be a good steward of my Father’s daughter.

Father, I thank You for Your grace in giving me her, who completes me. My heart melts at the thought that Your love for me extends up to the reality of her love for me, and that You sometimes use her arms to embrace my lacking heart. Please, Father, may my discipleship of her be pleasing to You…after all, You gave her to me for a time. May our love for You be the springing fountain of our love for each other. I love you Lord, and I love Denise.

To all of you out there: marriage is a potential battlefield that has no foundation if you forgive. It is the disarming of all enemies. After all, Jesus fought His battle that way and won! It is the maximum expression of love.

Blessings in Fellowship

For the first time since we arrived, our studies have started off with music, in worship to our King! Our friend and fellow servant Ezra was here visiting us for 12 days. He brought his guitar, and quickly (and we mean quickly) learned three songs in Spanish, so that we could open our Foundations class on Thursday evening with worship. Ezra does not speak Spanish (yet!) and was able to lead us in worship, in Spanish, in less than 48 hrs of his arrival, to the glory of God, and the appreciation of our attendees. The family that had previously expressed an interest in coming were able to join us last week for the first time. They were excited, and this week they invited others.





Geiner also broke out his guitar and had a lesson from Ezra.


Thursday we headed down the hill to central San Rafael de Heredia, to pass out some tracts and do some witnessing in the park. We encountered our usual mix of those who listen and have questions or experiences to share, those who are polite, and those who don’t want to take the time to listen or accept a tract. Ezra took the opportunity to let people know that Jesus loves them (Jesus te ama) and worked hard on memorizing John 3:16 in Spanish. It was a fruitful afternoon, with one young man interested in attending our Foundations class, and another woman who called us because we had our phone number on the tract we gave her, asking for prayer and wanting to know where we hold our bible studies.

We left for Perez Zeledon early last Saturday morning. We will give Ezra a chance here to let you in on his experience of life on the farm:

"As you all may know already the locals have a saying, “Pura Vida” which means pure life. That really is the best way to describe life on the farm. When people have so little and work so hard for it, the truly important things in life are valued. Faith, family and friends, are what these people cling to for support/survival and there is nothing more “pure life” than that. Add into the mix the absolutely beautiful and tranquil jungle and the overwhelming sense of God’s majesty in His creation, and you have Pura Vida. Things in the jungle are simple. I think that that simplicity was the best part. I told Denise that I can hear better up at the farm. She looked at me confused and I explained to her that at the farm almost every distraction or stimulant is removed and you can hear God better. Not because God is not speaking to us everywhere we are at in our busy lives but because in that simple life there are less distractions to kidnap us away from just sitting at the feet of our Lord and God. It was a lesson in perspective, seeking God and not comfort or entertainment/distractions. Some might look at these people and see how poor they are and what conditions they live in and feel sorry for them, but when I think about it I am reminded of God’s design, the least shall be first. May we all find a little more Pura Vida in our lives.
Beyond my experience at the farm, God is speaking to the people of Costa Rica through G&D. Life as a missionary is one of constantly being dependent on God. Never has that been truer in my life than while I have been here. I am in a country that I do not understand, struggling to speak a language that I do not know and somehow God can still use it for His glory. While I was playing and singing worship songs in a language that I do not know, not even understanding the meaning of the words it made me realize just how dependent on the strength of Jesus I was. I felt so underprepared and so out of place but God gave me the strength and used it to bless the people listening while glorifying Himself. Praise the Lord God almighty He is so faithful. "

Our bi-weekly study in Perez Zeledon was also blessed with the sounds of praise and worship to the Lord. We had two additions to the group, with expectations of invitations to others.

Thank you Ezra, for your willingness to serve and love the people of Costa Rica.

“To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:21-23

Answered Prayers of the Faithful!

So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.
Ezra 8:23

Thank you for your prayers for the study last weekend. The Lord used the time to minister to those present, and to heal a relationship between two brothers that had been estranged for a time.

We are so encouraged to also share that one of Geiner’s uncles decided to attend the study for the first time. Initially that was not his intention. He was on his way to “have a beer and relax with some friends,” but the Holy Spirit used a phone call with his brother in the US to have him reconsider. During the phone conversation his brother was lamenting on how he was feeling very alone and without his family. That got him thinking…he had the opportunity to be there with his family instead of drinking in a bar. So he turned around and came to the study.

He later shared with Geiner how blessed he was by the teaching, and is hosting the next study at his house! Thank you Lord.

We also are encouraged by another family here in Heredia who want to attend the Foundations class on Thursday evenings (we recently changed from Friday to Thursday to help accommodate work schedules). The mom is a passionate bible reader, and is looking for a service that is centered on the study of God’s Word. Her son works here on the property, and has been strongly influenced by his mother’s devotion to the Word. He is excited to attend as well. We look forward to them starting to attend next week.

We are preparing for a busy month of May with visitors and a retreat! Geiner’s mom will be spending a couple of days with us at the end of this week, before she returns to Tucson. We are also expecting our good friend Ezra next Wednesday. He will be here with us for about 12 days and will be helping us incorporate some worship into our studies with his talent as a guitar player and former worship leader. Then later in May we will have our friend Heather staying here for 3 days before she starts her TESOL certification program. During her 6 weeks in the program she will be staying with a host family and will be fellowshipping with us. At the end of May we are excited to see the Pitman family while they are here in Costa Rica for their family vacation. And in the middle of all this we will be attending a marriage retreat for Calvary Chapel missionaries here in Costa Rica (May 11th – 13th) in La Fortuna, hosted by Calvary Chapel Tamarindo and their home church, Calvary Chapel Vista California. The speakers will be Senior Pastor of CC Vista, Rob Salvato and his wife Denise. We are excited by all the fellowship coming up during May and will keep you posted with details of these happenings as they occur.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

Plan the Unexpected – Blessed are the flexible!

We have always said that the Lord has editing rights with our plans. Well, He has recently decided to exercise that right. In the last couple of weeks we have had our share of unexpected changes in plans. Let’s start with the most recent, and work our way backwards.

Thursday before Easter we left for Perez Zeledon to spend Semana Santa (holy week) with Geiner's dad and family. Our first stop was his grandma’s house (his mother’s mom) to drop off his aunt. We spent a short time with Abuela Transita and proceeded to the farm. Late that same afternoon we received a call that grandma was taken to the hospital. At 8:50 that evening grandmom went home to be with the Lord. Geiner’s mom arrived late Friday night from Tucson with his brother. The funeral was Saturday and Geiner had an opportunity to share during the service and at the cemetery. This prompted some questions from people in attendence. Abuela would have been 80 on May 30th. Please pray for grieving family members, especially those who do not share the hope we have. Transita was a good mother…loved by her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She will be missed by all.

Abuela Transita

The week before we also experienced an unexpected change in plans. We had to leave the country....quickly. You see Denise’s visa was going to expire on Saturday. But we know about a new law that will allow "tourists" to extend their visa for a month for $100…or so we thought! We were waiting for all of her certified documents to arrive from the states (which, by the way, are here now!!), so we knew the month extension would be just fine. As long as your paperwork is submitted to Immigration for processing, you do not have to leave the country unless your residency is denied...and that is almost unheard of for spouses of Costa Rican citizens. On Friday morning we called Immigration to find out where we pay the $100 fee, and were told the law had not gone into effect yet. Yikes! It even said on their website that there were new laws that took effect March 1st. We called back just to be sure, since we have had the experience on more than one occasion that it all depends on who you talk to. Well sure enough, both said the same thing. So now we are scrambling to make plans to leave the country because we did not want to overstay the 90 days allowed, since that would not look good when it comes time for immigration to process the residency. After much calling around, we finally found an excursion to Panama. So needless to say...it was one crazy weekend. But praise God, Denise is legal...and has another 90 days to get her paperwork in to immigration. We DO NOT want to be in that position again. We have heard nightmares of lost documents, so we will be making copies of everything, and have them sign a receipt that they received them all in order.

There was something in these past two weekends that went according to plan…and that was the study in Perez Zeledon!

Proverbs 4:20-23 :
My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

The group (seen here before we got started)was once again hungry for the Word. The teaching was on God’s justice, and the significance of the blood of Christ and the Cross (a perfect topic for the Saturday before “Pascua”). There is such a thirst in that group that they asked for homework!! We will begin the book of Ephesians next time, and they were assigned to read ahead the first chapter. Praise God for His faithfulness.

Rejoicing In The Presence Of The Angels

“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Luke 15:10


Lately we have been posting our highlights of what has been happening here in CR, and how we have been passing our time. Well today we have decided to let you in on some news that might not be as detailed with the day-to-day events, but will definitely glorify our Lord and Savior, and the work He has brought us here to do.

If you have been keeping up with the recent posts, you have come to know Geiner’s dad, Elias. You have shared in the joy of celebrating his birthday…you have seen pictures of his family, his farm, his life. Well, it gives us great joy to let you know that on February 28th Elias Alvarado had his name added to the Book of Life. During a small “revival”, for lack of a better description, the Lord tugged on his heart and let him know that it was his day of salvation. He walked forward and received the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. After over a year of reading the bible, and Geiner and others sharing the wonders of a personal relationship with the Living God, he gave Him his life. Please rejoice with us, and keep him in prayer…a new creation indeed.
Well, the angels’ rejoicing does not stop there. Without going into too much confidential information, let’s just say that one of Geiner’s brothers has led a very troubled life. Juan has a heart bigger than his chest can hold, but also has succumbed to destructive actions that can only come from the enemy himself. Through many conversations with Geiner he has shared that he wants…no needs to change. He knows the gospel but has never trusted that Jesus is the answer to his crying out for help. Well, last night was the night…and during a long conversation with Geiner, he prayed to turn his life over to the Lord. Praise God for answered prayer, and for allowing Juan’s heart to be open to the promise of regeneration in Him.


“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matt 5:16


We previously mentioned Miles McPherson’s book Do Something…the overall premise is that the Lord has a plan for each and every one of us, and that plan includes how best to serve Him. The different stories sited include a woman who started a ministry to the deaf after she fostered a deaf child, a former prostitute who now ministers to girls on the street, physically handicapped people who share the love of Christ with other disabled people, and many more. The point is that we all have experiences to draw on from how the Lord has ministered to us personally…and how we can use that to minister to others.

For years now we have come to realize that the Lord has given us an amazing testimony in how He healed our marriage. We have shared this story with many individuals and couples, glorifying God in our portrayal…always being very clear that we would not be where we are today if it were not for the healing power of Jesus in our lives. He is the reason why we are the new creations (and new marriage) we are today. Well it seems that the theme of ministering to marriages has come up more than once since we have been here, including a very clear direction from the Lord in this area during prayer time. Recently a family member offered to open her home for prayer meetings and asked Geiner to lead them. This past weekend Geiner had the privilege to present a teaching on prayer to more than a dozen family members, which included two marriages in the midst of dealing with very severe issues…and the Lord was glorified. In fact there was such an amazing response to the teaching, prayer time, and question and answer session (which included addressing some of the marital issues being dealt with at the present time) that we have been invited back. The encouragement and invitation back came from a clear acknowledgement that those in attendance did not know the Word of God, and desired to know the bible more intimately.




Ministry has its challenges as well…and we were faced with another couple on the verge of divorce. We plan on meeting with them on our next trip to Perez Zeledon, but in the meantime Geiner is keeping in touch with both by phone, and sharing God’s views and outlook on their situation. We do not want to miss an opportunity to share God’s word in an attempt to save a marriage. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for us, and softened hearts for them.

Weekends such as the one we just mentioned give us such confirmation of God’s call for us to be here in Costa Rica at such a time as this. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support.

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...