Week 5 Update

This is Karen -

Oh what a week this has been! I survived my first Open House in Costa Rica. Let me just say it is VERY different from what I experienced last year in the States. There were so many parents in attendance that they filled up every single chair in my room and then the remaining parents stood around the edge of the room and in the doorway. They seem very appreciative & supportive. I think this is going to be a wonderful year! Afterwards the teachers on my grade level went out together with the principal for dinner and drinks. Several parents came over to our table and ordered drinks with us. Did I mention how different things are down here? :)

Things at the orphanage are going well. I volunteer typically two afternoons/evenings a week. The head nun is really beginning to trust me. This week she taught me where she keeps all the clothes for each child. Now she lets me feed them, change their diapers, choose their pajamas and get them ready for bed before I leave. God always amazes me! I originally started volunteering at the orphanage because scripture teaches us to take care of the widows and orphans. I’ve truly realized that I get more joy from serving that being served. Seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter from these orphans when I love on them each day is such a blessing. Oh how I wish I could show you pictures of their precious faces or send a video of them laughing when we play together. You’ll just have to come visit and experience it for yourself. Another miracle took place this week…Elizabeth is doing so much better that they went back in and operated again. It seems like just yesterday that they told me she might not make it through the night. Keep praying!

Dan here -
One of the current focuses of 6:8 Ministries is to expand its children feeding centers using the Verbena feeding center as a model. The Verbena feeding center is basically run by a Tico named Jorge. Each week Jorge gets the children excited about praising and worshipping God. He also delivers a wonderful brief 10-15 minute lesson each week that is incredibly appropriate for the kids in attendance.

Jorge and I have started meeting with church pastors around in the area. This past week we met with the pastor of a church called Nuevo Amor in Tejar (some of you may remember this church and its feeding center). We are rebuilding our relationship with this church and, with the help of its leadership, expanding the feeding center to include more Bible lessons.

Jorge and I have other meetings scheduled and been dreaming and praying together to see what God has in mind for this ministry. Please pray for wisdom for Jorge and I to hear from and understand God’s will in for His kingdom in this area. Also, please pray for Jorge specifically who has already started being attacked in his life because of this ministry.

One of the other positive things that came out of this first ministry is a request from the church for us to start teaching English classes to its members and the community. This has been a very effective way for Karen and I to build relationships within the community and with the church leadership. Please pray that we will be able to get this organized and will get the needed help in leading these classes.

Karen here with a fun story:
Dan and I are trying to balance work with our jobs and work with the ministry. While most people have their afternoons and evenings to relax and get typical chores/errands taken care of, that is the time that we do all of our mission work. We recently realized that we hadn’t really had a true sabbath, where we rest and spend the day worshipping God, since we arrived here. So we decided we need to take one weekend a month to take a break from ministry and work. For us that involves traveling and exploring God’s magnificent creation down here.



This weekend we traveled to Manuel Antonio, one of the popular tourist beach spots. It is known for all of the wildlife that surrounds people on the beaches. We had a chance to experience the wildlife firsthand. Saturday night as we were leaving the beach we saw monkeys all around us. They were climbing on the telephone wires to get to the nearby fruit trees. Then, they would pick the fruit off the trees and eat it.

Think Marcel from Friends!

The "Ring of Fire" has been very active lately

Today, we found a beautiful secluded area under a tree in the Manuel Antonio National Park. We learned the hard way, that the tide was a bit higher than normal. I’m sure all of the other tourists had a great laugh as we had just pulled out our picnic on the beach towel when a huge wave came in and soaked our food and towel and threatened to carry our sandals away. Thankfully, I was able to save our sandals and we learned a valuable lesson! Looking back, Dan and I expect that the reason the tide was so abnormally high was due to all of the recent earthquake activity around the "Ring of Fire"


We also saw plenty of raccoons and iguanas. They are quite bold. Before we pulled out our food, the raccoons ran over and tried to get into my insulated cooler bag. Once we scared them off, we watched as they went up and down the beach searching other people’s bags and carrying off whatever food they could steal.


Additionally, under the tree where we were laying was a nest/hole that an iguana was using to rest. When he woke he poked his head out and started eyeballing Dan. For most of the morning this iguana was mad dogging Dan and would occasionally try to sneak up on him while he was reading. Dan would scare him off and all would be good for an hour or so. At one point, Dan was laying on his back, reading his book and eating his pizza bread (unaware that the iguana was creeping up on him). Suddenly the iguana charged, jumped on Dan’s chest and tried to grab the bread. Dan threw him off and chased him away but learned not eat pizza bread while laying on his back in Manuel Antonio!

This is the iguana that was mad dogging Dan all day.  Look on the log if you can't see him...