The end of September and the month of October have been filled with some excursions, friends over for dinner in our home, or going to events to support some of our new friends.
The first group that we had over was the group of young boys that we have been working on discipleship from Alajuelita. David, Jonathan, and Daniel. It was neat to have them come and see where we all live, since we have been to their homes and in the past we have also met at Central Park for discipleship. They really enjoyed the time at our house and are in deep conviction over what it is to be born again as Nicodemus asked of Jesus in John 3. We continue to pray for them and their growth in their local church in Alajuelita.
In the beginning of October, we decided to go to another town called Manuel Antonio as a family. Well, we rented the smallest vehicle available and away we went. Except, the GPS was leading us in some crazy ways since that was the time of much rain and there had been mud slides all over the place and main roads had been closed. So, we decided to help the GPS and ask a man as to what road to take to Quepos, which was close enough to our destination. The man replied: "the road is very good and the views are very nice, you take it at this particular location". Well, we had a lesson on perspective. We imagined this wide road with rolling hills on the distance and so forth. Quite the contrary. Let me show you a picture of the road, so you can enjoy our little ride... when arrived, we thanked God for his protection.
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This was pretty much the condition of the road for the next two hours!
The GPS would say, "Road sinking ahead". |
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The GPS would say: Dangerous Bridge Ahead!
In Manuel Antonio we were able to go to the National Park there and observe the wild life in action. Below are some of the findings with our Conservation Tour Guide... |
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| Our park guide was Mop. |
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| This 6 months sloth was eating rather close to our reach. Uncommon for them. |
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Oh! The monkeys! They steal people's belongings. Very bad...
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The other families that we enjoyed having over were two families from our church in Aserri. It was good to be at our home fellowshipping together over dinner. These two families from our church are called to the mission field. We are working with them in field studies of three areas such as Alajuelita, La Fila, Salitrillos, and possibly Aguas Sarcas in San Carlos. It really is neat to see how God works. We were able to meet with our Pastor to see about these two men being mobilized to do that which they are called to do, and this past month one Mission agency had a conference on Planting Churches. So, they went, one of our students from ESEPA went, and I (Noemi) was able to join them. God's timing was perfect because they gave us the tools to do the field study. In order to participate on the next conference on December 6th, we must have our field studies done in the areas of interest. The field study determines what kind of work there is present in the areas of interest and if there is a need for more evangelical presence there.
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Assoc. Pastor Leo and Family
This is one of the families that are called
to missions from the Aserri church. |
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| Our Baptist Church in Aserri Members |
A blessing that we have enjoyed is having a girl from ESEPA named Zue Ramirez join our family for fellowship and Kaila and Josiah really enjoy her informal mentorship. She is studying Intercultural Missions at ESEPA and is from Peru. Pray for her studies and future ministry.
Also, in the middle of the month another missionary and I were able to go and enjoy the XXIX Festival of Coral Music at the local "Teatro Nacional" of San Jose, Costa Rica and it was a real treat to listen to the different ensembles and choirs including the University of Costa Rica and the National University amongst other Conservatories of Music from different areas in Costa Rica. One of the students from ESEPA, Hannah Jones Sanchez, was going to be performing and it was neat to be able to support the function and our friend. Pray for Hannah as she is a busy student in ESEPA and in the University of Costa Rica. She has an outstanding missionary heritage here in Costa Rica and her family has translated the New Testament to an Indigenous language in the area of Turri Alba.
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| Josiah holding a Beetle |
The Institute had an excursion to the area of Tortuguero and our family was able to go and see some beautiful wild life in the Lagunes of Tortuguero. We enjoyed getting better acquainted with other missionaries that are here in San Jose studying Spanish for their ministries in their respective countries.
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| Kaila in the Butterflies Garden |
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| Del Monte Bananas Plantation Packing Dept. |
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| A piece of the wildlife in Tortuguero |
Kaila and Josiah have started guitar lessons with a young man from our neighborhood whose name is Juan. It is interesting how we learned of him. On one of our trips in search for a particular church one Sunday morning to the area of Sabanilla we met his dad and he was telling us about his son and all he did. We mentioned to him that we would like to see about the children taking guitar lessons. He recommended his son. This was two months ago. Here we are in October and we are on our way with the lessons from a contact from two months ago. The beauty of it is that he comes to our home because we live close to where he lives. He is a very talented young man. Our children really look forward to having lessons with him. Kaila is in the praise band of the school and on cultural day they took part in the program. Below is a picture of it.
The end of the month has been filled with tests and projects for our studies and some health setbacks. We believe we are on the mends...
