Mission Fair

Announcement! Exciting/a little nerve-wracking:



My home church, First Baptist Church of Hanford, is having their annual MIssion Fair April 9-10. They have asked Dave Hansen (the president of Students International) and I to be the speakers. So, I will be in the Central California area at that time and while I do not revel in the idea of speaking in front of large groups, I would love to see you then and have your support for this event. Even if you're not able to attend, please keep me in your prayers, as I'm pretty nervous about it. I'm sure it'll be great and I have confidence that God will give me the words that He has for everyone to hear. Thank you for your prayers =)

Teams and the Fuent

In Las Fuentes, we've begun to put into practice some of the new ideas for this year. One of these ideas for the boys and girls club was to assign a theme or a value to each month. Each week of that month, we set aside some time to talk about different aspects of that value and do some kind of activity with it. Some examples of these themes are, Goals, Self-worth and Respect. It's something the kids are still getting the hang of, but there have been some good discussions that have come of it and it's been helpful to refer back to for the children in other situations.

In hopes of creating a more community centerish type of environment (but without the whole actual physical building part), I've been brainstorming and creating a list of special activities to take place on Friday afternoons. Some compiling of resources, supplies and able-bodied help are still needed for many of the activities, but so far, we have also been able to host two movie afternoons. For these events, we were able to borrow a projector to have more of the big screen kind of feel. We were given permission to use the community building (where we also do aerobics), which also provided chairs and we brought snacks to make the whole movie watching experience complete. We chose movies appropriate for the ages of those that came, between 4 and 13. Although, some had made suggestions of movies ahead of time that would not have been appropriate, we stuck with movies like, Monsters Vs. Aliens (the Pixar one) and Yogi Bear. They all loved it, even the too cool for school ones- I saw them laughing. This is just a small thing that I'm sure a lot of them maybe haven't able to experience before. And starting out with this kind of activity, rather than something more complicated or involving, I feel like they'd be more likely to get involved when we plan for things that require some more involvement, such as tournaments or special projects. So far it seems to be going pretty well. Each time we've had about 20 kids show up and they behaved excellently both times, also showing me that I can attempt something a little more challenging with them. Especially when teams are here to help direct such activities.


Speaking of teams, we've had our first two student teams of the year. The first group was made up of a team from Jupiter Christian High School in Florida and an Intervarsity group from James Madison University in Virginia. The second group contained a women's soccer team from Crown College in Minnesota and a team from Taylor University in Indiana. Both of these groups were excellent and gave us a great jumping off point for the year and the teams to come. They were very willing to jump in, flexible with everything and very encouraging with their interest and care for the work being done here.


Here are a few pictures from one of the movie days with the kiddos:


















Our movie clan, making our best monster and alien faces! Krysta and Tracey Dixon (neither of which are pictured here) came to help out on separate occasions. Erin Janzen, who is pictured here, also came to help out.

Women's Trip!

Back in February, we had a group of about 25 women from California, Texas, Guatemala and Austria, one of which was my mom, that all met down here in Costa Rica for an SI women's trip! It was great to be able to spend time with so many women that I'd known from California and Guatemala and to get to know the others. It was also amazing to be able to share in it all with my mom. She'd come to visit before, but never in the context of an actual outreach, so I think it was good for her, along with the others I'd known as well, to see what all goes on in my site and how teams fit into that. We had a good and very encouraging week with this team. It was not without it's challenges, though. In working with kids of the age that I do, pre-teen or early teens, there presents quite a few challenges with disciplinary issues. This women's team got to see some of these challenges first hand, but were very supportive and encouraging in how it was handled. It's always exciting having new people work and experience our lives here, but there's something special about sharing it with those who are close to you or have known you beforehand.

Below are some pictures from this outreach:





Janice Hansen (who lead the women's trip), me and my mom.



Tracey, with Lynnea, leading the way on our excursion to La Paz Waterfall Gardens





Women at the waterfall.

Holidays----way back when----

The following series of blogs are an attempt at an update on my life since December or so, of last year.

Holidays:

As a kind of end of the year activity, we took about 25 kids from Las Fuentes to a park in Desamparados and had a kind of field day with different team games and activities, as well as a hot dog featuring lunch. It was a crazy kind of day, which the kids seemed to enjoy. It was the first time we'd taken a group from Las Fuentes to any kind of outside place and for the most part it was good. But we also learned some different ways or kinds of things we may do for the next time. =)

After these activities, I was blessed to be able to go home, to California, for the holidays, but not without stopping by Louisiana to visit my dear friend, Dominique, first. Both Louisiana and California provided great opportunities to rest in the company of family and friends. And even more than that, I was able to speak to a Sunday School class from my home church that supports me. They also put together a large supply of donations that they sent down for our ministry here in Costa Rica. It really is a blessing to have such a great team of support back at home.

Upon coming back to Costa Rica, the kids I work with, the aerobics ladies and those I visit seemed anxious to get back started with the program, which was encouraging, especially when leaving home/California is not always the easiest thing. This year also started with some new ideas to begin implementing in the work being done in Las Fuentes, such as monthly themes of values in the boys/girls club time, more community center type of activities and sharing articles and healthy recipes with the aerobics ladies. Some of which are more easily begun than others. Please keep in prayer the implementing of these new projects and discernment and wisdom in the process.

Below are just a few pictures of my time in the states:



Dominique and I----SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!



Noelle and David (the marrieds), me and my Mom and Dad!



Jonathan and his beard and Munroe.



Isaac and Munroe---we kinda love dogs!