Jan 25

Sorry, I haven’t been keeping up with this; it’s been pretty busy around here.  Last week I had a fever and a headache that lasted about four days straight.  I didn’t eat very much during that time, and couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep for more than an hour here and there.  It started Monday night the 17^th and it wasn’t until Friday the 21^st that I finally felt better.

Brad made it here Friday night, the day after he was originally supposed to get here.  His flight was cancelled on the runway but he’s here now enjoying the non-wetsuit, non-long sleeve, non-pants wearing weather.

We’ve surfed a few fun waves and got to hang out with some local guys, still looking for an opportunity to share the gospel with some guys in Hermosa, definitely built a few friendships and they know where we stand but I’m praying the Lord will give me boldness along with the words to say.

 Thanks for praying and I’ll try to post some more updates and pictures soon.

Costa Rican Coffee Maker

Jan 14,

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” – Jesus, in Matthew 28

I spent pretty much the whole day translating the gospel into Spanish and memorizing the words I need to be able to communicate God’s truth clearly.  I have a Nuevo Testamento that now has many key verses underlined.   The Lord has provided me with someone to make a disciple of in this nation, with the Holy Spirit’s help I will do my best to teach him to observe all that Jesus has commanded.  And I’m praying for the day he will be baptized into a new life with Christ.

Erick is a young Tico that loves to skate; he’s been coming by pretty much every day.  He's working on his English, and of course, I want to learn to speak Spanish better, so we decided we would help each other.  Most of our early conversation revolved around skating and life in general.  Then finally the opportunity came to turn toward spiritual things.  To make a long story short, Erick now wants me to teach him more of what the Bible says about Jesus.

As all of this was happening, a young man from Nicaragua named Luis came to skate also, when he heard of our plan for me to teach Erick the Bible he said, “I don’t know how this is going to work, he can’t speak English, and you can’t speak Spanish.”  I told him that God would help us, and I asked if he would translate, but he seemed disinterested.  I am asking the Lord to give both Erick and Luis the understanding of His great love for us so they will turn to Him in submission and repentance.

Please pray that as we open His Word in two different languages that the Holy Spirit will use this time to continue to work in the hearts of these boys, and they will recognize their need for our Savior.

Jan 11

I am so thankful first to the Lord for bringing me here and also to those that are supporting me.  I have been amazed by the Lord’s faithfulness and continually stoked on the fact that He is allowing me to be used in the relationships He’s provided for me just in the last few days.  I am confident and grateful that He brought me here to talk to people about Him and I wish I could sit here all day and give you a ten page story on all of these people’s lives that He’s working in.

One guy in particular that I hope you will be praying for is a man named Eduardo, his son Aron and his three friends (haven’t got their names down yet), all about 13 years old, come by here and skate.   With his broken English and my messed up Spanish we have had some pretty decent conversations.  I haven’t gotten into the gospel yet, but we high fived passing each other on the street today, so I’m waiting and looking for the opportunity to center our new found friendship in Christ.  My prayer is that the Lord will use me to share with Eduardo the truth that is only found in Him.

Other specific names to pray for are: Mike and Christina (hotel/restaurant owners), Phillip and Johna (surf /tour guide company), Liam (visiting surfer), Robert (homeless guy), April (Christian Surfers, Costa Rica), Erick, Luis, Willie (skaters) and the rest of the kids that skate here (which isn’t a specific name, I know).

Day whatever

I went to a church called "Radical!" last night and talked with the Pastor for a little before and after the service, he can speak English but the service was in Spanish.  I was able to follow along for the most part (only being distracted a little by the lack of English and the little dogs and children playing during the service).  I’m hoping to meet up with him next week after he comes back from a short trip out of town.  He does a lot of work here and I’m hoping that the Lord will let me serve with him while I’m here.

This morning I attended a local home church made up mostly of American missionaries where they watch Francis Chan’s sermons.  There were about 15 people crammed into a small studio apartment and we all genuinely worshiped God there through singing, praying and studying His Word.  No fancy decorations, no ritualistic traditions, just God’s people collectively bringing their lives before Him as an offering, worshiping Him and following him daily. Most of them live in a shack in this dirty town that is full of people that don't yet understand how much God loves them.  He not only placed his servants here to tell them about Jesus, but He continually guides and strengthens them with the Holy Spirit.  What a loving, gracious, mighty God we serve.

Day 2

My humble abode

It’s not much, but then again, sometimes we really don’t need as much as we think we do.  It’s kind of funny, but Matthew 8 comes to mind when Jesus was talking about how He didn’t have anywhere to lay his head.  I know God plans to use this trip as a way to shape me more into the image of His Son, but I didn’t expect it to be so literal.  I guess it technically doesn’t really apply here, but I’m happy to have a roof over my head.  The Lord is allowing me to be fully content with the situation.

I mean for $5 a night it’s hard to complain anyway. (vs. $14 inside).

Day 1

Made it here safely, even though there were times I wasn’t sure how the Lord was going to get me out of a few tricky situations.  To make a long story short, when I finally got to Jaco around 1:00 am, I had no choice but to call the only contact I had in town even though they weren’t expecting me until much later in the day.  Thankfully she was very understanding and drove me to the hostel that José (cab driver) and I couldn’t find.  I was able to make up for my inconvenient arrival by spending the day pulling weeds, raking leaves, pruning trees, pulling thousands of weeds, and pulling weeds around the property.  I also helped with moving furniture around town, met another local Christian, and started getting reacquainted with the area.  Gratefully serving Him while looking forward to what He has planned in the coming weeks.

Adios America