Once a Month

Sorry, it´s been almost a month since my last entry. The idea of the blog is to update every few days and what not, but I usually run out of time in the internet cafe or say I´ll do it tomorrow and that never happens. Here we are October 4th almost a month later. Some of the highlights of the last month have been the Independence Day celebration on the 18th. We ate many fried empanadas, which is fried dough, meat and spices. We have traveled to Puerto Montt twice this month for a time of relaxation and fun. Spring is knocking on the door and the rainy days are being replaced with sunshine.
This past weekend we were in Puerto Montt for some team bonding, which means game playing every night, eating out and working a little bit. We spent the last 5 days with Dustin and Sarah, playing hours worth of Settlers cities and knights, and canasta. We had a great time Sunday at the house of Eliana and Ricardo celebrating Eliana´s 33 birthday. Church ending at one and we finally sat down for lunch at 5.
Dustin and I worked at Island Tenglo for a day, destroying the last of the crazy thorn bushes. With me controlling the ultimate weed wacker and him on the chainsaw we knocked off the rest in a few hours.
We returned to Quemchi Nation last night and will be here for about three weeks unitl heading up to Puerto Montt for meetings with our EMM bosses and then at the end of the month heading off to Argentina for renewing the visas and vacation.

The Rain has ended

One day soon I´m sure I´m going to put some pictures on my blog. Like the new me picture, because I look normal again. A picture of the family that we become good friends with and anything else I can think of.

We had our first official taste of Quemchi Nation winter last week. It started raining on Sunday afternoon and continued into Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday, and then on Monday of this week the sun reappeared. Since spring has arrived and the weather is beautiful. The day temperatures are probably reaching close to 70 and the evenings are still relatively cool, but at least there is no rain. The only ones that though the rain was unusual were the two gringos in Quemchi. What I found odd, was not that it rained for over a week straight, but that it rained hard for a week straight. I´m talking heavy down pour and yet there was no flooding. We did loose power for 24 hours, which meant we had a nice candle light dinner on Tuesday night.

The Lord Reigns

Last night Bekii and I met together with our friends Charley and Anna, Paulina, and Juan Carlos for a time of fellowship and dinner. We ate around 9 which is normal and then waited for about two hours to start our Bible study in the book of John. Last night went much better than last week. This time I was able to understand more of what was being said and where the conversation was going. I was also a little more prepared with some questions to help lead the discussion.
God showed up and did some amazing things last night. He showed his power and mercy and grace inspite of my weaknesses. There were two distinct acts that happen last night that are note worthy, I´ll start with the second. The two little girls were put/forced into bed before they wanted to go and decided to let the entire house know that they were not happy, they started wailing in loud uncontrollable screams, demanding to be heard. Bekii then prayed for the even and she prayed that all distractions would be silenced, that the little girls would not be a problem. As soon as she said Amen the girls went silent. Not a peep from them until we finish about 45 minutes later.
The second amazing incident happen just before dinner. Anna asked her husband Charley to pray for the meal. Charley told her that he didn´t know how to pray, that he has never prayed to God before in an intentional manner. Anna told him that you simple start with Dear God or Lord and thank him for the day or the food or whatever else you want to say. So Charley did that last night and blessed our dinner. I was in awe, that God´s child was communicating with Him for the first time in a very long time and that bekii and I had the privilege of witnessing it.
This was a good reminder to me that it is not about me at all. That God is fully cable of leading a great Bible study even if I don´t think that I am able. At this point in my language skills I simply am not able to lead a good study by human standards, but God doesn´t seem to care about the standards that we place on ourselves, He is only interested in the fact that we are listening to what He is asking us to do. Praise God.

Where does the time go

Where does the time go? We have almost completed another month here in Chile. This coming tuesday we will travel back to Puerto Montt and house sit for Mike and Nancy while they go on vacation. The following week, bekii and I are leaving for our vacation to renew our visas (three months already gone) in Argentina, where I hope to ski the Andy´s.
The sun has returned for a least one day and I took advantage of it by chopping the rest of our wood, to help speed up the drying and burning process. I worked for a few hours in the wonderful sun light with my shorts and T -shirt. We have nice little pieces of wood and a front yard that looks terrible, if only I could figure out how to borrow the rake from the land lord that is in the locked cage in the shed.
Last night we had some friends come over for coffee cito. It´s supposed to be tea, coffee, cookies, bread, ham and cheese a light snack. However, we bought lots of food and nobody ate anything. This happens each time we invited people over to the house. We buy lots of goodies and then are forced to eat them by ourselves for the next few days.
Tonight we are going to celebrate the 22nd birthday of our friend Paulina at her parents house. It should be a good time of eating lots of chocolate (least that was the rumor last night in their store)

This past week June 24-July 3 Bekii and I spent the week in one of the smaller islands, the island on Butachaques. Our goal was to teach english in the small country school for five days, and meet with the small house church on sunday and generally just get to know some of the people on the island. We managed to teach for two days, we didn´t get to meet anyone new, and because of the weather we didn´t really get to explore the island at all. It was a slightly disappointing trip. Not all was lost. One day while sitting on the shore of the ocean watching a group of dolphin feeding on some tasty little fish I got to hear them speaking to each other. It was the first time in my life that I have ever heard dolphin in the wild speaking to each other. That was pretty awesome.
I also got my share of soccer watching in, during the week. Copa America started last week and continues this week and into next week. For anyone not aware the beloved USA did terribly and has been eliminated. However, Chile also did pretty terrible and was eliminated by Brazil 6-1 last night.
July 4-today we have been enjoying some down time trying to get reorganized and ready for some more time in the school. I am meeting with two different people that are going to help teach me Spanish. I meet with Roger and Noami Friday mornings in Castro, they are a YWAM couple, then Tuesday evening I meet with Carlos who teaches lit in the school were we are working.
Life is good, but difficult. We are daily reminded of God´s promise that He has brought us here to serve. I have seen more rainbows in the month than I have in a year back in PA. Here is the latest one that appeared out of our front window.

Spaghetti Dinner anyone?

Does anyone out there not like spaghetti with garlic bread? I did´t think so either, until two nights ago when we invited our Chilean friends over for dinner. They have been so gracious to us in the last two weeks, inviting us over in the evening for mate and pan (tea and bread) that we wanted to return the favor. When trying to decide what to make, we took into account that we should give them an ¨ American¨ dish. The dish had to be something that we could make without too much effort. Spaghetti.
The family came over around 7:30 and the food was hot, the first was roaring, I was pumped. Everyone was served and the littlest girl who is three took a bite after staring at her plate for the longest time. Her face curled up in disgust. After that experience the bread didn´t seem to look all that good either. The rest of the family just did not seem to chow down the dinner either, some odd about noodles with meat sauce. Thankfully our garlic bread with melted cheese was a big hit, the father took two pieces.
We have been eating left over spaghetti and garlic cheese bread for two days. Who knew.

FIRE!!!

Fire. It´s a really simple basic thing, that can be used for heat, cooking, hanging around singing songs, just relaxing in front of. Well here in Chile, fire is used for cooking and most importantly to me Heat. Growing up we had a woodstove and a fire place and I would watch my dad start fires on cold winter nights, sometime I would even help. In high school we´d go camping and I loved to start fires. So coming to Chile I thought having a fire would be great thing.
Nobody told me however, that in Chile most of the time all the wood is wet. It´s very difficult to start a fire with wet wood. Coming to Quemchi I made it a point to cut the firewood into small pieces and even cut some kindling. Once the fire is started there is no problem. Saturday night we returned from a good trip to Castro to find the stove almost cold, which was fine, I needed to clean out the ashes anyway. After I had cleaned out the stove I was ready to make Fire. After an hour I was still waiting to make Fire. All my hard work was for nothing everything was damp or wet. The paper would burn, the tissues would burn, the paper bags would burn, I even managed to fill the house up with smoke, yet no fire.
As it got later into the night, with no fire and the house got colder and I got angrier still no fire. I called the land lord and told him the problem, however, I don´t know enough spanish to understand what he was telling me to do and eventually he hung up on me.
After 3 hours still no fire. We saw smoke from the neigbhors and decided that we would go over and get some of their hot coals to start our fire. Putting all my pride on the shelf I went with frying pan and metal spoon to get fire. We met, we look fire back and...still no fire would light. We gave up after 4 hours of trying and then suddenly...fire appeared out of know where in the stove.
The lesson we learned, is that we needed to meet the neighbors because they are new and are a christian family. God has his plans and purposes, which many times we will never understand. He does what he wants when He wants.

oops

oops, so what if I looked at the wrong day on the bus schedule, it couldn´t make that big a difference. If it wasn´t for that mistake I wouldn´t be making an entry in the internet cafe in Castro, Chiloe. Nope, I would almost be back in Quemchi which is where I belong. We survived another night of terrible weather, where the rain comes from the sky, the ground or sideways it´s hard to tell. The wind was so strong I was sure our house was going to blow away (fortunately it only swaid back and forth) Wind gust of 50+ mph for 9 hours makes for a really long night, not to mention a really cold night. Sometimes it hails to. Winter sure is different down south...way down south.

The Rains Come Down

We are now officially living in Quemchi. We´ve been here almost a week and here are some of the observations. It rains morning, noon, and night. Not your gentle soothing rain, but the fierce sideways rain sometimes coming from the sky and sometimes coming from the ground. The wind blows so hard some nights I wonder if the house will withold. The spanish...it´s tough to call what i´m hearing spanish. As chilean friends in Puerto Montt told me before coming ¨I can´t even understand what they are saying.¨ Makes me think that I´m in the wrong place, but this is where God has called us, and like a tree planted by a river of water I will yield my fruit in season.

Here I Am, send me!

Here I Am send me. That is what my pray has been over the past 6 years as a Christian. Lord, here I am, send me. Well...I have been sent almost as far south as is possible. I find myself in Puerto Montt, Chile. Starting to learn the customs and culture of a new people that until a year ago, I never would have imaged myself here. In a little over a week, I will find myself with my wife on the island of Chiloe in the small fishing village of Quemchi.
As I visited the cabana where we will be living for the next three months at least, I find myself once again finding the humor that God has. Here I am send me, takes me to this little villiage where we know of no other Christians in the entire town. I am also satisfied to know that it is not I that will lead anyone to Christ, it is Christ himself that is already in the town all I need to do is be obdient to do and go where He tells me.

Modern Wonders Never Cease

My wife says I'm a nerd, I can't imagine why. So what if I'm sitting in the corner of the airport on the floor and the Internet. So what if I'm a nerd and think it's cool to write the final blog from Costa Rica sitting here waiting for the plane to leave. (My wife is not terrible, she's wonderful) She said she's not going to say anything else because it will end up in here, well she is correct, I think that's why she left.
There's not much to say. We've been here for four months and I have begun to learn Spanish. (Now she is reading but not saying anything) I speaky da Spanish un poco. (LOL) (Aye Travis) See there isn't much to do in the airport except wait for the plane to arrive so that we can load and fly to Miami and then on to Philly, where supposedly we are to arrive in Chambersburg around three in the morning.

Hudson Taylor

I'm currently reading/have been reading on an off for the past three months The Spiritual Secret of Hudson Taylor. I've been impressed with the fact that Taylor comes across as a normal human being. Many times I'll read an autobiography of a missionary and feel so terrible about my own life. That I don't measure up or have the faith like these people, who seemingly have everything together. I'll find myself thinking do I have what it takes to do what I feel that I'm called to do?
Then I came across the numerous journal entries of Taylor and have been refreshed to see that this giant in the faith of missions struggled mightily with doubt and he freely wrote about his troubles. Yes, he did amazing things in China and yes, God used him incredibly, but he was also a mere man with the same struggles that all of us face. A quick excerpt from his book pg. 134

We have need of patience, and our faithful God brings us into experience which, improved by His blessing, may cultivate in us this grace. Though we seem to be tried at times almost beyond endurance, we never find Him unable or unwilling to help and sustain us; and were our hearts entirely submissive to His will, desiring it and it only to be done, how much fewer and lighter would our afflictions seem.
I have been in much sorrow of late, but the principal cause I find to want of willing submission to, and trustful repose in, God, my Strength. Oh, to desire his will to be done with my whole heart...to seek His glory with a single eye! Oh, to realize more of the fullness of our precious Jesus...to live more in the light of His countenance, to be satisfied with what He bestows...ever looking to Him, following in His footsteps and awaiting His glorious coming! Why do we love Him so little? It is not that He is not lovely. It is not that He does not love us...that was forever proved on Calvary.. Oh, to be sick out of love for Jesus, to be daily, hourly longing, hungering, thirsting for His presence!

Volcan Arenal

This past week, we had off from school because of Semana Santa (holy week). Since there were no classes we took the opportunity to go and see some more of Costa Rica. Our adventures led us up north to the little town of Ciudad Quesada, in search of the volcano know as Arenal. The plan was to spend all day Tuesday and the evening hanging out in the town of Fortuna and sight seeing. Tuesday morning we awoke to heavy rain, that kept coming all day long. Needless to say we weren't able to see the volcano because of the rain and fog. We (Bekii and I and our two friends Joel and Krista) decided to take the advice of a local and leave very early Wednesday morning to see the volcano in the morning. Leaving early meant leaving our house at 5:00am and arriving in La Fortuna the base of the volcano at 6:00am.
When we arrived at 6, I was able to see about 15 feet from the car, the fog was so thick and dense I couldn't see anything. We decided to eat breakfast and see what would happen later. About two hours later it had stopped raining, so we decided to drive and find a place to hike around for a little bit. After finding the perfect spot where signs posted warnings "High Volcanic Activity Enter at own Risk." We thought this would be a good place to hike.
We entered upon the trail and we immediately heard what sounded like a large animal crashing through the woods towards us. We were all pretty uneasy, since it was not a common noise to hear in the woods. As we continued to hike it started to rain and the noises became more frequent. As it turns out the noises that we heard were actually boulders coming from the volcano, crashing down the side of the mountain into the woods below.
As we were leaving the park area, the clouds begin to very quickly lift and we were actually able to see the entire volcano from the bottom to the very top. We were able to see the boulders crashing down the mountain. As they would bounce they would send of a puff of smoke, it was quite a sight. We could see were the flow of lava was coming down the mountain, if it had been dark the lava would have glowed.
The trip up to Arenal was one of the coolest things I have ever seen or heard. Then to finish off the morning we found free hot springs and went and played in them for a little while.

Hosea

So for the past few weeks I've been listening to a series of teaching by Mike Bickel on the book of Hosea. I can't possibly try and tell everything that I've been learning, but I do want to make note of one thing that I have found interesting. Hosea 2:16 "And it shall be in that day says the Lord, that you will call Me 'My Husband,' and no longer call Me 'My Master."
As I thought about that a little bit I've begun to wonder what that means exactly. For when angels address the Lord of the universe they refer to Him as Lord God Almighty, One who is and was and who is to come, Holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty. Angels use the utmost respect when refer to the Lord. We are told to use a completely different language, Hosea 2:16 tells us to call the Lord 'My Husband' and Matthew 6:9 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven..."
I've wondered about who we are in the light of God, that He desires us to call Him Father and Husband. It seems to me that He is truly interested in a relationship with us and that blows my mind, that He would want a personal relationship with little old me.

Astro

This morning I woke up to voices say "Venga, venga, venga" which means come. I couldn't understand why someone would be saying this, it sounded as if they were calling a dog. Well, when I left my room, there was a little puppy to greet me at the door. Our youngest host sister has received a new little puppy named Astro (and yes its from the Jetsons). He's a cute little puppy :)

Mr. Mouse

For those of you that know me, you would know that when I travel to other countries, I can usually manage to embarass myself pretty good or somehow just miss the mark which leads to people laughing at me. So far into my time in Costa Rica I have yet to do anything of the sort (though there is still plenty of time). So far all the funny stories have happen to someone else and I have had the enjoyment of simple watching.
The latest of events comes once again from my Tico family. Bekii and I had settled down for a nice movie on Wednesday night, when all of a sudden we heard a scream of utter terror from Melissa our host sister. We were immediately concerned, because this scream wasn't the oh you scared me scream, this was the my life is just about over type of scream. I was thinking that some robber had broken into the house and I was going to have you use my special combat skills that I learned from all my years of watching wrestling on TV. We crept into the kitchen and didn't see or hear anything and then out into the office area, where we heard Melissa whimpering. Bekii knocked on the bedroom door to ask what had happen. All I hear from the office is El Raton or mouse/rat. So the scream of death was over Mr. Mickey Mouse that was interested in a bite to eat for dinner, it was unfortunate that he came to eat the same time as Melissa.
I tell this story in good humor because I'm sure we all have our own fears that cause remarkably improper reactions, so I hope that I will not have to write any stories about my little friends that scare me to death :).

Fire!!!

Fire!!! This story is a little old, but still worth sharing. Last week around 11:30 at night, I was lying in bed and I noticed an unusual smell in the room. Our Tico mother enjoys cooking meals for the next day late at night, so I didn't think much about the odor at first. As I was lying there I started thinking to myself "that doesn't smell like cooking smoke, that smells like fire smoke." I was debating whether to get out of bed or not, but decided if the house was on fire and I didn't do anything because I was too lazy that excuse wasn't going to cut it in the morning. I walked over to our widow that over looks the kitchen and noticed an orange glow coming from the oven. About that same time our tico mom open the oven door and the biggest fire ball I've ever seen came exploding from the oven. Needless to say when she screamed and I jumped people started emerging from their rooms. Melissa our host sister yells at her mom to through water on the fire. I'm thinking that it's a grease fire and water is not going to help this situation at all. Thankfully no water was thrown on the fire, the oven door was simply shut and the flames were gone. The house smelled like smoke for the rest of the evening and we all had a good laugh in the morning.

First try

Hello from the beautiful tropics of Costa Rica. Since this is my first attempt at the blog I shall keep things simple. Today it is raining, which is unusually expect that this is the dry season and it is not supposed to rain for another few months. Hopefully some green will return to the very brown ground.
An interesting tidbit that I just learned. Costa Rica has telemarketers. One just called for our personal phone asking for our host mom. I managed to understand enough to pass the phone off to our mom is was on another business call and didn't seem very happy to have to talk to this other gentleman. Oh well, life goes.