Just When You Think You've Got It...

Hola mis amigos y mi familia! I am sorry that we have not written in a couple of weeks. Every time I thought about writing, something seemed to pop up. Plus, we have been going to bed super early. When you wake up at 6 (or before) and your mind is constantly translating Spanish to English and then English to Spanish and back again, life becomes really tiring.

This past weekend I was able to go to a women's retreat with the ladies from school. Jon and the kids hung out at the house and had a good time. Jon even ventured in a taxi with both of them and took them to the mall.

But in all seriousness, God showed up in an amazing way during the retreat and really challenged me in a new way. The Holy Spirit keeps bringing to mind my need to love others as God loves them. Easier said then done, right? But in all reality, the passage in I Corinthians 13:1-3 has been echoing in my mind for the past few weeks: "If I could speak all the languages of earth (especially Spanish) and of angel, but didn't love others, I would be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." My love for God and of others needs to be the motivation for which I do everything, not prideful or selfish things. I am praying that God would allow me to see His children as He sees them and not as my mortal eyes do.

School continues to move along and we are moving right along with it. There are days and even minutes where I think to myself, "Wow, I actually know Spanish." But then, of course, I get a not so subtle reminder that I really don't. It is hard to have a conversation where you can only talk in present tense. Though we are starting to learn some ways to express ideas in the future. This past week I studied clothes, so I am now capable of describing what you are wearing, your shoes, undergarments, and accessories. If anyone needs help with this, let me know.

My ESL class has been going well. It has been a wonderful experience for me as I have been stretched to think differently about teaching English. Even though I was an English teacher, this is a totally different environment and structure. We have been working on practicing English while studying about job, interviewing, and writing applications.

The kids are doing well and picking up more Spanish every day.
Praises:

1. That I was able to go on a short retreat.
2. Praise God that He loves us enough to change us more into His likeness.
3. For Carla, our house helper. She is such a blessing to us and I would not be able to study or concentrate on Spanish without her.
   

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray that our minds would be clear as we learn Spanish.
2. Pray for the concluding session in ESL. During the break we will have a special gospel presentation for the students and we are praying now that God would prepare their hearts for this time.
3. Pray for protection (physical, spiritual, and mental) as we continue to live here in Costa Rica.

Asking God to Open Our Eyes

This past week was an exciting, yet very busy week. Jon and I both had several tests and several other activities that we needed to do. On Wednesday I started my ESL class. It was a wonderful time of getting to know the students and trying to access how much English they knew. I was impressed by how well several of them spoke. We spent the beginning of the class introducing ourselves. I am very thankful that my group was talkative. Apparently, in the past that has not always been the case.

During the break, we were able to visit more, share some refreshments, and listen to a short Bible lesson. The directors of the program teach an English song and then give a short devotional. Teaching English is only the means by which we use to get people to the classes. Our real heart is to be able to share the love of Christ with them. I was deeply encouraged by my time with the students. They were so appreciative and thankful for my time and the help I was willing to give. During the second half of the class, I handed out pictures from a magazine and asked them to describe as many things as they could while focusing on the use of adjectives. It is going to be a challenge for me to plan lessons, but I enjoyed being able to teach again. When we concluded our first session, several of the women gave me hugs when they left and assured me they would be back next week. One of the men wanted me to meet his daughter, who was in the beginner's class, to practice her English. I started to speak in Spanish and he stopped me and said, "No. No, in English." I complied, but I was hoping to practice my Spanish on her.

Jon and I both have gotten tutors to give us extra speaking time. This has been a good time for us to work on those things that are giving us some trouble. We always have to keep in mind that we are not doing this not just so we can speak Spanish, but that we might be able to proclaim the gospel to those who have never heard...in Spanish. Language is also a means by which we can really start to understand the culture of the people who God has called us to. We are thankful for all you who have prayed and given to financially...God has used you to be a tremendous blessing in our lives.

On a personal note: God has again reminded me of His provision in our lives. All that we have is from Him. As we were shopping for food yesterday at Hipermas ("Wal-mart"), I realized that many people had mainly rice and beans in their carts. Don't get me wrong, I like rice and beans, but eating it every day does get a little old. I was convicted by my own selfish heart as I saw families with little in their carts but that. We are so blessed to be provided for in all that we have--especially being able to eat a variety of foods. This small realization may be a simple thing, but it was one more way that God prodded my heart and reminded me that life's not about me.

Prayer Requests:
1. May our eyes be open to what the Lord would teach us here.
2. Prayer that we would not be prideful of our abilities, but rather trust in Him to accomplish in us what He wants.
3. Pray for continued safety and good health. It is hard to miss classes.
4. Pray for clear minds to concentrate on school and retain information. We have new information coming at us each day.

Praise:
1. This week is "Spiritual Emphasis Week" at school. This gives us the opportunity to take a little break from homework and listen to the Word of God.

Quick Update

This has been an interesting week for our home. Amanda has been sick the entire week with a high fever and sore throat. We took here to the school doctor who diagnosed here with strep throat. It's never good when momma is sick. Daddy is alright for the most part, but there is no replacing mommy. Sick momma is still more capable then a healthy daddy :). We are praying that she'll be up and about and ready for school on Monday.

We didn't have class today, so I took the kids with some other couples to the children's museum. This was also our first ride on the public bus. The Parkman squeeled with glee while riding around. I felt like a kid again on the bus. Good times. The museum was a lot of fun and there was a lot of things for them to do. It is interesting the differences in the cultures. There were a lot of things that you'd never seen in a museum in the States. I'm thinking about bringing our kids back when they're older so we can do the "birds and the bees" talk. I'm sure all the really graphic pictures and diagrams will help. Thankfully they're still too little to "get" all that there was, so no awkward questions were asked during the tour. Plus, momma wasn't around so I could say, "Ask mommy". I would post some of the pictures of the stuff, but I think Amanda would hit me.

Anyway, here's a couple of the PG rated pictures for all to enjoy.

Kendall looking for gold in the dirt pile. We are exploring alternate methods of raising support. This one might not work out to well.

Parker sitting in the airplane. He likes the planes and helicopters.

God's Overflowing Grace and Other Random Happenings

This week at chapel we heard a wonderful message about God's amazing and overflowing grace. The speaker, another student at the school, used the illustration of Jesus's first miracle of turning the water into wine. The speaker helped us realize how Jesus in fact made too much wine for the wedding feast. Did Jesus not know that it was the end of the party? Did Jesus not calculate correctly? No, that wasn't it at all. Jesus took the opportunity to show how he was the ultimate provider and that he had enough "grace" to go around. You can never be reminded too many times of how God's grace is sufficient for you. If Jesus is your Savior, there is never anything that we can do that falls outside of his grace for us. We are certainly in need of God's grace right now as we fumble through conjugating verbs and try to form questions and responses with people we meet.

We were all finally able to go to church together this week. The worship time was wonderful and the kids did ok. It is a little stressful to have Kendall and Parker in with us during the 40 minutes of singing. We had to entertain them with crackers, juice, cars, and drawing.

It was neat to hear familiar worship songs, even though they were in Spanish. Because we knew the tunes, it was easier to sing the words. I could actually recognize a lot of the words. Yeah! The church we went to is fairly close to our house and several other students from the school also have been going there. Two other boys from Kendall's class were there. It was nice to have some familiarity for her since she is still trying to transition into being here.

Jon starts with his tutor this week and he's really excited to get the extra practice. I still may get one too because I have already missed several days because of the kids being sick and I am now sick. This Wednesday I will be starting my ESL (English as a second language) classes. The AMCA House, where I will be teaching, offers relatively free classes to anyone who wants to learn English. I will be paired up with another student from school and we will work together to build relationships and prayerfully use the classes as a way to communicate the gospel. I will have two classes with a break in between. During the break, there will be coffee and a short devotional (in Spanish). I'm super excited about this opportunity.

Praises:
-Kendall and Parker are both feeling better.
-Several people have increased or given new support to us over the last month. This is a tremondous blessing because we still need about 13% more to reach our 100% support goal.
-We all were able to go to church this weekend.

Prayer Requests:
-Kendall seems to be having a hard time adjusting to being gone all day and she is acting out at home. Although this is totally normal, especially for a 3 year old, Jon and I want to be good parents and we are asking the Lord for wisdom in how to best deal with her.
-Pray that I would be able to catch up on my school work since I have missed two days this week due to sickness.
-Pray that I would be well enough to start my first week of ESL classes on Wednesday.

Thank you for your prayers.

Poco a poco (little by little)

Our theme this week has been "poco a poco," which is the Tico way of saying, "little by little." This past week of school has been humbling to say the least. Our classes require a lot of preparation. Each class builds on the other and you have to stay on top of things. I am trying to not be discouraged by my process or lack there of. Most of our classes also require you to spell new words constantly and reading aloud. I'm not a fan of reading out loud in English, I know strange for an English teacher, let alone in Spanish. There is no hiding with only 4 students.

As we said before, we have a house helper, who comes three times a week. We had a funny miscommunication on Monday. I had taken the sheets off and put new ones on to help her out because I didn't want her to worry about doing them. Well, when we got home, through a series of poor attempts at communicating, we realized that she had taken the new sheets off, washed them again, and put them back on the beds. I felt so bad, but she did make the beds better than I had which was nice.

The highlight of the week for me was my grammar class on Friday. We were reviewing adjectives and articles for an upcoming test. The teacher asked us to describe the parable of the sower. He drew four simple pictures and we had to describe each scene. Once we did that as a class, we split up into small groups and had to select a story of our own. My group decided to do Noah's ark. Our phrases and pictures were very elementary, well probably more like preschool, but we had fun doing it. We were all excited to be able to communicate a Bible story, even though it was done in the simplest of terms. Our teacher laughed with us as we delighted in our small accomplishment.

Jon and Kendall were able to go to church on Sunday. I stayed home with Parker who had a fever. They seemed to enjoy the service though it was differnt than what we are used to.

Kendall and I have been watching Spanish cartoons to help with our Spanish. It's fun to recognize words during the programs. I also find myself reading the signs and billboards to see if I can read them or pronounce the words. My brain is so full of words and we haven't even started verbs yet--that's tomorrow's class.

Praises: Kendall's ultrasound for her reoccurring UTIs showed no abnormalities.
We are making some wonderful friends here at the school.
More language learning is helping me be able to communicate better with our house helper Carla.

Prayer Requests:
1)Parker has a fever now and we go to the doctor tomorrow. The doctor is coming to the school early to see us. It is a blessing to have such a wonderful doctor connected with the school. Pray that he would get better soon and that our bodies would adjust to the new environment. It's really hard to miss class and we can't take the kids to school if they are sick.
2)Pray against attacks from the enemey. It is easy to feel discouraged. Pray that we would take every thought captive for Christ.
3)Pray for possible ministry opportunities here. There is another school close to ours that teaches ESL (English as a second language) classes. I would like to look into working there to get some experience before Colombia. Jon also wants to work with a youth ministry that meets once a week on Thursdays.

May God bless you and keep you. May He shine His face upon you and give you peace.

Not in Kansas

Whenever you go to a new place or culture, you realize fairly quickly that things may not be exactly how you remember them from back home. Our friends Daniel and Sarah put together a list of some of these things...so I'm borrowing a few from their page and adding some of our own. You can see their page here.

*Spanking your children is illegal and is considered corporal punishment. (Now this is a law that Kendall can really get behind)...no pun intended.

*Blowing your nose with a tissue in public or around any "Tico" (Costa Rican) is considered very bad manners. You are to either leave the room and blow your nose in private or sniffle your way through the day.

*We discovered last week that the "sand" or "dirt" on the playground that our children play at on a regular basis is manure. No wonder they are so filthy dirty when they come home from the park! (Don't worry, it's clean manure)

*Stop signs don't serve any purpose--they don't even mean "yield."

*All of the man hole covers and tops of gutter drains are missing everywhere. People steal them to sell as scrap metal. We had a "Tico" friend here tell us they are "gringo traps." (Gringo is a slang term for Americans)

These are mine:

*Abortion is illegal here.

*At church yesterday, there were some volunteers who would walk up and down the isles with tissues in case anyone was crying and needed to dry their tears.... I didn't need one. But after sitting with a squirmy 3 y.o. I did after 2hrs and 15 minute service.

*When passing someone on the streets, greetings are generally met with silence.

*A friend recently told us that whenever a law is passed, anyone can contest that law as being "unfair" and they are required to have a debate regarding the law's fairness and legality... This was recently done with Costa Rica's desire to give stiffer penalties for drunk driving. Before the law, drunk drivers were just given a fine, now the law gives jail-time. This law is now being contested.

Here's a few pictures of our school and our children... in case you've forgotten what they look like.

Love Hurts

Some of my fellow classmates discussing Spanish

Fellow SAM missionary checking for light-leaks

I'm in need of special attention

A look up at the admin. building

First Week

Well, we have finished our first week of classes and boy was it a humbling experience. You know it's not every day that you begin down the road of learning something that you won't really master even if you study it for the rest of your life. We feel like children again. Even though it can be extremely frustrating, it's been really a fun week. We both really like the people in our classes. Amanda has all girls in her class and I have a mix in mine. It's amazing what you begin to pick up on as the teachers speak Spanish 98% of the time.

We are beginning to pick up on a lot of vocabulary and sentence structure. It's really satisfying when the teacher says something and you can actually understand what they are trying to communicate. It's funny though, many times the people sitting next to you know just as little as you do, and when the teacher says something that we don't understand, we will "pool" our ignorance together and come up with what we think the teacher might be saying. Amanda and I both have 2 hours of Grammar that have 8 students, then we have an hour of language and phonetics that each contain 4 people. It's really nice having classes this small, but sometimes it can be quite uncomfortable as there is nowhere to hide. Amanda has done really well on the 3 tests that she has taken this week. We are both thankful for that.

But God continues to be good to us. One of the things that we have taken advantage of while we are here is what they call an empleada...or basically a house helper. While this might be an extravagance in the US, it's very common here. We see it as means of helping a Costa Rican provide for their family, and also alleviating us from several things that would take away from the purpose of our being here... learning Spanish. I'm not sure that we will have one in Colombia, but while we are here it's a blessing.

Our helpers name is Carla and she's a very sweet lady. She not only helps with the things around the house, but she also helps us learn Spanish. As we eat lunch we "practice" our Spanish on her and she very graciously helps us learn new words and phrases. We are very thankful for this.

Prayer Requests for our Family:

Kendall has been sick for that last few days. At times she has had a relatively high fever and keeps saying that her stomach is hurting. We've talked to the doctor here and we are keeping a close eye on her. We just want her to return to feeling better soon.

Also, just like most big cities around the world, safety is always a concern. Please join us in prayer for wisdom and protection

Last thing, we really desire to be diligent in our studies. Please pray that we persevere and learn to be humble and laugh at ourselves as we will undoubtedly make mistakes...over and over and over.

Laughing is a Good Thing

Well, we have had quite the past 10 days: moving into a new apartment, attending language school orientation, visiting the farmer's market, tasting "authentic" Costa Rico Chinese food, and surviving our first earthquake. Yes, I said earthquake. Of the last 10 days, that was our most memorable experience. It was a 6.2 earthquake and one of the biggest that they have seen in a while. Thankfully, God kept us safe and we were all together (including the kids). We were in the process of having an interview with one of the directors of the school when the walls started shaking. For those who have never experienced an earthquake before, it was quite unsettling. You felt as if you had just gotten off a roller coaster and things were still spinning. Even after it was over, we felt like we were moving up and down.

Kendall was more aware of what was going on and asked, "Did God do that?" It gave us a good opportunity to tell her how God knows all that goes on and helps us through them. When we concluded the meeting, she promptly reminded us that we should pray before we left. The faith of a child is a wonderful thing.

Our orientation classes went well. The kids have been in their classes too this week and have done well. Kendall has enjoyed making new friends and she's already picking up on the Spanish. Just yesterday I heard her playing with her dolls and she said, "Como se llama?" which means "What is your name?" Parker has also started to understand some Spanish. Sometimes he repeats Spanish words better than English.

School is about a 12 minute walk from our apartment. We push Parker in the stroller and Kendall walks. She likes to sing on the way. There's nothing like trying to lay low. We obviously stick out, but this gives us the ability to demonstrate Christ's love to those we meet by being gracious and appreciative for their help. We need a lot of help, so any guidance and assistance with words and the general workings of things is great.

We have had some humorous situations lately. As we fared the farmer's market on Saturday, several vendors laughed at my pronunciation and lack of vocabulary. Thankfully, I was able to laugh with them. Laughing was a piece of advice that our instructors emphasized. It's good to not take yourself too seriously. Plus, this is why we're here--to learn Spanish. We never want to allow our pride to get in the way of our learning and God being able to use us.

Our classes start on Monday morning. Jon and I won't be in any classes together, but we do have the same free period. We will both be taking two grammar classes, phonics, and language (conversation). We start classes at 7:30 and go till 12:05. It will be a long morning, but we will have the afternoon to get things done.

Our work load is going to be challenging and the school does not "sugarcoat" how difficult it is going to be. I can feel myself getting a little anxious already, but the academic director gave us an encouraging word to help us keep things in perspective. She quoted Matthew 24: 14: "This good news will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come." Our language study is part of Christ's returning. We are here so that through the Holy Spirit we can effectively communicate the gospel. Even though school is going to be challenging, the goal of knowing Spanish so we can be involved in cross-cultural ministry, is more important than getting an A on a test. Our depth of language learning is going to increase our depth of ministry involvement.

Please pray that we would know how to balance all the new things coming at us. Pray also that the kids would continue to do well and we would stay healthy. Give God praise for a relatively easy adjustment and the opportunity to be around like-minded people who are all going through this together.

These pics are from a trip to the Park.

Just a Bunch of Gringos

Well, we have finally made it to Costa Rica. I'm sitting here in our living room with the doors open, the breeze blowing, it's about 70 degrees, and the kids are sleeping. God is good :). The kids did great on the planes and were really quite compliant. It's amazing what a little Dramamine can do. Me on the other hand, never wants to travel through the airport again with as much stuff as we had...never ever ever. I had the car seat connected to my backpack, making me look like a giant gringo turtle, while pushing a stroller full of bags and carry another stroller on my other arm. If people could do that just once in their lives, as I know most of you have, and understand that Hell is so much worse than that, there would be a great revival in this land. Thankfully Amanda is much more patient and understanding than I am. She helped to calm me down some.

But I digress...God is still good and it's over now :)

We are safe and sound in our little apartment a few blocks from the school. We live about 1 1/2 minute walk to a nice little grocery store where we can buy oreos if the mood strikes. We have great views all around us, but all that really pales in comparison to how wonderful God is. Right above us is another missionary family and the father's name is Chip. He reminds me of Columbia Chip in that he's just a humble guy who loves the Lord and understands what an amazing thing it is to serve Him.

We are still trying to make our little apartment home for the next 8 months. That should be interesting. Amanda and the kids are adjustinging really well, but part of me is still waiting for the culture shock to take it's toll. But it may not. The kids are enjoying playing in our little yard where I expect many a wound for Parker. We are still praying that God would give us flexible and open hearts. We are also praying that God will keep us focused on Him during this whole process of trying to adjust and learn a new culture and language. It's neat for me to think of Christ and his entrance into a culture and language and His desire to become part of us. That's what our desire is with the Hispanic culture. We understand that this might take the rest of our lives...but that's o.k. with us.

Our email if you're interested is jahoward@southamericamission.org

Moving onward

San Jose, Costa Rica

Well, we have bought our planes tickets for Costa Rica and we are headed out on Jan 1st. We are at about 85% of our monthly support which is truly incredible and we will continue raising support from afar. God has truly blessed our family, and we are excited about what lies ahead for our family. I'm not sure Kendall really grasps what's headed our way, but wherever there's people, she's satisfied.

We will essentially be full-time language students at the Spanish Language Institute. Even Kendall will be doing language learning while we are there. Parker is still working on English, so we'll try and cut him slack as far as the Spanish is concerned. We will be in school for 2 terms, or about 8 months. We are praying that we will be somewhat fluent when we leave school. We will continue our language learning once we get to Santa Marta.

We have what's called a Big Brother/Sister down in Costa Rica that have already secured us our apartment which we are pretty excited about. They will also meet us at the airport and help us get settled that first night we fly in. These are the kind of things that make us thankful for these people.

Here is a picture of the back yard of our apartment. That swingset might as well be Disneyland for our kids. They love being outside. It's a nice little apartment that is about a 5 min walk (adult walking) from the school. From what we understand, the apartment is located in a fairly quiet spot and has some really good neighbors.

Here is a picture of the kitchen...Children not included.

This place is quite a blessing for which we are extremely thankful for. We are excited to be in a place where it's just our little family.




So, for those of you who have never traveled outside of the US and might be wondering if they have hot-water... here is your answer. This is what they affectionately refer to as the "Widow-maker". Just in case you can't see why. Those are electrical wires running out of the top of the shower head. They heat up an element inside the head and shazam... lukewarm water will flow. It will take the edge off of it and keep us from suffering from hypothermia.

This is really just a minor thing, but these are the kinda things that we will adjust our lives to and will become "normal". We pray that God will give us flexible hearts and minds.