Quiero Taco Bell?

January 29-We had youth group tonight.  It was Sarah and I’s job to pick out games for the kids to do. Now just to recap, the people who we interact the most with are Phil and Rebecca (Phil is the pastor of the Calvary Chapel here), Matt and Brooke (they run the Potter’s Field Kid’s after school program), Eddy (21, lives in the church and works there), and Daniel (15, is on the worship team and is really involved in the church so we see him a lot).  These 6 are the only people who can actually communicate in English with us.  I just assumed that since both Eddy and Daniel could speak English, then most of the teenagers knew at least a little. I guess I was being really naïve when I thought I could actually explain the games in English. 

 We got to the church and there were about 20 kids, most of them in middle school.  There were only 4 girls, and one of them was sitting by herself so I went to talk to her. I asked her name in English and she just said no. So I asked in Spanish and she said Gabriella.  So I also asked how old she was in Spanish. And that was pretty much the extent of the conversation because I couldn’t think at the time of any other questions I could ask her that I could translate into Spanish except like "quiero taco bell?" or something stupid like that.  So after standing there awkwardly for about a minute I went up to Eddy and asked if any of them actually spoke Spanish.  2 boys out of this group could speak just a little.  Thankfully we had Pastor Phil to translate for me as I explained the games, but for next week I’m going to try to explain it all in Spanish myself.

 I want to connect with these kids so bad! The boys were easy enough.  I had a great time with them laughing and goofing off.  But Gabriella separates herself from the group (I went up to her periodically while others were playing games to try to talk in Spanish to her), and the 3 other girls have no interest in participating in anything.  Which actually isn’t that different from youth group in the States… But anyways prayer for reaching these kids in their language is much appreciated!

Running the Race

January 27- Yesterday, Sarah, Eddy and I ran some errands for Pastor Phil. We walked to a small grocery to buy some food for a family in need. So we grabbed the groceries and set off to find this house. We probably only walked a total of 2 miles, but it was extremely hot (even Rebecca mentioned that that day was particularly hot), I only had my thin, falling apart flip flops, and the whole time we were on a rocky dirt road. We were all sweating and getting dusty and dirty plus carrying large heavy bags of food. As we wandered around trying to find this small house in the heat and Eddy reenacted how the howler monkeys would pee on us if we got too close to them, my mind started drifting…


The most uncomfortable things that happen to me really are nothing. I started thinking about the hot, dusty road that Jesus walked on, ripped apart and beaten, carrying a burden much greater then my little grocery sacks to be crushed by the wrath of his Father.

So often I take for granted how so very blessed I am. Never in my life have I had the right to complain. Even if I sell everything I have to live in Africa I still won’t have made a sacrifice. Everything that I have done is nothing compared to Christ. So in him I will boast alone! Paul Washer said in one of his sermons once that when a person is drowning, you aren’t suppose to try and save them without a flotation device or something because that person can drag down 3 people with them in their desperation. In the same way, we are to cling with everything to CHRIST because without HIM there is NOTHING!

It amazes me that despite my ungratefulness, pride, selfishness, shortcomings, my whatever, it doesn’t matter, that God loves me exactly as He says He does. Because I am his beloved… The past probably 6 months I’ve been struggling with when exactly I was saved. I am secure in my faith and I know that I am saved, but I struggled with whether I was saved when I was a little kid, or if it were more recently because of all of the trouble and stupid things that I have done in the past 5 years. The exact date or even year doesn’t matter!

I have always been His <3

Scorpians, Surfing, and Street Witnessing

January 24- Today we organized and made up some crafts for the Potter’s Field kids. Then we went back to our house before going to the beach ministry. All was just fine until I saw something black in the curtains. Figuring it was just another cockroach which we find and get rid of all the time, I opened up the curtains. It wasn’t a cockroach. We found our first scorpion. I figured we had two options: get it out ourselves, or run to Pastor Phil to get him to kill it. Neither Sarah or I were exactly excited to get near to the scorpion, but on the other hand, if we left it could move and we might not be able to find it again and it might appear in our beds (this has happened with the roaches except we just lose them and can’t find them for a while). This is the missions field right? We eat scorpions for breakfast! (figuratively at least….we had Cheerio’s). So I strapped on my bug stompin’ shoes and grabbed our broom and smacked the thing over and over. Well that totally failed. It had a pretty good grip on our curtains and I didn’t want to completely squish it and have to wash it off. So I took the curtain rod down and stuck it outside and was able to loosen its grip and throw it to the ground. I was victorious for about 5 seconds before it ran back into the house, behind the door, and up the wall. I was just sick of the nasty thing and smacked it a few times with the broom and swept it to the midget chickens outside. Unfortunately, they didn’t eat it, but at least the scorpion is gone.

Anyways, on a more important note, today we got to go to the beach and watch Pastor Phil and Eddy surf and just walk around. Then we went into Tamarindo and went to "Christian Surfers" Alex (who goes to the calvary chapel in Villa Rreal) played some songs and a man stood up on the bench and preached (all in Spanish of course) I couldn't understand much, but I got to talk to a tourist a bit. I'm not sure where she thought I was from because afterwards she wanted me to take a picture with her and Eddy (Eddy is from Nicaragua and very obviously looks it) It was so amazing, God is doing some awesome things here in Costa Rica!

charades and chickens

January 23- Part 1 Every morning we wake up to the midget chickens that our landlord, Juan, owns. We keep the door and windows open because it’s so hot. I’m just waiting for one to come into the apartment… I’ve named them Crispy, Grilled, McNugget, Country Fried, and Charlie.


I got to play Charades with our neighbor today. She doesn’t speak English, but she came over and Sarah and I just stood there trying to figure out what she was saying. I got that her name is Lily and was offering us her dryer (a really small and quick little thing). She was very sweet and liked to laugh at my inability and communicate.

Today we also had church for the first time. Capilla Del Calvario, like most buildings here, doesn’t have any walls. It starts at 5p.m. I’m assuming because everyone would not be able to pay attention in the heat. Sarah and I were in the nursery. Everything was pretty much like how it was back in the States except the kids were screaming in Spanish instead of English. It became frustrating because when they are that young, most of them can talk, but they don’t know any English.

Things to learn before volunteering to work with the young kids:

• Animals

• colors

• “Don’t eat that”

• “be careful you’re going to hurt yourself”

• “get that box off your head you are going to run into something”

• “told ya so”

From what I know so far, we won’t be working with the Potter’s Field Kids for about a month. So for now our loose schedule will be taking orders from Brooke and Matt in the morning/afternoon Monday-Friday. Monday night they do street witnessing and hand out food. Tuesday night we have off and will probably spend some time hanging out with Pastor Phil and Rebecca or Brooke and Matt. Wednesday we have the choice of either going to a home group Bible study at Pastor Phil’s that will be all in English or a youth group that’s in a different town about 20 minutes away. Thursday we are babysitting so pastor Phil can spend some time with his wife, and Friday we will be leaders at a youth group held at the church. They don’t have any steady female leaders which they really need.

Prayer requests-

1. For Sarah and I to be able to communicate better in Spanish

2. They want to have me play guitar for the church. I’m not sure it’s something I can do so I need guidance

3. Preparations for the Potter’s Field Kids

4. Getting use to the culture. They are very save face and I think there’s a lot of American things that we do that could offend them

5. The ability to stand up and be bold to help this kids and to depend absolutely and completely on God



(And on a less important note I saw a grasshopper the size of my forearm. I think that’s what John the Baptist use to eat because it seriously had some meat on it)

January 22- Today, we got picked up Pastor Phil and Rebecca along with their 3 kids, Eden, Ezekiel, and Elijah to go to the beach. We were only there for about an hour, but we had a lot of fun and it was really beautiful. The kids have no fear! They were running straight into the waves (a lot of them were pretty big too) and went out pretty far.


Part 2- We were invited to Brooke and Matt’s house for dinner. They also have 3 kids-Ethan, Isabelle, and Audrey. We finally were filled in a little bit about what exactly we are going to be doing. I still don’t know much, but it sounds like a VBS/afterschool program on steroids with 7x the kids. And I am so excited! I taught little 5-day clubs when I was 12-15ish years old, but then I was telling them about a God I didn’t really know. Now, I can tell them about my Jesus, who I know, who I’ve experienced, who has turned my world upside-down :)

Finally Arrived!

Hey everyone! We didn’t have internet or anyway to communicate the first couple days in Costa Rica, so I just wrote on Microsoft Word and copy pasted. Its really hard to connect to the internet, but I'll try to keep updated :)
January 21-We were picked up by Pastor Phil’s wife, Rebecca, and another lady named Brooke. We are staying in a small town called Villa Rreal. Almost no one speaks English. However, Tamarindo is about a 10 minute drive where there are a lot of tourist spots so more speak English there. They talked about how in Costa Rica they have periods of time (usually 1-2 months) of different insects. We just missed the 6” grasshoppers. Shucks. For the next month or two, we will be experiencing jumping brown spiders and just might make it for scorpion season. The funny thing is, is that they talk about it the way we talk about rabbits and squirrels in Montana. Except bunnies aren’t poisonous... I half expected them to say that they water turns into blood and every once in a while their first born die.


Sarah and I are staying in a small one-bedroom apartment. It’s pretty awesome, we are very thankful for it. The first 5 minutes we were in the apartment by ourselves we found 2 cockroaches. One we trapped under a cup and got it out. The other is still in here…somewhere… Anyways, we have a mini stove and fridge with a large sink to do laundry. We have running water, though it only is cold. I am blessed and so thankful to be here!

I Am A Disciple of Jesus Christ

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power.
The die has been cast. I've stepped over the line.

The love of God controls me. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple
of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or back away.
My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure.

I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning,
smooth and ease, colorless dreams, mundane talking, cheap giving, and
dwarfed roles.

I no longer need prosperity, position, promotion, preeminence, or
popularity.

I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or
rewarded.

I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk in patience, live by
prayer, and labor with power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is the Kingdom of God. My road
is narrow. My way is rough. My companions few. My guide reliable. My
mission clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back,
deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of
adversaries, negotiate at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of
mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up until I've stayed up, stored up, prayed
up, paid up, spoken up, for the cause of Christ.
I must go until He comes, give until I drop, teach until all know, run
until He stops me.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.



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