There are no words. Well, there are a few...

 The summer is winding down for us here in Alajuelita. In CR it's actually not summer, but rather rainy season. But as far as teams-related ministry, the months of May - August are SUPER busy. It's always amazing to me all that God does through the short-term groups that come. A lot is accomplished, lives are changed, and we are always more in awe of our Great God!! Here's a glimpse of what's been going on.

Olivia with our sweet friend Whitlee, waiting to pick up a team at the airport.

With the Celebration Marrieds Team, delivering a sewing machine to a single mother. She said "It's beautiful." 

With the Celebration Children's Ministry Team, we visited sponsored kids, and it was powerful to see just how much it meant to the children and their families.

Lots & lots of feeding stations this summer. This one, in Upper Tiribi, was hosted by the Sub30 team, and  almost 200 kids came out to get a meal.

With the Mandarin Presbyterian Youth Group, as they dedicated a new home to the Lord. I love the emotion on the father's face. It was a very emotional day.

The inside of Maria's home, in Nuevo Millenium, where the sewage tank literally exploded inside their house.  They live in an area where we are prohibited from building or improving, so it's very hard to see something like this happen. 

One of our Summer Interns, Kyle. This photo was taken by Olivia. It was such a blessing to have Kyle and Virginia here this summer to help. 

Enjoying an afternoon in a local park. 

The finished home at one of our very challenging job-sites. The previous house had mud/dirt floors, and the team from Ridgecrest worked very hard in the mud to build the family a new house on stilts.

This is the family that received the house in the photo above. I love the joy on their faces.

Building a new house for a family from the local church here with the Vancleave Team.

Verbena Feeding Station - every Saturday we go to one of the largest impoverished areas and serve lunch. Typically there are between 75-100 kids who attend.

FUSE team praying with families, face painting and playing soccer in the park of Alajuelita. 

One of the highlights of our summer was working with the team from Grandview Baptist, The Crash. The Youth Pastor, Allen, is an old friend of Heather's, so it was a huge blessing to serve together here in Costa. Here is Allen, handing the keys to our friend Carlos, who received a new home that week. 

The Crash picking up garbage in Alajuelinda, the neighborhood where they served for a  week.

The group of children who prayed to receive Christ on the last day of VBS in Alajuelinda.

 

Our family with Allen on their last day here.

We still have a few more teams in August, and then we will have a little time to rest. It has been such a blessing to be a part of this time, and we are very much looking forward to a time to refresh in the weeks ahead, so that we can continue serving. Please be in prayer for all the families who received homes this summer, the children and adults who are new believers, the local church here, and the 6:8 Staff. This post by all means did not cover every team that served this summer, or all the things that took place. Thanks to all of you who support us in prayer, financially, and even coming to serve alongside us here in CR. God is so good!!

A Lesson in Contentment

The past week our family had the privilege of working alongside the team from San Jose Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Every week that we have teams here we're so glad, but this week was especially great since the group was from our home church.

Throughout the week the team did various things, such as taking food to families, single moms, and widows. They also built new walls for a family from our church here in Alajuelita. They prayed with countless people, for their health, safety, peace.

All in all, it was an awesome week. We even saw a volcano. =)

But the moment that sticks out in my mind to sum up the week was a moment we spent with our Pastor's family on the team's last day here. We were invited up to have "cafecito", which means coffee and a snack, typically bread.

It was an awesome time of fellowship and encouragement.

Pastor Miguel took a few minutes at the end, to tell us a little about his parents. They are truly amazing people, and I feel blessed just to know them. Not only are they hardworking, hospitable people, they truly love the Lord and it is apparent in all they do. It's so great to walk up to church on Sunday morning and see their smiling faces.

Don Miguel and Flora have been married for forty years, and they have been believers for 36 of those years. Their children are an amazing testimony to the kind of people they are. Two of their children serve as Pastors, another as a Children's Minister. And they have another son who also loves the Lord.

But the thing he said that really stuck with me was this: "My parents have learned how to be content with whatever they have, in whatever situation."

I pray that I will strive to follow their lead and be content. Not content to the point where I do not try to improve, but content with what God has given us. Content with how He provides, with how He leads.

I am so thankful for having the opportunity to see such an important Biblical lesson lived out in the lives of Miguel and Flora.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:12

Be a Neighbor!

Before the 6:8 website was redesigned, there was a song called "Hookers and Robbers" by Charlie Hall that use to play while you viewed the site. It really was a good fit for the ministry that God is doing here in Costa Rica. There are certainly a lot of hookers around here, but I believe there are probably fifty times as many robbers in this area. Around here you can never let your guard down. For example, you never leave any thing valuable, or anything that might appear to be valuable in your car. If you have an empty back pack in your car, thieves will break in to your car just in case there is something in it. When we serve at our feeding center at Celebration Church, you do not set anything down and walk away from it for even a moment. If you do, it will be gone.

We have been living in the house we are in for 8 months. We are in a "gated" community. Now don't let that fool you, it's not like a gated community in the states. It simply has a concrete walls surrounding the perimeter and 24-7 security guards on duty. And though there is a wall surrounding the perimeter, some parts of the wall have bars and razor wire to prevent people from climbing in, and some parts do not. Why? This is Costa Rica, how am I supposed to understand why? That's just how it is.

Well, the wall behind our house is a part of that wall that does not have the deterring bars and razor wires. I really haven't been that concerned about it as there is a church directly behind our house. I have always figured there would be no problems.

I flew back to Costa Rica on Wednesday Sept. 7th. I got up at 4am, Costa Rica time. When I got home I said hello to everyone. Went to the feeding center and then went home. I decided I was tired and that I was going to lay down.

While I was laying there, not asleep, I heard a noise. Now there is always noise around here, but this noise was different. I thought it was my dog at first. As I listened more, I heard the sound of Velcro being pulled apart.

Now, my wife and girls attract mosquitoes like crazy. So I put up some screens on some of our windows and attached them with Velcro so we could open and close the windows and let the breeze in. So, the Velcro I heard was in baby Ava's bedroom. Not thinking, I jumped up (knowing at this point that someone was attempting to break into our house), ran into her room, pulled the curtain back, and caused one Tico robber to have to change clothes. I yelled at the guy in my native tongue (why?) and he ran off and jumped the wall. His eyes were as big as golf balls.

So I went out there to see where he went, and to my surprise, when I looked over the back wall for the first time ever, I saw 2 tin houses. These types of dwellings are the type that we rebuild all the time. They are usually occupied by very poor families. There was a make-shift ladder leaning against the wall which allowed them to get on the roof of the house, and then climb over the wall. The wall is probably 15' high.

Looking over the edge of the wall directly behind my house.




The dog defending his territory.

 

I called security and told them I had a problem and they needed to come to my house right now. They told me "mas tarde" which means "we''ll have to come a little later." When I finally got them to come I showed him what happened. He started throwing rocks on the house behind ours. Immediately a dog ran out and started barking. Now when the guy jumped over the wall, it was quiet. No dog was barking. This dog knows this guy. This guy must live in this house behind me. So now I have a constant problem.

Well, I started looking into how to secure our house to keep my family and our belongings safe and I simply could not afford it. I called my landlord and after a few sleepless nights, she informed me that she was going to install an electric fence and an alarm system. Praise God!!!!! The guys are at  my house right now installing it.

Now, all this time Heather and the girls were in Florida.I was here by myself, and I knew that my bride would not sleep in this house at all until it was secure. My goal was to get it done before they returned. They return a week from today, so everything worked out.

Now I've discussed this with multiple people and our first reaction is always to want to teach this guy a lesson. However, I don't think this is the Christ-like thing to do. I'm praying about how we can attempt to change this guys outlook on life so he doesn't feel the need to rob others to get what he wants in life. That's why we are here, to combat poverty. Poverty has an ugly, ugly face. Crime is always in the midst of poverty. If the guy had came and knocked on my door and asked me for help, I would certainly have done what I could to help him. But because of pride, many of the poor would rather rob someone else than to ask for help. Should I be unforgiving of a man because he tried to rob me, when most of the people we serve around here are probably stealing from other people to get by. It's so ingrained in the heart of this community that this is the only way to ever get what you need and want. My pride says, "who does he think he is trying to rob my family" so I'm no better than he is. Our pride causes us to react in different ways, but it is still ugly pride.

Now Christ said that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. I could try to argue with him like the others did:

- So, Jesus, who is my neighbor? Is it the guy on the left and right of me that live in the "secured" community? Surely it's not the guy that lives behind me that tried to rob my family is it?

What is Christ going to say to me?

Well, let's just let His Word speak:

Matt. 5:43-48

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  

Luke 10:26-29; 36-37
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”....

( insert Good Samaritan story here. Mental note: there is no reference as to what type of character the victim in the story possessed. He himself could have been a terrible person for all we know.)

...“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Romans 13:9-10
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 15:2
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

Galatians 5:14
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Ephesians 4:25-28
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

James 2:8
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

That last one is powerful!!!

To sum it all up:

There are no excuses for who we call our neighbor and that's not even the point that Jesus made. The expert in the law asked him "who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered him with a question that caused the man to focus on the type of neighbor he himself was instead of worrying about who was in fact a neighbor to him. We are to worry about who's neighbor we are being, not who is our neighbor, or as is most often the case, who is being a neighbor to us. Favoritism is underrated, yet we all do it, while unconditional love is more powerful than we could ever dream, and we at times, choose to not exercise it.



A view of potential. Potential love. Potential change. Potential for the glory of God. If I will handle things His way. If I will step up and be the neighbbor.

 

Be a neighbor!

Mauricio's Story in Part

This guy has an incredible background filled with darkness, but God has now transformed him by the power of his love. Mauricio’s family received a home from 6:8 Ministries and his life has been different ever since.


Here’s a little bit about Mauricio:


Mauricio has a pretty rough past to my understanding. Mauricio has a couple of tear drop tattoos coming down from one of his eyes. The story around here is that when you have those tear drops tattooed on your face like that, it means that you have taken someone else’s life. Now whether that is in an act of self defense, or an act of hatred and anger, does not matter. What counts is that you took someone else’s life. Mauricio has 2 tear drops on his face. His “wife” has one as well (I’ll explain the quotations later).


Mauricio lives at the entrance to one of the worst barrios we work in, this barrio is called Tiribi. It is a river front barrio. Riverfront property in the central valley of Costa Rica is highly undesired. The educated, more wealthy Ticos refer to these as “barrios del sur,” which means the neighborhoods of the south. Now south does not refer to the direction where they are located, it refers to the fact that you always have to go “down” a slope to get to a river, as they are always at the lowest point of the area, running towards an even lower point.


Now Mauricio, his wife and their children, live at the entrance to Tiribi. In the past our ministry has received threats that we would be robbed when leaving the area. Now remember, he lives at “the” entrance to the area. There is most often, one way in and one way out of the barrios. To my understanding, the ministry stopped working in this area due to the level of danger. However, when Mauricio and his neighbor heard of this, they told us they wanted us there and that they would protect us.


Mauricio’s family was one of the first families in this area to receive the blessing of a new home. As a result of this, he and his family have become faithful attenders at Celebration Church in Costa Rica.


I remember the 2nd time we hired Mauricio to help us build a home for a young family in a barrio called Juan Pablo. Mauricio himself was blessed by God with a home. Now he is being blessed by God with the opportunity to build another family a home, and to provide for his family in the process.


Well, about the 3rd day of the project. One of the team members from the USA received a terrible phone call. This man named Gary was a retired fire fighter. One of his adult aged children was watching his home in Colorado along with his grandchildren. The phone call he received was to inform him that his home was in that moment, burning down. Now that’s horribly ironic! This man gave of his time and finances and was in another country building a home for another family, while his was burning to the ground.


I handed the phone to Gary when the call came in, then one of our staff rushed him to a place where he could call home. Everyone on the construction site could feel that something terrible had happened. Everyone hesitated to continue working, but tried to keep going, as we knew he wouldn’t want the progress to stop. I remember that Mauricio was up on a wall setting rafters in place when he asked me what happened. When I conveyed what happened to Gary, he paused for a split second, looked at me and said, “I’ll go to the United States and build him a new home.”


Tears came to my eyes as I saw the love of Christ flow out of this man that had tattooed tears flowing from his eyes. I knew that he was sincere and that he meant it with everything that he now was. Christ was living inside of him and aching for this new brother of his, Gary, whose home had just burned down. The tears flowing from his eyes marking his past were no longer defining who he was. He was now filled with the compassion of Christ and weeping with his new brother who was weeping. I knew from that point on that Mauricio was the real deal. That Christ had indeed changed his heart from the old wretch that Satan and all of his evil army had influenced him to be in his past. He was no longer a man that would take the life of another, but a man that was learning to die to himself. He continues to be one of the most gentle, humble and compassionate man that I've met. You can see that Christ is living inside of him.


Recently, we were taking a group of youth up the mountain to a stream to be baptized. Little did I know that Mauricio and his family would be coming along to be baptized as well. As Pastor Miguel began to share God’s Word with the 10 people who were to be baptized that day, I noticed something. Everyone was paying attention, but Mauricio was up in Pastor Miguel’s face hanging on his every word, eager to grasp the weight and the meaning of what he was about to experience. When he was baptized he came up out of the water with his hands lifted in gratitude to God and a big smile on his face. It was an awesome sight and such a privilege to witness. The crowd joyfully clapped and shouted to share in the moment. It was a good day.


A week later, Mauricio communicated to one of our staff that he wanted to get married to the woman he has been living with for years and has children with. He felt convicted that he never married her before God and the church. So on August 28th, Mauricio and Mariella were married before a crowd that consisted of their family and 6:8 Ministries staff members. The 6:8 staff worked to decorate the church and provide everything needed for the ceremony. Our Executive Director, Spencer, performed the ceremony and they were married around 2’ o clock that afternoon.


It is exciting to see what God is doing in Mauricio’s life as he yields himself to the Holy Spirit and the truth of God’s Word.


Do you remember when your walk with Christ was like this? When you were humble in your understanding of spiritual matters, yet accepted the love and grace of God by faith alone? When you trusted in Him with the faith of a child? When you were hungry for more of Him in everything? When you wanted to help others because you knew it would honor Christ? When your life was still messy and you watched in awe as God stooped down to clean you up and set you on the right path?


I encourage you to look back at the beginnings of your faith and praise God for what He has done in your life, and humble yourself to the things that He still needs to do.

1 Corinthians 1: 26 - 31
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."

Blessed

This past week we had some very good friends come for a visit. One week FLEW by, but here are a few photos of their time here. We are so blessed to have friends that are like family!!

Thankful for other people taking pictures of my precious family. It's hard to keep the camera on all the time, so I really value these photos.

Serving people lunch at Tiribi.

Filling up cups with 'juice'.

Precious Mom, Daniella, and one of her sons (David). She is a single mother with another baby girl on the way. She lives in a very rough neighborhood.

A typical house in Tiribi.

Sweet girls in Tiribi.

The Tiribi river is a place where people throw trash.

Building a new home for a family in Llano. 

People walk everywhere, and carry all sorts of things with them in carts, baby strollers, etc.

Getting 'arm painted' by some cute girls in Calle 6.

One of the great joys of driving in Costa - motorcycles EVERYWHERE! 

Coke in glass bottles. =)

Marielos, Wesley, Alison and Franklin. I love this family, and while our friends were here, they brought shoes that they (and others) had donated for their children. It is awesome to see God provide for His children.

April with Alison & Wesley.

God's beautiful creation!

Nick & April's new favorite food. (Notice it was not my cooking!)

A panaderia downtown - some of the best pastries I've ever tasted. (Not specifically at this place, just in general in CR.)

I don't notice it as much anymore, but barbed wire is everywhere, on everything - fences, houses, businesses...

Arroz con camarrones... yum!!

Hydrangeas growing in someone's yard - they look like the ones from Miracle-gro ads, but I'm pretty sure they've never had any of that stuff. Just good, CR soil!

One of my favorite pictures... Nick's choice of facial expression for his photo with the Toucan.

Our little monkey. 

Nick explaining how the Jaguar grabs its prey by the head, using the chomp of death. 

And I saved the best for last. -___-