Merry Christmas!
We’re back in the United States of America. Thank you all so much for the spiritual and financial support that you provided for us over the past two years. We are very grateful, and we would like to thank each of you personally, which, now that we are here in the States, should be much less difficult. We know there are many other missionaries out there continuing to serve God, who are supported by faith. We encourage you all to extend your support to others in the field.
We had a super busy last month in Costa Rica and we wanted to tell you all about it…
First, we'd like announce that Brooke is pregnant!! We are very excited. She is 15 weeks now, and is due in June. We have had two doctors’ visits so far. Brooke had to start taking medicine to regulate her thyroid, but otherwise, Brooke and baby are doing well.
Meco...
We continued to work in Barrio Meco on Sundays with the evangelization and feeding program. We were primarily in charge of the older kids, ages 9 to 12. The youth from Santa Rosa helped us with this part of our mission. We are hopeful that they will continue to serve with the rest of the team now that we are gone. Some pictures below show the past month in Meco. In the last month we welcomed the arrival of a new resident in Meco, Yahoska's baby. We also showed a newscast from a Christian television channel that visited the neighborhood on Children's Day . Both the kids and the parents were very excited to see themselves on the television, especially considering that the neighborhood has no electrical power.
Blessing Yahoska's baby
Meco residents getting ready to view the newscast
One of the team members, Sonia Herrera, has a brother, Marvin, who supports the Meco Mission from his church in Winterhaven, Florida. He asked us if we could compile information and photos to help beter inform his church of the work that is on-going in Meco. We created a PowerPoint presentation to help summarize all that is involved in the mission. Hopefully, we will have a chance to visit their church in Florida to talk to them about our experience in Meco, and to encourage them to continue to support the mission there.
In the past month, the Meco group formed a foundation, entitled Fundación Forjadores de Esperanza, or Forgers of Hope Foundation. They will be able to legally receive support through the structure provided by the foundation. In addition to feeding and providing spiritual materials, the team has the desire to build a permanent structure for the neighborhood. While meeting in Mayra's home has been a wonderful blessing that allows the evangelism team to gain a foothold in the neighborhood, more kids and adults are attending each Sunday and more space is needed. A center which is not someone's home will hopefully allow people to feel more comfortable to seek help and participate.
Tutoring...from Brooke
Students were in their final weeks of exams during our last month in Costa Rica. I was able to help Eylin and Daniela prepare for some of their exams, but unfortunately, I was unable to get in touch with them during the last two weeks. We stopped by their houses the day before I left to try and say goodbye, but neither one were home.
When we stopped at Eylin's house, her father told me she had moved back into her aunt's house, she was seeing her 25 year old boyfriend again, and she had put a court order against her father, so he couldn't force her to leave her aunt's house. Her mother told us she had passed all her subjects and completed the 7th grade, which was some good news at least. We were disturbed to have this happen right before leaving, especially because there was no time to talk to Eylin to hear her side of the story, nor to ensure that she was doing okay. Please continue to pray for Eylin and her family.
Eva has decided once again to attempt to graduate from high school. She will start classes again in January at a night school with the ambition of completing the 10th and 11th grades in one year. She also joined a soccer league in Aguas Zarcus. Both of these ambitions are proof to us that the Lord has encouraged her to live an abundant life. Please pray she will be able to keep this positive attitude.
English...from Brooke
I worked with Maritza, Mainor, and Yaimy in their homes until our last week in Costa Rica. Maritza, who is 22 years old, only completed school until the 6th grade, which was when her family moved to Costa Rica from Nicaragua. She is a bright girl who loves to learn new things, which is why she has been taking English classes and most recently completed a manicure and pedicure course. She told me she also has plans to get her high school diploma by way of Maestro en Casa next year. Since it took a while for her family to receive residency in Costa Rica, she wasn't legally allowed to attend high school until recently. Apparently, elementary students from other countries are allowed to attend school without residency, but high school students are not...either that or, they aren't allowed to receive scholarships without residency.
Brooke and Maritza
I taught English classes in Florencia to the same group of about 8 kids in the 3rd and 4th grades. They were an eager bunch that loved to learn, which is always a plus when teaching. I taught a class in Santa Rosa until our last week. We also taught a class in El Mirador to a group of about 5 students for 4 weeks before returning to the US.
English in Santa Rosa de la Palmera
English in MiradorAlso during the past months, I tutored up English students from the Methodist School by way of Sonia Herrera. Sonia is an English teacher who is involved in the program in Meco. Some of the students I helped were two first graders, Louis and Pablo, two second graders, Max and Valeria, and a fifth grader, Sofia. It was exciting to see how Christ opened so many doors through the relationships formed in Meco.
Construction...from Brett
I helped our friend, Flor, replace some rotten and termite eaten columns with concrete piers. In order to put in a new beam, I jacked up the front of her house up using 3 car jacks. While the house was in this precarious position, there was a 4.1 tremor in the southern part of the country, the effects of which Brooke felt while tutoring in Ciudad Quesada. Thankfully, at Flor's house no damage was done, and the car jacks supported the weight long enough to put in the new beam.
I helped our friend, Flor, replace some rotten and termite eaten columns with concrete piers. In order to put in a new beam, I jacked up the front of her house up using 3 car jacks. While the house was in this precarious position, there was a 4.1 tremor in the southern part of the country, the effects of which Brooke felt while tutoring in Ciudad Quesada. Thankfully, at Flor's house no damage was done, and the car jacks supported the weight long enough to put in the new beam.
I also stabilized the wood flooring in part of her house where the supports underneath had rotted. A lot of work is left to be done to her "this old house" project. Flor is going to apply for a government grant to help her build a new home next year. Hopefully with the repairs I was able to complete, the house she is in will continue to provide her with warm, dry, space.
In Santa Rosa I worked on and off on the bathroom construction project. We continued work on the plumbing, varnished doors, sealed some of the block, made mounting plates for electrical fixtures and wrapped up the septic tank work. When we left the water and electrical was still not connected, but some of the men from the church are to continue work on the remaining details.
Goodbyes...from Brooke
During our last weeks, we had lots of goodbye parties. Vilma, Milena, Laura, and Siliva in Linda Vista gave us a going away party, complete with a homemade cake made by a 6th grader, Raquel. They were some of my very first students. It was very thoughtful of them to send us off so nicely especially after so much time had passed since I last worked with them.
Milena, Laura, Silvia, Brooke, and Vilma
My English student, Maritza, gave me a final, fancy manicure and pedicure.
Santa Rosa de la Palmera dedicated an entire Sunday service and lunch for our going away party. I cried like a baby when Geovanny played a song about friendship in honor of us.
Pastor Geovanny and Brett
The Centro Rural Metodista gave us a baby shower before we left. Mary asked a member from Santa Rosa de Poca Sol to make us a cake and invited the whole staff to see us off and congratulate us on the new member of our family.
The night before we left, we had fried fish with Eva and Claudia's family. They invited Pastor Liber, Nori, and their daughter Yeurdeling, and prayed for us before setting out on the journey home.
We also made a trip to Guatuso, where we visited with Pastor Marcos' family in Tonjibe and with our friends Juan, Gabriela, Vivian, Susana, and Rosa in San Rafael de Guatuso. They blessed us with baby presents and homemade crafts to remember them.
Conclusion...
All of the goodbyes made it very difficult to leave Costa Rica. We always hear that when people go on mission, they leave feeling like they received more blessings than they gave. That is exactly how we feel. We went to Costa Rica thinking we would help people get their lives on track and put their focus on Christ. We know God changed us more than anything.
