We had the youth group from Santa Rosa over to the house to bake cakes for Father`s Day.


Camp employees singing happy birthday to Brett.


Brett and Brooke on Brett`s 32nd birthday, April 23, 2009


Team from Winter Haven, Florida


Brooke´s Aunt Carol donated money to buy hens for families in need. This is blanca from el mirador and Brooke on hen distribution day.


Brett presenting Juana in El Mirador with her chicken.

blog post from Brooke...
We once again apologize for not updating the blog. We`ve been making excuses for too long, so here is an update of what`s been happening between Feb and June...

First, an Eylin update. Her father allowed her to go to colegio, although very reluctantly. She is now living with her aunt and struggling in school. Her dad most recently gave her an ultimatum to choose between him and school.

Daniela is also struggling in school. Her dad has threatened to pull her out of school if she doesn´t do well on exams coming up. I think she needs meds to help her with ADHD, but she won`t talk to the school counselor about this. I struggle working with both Eylin and Daniela, so I try to schedule meeting with them separately. But Daniela will never study with me without Eylin. I worry about them both. Please pray they will both find their way!

I`ve been working with Silvia, a 35 year old mother of 3 in LInda Vista. She wants to get her 6th grade degree through Maestro en Casa, so as to be an example for her kids. Her oldest boys have both dropped out of school; we worked with her son Adiel last year before he dropped out. This week we had a wonderful meeting. I was blessed with a helper from the team that is here from Kansas. Shonda is a Social Studies and History teacher in the US, and has an amazing yet terrifying story of how her family fled Cambodia when she was 3 years old. Silivia has a similar story, in that her family had to flee Nicaragua when she was 11. It was such a blessing and an eye opener to be able to translate their stories for them. God is amazing how He connects people with similar stories from opposite corners of the world.

In April I helped with a Chrysalis with a group of teenage girls from Costa Rica and Panama. Several of the girls wanted me to teach English, so I have been teaching at the Methodist Church in Quesada once a week. We have had a steady turnout of about 7 students per class, which I find to be manageable. Last week, our friend, Nate from Texas helped teach the class. It turned out one of the girls in the class was an old friend of his whom he had met on his first mission trip in 1999. We are greatful for the opportunity to laugh and have a good time meeting new brothers and sisiters in Christ through this class.

I have been working with Mainor and Yaime from San Rafael 2 days a week. I love working with them because they do their homework and have a desire to learn...the Lord is kind to bless us occasionally with kids that want to learn. We just wish we knew how to encourage everybody to be more like them. Through this class, I met another student named Maritza, whom I will be working with once a week in English. Her family runs a dairy farm in Quebrada de Palo, close to El Mirador, but at the top of the hill overlooking San Carlos. When we met last week, we sat up in an office that overlooked the lush, rolling hills of San Carlos.

I´ve also been tutoring 7 year old, Kattiana, who is Flor`s granddaughter. She is struggling with learning how to read. Thankfully, a kindergarten teacher from the Winterpark team, Mary, gave me a ton of materials to work with kids. Specifically, she drew up a bunch of ¨learning stations¨for me, which I can make copies of to create tons of matching exercises, and alphabet and number games. thanks Mary!