A Grateful Heart

A little less than a month ago the health department went into a neighborhood here, New Milineum, and told every family living there that they had 5 days to move out and that their homes were going to be demolished due to serious health conditions...Ok so to back up a little, about 2-3 months ago the septic tank from the neighborhood right above New Milineum burst. It basically exploded and all of the raw sewage began flooding down into the homes in New Milineum. It was horrible, and very unsanitary living conditions for these families. But with no where to go they covered up the damage with dirt and other scrap supplies they could come up with. 

In the days/weeks to come we continued visiting the families down here, finding out that they all were sick with parasites, scabies, colds and other illnesses. With our amazing nurse, Kelly and staff, we were able to give out parasite meds., pray with them and treat them to the best of our ability.

 It wasn't but just a few weeks later that each family was given the notice that they had only 5 days to remove all their belongings and find another place to live. As soon as we heard this news we went down to the neighborhood to check on the families. Some of them had already begun taking out their belongings and tearing down their houses. 

While the Celebration medical team was here we went down into the neighborhood to do some more home visits.The team was in a house praying with a mom, she was in tears because she had no idea what she was going to do. She does not have any family here, like some of the others, and was clueless on where to begin looking for a new home. Danny and a group from the medical team prayed with her, believing that God was going to provide for her and her family. Standing on that prayer, she continued to pray, and jsut a few days later God began opening doors for her. Not just 1 but THREE options were given to her, and she was even more excited because she doesn't have to take her kids out of school because she will still be very close to the school they attend! When we were talking with her on Friday she was absolutely glowing and filled with complete JOY!!! She was giving God all the glory and praise for what He had done, and the blessing He has provided her family! What an AMAZING testimony she has!!! Just like she said, God will never bring us through a storm and leave us, He will ALWAYS give us the strength to pull through!!! 

Please join me and continue praying for all the families that were affected in this neighborhood. This is just one of the many stories. We know that God will provide for each and every one! 

What Are You Grateful For?!?

Take a minute and really think about this...is it your family, friends, your job, your home? Have you ever thought or even said something like this; "I wish I had a better car, a new pair of shoes, or even a bigger/better house"?!? We all have thought this at some point or another in our lives.

These past couple weeks have really opened my eyes to truly being grateful for EVERYTHING we have. I have had a couple experiences over the past couple weeks that God has used to show me that everything we have is a blessing, and to take nothing for granted.

Last month I was in Jacksonville visiting family and friends, most of which I had not seen in 6 months and this was a huge blessing for me. While I was there I had 2 small fundraisers, where I was able to share with people the amazing things God has been doing in and though Celebration Church and 6:8 Ministries here in Costa Rica. It was an honor for me to be given the opportunity to share what God has been doing, and give HIM the glory for it all! I was able to spend lots of time with family, to really enjoy the blessings we have as Americans. The convenience of grocery stores, Target, Walmart, driving on smooth roads, having friends and family close by, and just being able to see all the lives that are touched by what God is doing truly is amazing. It was also a time for me to get closer to God, to spend time with Him, thanking Him for all the blessings He has given me. Don't ever take for granted one minute that you have to spend time with family and friends. We all know its easy to get distracted by the day-to-day things in our lives, and we all fail to give Him the glory for everything, HE is the reason we have it all!!!

Another "eye-opener" for me happened a few weekends ago. Every Saturday, for the past 6 months, we have a children's feeding center in a very dangerous neighborhood called Tejarcillos. Each Saturday we feed anywhere from 125-175 children and some families a hot, nutritious meal. The last Saturday in September was an extra special one for the children, and those of us serving, they received a happy meal. Okay, so I know some of you might be thinking "big deal"...Yes it was a big deal to us, and the children. Most of them had never seen a happy meal before, much less been to a McDonalds (the closest one about 15 minutes from their neighborhood). After one particular little boy was handed his happy meal he ran off, sat down and the first thing he did was take the toy out of the box and began to play with it with a huge smile on his face. After a few minutes he then looked back in the box and pulled out the napkin and proceeded to ask "is this another toy"?!? Think about that, this child had never seen a napkin before and thought it was something else to play with. WOW, when I heard this story it really broke my heart and brought into prospective all that we take for granted...something as simple as a napkin, we wipe our hands or face with it and throw it away. This little boy thought it was a toy, something this simple brought him JOY!

The most recent "eye-opener" for me happened just the other day when a few of us went out to do some medical visits and child sponsorship stuff. We went into a neighborhood called New Milineum to check up on some families. When we got there we revisited one family that we have a pretty good relationship with. We were checking up on the grandmother, who is very sick, and checking up on the children. The youngest, Steven is about a year and 4 months old, the mom was telling us that he loves running around out side and playing but has now outgrown all the shoes he had and she gave them to another family in the neighborhood, so he didn't have any shoes, and hadn't been able to go outside and play. She also was saying that she was out of milk, juice and some food for the baby. So after we visited for a little bit we ran up to the local grocery store and bought some groceries for them, with out them knowing. As we got back to the family's house Kelly began to take off Eli's shoes, then before I knew it she was handing them to little Steven and they were a perfect fit. Wow, talk about giving someone the clothes off your back! Little Steven was so happy!

I wanted to share these stories because I truly believe this is something we all need to be reminded of. The smallest little things, a napkin, a pair of shoes, and even spending time with our family we take for granted. Be thankful in what you have...in what God has given you!!

Summer Rush

Okay so I honestly can say that I really can't believe that summer, well "winter" here, is almost over. This is our SUPER busy season and it really has gone by so fast. We've had 2-3 teams here per week since May building houses, loving on children, blessing families in need, doing backyard bible clubs in neighborhoods, doing projects at Celebration Costa Rica and also painting classrooms at one of the local schools. These are just a few things that have been going on over the last 3 1/2 months. God has been so awesome to us here and has provided us with the most amazing groups.  Each group spent weeks even months in preparation to come serve the people here in Alajuelita, to be the hands and feet of Christ. Here are just a few glimpses of what God has done in and through the teams here:

 Celebration Church Costa Rica has doubled in attendance!! AMEN!!

Backyard Bible Clubs...teaching God's word in barios!

                               Building homes for families in need!

        FUSE Costa Rica!!

                                      Feeding many children, sometimes their only meal for the day.

Baptisms!! 

        Providing medical attention to the sick!

Through serving and leading teams this summer God has totally opened my eyes to many things. These are things I never thought in my mind that I would be so blessed to be a part of. Seeing families come to Christ, watching our FUSE youth group grow and build a leadership/serve team, being truly humbled by having a local mom wash my foot after I stepped in mud/poo, being part of building houses for families that were living on dirt floors and in horrible conditions, speaking at chapel and FUSE, and many more. There is a very specific reason that God has me here and He shows me something new each and every day, a different reason He has me here serving, loving on His children.

God has been SO good to me, even though the super tough times, and I know that He will continue showing me new adventures, building my faith and trust in Him for everything!!!

On a side note I want to say thank you to EVERYONE who has been so supportive of the call that God has placed on my life. For all your love and support, prayerfully and financially! Many of you know that as missionaries here with 6:8 Ministries we have to raise 100% of our finances to live here. Through family, friends, teams, churches ect. It is a FAITH walk, and something that is definitely not easy but with God it is possible! Personally I have about 60% of my monthly support coming in, and this is most definitely all because of God. It has been super hard at times, but I know that since God has called me here, He is going to continue to provide. If this is something you feel like God has put on your heart to be a part of you can go to the financial support part of my blog and find out all the information on how to participate. If it was not for God and all my family and friends I know I would not be able to survive here. I LOVE you all and again thank you for all your support and prayers!!!

"Fear NOT for I am with you!"

Ok so take a minute and think about this...What is you neighborhood like? Paved roads, nice yards, is it safe for you and/or your kids to go outside? Do you hear gun shots, have there been 4 people murdered in the last 3 months? If you have children, do they have 3 meals a day or what about just one? 


There is a neighborhood here in Alajuelita called Tejarcillos and it is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the area. About 3 or 4 moths ago God opened a door for us to start a feeding center in this  area. We were told that it's very dangerous and that people normally don't go in if they don't live there. This didn't stop us :-)  It had been something that we as a ministry had been praying for for a while, that God would open new doors and send us into new neighborhoods where we could do ministry. There's a dirt road that leads into the neighborhood, and we go all the way into the back to set up our feeding station. The houses are put together with pieces of scrap sheets of tin, scrap wood and pretty much anything they can find to shelter their families. 

"Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10

I will be completely honest, the first week I was super nervous and a little scared. We didn't take anything with us, no bags, purses, or even phones. Just staff and the food that was prepared...But this past weekend was a little different, eye opening and most definitely heart breaking! When we got to the area where we set up the feeding station I went with Steve, Pastor Miguel and Jill to walk around the "bario" (neighborhood) to invite children and families to the feeding center. One of the things I love to do is mingle with the kids and moms to try and find out a little of their story. I also love to see the smiles on their faces when they see us. It always makes me light up inside and know that they are grateful for the blessing God is giving them, knowing that sometimes this meal that we serve them can be the only meal they get for the day. God has definitely started a great movement in this neighborhood and I am excited to see where He leads us in the future. 

Inviting Children and families

We average between 50-60 kids...sometimes up to 80! 

wooden pallets are built over running sewage
 to make up the walkway  

One of the houses, barely held together

 

God's Plans = SUCCESS!!

Tomorrow is a BIG day for FUSE Costa Rica and Celebration Church Costa Rica. We are going to have our first big FUSE event, a mini concert. There has been so much preparation and planning that has gone into this event, and we all know that we can to all the planning we want but in the end God's plan is the one that is going to succeed!!! This devotional was given to us as we continue to pray for God to take over and use this event to "blow-up" FUSE Costa Rica!!! 

“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 (NLT)

Read Psalm 37:5, Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7

We all have plans. Planning is unavoidable. We plan the time we are waking up tomorrow, and the bus we’re taking; what we want to become when we grow up and the names for our unborn children. But… How often does everything go as we planned? And even more important: How often, before planning everything in our lives, we ask for advice to the only One who truly knows what best for us?

Someone once said that if we wanted to make God laugh we only had to tell Him our plans. God’s will is perfect and He has the real concept of what’s best for us and He is willing to execute His marvelous plan in our lives if we allow Him to (James 4:13-16).

That doesn’t mean that God is waiting for us to tell Him our plans to shatter them into a million pieces; but He won’t allow that our limited human way of thought destroys us. When God changes our plan, we must remember that it happens because He loves us (John 3:16). If He sent His Son to die for us, He will also change everything that we commit to Him, because of His love for us.

We must commit not only our plans to the Lord, we must also commit to Him our thoughts, feelings, family, enemies, friends, worries, gifts, flaws, dreams, fears and expectations. And we must do it BEFORE we begin to act in order to let Him direct and supervise our every move (Proverbs 3:5). That is the key for the success of our projects: commit them to God before we even begin, since that moment, since that prayer, everything that happens will happen because He knows it’s necessary. What if it doesn’t come out as I planned? Well, we are nobody to tell God how to do things (Job 38:2-13). We have to trust that, if we committed that to God, everything came out the way that was the best for us (Romans 8:28).

So… How do we achieve success in our plans? We pray and commit everything to God as soon as possible, we trust His wisdom and His love. And we remember that the world’s concept of “success” is very different from God’s.

  

Tomorrow an activity is happening, an activity that has the potential to change the life of Celebration and Alajuelita’s youth. We have all received the invitation to join this fast to ask and show God our desire for Him to come to the concert. Matthew 18:19 says that if two of us agree concerning the same thing, He will give us His favor. Let’s pray together, pray for His favor, so that our Lord will reveal Himself, for Him to change hearts and change Alajuelita’s youth. Let’s commit this activity to God, trusting that He will take care of every single thing that happens. Let’s commit ourselves as tools for His Work and always trust and remember that God loves us in a way that is supernatural.

**Thank you Danny for sharing what God put on your heart!!

48 Hours to Live

If YOU were given 48 hours to live what would be your first thought? What would you do, where would you go?...But wait, what if you couldn't go anywhere? What if you didn't know that you were only give 48 more hours of life???

About 8 months ago I was sitting in my apartment here in Costa Rica, and I remember this night so vividly. It was probably about 7 or 8 o'clock and I received a phone call from Pastor Miguel, his voice was a little shaky, and he continued to tell me that earlier that day his wife Karina's 12 year old cousin was hit by a microbus. She was in the hospital and  was in a coma and the doctors had given her 48 hours and they were going to disconnect everything. He asked if I would get everyone together and start praying for her. My first thought was, 'can we go to the hospital and pray for her?' He said he was going to call me back if we could go. So around 10 0'clock my phone rang again, he said that if we wanted to go that he would take us, well of course we wanted to! So I Called Chaz to tell her and JD and went next door and got Brant, and Gel. He had to make 2 trips to get us all to the hospital...it didn't matter though because we ALL wanted to be there!

Once we were all at the hospital Pastor Miguel asked if we could go in to pray for Mariana. The guard told him that only one person was allowed in, since her mom was with us she was the one that went in to see her daughter. This did NOT stop us!!! We didn't have to be inside with her to pray for her, so we all got together in the ER parking lot and started praying, and man was it powerful!!! We all felt God's presence and knew that He has plans for this precious little girl. We were out there for a few hours praying, reading His word and sharing. BIG things happened that night, and when her mom came out she told us that her vital signs were going up! AMEN, PRAISE GOD!!! So we went home that evening, continuing to pray for her over the next few days.

 Two days passed, the initial 48 hours, and it was a Monday. I talked with Pastor Miguel and he said that the doctors were going to give her 2 more days because her vitals were still rising....Many people were praying for this precious little girl!...Those days also passed and the doctors said that they were going to give her more time. They said she was going to be in the hospital for at least 6 months, and that she wouldn't ever be able to walk, and might not even be able to talk because of extensive brain damage. Well we all know that doctors don't have the last say. God's plans are BIGGER, He is our ultimate healer and only He knows what's going to happen.

Months passed, we continued praying for Mariana...One day, about 5 months later, Pastor Miguel tells me that Mariana is going home from the hospital!!! Wow, now that's amazing news!!! A few more months passed and just a few weeks ago I was standing in the back of church on Sunday morning, worshiping and I felt God's presence so strongly, I happened to look towards the door and saw a lady and a gentleman pushing a wheelchair in the church. Even thought I had never met or seen her before, I immediately I knew that it was Mariana sitting in that wheelchair. Through out the service I would glance over at her and she had the biggest, brightest smile on her face. Then after service I asked Karina if that was her, and as I guessed it sure was!  I went over to talk to her. The smile on her face could have lit up the whole church. She was so happy and just loved to talk to everyone. As we were all talking, with the help of her dad, she stood up out of her wheelchair and took a few steps, what an amazing sight!!! Talk about a MIRACLE!!! Just a few months back the doctors said she wouldn't be able to do that...but like I said before, God is the ultimate healer and His plans are BIGGER!!!! Nothing is going to stop her, she has such a big heart and God has big plans for her!!!

Let's all remember that when we have a rough day or two! And will you all keep Mariana and her family in your prayers, for continued healing and that God continues to provide financially for their needs.

Jehovah-Jireh our Provider

Trying to find over 200 children definitely took a lot of time. We spent many days walking around neighborhoods asking families, neighbors, and kids if they recognized any of the children that were on our list. Each day passed and with the help of families and neighbors we found more and more each day. It was getting down to the wire and just a few days before the distribution days we still had a list of about 25 kids we needed to find. On this list there were a hand full of kids that the only information we had were their names and uniform sizes. It’s a little hard to find someone with out a phone number or directions to their house, but we continued searching.

There was one little girl we were looking for, she was one of the ones that we had very little information on. We kept asking the kids and families we were finding but no one knew where she lived. This was one of the last days we had to find her. We came across 2 ladies walking down the street and asked them about her, they didn’t know but they did tell us that the school was open for cleaning and the director was there so we could go ask her. That’s exactly where we went. I think we had about 7 or 8 left at this point and with the help of the director and 2 other teachers they were able to tell us where all but 2 of them lived. Praise Jesus!!  

So we went back out and went to these houses. As we walked up to where they told us one of the girls lived there were 2 boys sitting outside, we asked if she lived there and if their mom was home. They initially told us that their mom wasn’t home, and then another boy came out of the house and told us their mom was home but she was sick. Then a little girl came out and said “mi mama esta enferma pero puede entrar”, my mom is sick but you can come in. The house was pretty empty; the only thing in this main room was an old table with 4 chairs, a fridge, sink and small gas stove. Ana Lorena, their mom was sitting at the table. I went over to talk to her and explain why we were there; that the English teacher had given us her name and told us that their family would probably need help with school supplies/uniforms this year.  As I was explaining our sponsorship program to her tears began to run down her face. I asked her if she understood what I was saying, just to make sure my Spanish was correct. She started telling me that just a few days before she was praying, asking God what she was going to do and how she was going to be able to send her kids to school. She has 5 biological children and adopted 2 others whose parents left when they were babies.  She gets 40,000 colones ($80)/month for child support and there are times where she has to decide weather to use it on food or rent. God definitely lead us to her house, we ended up having 2 of the 4 kids that needed to go to school on our list. She was so grateful. We told her that we could take the names of her other 2 girls and continue looking for sponsors for them but that we couldn’t make any promises.  BUT…the next day staff got together again to do some more work and prepare for day 1 of distribution. When I got to casa azul I was SUPER excited, I was able to call Ana-Lorena back and let her know that we had sponsors for her other children.  What a blessing it was to be able to make that phone call.

Since the day we visited her house it had been on my heart to go back a visit Ana Lorena and her family, and take them some food. Just this week we went back to visit her with a team from FBC Jax Beach, they wanted to bless her family with some groceries. When we got to her house we had to wait a little bit because she had to walk to the school and pick up one of her daughters. The minute I saw her turn the corner and walk down the sidewalk I saw a big, bright smile on her face! It was so nice seeing her again. She invited all 20 of us into her house and Amanda and I began to explain to her that the team had bought some food for her family. She got a little teary and told Amanda that just the night before she was not feeling well and had a little bit of beans left in the house. She started cooking them for the family and went to lay down for a little bit. Time passed and she woke up to the smell of burnt beans, the last of the food she had was burnt. She said all she could do was pray and know that God was going to provide for her and her children.  And that morning, not the week before or a day later, but that very day that she asked God to provide for her family God lead us to her house with the team and food for her family.

God is SO GOOD!!!  He knows our every need, and when we put it all in His hands He will provide exactly what we need when He knows we need it.  He is our Jehovah - Jireh , He will provide!!!