Saturday morning fun

Last Saturday, Dan and I figured out how to both get some work done outside at the same time. While I hung loads of laundry on the clothesline to dry (I just this week finally got caught up on laundry after our trip back to the States), Dan did some yard work... and Timmy had a great time in his little pool. I of course had to take a break from hanging clothes to snap a few photos. We might have to make pool time a regular Saturday morning activity!

Home again

Eight days ago, we returned to Costa Rica after spending almost 3 weeks with family and friends in the States. We were blessed with a great vacation, and we were able to do so many different things: hiking in the Tetons with my family, reconnecting with friends in Kansas, and enjoying the beach in Florida with Dan's family. It truly was a renewing time for us, and I feel like we returned to Costa Rica feeling refreshed and strengthened to continue with life and work here. In spite of this, though, we have felt some feelings of homesickness during this past week. As refreshing and fun as it is, going back to the States reminds us how much we miss our family and the fellowship of good friends we've known for years. So, we had a strange mix of feelings as we returned to Costa Rica: happy to be back to what is now our home and eager to pick up where we left off in relationships we're building and projects Dan is working on, but also a little sad to be so far away from the people we are closest to. We think Timmy must have been missing people, too, because this is how we found him as we were working on unpacking:


He looks like he's saying, "Call Grandma. I'm going back!" Fortunately, he's jumped right back into having fun with our neighbors and friends here. Dan and I also are enjoying seeing our friends here again, and are trying to adjust back to communicating in Spanish.

We really did feel like we were coming home when we arrived at the international airport last week. One of our friends here in Atenas manages passport control there, and was working when we arrived. It was great to be greeted right away by hugs and questions about our trip. Marvin escorted us through security, telling the other workers we were his friends, and helped us get onto the elevator, etc. What a great welcome back!

We got to our house at about 2am, so we barely noticed that it had been painted while we were gone! (You can see it in the photo above... definitely an improvement over the unpainted look it's had for as long as we've lived here!) We did notice, however, that there was very little water pressure, and Dan quickly found that there was a fountain coming out of a broken pipe on the side of the house. We're very thankful that this leak was outside this time (and not inside like when our house was flooded before; coming home to a flooded house would have very much dampened the refreshed feeling we returned with!). Dan was able to repair the leak, so all is well... for now (we know that there is another leak in the wall between our bedroom and bathroom, and are praying it can get repaired soon!).

During the week since we've been back, we've said good-bye to our interns, hosted some good friends from the old EMI Guatemala team, traveled to Volcán Poas with them, and worked on getting settled back into our home and daily routines. Dan has jumped right back into project work, and is preparing for his next project in Haiti, which is scheduled for the end of September. We also have about a month to prepare for our next group of interns, who arrive at the end of August. There is a lot to look forward to, and we're glad to be home again...

Cartago

I wrote a post last month about our trip to Cartago with the interns. We had a fun day together - exploring the basilica, taking lots of pictures, talking about our impressions of what we observed, going to a shopping mall in Curridibat (a town between Cartago and San José) and seeing a movie there. Here are some photos of the day:

looking at La Negrita

inside the basilica

we studied each stained glass window

Sarah, from Iowa, Susannah, from Australia, Marcos, from Guatemala, and James, from Canada

Timmy needed to get out and run

James being a crazy gringo and trying to catch a pigeon

Timmy directing the pigeons

near the gardens in the cathedral ruins

at the gate of the ruins

These four interns have been with us since January, and will leave Costa Rica in just five more weeks. We are really thankful for the time we have had with them so far, and were blessed to be able to spend a day exploring part of Costa Rican culture with them.

Updated slideshow

To the right, you can find a slideshow that I just updated today. It includes some of our favorite photos from 2009 so far. Enjoy!

Dan's back!

Dan returned safely from Haiti last week. It’s great to be back together again, and it has been fun for me to hear stories of his trip and to get a broader view of God’s work around the world by finding out more about the Church in Haiti, as well as the Haitian Children’s Home. Dan will try to write a summary of his experiences soon.

Thank you for praying for us during the project trip. While Dan was gone, Timmy stepped into his daddy’s shoes and was my little man of the house.


We did fine while Dan was gone, although Timmy did seem a little confused about where his daddy disappeared to. When I got him up in the morning, he would look around the house as if he was looking for Dan, and he would point to photos of Dan and say variations of “Dada” (my favorite is Diddy-da”). One afternoon when we went into Dan’s office, Timmy walked up to Dan’s desk, turned the empty chair around, and burst into tears! I wondered if he had been thinking that Dan was just working in the office all the time those days. I guess in some ways that was true; his office had just been relocated to Haiti for the week!

Dan's upcoming project trip to Haiti

I (Dan) don't get many opportunities to write on our blog. Sarah is very good at it, and I usually leave it to her, but now it is my turn. I want to write a bit about my upcoming project trip to Haiti. I will be leaving Saturday May 23rd and returning the 27th. As I go on project trips, I would like to try to post a blog about each trip before I go and an update after I get back. That way you can know more about the trips that are such a big part of our ministry with EMI. Now, I also know that blog posts without pictures are boring, but I hope you'll bear with me on this one and I'll have pictures for you when I get back.

I did some research about Haiti as I prepared for this trip. Here is a quick summary of some of the facts I found:

• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 80% of the country's population live under the poverty line.


• A large percentage of the population is actively involved in Voodoo, a satanic religion developed from West African spiritism and witchcraft.


• Crime, corruption, and political unrest are rampant there.


• The literacy rate is below 50%, with functional literacy possibly as low as 20%.


• Many ministries have been working in Haiti, with a vision of building up and maturing the local church and the next generation. The hope for the country truly is in the next generation, which is why it is so exciting to be involved in an orphanage ministry whose vision is to raise children into godly adults who will remain in Haiti.

On this trip, we will be developing a master plan for a new site for an orphanage called Haitian Children's Home or HCH. HCH has put together their own video that sums up their ministry and their plans for the new site. The beginning of the video does speak to the current dark spiritual climate in Haiti so it may not be suitable for little ones, but if you would like to watch it, you can see it on you tube by clicking here.

We will be providing a master plan for their 20+ acre site that will include homes for the children, a clinic, and a church. Their desire is to serve the entire community of Raymond, Haiti which does not have a church or medical care. In addition to the master plan, we will also be providing more detailed designs for homes for the children so that they can begin construction on them as soon as possible.

Please pray for me and for our entire design team as we work together:

• Please pray that God would continue to work mightly in the country of Haiti. Pray that he would raise up a godly generation of leaders in that country.


• Please pray that we would be able to provide HCH with an appropriate design that meets their needs.


• Pray that God would reveal Himself among the team members so that this might be a spiritually impactful time for all of us.


• Please pray for our safety, both physically and spiritually as we travel and as we are working in Haiti.


• Pray that the ministry of HCH would continue to be fruitful and effective.


• Pray also for Sarah while we are apart. Pray for her as she cares for Timmy and our home by herself. Pray for their protection and endurance. Pray also that she won't miss me too much.