Feliz Navidad (this is the letter and pictures that we sent out this year)

Feliz Navidad Amigos y Familia!  Merry Christmas Friends and Family!                                                       December 2013

That is about all the Spanish we know but do not worry, we plan to know a lot more by this time next year.  For those of you who have not heard, we are dropping everything and moving to Costa Rica in July 2014 to serve as Missionaries.  We are so excited.  We are sad to say goodbye to all our friends and family but feel confirmed that this is what God wants us to do.  Each of the children are excited to do their part in serving God through serving the people and children of Costa Rica.  Please visit our website www.wutkamissions.com to find out all the details.  We welcome any questions you may have.

2013 has been full of more of the same.  Rob continues to be employed by The Hartford insurance company and will have to leave that job when we move.  It is our prayer that Rob will be laid off before July so that he won’t have to resign.  Whatever happens, we are trusting God for our financial support while in Costa Rica.  Yvonne continues to be self employed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in the near bye town of Granby.  Although business is going well, Yvonne is excited to use her skills in a different way with the children and families of Costa Rica. 

How do we KNOW God wants us in Costa Rica?

I was recently asked the question, “How do you KNOW that this is what God wants you to do and not just something you want to do?”  I really appreciated this question because it forced me to really think about, and try to articulate, what we have been feeling.  I guess it is much easier to discern God’s will for my life when I am abiding in Him.  The dictionary definition of abide is; to remain, continue, stay, dwell, reside, rest, or stand firm.  I abide in Jesus through walking hand in hand with Jesus on a daily basis.  Spending time in prayer, reading the Bible and meditating on scripture.  By meditating I do not mean that I am sitting in the Lotus position saying, “om.”  I will often jot down a bible verse that I read in my devotional time and think about it throughout the day.  Sometimes I work on memorizing it.  I usually ask God the question, “How do you want me to use this verse or passage today?”

Financial Support 101

Hello friends.

As we have been sharing about what our family will be doing in Costa Rica, we have realized that many people are not familiar with how we will support ourselves while we are there.  (Support is just a fancy way of saying how we will pay the bills). 

Neither of us will have paying jobs while we are there.  For the first 6 months we will be living in the city of San Jose learning the language and culture of the people we will be serving.  We both need to be fully available to home school our children and to assist with the weekly mission teams.  As this is happening, the Children’s Ranch (orphanage/foster care facility) will be under construction.  We will soon move into a house at the Ranch and will become ‘Mom & Dad’ to several young Costa Rican boys.  Again, we need to be fully available to love these children (and our own 4 kids) and to help work the ranch.

How will this work? 

Pictures from Rob's 9/5/13 - 9/10/13 visit.

A shot of the lazy river
that borders the ranch
property to the East.

2 missionary children and
a local boy playing
with a top in Verbena

The feeding center
at Verbena.

6:8 Annual board meeting

It feels great to be back in Alajuelita, Costa Rica.  The board of directors and all of the staff of 68ministries have met at the team house today and we will be together until Tuesday.  Today we had a lot of time to talk and get acquainted with each other.  We also took a walk down the road to the little neighborhood that is nestled down in the valley below the team house.  A couple months ago, one of the missionary teams was able to completely refurbish a playground and little park for the children of this neighborhood.  The families that live there are very happy with the new, safe area for their kids to play in.  Several of the families are now making the walk up the hill on Sundays to attend church.

We are officially missionaries with 6:8 Ministries in Costa Rica!

Hello Friends.  Yvonne and I are excited to announce that we are now officially on staff with 6:8 ministries in Alajuelita Costa Rica.  We are just beginning our journey of raising support and getting things in order as we prepare to move to Costa Rica in July of 2014.  Many more details will be coming soon!

Serving Him,
Rob