Busy Busy Busy

I cannot believe how fast time is going and that it has been 6 weeks since my last blog post.  Let me try to catch you up on what is going on with us down in Costa Rica.

• Home schooling - Yvonne and the kids have settled into a nice rhythm and most days work pretty well.  There are some occasional rough spots, but overall things are progressing nicely.  I am very impressed with Abby's progress in reading and math and Mara and Jonathan have figured out that taking their time the first time through a lesson will yield a good result and they will not have to retake lessons.  Elise is plowing along at a great pace and it excelling as usual.  She is also helping with Abby as needed!!  All of the kids are missing the social aspect of school and we want to have them make friends.  Please continue to pray for the whole schooling situation and for discernment on whether we should enroll the kids in public school for February 2015.  If we were to enroll the kids we would probably do that in the rural school out near the Children's ranch.
• Children's ranch - It has been a fun couple of months as I have had the privilege of bringing missionary teams out to the ranch site to continue construction of the 2 team houses.  Besides 4 or 5 single day trips, I have led 2 week long work teams at the ranch.  A crew of 4 guys came down in early August and we laid almost 3,500 square feet of ceramic tile in just 4 days.  I just got back this past Friday from a full week with another team of 8 where we installed the ceilings in both houses as well as 7 ceiling fans.  We have made several 'staff' only day trips to continue the work as we have entered the slow season for mission teams.  All the bathroom fixtures are installed and the electricity is installed and fully functional.  The last step is to bring in the gravel for the septic tanks and turn on the water.  This will complete the early phase of the ranch and will allow us to host missionary teams of up to 30 people in the two houses.
• I have been researching and working with several architects to come up with the overall layout and function of the ranch.  The architecture work is typically a huge expense here in Costa Rica as an architect needs to be involved in most stages of the design and build process.  I have discovered that you need to use an architect to pull a permit or even order an inspection.  I have also been reminded that we serve a huge and awesome God!  Through an uncomfortable situation I was forced to deal with, I was introduced to a gentleman who happens to be on the national board of architects for Costa Rica and he is a professor at a college for architects near San Jose.  After I told him about the ranch and he counseled me on how the architectural process typically works, he asked if he could pitch our ranch project to his class at the University.  The class is very excited and I will be bringing them out to see the site in the next week or two.  I also gave them a write up on what the vision and purpose is for the ranch.  From this class we should be getting several full blown options to choose from.  This will include site plans, blueprints for the various buildings and full renderings of what the final project could look like.  This work would normally cost between $30,000 - $50,000 and we may get it for no charge, as this project would benefit the students who need a project for their graduation.  We may also be able to leverage some of these 'new' architects for our future needs (permits, construction over-site, etc.)  Or course, I would love to have your prayers for wisdom and direction as I try to keep this project moving along in a quick, affordable, God-honoring way.  Please feel free to get creative in asking God to show himself in various ways as all the pieces fall together.

  

  River on East side of ranch.

  
  

  

  One of the team houses at the ranch.

  
  

  

  The future main road leading to the family houses at the ranch.

  
  

  

  Ceramic tiles in the team house.

• Local Ministry - Our family continues to serve at a feeding in Verbena every Saturday morning.  We are starting to develop relationships with some of the kids and the ladies that run the center.  Elise, Mara, Yvonne and I have also gone to the special needs orphanage several times.  The pure joy that comes out of these kids is great.  We also got to go to a neighborhood called Juan Pablo about 10 days ago and hand out shoes to the children.  It was a really cool afternoon because we read them the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples and made sure that they understood the story.  Then the team brought out a big wash basin and washed the feet of each of the children before they got to pick out their 'new' shoes.  It was a special day.

  

  Yvonne holding McKenzie in Verbena

• Good Friends - God has blessed us with a great family that lives in our condo complex.  They have a boy Jonathan's age and a girl Abby's age.  The kids are best friends and are always playing together either at our house or their's.  Yvonne and I also get along well with the parents.  Two weekends ago we brought the kids rock climbing with them and this past weekend they invited us to join them at the beach in Guanacaste for the long Independence day weekend.  I am looking forward to soon being able to return the favor and invite them to spend a day or two out at the ranch.
• Prayer and Praises - 
• Prayer that we would not let 'life' occupy all of our life and that we would be available and willing to get uncomfortable to share the love of Christ with the people here.
• Praise for success in home schooling and prayers for wisdom for the future.
• Praise for such great progress on the ranch and prayer for wisdom and resources to keep moving forward.
• Prayer for more teams to come down between now and early summer.
• Prayer that our ministry puts Christ in everything that we strive to do.

We are so appreciative and thankful for the prayers and the financial support from our friends and family.  May God bless you all as you work on your own mission field each day.

Love in Christ,

Rob

Prayer Warriors

We have a fantastic team of prayer warriors with 6:8 this week.  Today we went to the neighborhood of Tiribi.  At the bus stop they noticed a young woman in distress and asked her if they could pray for her.  It turns out that this 20 year old had just found out today that she has cancer.  Another man who saw us praying for her came over and asked if we would pray for him to overcome his addictions.  We continued on our way to Tiribi and went on a prayer walk in the neighborhood.  We met a young man who just found out that he is going to be a father and needs a job.  Another woman revealed that her mother just passed away this morning and would like some prayer for the whole family.  What started out as a day to go play with kids turned into a prayer walk where this small team of 8 had a huge impact on several individual’s lives… and it is only Monday!  God sent this team out today to pray for these individuals who needed to know that God cares for them enough that he sent these Gringos from Denver, CO. to pray for them and encourage them in their desperation.  I can’t wait to see how God uses them the rest of this week. 

This team has also blessed the 6:8 staff, and our family specifically. They did this through brushing out tangled hair (for hours), teaching them how to make beautiful bracelets out of cross stitching thread, holding their hands to cross a street, and just  spending time with them and making them feel special.  I thank God for each and every team that comes down with its own unique skills that God needs to serve the population of Alajuelita as well as encourage the Staff of 6:8 ministries.  The busy season of teams available in the summer months is coming to a close and we will be looking for teams to come on down during September through Spring. (What a great way to break up the winterJ)  The experience will change your world view forever.  Please consider getting a group together to come and serve and support our ministry.  God can use people of all kinds because he has gifted each of you with a unique ability to help others.   Feel free to contact us and we will get you plugged in.

 “…God loves a cheerful giver.”  II Corinthians 9:7.

-Yvonne

God is moving in Costa Rica

Hello friends.
I am sorry that we have not posted in almost 2 weeks.  Time is moving really fast down here as we are quickly adjusting to our new lives and the changes to the ministry.  The director of operations that was in place when we arrived is moving back to the States with his family on Friday.  After a lot of prayer and discussion, it has been decided that the overwhelming responsibilities of the director role will now be spread over several individuals.  I have been tasked with being the director of finances for the operations based here in Alajuelita Costa Rica.  It is an exciting time for the ministry as I believe we have the right people in the right roles and everyone has the singular desire to glorify God in everything that we do.

Our biggest personal prayer request right now is for the home schooling.  This is a new thing for all of us and we are trying to accelerate the program to give ourselves the most flexibility down the road in case the children have the opportunity to enroll in the local school system which begins the year in February.

Now onto the really exciting news!!  The children's ranch project is moving along better than I would have imagined.  Through some generous donations, several mission teams bringing project money and their labor, and an awesome group of Ticos (Costa Rican people), the project is really starting to take shape.  There are two team houses that are completely framed and under roof.  Each of these houses are 24' x 48'.  One will have a full kitchen and living space for the cooks, as well as a bunk room with a capacity of 10 people. The other house will have 2 bunk rooms that can each accommodate 10 people.

 

 




We have another team of 30+ young people going to the ranch property tomorrow to continue work on these two buildings and some paths around the property.  It is the rainy season right now and it can pour for hours at a time, so needless to say, the ground can get pretty soggy and muddy.

Within the next three weeks, there will be at least 2 other teams going to work at the ranch.  Our hope and prayer is that by the end of August, the two buildings will be complete enough to comfortably house the next group of teams that are coming down to start construction on the houses that the children will eventually live in.  Please pray for safety for the teams as they work and for God's protection of the supplies and tools while people are not there.  Another big prayer request is that the money continues to flow in so that we can continue to make progress on this great extension of serving the Costa Rican people.

Again, we thank everyone for their prayers, support and encouragement.  If anyone is interested in coming down to serve, please let me know asap so we can look at availability.  The prime spots for 2015 are almost booked.  A great time to come is between September and April, as that is usually our slower months with the most capacity.

Serving Him,
Rob

Time to get to work!

We arrived in Alajuelita, Costa Rica on July 6, 2014.  For the last 10 days we have been setting up house and adjusting to our new home.  We were blessed by friends and fellow missionaries who greeted us at the airport and brought us to our unfurnished condominium after having already bought us mattresses to sleep on for our first night.  We have spent the last 10 days getting the landlord to put in the appliances he promised, getting our cell phones up and running with Costa Rica cell service, purchasing minimal necessary furniture, and getting the internet installed for the children’s on line schooling.  It has been an adventure grocery shopping and learning the new Spanish names for various products.  God blessed me with meeting a neighbor on our second day in the condo who offered to drive me around town to show me all the best places to find vegetables, meats, gluten free foods (I have to eat gluten free), paper goods and kitchen wares as well as places to pay different bills and where the banks are.  Of course all these things are found in different parts of town.  She gave me an overview of the city and after our day together, I felt that I had a bird’s eye view of the city and would be confident in finding my way around. 

There have been some challenges with communication causing us to become frustrated with ourselves for not learning more Spanish before the move.  We've had to remind ourselves that the purpose of the first 6 months in the city was to learn the language while building relationships so the expectation wasn't for us to be fluent right off the bat.    A funny example of one communication issue was getting our internet installed.  The internet guys were supposed to come out on Monday morning the 14^th to install the cable/internet.  We got a phone call stating that they were at the gate so Rob went out to the gate but there were no cable guys.  Turns out that because there really are no addresses in this area, they were at the wrong condo complex.  Not a big surprise.  The only problem is that they needed directions.  We didn't know where they were and we didn't know enough Spanish to be able to communicate with them directions to where to find us.  Sadly, another day went with no internet to begin schooling or to be able to post on our blog.  Miracle of miracles, they showed up first thing on Tuesday morning without us ever having to give directions.   I guess God decided to give us a break.

We have done a lot of waiting around the condo because we were having appliances delivered, internet hookup, etc.  The kids and I were getting stir crazy so today we decided that we were done with this adjustment period of setting up house and wanted to get out and serve.  We joined the team from Atlanta, GA currently here at 6:8 ministries and helped them run a VBS this morning in the very poor and rough neighborhood of Verbena.  Our kids did great.  Almost immediately they adjusted to the surroundings and had fun and local kids.  Jonathan was part of the skit where we told the story of Joseph and his brothers.  Mara, Elise and Abby had a constant stream of little kids (mostly girls) surrounding them for most of the time.  Rob and I were proud of each of them as they stepped out their normal and opened up to the kids of the neighborhood.  The big guy in red in Neil, he is one of the missionaries on staff here.  He brought us through the neighborhood knocking on doors to let the kids know that we were here to play with them.  At the end of the morning, the team handed out about 70 Spanish/English bibles.  They wrote the children's name in each one and told them to bring their bibles back tomorrow when they have another bible lesson.

We are exhausted from the 30 minute walk in each direction and the energy spent playing with kids for  a couple hours.  We appreciate all the prayers and encouragement.

God is good!! 

We made it!!

Hola amigos.
We still do not have internet in our new place (should be set up in the next 2-30 days;-).
Yvonne's cell phone is good enough that we are using it as a mobile hot spot for now.

Here is a quick summary of trip so far:
We got up at 3:30am on Sunday July 6th and left for the airport.  I had packed my brothers pickup and my parents van night before so all we had to do was jump in and head to the airport.  There was absolutely no one in the United line when we got there.  We found a porter to help move our 12 suitcases/crates, our portable keyboard, Yvonne's guitar, our 4 other smaller suitcases and our 6 backpacks.  God blessed us by having a friend from church (Matt M.) working the check in counter and then at the gate.  There were 4 workers at the check in that all jumped in to help process our luggage.
When we got to security screening, they had just opened a new line that we quickly overwhelmed.  We had no issues at all and to our knowledge did not leave anything behind;-)  The flight to Washington DC was uneventful, as was the transfer to the next flight to San Jose Costa Rica.  We landed and easily passed through Immigration.  We then found a porter standing next to our mountain of luggage at the baggage claim area.  He grabbed another porter, we rounded up a couple stray bags and then I looked around for our friend Dan, who was due to arrive 10 minutes after us.  We quickly found Dan, and the 9 of us (Wutka 6, Dan, 2 porters) went through the customs screening and found a place outside to unload all of our luggage.  Within minutes, the bus that I had lined up to transport us arrived, as did 6 of our friends from the ministry (Spencer, Alix, Chipper, Neil, Dan & Karen).  We piled all our stuff into the bus and headed to our new home.

Of course we were very hungry since we arrived at noon (2pm Eastern) so we stopped off at a local eatery on the way to our condo.  (It was a subway;-).
We got to the condo and it took no time for us to unload everything since we had so many helpers.  The condo was completely empty except for 6 mattresses that our friends had delivered a couple days before our arrival.
We have spent the last 5 days exploring the area and setting up house.  I will try to create another post later today or tomorrow with the excitement and adventures of the first week on the ground.

We love you all and appreciate all your prayers and support.

God is GOOD!!

-rob

Hot tub time

For the last 12 years I have been spoiled rotten with a therapeutic spa that sits on our deck 3 steps outside the sliding glass door.  We initially bought it as a place to relax and have found that it has been a blessing in so many more ways than that.  I quickly learned that it is a great place to thaw out during the cold Connecticut winter months.  When I’m feeling chilled to the bone I just sit in the hot tub until I’ve given myself a nice fever of 101°F.  Sometimes I’ve done that 2-3 times in one day.  

Occasionally, Rob will come in with me and we’ll have a little ‘mini-date’ as we talk about our day but mainly, I have gotten into the habit of putting the kids to bed and heading out to the Hot tub to get some alone time and relaxation.  As I sink into the warmth of the water and begin to feel the jets soothe the aches of the day, I look up at the sky and the plethora of stars.  I am always filled with awe at the vastness of the universe and the Greatness of God who created it all.  I easily pick out my favorite constellations and am amazed at how the stars always stay in their spots and more amazing yet, the North Star sits above the old oak tree in our back yard in the exact same spot every night.  The rest of the constellations rotate around the sky but the North Star never moves.   I very often find myself compelled to sing praise songs to the Creator of our Universe.  Over the years, my “Hot Tub Time” has become a time of prayer and worship.  I can’t help but feel so small in the scheme of things and yet God cares about me. He shows me this night after night.  After I’ve spilled my heart out to Him, I am quiet.  It is in these moments that He whispers to my soul.  He lets me know that while we are each very small in this universe, we are very significant to God.  He has created each one of us with a purpose and in these quiet moments, He reveals his purpose for ME.  Sometimes it is in big ways, like his desire for us to do foreign missions, but mostly it’s in small ways.  He will put a thought in my mind of someone who needs a phone call or to send a note the next day.  Sometimes an apology needs to be said or I get the feeling that I need to say yes to volunteering to help out at the school or church when earlier in the day I felt too overwhelmed to say, “Yes.”  Whatever the case, I have learned that whenever I listen to these promptings, I am always blessed with an opportunity to share Jesus’s love with someone which confirms for me that it was indeed God speaking those thoughts into my soul.

Last night was the last time I get to sit in the Hot Tub with God for a long while.   Today we are shutting it down as we will be moving out of the house tomorrow.  I was so sad at first since this has become a special time in my day for not only physical renewal but spiritual renewal as well.  God gently reminded me that there will be plenty of stars in Costa Rica.  I wondered if I’d be able to see the North Star from near the equator and if I would have to learn new constellations.  (OK.  So I admit that sometimes my conversations with Him are very basic and childlike)  He quickly steered my thoughts back to Him and how he will make sure that I’ll be able to see the magnificence of His creation every day that I seek Him no matter where I am.  We will be able to have our moments of Prayer and Worship and Silence, so that we can continue to have the little conversations that I have grown to crave. 

What started out as a completely selfish and indulgent purchase, God has used to draw closer to me.  Thank you Jesus for loving me and caring enough to use a hot tub for your glory.  My prayer for all of you is that you will each find your “hot tub.”  The thing that is going to draw you in to an intimate relationship with God because there is nothing better than sitting in the presence of Jesus and feeling his love and warmth wrapped around you in a great big hug.

Yvonne

Commissioning and Prayer from our home church!

Hello friends.
I wanted to share an opportunity with everyone.  On Sunday June 29th, 2014 our home church, Valley Brook Community Church in Granby, will be taking some time during the service to pray over my family and to 'Commission' us to go to Costa Rica as missionaries.

We would love to share this moment with anyone that is in the area and would like to attend.  Church starts at 9:30am and we meet in the Granby High School auditorium.  (see www.valleybrook.cc for more info and directions).

I would also like to say that if there is anyone that does not have a church home where they are being taught God's truth from the Bible, please give Valley Brook a try.  We are simply a group of folks that love God and love people and seek to impact our community in a positive way.

Gracias Amigos!
Rob