July Newsletter Risen Hope in Costa Rica

 

My wife Lynn is counting down the days until we get to go back home and be reunited with our family. This will be the last newsletter that I write. I want to thank everyone for their prayer support over the last year. We felt your care as we entered a foreign country with a new language and culture, taught several subjects in a Christian school that we had never taught before, explored the country by car, Uber and a lot of walking, bonded with several families in our church in Cartago, survived and thrived despite an auto accident, and COVID, and continued to stay connected with our home church, Risen Hope in Prospect Park, Pennsylvania.  Graduation I opened the ceremony at graduation with an English and Spanish prayer, and Lynn spoke extemporaneously at the 9th grade ceremony. It was a highlight of our year. It was a pleasure to mentor and teach this group of young people.

Sojourn Academy Lynn and I feel like we made significant contributions to our students' education this year. I was pleased with how some have grown in their faith. We started a Bible club that was student-led and run.  Lynn invested at least 70 hours a week into lesson preparation for five different grades. She was able to make a significant difference in their education.  She taught grammar, writing, literature, and tutored individual students… and all to students whose first language is Spanish. This took many hours of creative brainstorming.  Elevate Initiative My students and our director Courtney Folk created Elevate events for the community where we saw students learn and lead, and others dedicate their lives to Christ. Here are some of the influential 11th graders that spearheaded this initiative: Lucy, Marialla, and Alina Hospitality This month we had a snack and game night hospitality with five of our co-teachers. It has been such a privilege to serve alongside them.

Sovereign Grace Cartago We have become quite close to several  couples in the Cartago Church. This month we finished our last marriage mentoring session with Kevin and Pri. We had lunch with dear friends, Ronnie & Shirley, who lead the hospitality ministry. (They serve in much the way that we did at home.) We were able to visit our good friends Rakel and Bernal at their oldest daughter's 7th birthday party. It made Lynn and I a bit homesick to see all those children that are our grandchildren's ages.  I am learning to pray in Spanish. This month I prayed for my Pastor Tim Shorey at our Church in Cartago. Tim and Gayline are longtime friends, and a source of inspiration for our current mission trip. Our school community has also made Tim’s healing a target for prayer. We have prayed for him at our weekly Wednesday morning prayer meeting and in all of our classes.  Lynn and I have joined the Servidores team in Cartago. We greet folks and direct them when they need help. Lynn also has served in the Children's Ministry. Lynn and I met with Pastor Allan and his family for a Cafesito.

Our last Chapel where Lynn shared her testimony Prayer Requests Please pray for our pastor, Tim Shorey, in the United States. He has been diagnosed with stage four cancer. Please pray for his comfort and healing. Please pray for Costa Rica. The United States is experiencing significant inflation at 8.6%. The inflation problem in the United States is comparable to someone getting a cold. In Latin America when the United States gets a cold, then they get pneumonia. Pray for the people in our related churches and ministries to survive during this economic crisis. The value of Costa Rican Colon has recently dropped by 11%. It is projected that this could go as low as 64%. Please pray for political stability in Costa Rica and Central America. Recently the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega has invited Russian advisers to his country. The expansion of Russia into Ukraine could happen at the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican border. Pray for peace in Costa Rica. It borders Nicaragua, and they currently do not have an army to defend themselves. Please pray for the CFC youth trip at the end of July. They will be staying at Chespie’s Church and camp at Playa Azul (Costa Rica) in the last week of July. Pray that they would be able to accomplish their service projects and make an impact on this church and its community.  Thanksgiving We have several testimonies to share … We were able to adjust to the culture, and Pat was able to become functional in the Spanish Language. We were able to do this during the COVID pandemic. During a very difficult time, we were able to form a close relationship with our partner school Sojourn Academy, and help many students advance their English and Bible education. We were amazed by the positive responses of the students and teachers to our mission year of service. We were able to be a joint of supply for the Church in Cartago as they moved from a store front to their new building.  We were able to form many close friendships with the members of the Sovereign Grace Cartago Church. We survived an automobile accident that could have easily taken our lives if things had happened a split second slower. Our car would have been totaled in the United State, but it has been repaired just in time for us to explore the country after our school year.