Tag Archives: Costa Rica

Honduras

Three More Teammates In Central America

Five members of Team Honduras in Costa RicaOur teammates the McCanns are continuing their Spanish study in Costa Rica.  They will be joining us here in Honduras in January.  This week three more teammates started their Spanish study in Costa Rica.  Josh, Jamie and Andy have joined the McCanns in San Jose, Costa Rica.  The three of them will be joining us here in Honduras in November.

We now have seven adult members of Team Honduras here in Central America.  We are thrilled to think that in just a short time everyone will be here in Honduras working in our ministry.  What an exciting time this is.

Costa Rica

Farewell Tour Comes To A Close

On June 25th we catch a flight from San Jose, Costa Rica to La Ceiba, Honduras. We have been spending much of our time in the past three weeks having meals with and saying goodbye to some of the great people that God has placed in our path.
 
Friday night we spent some time with Mike and Marty Edwards, a great family (along with their daughter Madison) who are going to be serving as missionaries in southern Honduras.
 
The Vaughns - Missionaries to MexicoYesterday we had dinner with all the MTW missionaries here at the language school – the Vaughns (missionaries to Mexico), Cam Clausing (missionary to Colombia) and the McCanns (our teammates in Honduras). We had dinner, dessert and communion. It was a wonderful time of fellowship.
 
That is about it for the farewell tour. Outside of any impromptu visits we are packing and cleaning the rest of the time. We will have dinner with the McCanns Tuesday night and our friend Matt McClain (missionary to Costa Rica) will drive us to the airport early Wednesday.
 
It has been such a pleasure to get to know such wonderful people here in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica

The Problem Of Packing

packing the bagsWe’ve gone through this before.  Ten months ago we were debating as to what needed to be packed, purged or provided for others.  When we left California we figured we had narrowed our stuff down to everything we absolutely needed.  Ten months later we are looking at several large piles of things we haven’t touched or thought about since August.  So, do we REALLY need that stuff.

On top of this our airline, TACA, has double their charge on extra bags.  Each bag over your allotted two is now $200.  Now added to the question, “Do we REALLY need that?”, is, “Is THAT really worth $200?”

We are donating food to friends, books and toys to Madison’s school and various things to other ministries.  Some clothes we thought we needed have sat in our closet unused.  In addition we are moving to a city where it is 85 – 105 degrees all year, do each of us really need three jackets?

This is the weekend.  Pack, purge or provide for others.  We fly out on Wednesday, June 25th.  It is time to make those decisions.

Costa Rica

Our Costa Rica Language Learning Ends

Yesterday Mike had his last private tutoring session.  He spent two hours reviewing irregular verbs with Alejandra.  That officially brings our Costa Rican Spanish study to a close.  On June 25th we leave Costa Rica and fly to Honduras.  Our Costa Rican studies are complete.

We have spent 10 months here in Costa Rica dedicating ourselves to learning Spanish.  We are excited by the results.  Fluent?  No.  Conversant?  Yes.  Room to grow?  You bet.  Worth the time and effort?  Without a doubt.

When we look back at our first papers and exams from September we can truly see growth in our language ability.  We have come so far.  There is still much more to learn, but, we have developed a base that will serve us well in our ministry.

While our time in Costa Rica is coming to a close our Spanish learning is not over.  Once we get established in Honduras it is our intention to continue studying with a tutor a couple hours a week in order to continue our improvement.  We were once told that we will have 10 months to learn Spanish and a lifetime to perfect it.  Amen.

Costa Rica

A Walk In The Park And More Goodbyes

Maddy fires at a cupThis weekend Madison and Mike took an afternoon to go play in the local park. Madison had recently purchased a homemade slingshot and wanted to try it out. She had never before shot a slingshot. They shot a whole bag of rocks at paper cups.
 
pick up soccerThey then walked over to the cement soccer court and watched a few games of “pick up” soccer. This would be similar to an inner-city basketball court on a Saturday in the U.S.  There were dozens of people playing and watching six a side soccer. They demonstrated some great skill.
 
Our family also continued the “Pettengill farewell tour”. We shared goodbye meals with some great missionaries we have met here in Costa Rica. We ate meals with the McClain family, missionaries to Costa Rica, Rhonda Wilkinson, missionary to Central America and the Cooks, missionaries to Argentina. A truly great bunch of people.