Country # 7....we're in Cañas, Costa Rica

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Friday, September 21st

We woke up this morning to cowboys yelling at 5 am...it was time for round-up! It was awesome to see!!! However, we couldn't leave then because it was raining. We just waited and enjoyed the beauty all around us!! We finally started walking around 9 am. After about 3 miles, we were taking a water break and two girls (Yeseylinh and Illiam) from the community we were in came out to talk to us. While we were talking, it started pouring rain. Again, God protected us twice from the rain!! We shared the Gospel with the girls while we were waiting, but neither of them were ready to make a decision. (Pray for their salvation along with Omar and his wife, Sandra!)

When the rain finally stopped, it was time for the girls to go to school and for us to walk on. We ate lunch in the next town and while we were waiting, a guy came up to us who spoke perfect English. It turns out that he works at the border! So he gave us the paperwork that we needed to fill out and gave us a run down on how much everything should cost! It rained again while we were eating...but again we had shelter! How amazing is God!!

Alfredo, Walter's brother (from Rivas), works at the border, and God had put it on my heart to give the Evangecube to him to give to Daly. We looked for him after we turned in all of our papers and got our passport stamped. He was in a meeting though, so we had to wait. Chris and I were sitting and talking to one another when Dominga came up to us. Earlier she had tried to sell us a hammock, but I had to explain that it was too much extra weight for us to carry. This time she came up to talk. She is a Christian...I guess she read our packs and wanted to know what we were doing. Then she went to find her husband, José, so that he could meet us to. She wanted us to come to her house and visit her church the next time we were in Nicaragua! So exciting!!

Alfredo finished up his meeting and came to find us just about the time that Dominga and José were saying good-bye! We chatted with him a bit, and then headed on to Costa Rica!!!

We were both pretty tired, so when we stopped in a little store just over the border to get a drink, we asked about a hotel. There was an inexpensive place just next door, so we opted to stay the night...actually we prayed and flipped a coin!

We came back to the little store to eat supper...while we were waiting for the food, the owner (Ediberto) and his wife (Meri) and their son (Yader) started talking to us. Before we knew it, we were sharing testimony of our journey and learning about their lives. Ediberto has been sick this past year, so Yader took this year of school off to work in his dad's place. We talked with them for a couple of hours. Before we left, we prayed with them...for God to bless their business and to heal Ediberto's body. (He just had surgery on his colon.)

Saturday, September 22nd

On our way out, we stopped by Ediberto and Meri's store to tell them all bye. Yader was loading a truck full of fruit and vegetables. We asked if he needed any help, and he told us no, but we could ride with him if we wanted. He and his cousins were going out to sell produce. We were pumped!! We've never sold fruits and vegetables before!! It was tons of fun...Yader, José, and Josue rode in the front and little Ediberto rode in the back with us. They have a route with certain customers...some of the stops are at people's houses and other stops are at tiny stores out in the middle of no where. One of the last places we stopped was one of my favorites because they had parrots!! Unlike in El Salvador (where the parrot was a girl and the only reason she came near me was to bite me really hard), these parrots were really nice. They let me carry them around and feed them. Apparently they are boys...when Chris tried to pick them up, this time they tried to bite him. He just has faster reflexes than me, so he didn't get bit!

Yader and the boys dropped us off at a bus stop before they turned to go a different way, but before they left they loaded us down with liches, bananas, and oranges. Thank you, Father, for lunch! We were planning to walk on, but it started pouring rain. We opted to wait it out under the shelter of the bus stop. We met a guy from Nicaragua who was selling banana chips and potato chips, Raquel, Junior, and a teenager who was dressed as if he might be a cowboy. Chris and I shared testimony and chatted with them for the 40 or so minutes that we waited for the rain to quit.

About the same time their bus arrived, it quit raining and we kept on walking. We did have a guy on his bike stop to walk with us today. He was a bit intoxicated. About 10 minutes after he started walking with us, his wife pulled up and coaxed him and his bike into the car. Very interesting to say the least!! We walked 5 hours...about 12.5 miles and only saw one house. We were thinking a little about where were going to stay the night, but we just kept walking. It was getting darker and darker...it was going to rain again any minute! We just kept praying!! We saw some guys on the side of the road with what looked like a radar and binoculars. They were really interested in this one tree, but we couldn't figure out why until we got a little closer. The tree was full of PARROTS. I've never seen parrots in the wild...there were at least 40 and they just kept coming. All of them were green, but they were all different sizes...amazing!!! We were so excited that we had a little more energy to make it to the next crossroads...several people had told us there was a restaurant there.

We got to the crossroads, and there was no restuarant...we were really hungry!! We asked a guy sitting on the corner if there was a store. He pointed down the road, so off we went...hurrying to beat the rain. I asked in 3 houses before we finally found it, and as we stepped under the roof, the bottom fell out! (Did I mention we are in the tropics in rainy season?! ha, ha, ha) God is so good...not only did the lady (Etelvina) have a store, but she served meals as well!

While we were waiting for our food, Edwin and Gabriela (Etelvina's kids) were fascinated with us! We talked to them and told them what we were doing. Before we knew it, Edwin was pulling out his maps that he had gotten at school. Then they were asking where we were going to sleep. We told them that we didn't know. Not too much later, Etelvina brought out the food. Then she and Nelba the lady who lives with her invited us to stay and sleep at their house. Praise God!!

What we didn't know is that the neighborhood party would be going on until 3 am at their house!! But God knew...the kids along with two of their cousins, Vanessa and Hazel, wanted to talk to us. We played doctor and teacher with Gabriela's stuffed animals. Then we started singing with them...the girls loved it! Of course we are singing songs that share the Gospel, and they wanted to sing them over and over again! Praise God! Finally, Chris and I had to attempt to go to sleep around 10 because we were exhausted from a long day of walking. We slept in spurts until they finally all went home around 3 am.

Sunday, September 23rd

Bright and early we were up and getting ready to leave...only Nelba was up when we were ready to leave. We don't normally walk on Sunday, but we really wanted to go to church. We walked about an hour, when this guy pulled off the road to ask if we wanted a ride. The moment Chris set his pack down the strap broke! Talk about God's timing. Then even more crazy...Chris scratched his head when we got in the car, and it was a bee. It stung him! (He's okay though.) AND the man who was driving nor the lady in the front seat even spoke to us until we were coming into the next town. He asked where we wanted to be dropped off. Chris said at an Evangelical Church, and the guy said, how about this one and immediately stopped the car and put us out.

We're thinking either God put it on their heart really hard to pick us up or they were angels because they dropped us off at Fuente de Gracia (Fountain of Grace) Methodist Church. (I think this was our first Methodist church of the walk!!) And from the time we walked in...the songs they sang, the testimony of a little girl healed of incurable disease, the pastor's words...it was as if it was for us specifically. He talked about making our bodies a living sacrifice and to keep persisting even when it's hard because the blessings of God are just around the corner!! We were both in tears for the majority of the service. The Holy Spirit was ministering to us in such a powerful way!

We met Pastor Carlos after church, and he didn't think we were crazy. He invited us to lunch (Arroz de Maiz...a traditional Costa Rican dish...Andrea was the chef today...don't worry, I got the recipe!!) in the fellowship hall and sat and talked with us for at least an hour. We met his wife, Marjorie, and their youngest son, Jefrey. I shared with them the struggles that my dad and I have had over the years and how God has healed my heart and our relationship. They were touched by the testimony, and at the same time they were such a blessing to us!! Then they said, we have some rooms that you can stay in if you'd like. We couldn't believe it! This church hosts so many work teams each year that they have their own housing for them. They had hot water and air conditioning...it's been 3 weeks!! God used this church to minister to our Spiritual needs and our physical needs/wants! God is so amazing!!

Then came the evening service...you wouldn't think it could get any better than Sunday morning...Wrong!! We praised the Lord through song for an hour or more and then Pastor Carlos started preaching about being free...we are children of the promise not children of the slave woman, and we needed to start living like it! When he gave the alter call--encouraging us to come closer to the Lord and let His Holy Spirit minister to us--the alter was packed. There were teenagers crying out to the Lord...people were being set free!! At the end, Pastor Carlos asked the congregation to gather around us and to pray for us. It was difficult to hold back the tears!! Such love and acceptance...God is awesome!!

He dismissed the congregation, and some left. But many stayed there praying to the Lord for their need and praying with one another. Others were singing to the Lord the songs of praise that were playing in the background. We were overwhelmed! We finally headed for the door around 10 pm (Can you imagine a church service lasting for 4 hours and not wanting to leave even then?! Oh my, I think we got a little taste of heaven.)

Just as we were leaving Pastor Carlos came up to us to tell us that God had really been working on his heart this afternoon and evening. Apparently he and Jefrey weren't getting along very well lately...God broke them both...they told each other that they'd be there for one another from now on...Pastor Carlos told Jefrey, "You can count on me." It was awesome because you see God understands authority...when there is restoration at the head of the church, restoration begins in the church!!! Praise God! We can't wait to see what's going to happen in this church over the next few years!

Monday, September 24th

We were in desparate need to wash our clothes, so Pastor Carlos and Marjorie offered their washing machine after we had breakfast together. We enjoyed a really good time of fellowship with them.

We went our separate ways for the day...we washed clothes and worked on the internet. They went to scope out the location for the Children's Retreat that they are going to have this coming weekend. (I just want to mention that they are preparing materials for the weekend, but they are also preparing their hearts. Everyone who will be working the retreat is fasting and praying at least 1/2 day all week...I have a lot to learn about spiritual preparation!! Thank you, Father, for teaching me!!)

We got back together that evening to go to a church soccer game. (At home we have church league basketball and softball...here it's soccer.) Jefrey is the coach...they did a great job playing with a Christ-like attitude. AND they won!! From there we went to dinner--again another great time of sharing!!

Tuesday, September 25th

Time to start walking again!! We tied Chris's pack up the best we could...hopefully it will hang in there for 3 more weeks. It appears that 2 of our former student--Ginny Davenport and Joseph Jeffreys are coming down on their Fall Break from college to walk with us for a week!! Talk about God's timing!! We are super excited!!

We ate lunch with Pastor Carlos, Marjorie, and Jefrey before we left. Chris was able to share his testimony with the family, and Jefrey told us that he was really encouraged to hear it! Praise God! (Jefrey and Chris are pictured here together by the sign that Jefrey painted for the church.)

Well, we walked about 3 hours...the sky was getting black again, so again we were just praying for God's protection from the rain. We were having a water break when this SUV drove by us, turned around, and came back to stop right in front of us. They were headed to

Cañas, and they wanted to give us a ride! Have I mentioned lately that God's timing is perfect?!! We didn't get hit by even one drop of rain!

It turns out the Orlando and Danilo are partners in a non-profit organization that is building a neighborhood, cemetary, and vocational school in their community. We were excited to hear their plans! As we drove into Cañas, the men wanted to know if we wanted to stay there. We said yes, since it was getting late. We thought Orlando was going to invite us to his house...NOPE. He told Danilo to stop at Hotel El Corral, he got out, got us a room, and told us that we would be staying tonight there!

We couldn't believe it!! Well, another amazing day walking with the Lord! We will head on tomorrow. We'll be in touch again soon! God bless you and keep you! We love you tons! Keep being God's hands, feet, and mouth where He has planted you!

Here's a random picture for you...This whole area, but especially this tree is infested by gnats. The thick covering you see it ALL gnats! Talk about fun trying to breath while we walked!