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!

Tarrying in Rivas then walking on to La Finca Maria de Jesus, Nicaragua

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Sunday, September 16th

We went to church this morning at the Primera Iglesia Nazareno. (1st Nazarene Church...apparently there are 6 in the area!) During Sunday school, the teacher encouraged us to pray for our own families...to seek God ourselves and to ask others to pray...don't just ask others to pray for us! After church, we were talking to several people, and Pedro and Berta came to invite us to visit the hospital that afternoon. We wrote down directions to get to their house and agreed to meet them later.

We ate a quick bite and started looking for Pedro and Berta's house. When we got there, Berta was waiting outside for us. We prayed together and then left to meet a couple of other brothers and sisters at the hospital. Petronila (in the green dress suit) teamed up with another brother and sister while Berta (burgundy shirt), Daly (melon shirt), Chris and I worked together. The hospital was really different from any we've ever been in when we were in the US. You have to bring your own sheets, go to the pharmacy and buy your own medicine that the doctors prescribe. There are very few private or even semi-private rooms and even less with air conditioning. (We did visit one private room, so we know they exist.) Instead there are wards...5-7 patients per room grouped by what's wrong with them...there's no curtain to section off even a little private space. Not such great conditions for the patients, but wonderful circumstances in which to share the Gospel. We all had a role. Chris prayed and interceded as I shared the Gospel using the Evangecube and Daly followed up with a portion of her testimony and prayed with those who wanted to receive Christ as their Savior. Berta talked to people individually who seemed more resistant to what we shared. Then we went around to each bed and prayed for physical healing for each of the patients! God is amazing...we shared in 3 wards and 2 private rooms and nearly ever patient and many of the relatives accepted Christ!!! We were so pumped up!! We left our e-mail address with a lot of the patients and asked them to e-mail when they were better...trusting and believing that God is going to touch each one of them! So if we hear from any of them, we'll let you know. We enjoyed visiting the hospital sooo much that, Berta invited us to stay at her house that night and go back again on Monday! Wahoo! We're so excited to see what happens tomorrow!

After church that evening, we had the opportunity to meet Jenifer and Pedro Luis (two of Pedro and Berta's children) We talked with Jenifer and Noel (her boyfriend) for quite some time...Berta wanted us to share the Gospel with them, but they told us that they weren't ready. Noel left, and we continued to talk with Jenifer. She's got a lot of really big decisions to make pretty soon! Please pray for her...she knows that Jesus has the answers, but she's trying to do it alone right now.

Here are a few of the patients we visited with...

a) José Guillermo & Marta Karina b) Doris & Marianela

Juan









These are the names of the others if you'd like to pray for their continued growth in Christ and that they would find a Bible-believing church to attend...

• José Guillermo and his wife, Marta Karina (She did not accept Christ.)
• Pedro José
• wreck on a school bus about a week ago...16 teens were injured...we met these 3 girls and their families...they all are still really swollen and cut up along with multiple breaks and fractures...
• Elvira José
• Endi Carrió
• Ericka
• Aura-diabetes in danger of losing her foot
• Cristiani-fractured leg/foot
• Yecelin-spinal problems and an obstacle that is hindering her Christian walk
• José Luis-broken arm
• Jacinto-broken arm
• Jaime-broken leg
• Juan-double amputee...pray for his health
• Tomas (and his wife, Mari)-pins in his leg
• Alan Rios-broken arm
• Doris (and her daughter Marianela)-double amputee...pray for her health
  

Monday, September 17th
This morning, we were able to talk to little Jenifer....we met her mom, Amanda, and her last night as well...they are living with Pedro and Berta until Amanda can find a place for them to live on their own. Jenifer is absolutely precious...our heart goes out to her because her dad left her mom and they just moved to a new town. She's far away from the rest of her family. She stays with Berta and the housekeeper, Rosalinda, most of the day. Please pray that God will protect her little heart and that He will constantly send people into her life to show her authentic love! Her mom is a believer, so we are also praying that she'll raise Jenifer in church so that she can know the love of her Heavenly Father!

We went back to visit the hospital with Berta and Daly in the early afternoon. Doing much the same as yesterday...and let me tell you God was moving!! Nearly every patient and every relative prayed to accept Christ in the 2 wards that we were able to visit! It was awesome!!

Here are some pictures of those we met...

a) David & Darling b) Yajaira (with her new Bible!)












Here's how you can pray for them...

• (David) & Darling-she was 2 months pregnant and lost the baby today
• Cecilia-4 months pregnant in danger of a miscarriage
• Vicki-cyst on her right breast...she doesn't know if it's benign or malignent
• Francisca-her health and for strength
• Yajaira-2 months pregnant in danger of a miscarriage...her husband, Ronis, is working away from home right now
• Jaquelin-2 months pregnant in danger of a miscarriage...her husband, Zamir, is working in Costa Rica right now...they are having marital problems and problems with the in-laws
  

Each time we prayed with a patient and she accepted the Lord, we asked if she had a Bible. Both Darling and Yajaira told us that they didn't. We went with Daly to see if we could find a good Bible for them, but the one Christian bookstore that she knew of was closed...looks like we will be here on Tuesday...we need to find Bibles!!!

From there, Daly invited us to speak on her radio show. We were running a little late, so we took a "carro" (my first time ever in a horse drawn carriage) over to the Poder in Cristo station. (Power in Christ radio station) We really enjoyed sharing testimony with her listeners! Chris and I decided to walk Daly home since it was dark out. When we got there, her pastor, Rafael, and her brother-in-law, Carlos, were waiting outside for her. Chris and I ended up sharing testimony quite some time with them and with Daly's husband, Walter, once he got home! It was really awesome because we are all really like minded about the things of the Lord. We had dinner together, and they invited us to film our testimony so that they could share it with teens in their church and at other outreaches for teens. Pretty crazy...but if God can use us in any way to be an encouragement for young people, we are available and willing to help!

Tuesday, September 18th
We played with Jenifer again this morning, and then headed out to find the Bibles. At the 3rd bookstore, we finally found a Bible in Spanish that is simple to read and understand. So we went to the hospital...first we ran into Cecilia...she was feeling better today, and she was with her husband, Pedro. I asked if she had shared the decision that she made the day before to accept Christ with her husband. She hadn't, so I asked if I could share with him. He ended up praying to receive Jesus too!! The Holy Spirit is at work!! From there, we went to find David and Darling, but she had been released already. (Thankfully, Daly wrote down everyone's home address so that they could make follow-up visits with them...we'll be able to find them!) Then we went to visit with Yajaira...she was in much better spirits today...her blood pressure had gone down significantly, so she was pretty happy! She was also really excited to receive the Bible!

So we found David and Darling's house...please pray for them...they are both so young--21 and 17--and they didn't marry. They are living with David's mom right now. David doesn't have work right now, so he's thinking of going to Costa Rica to find a job. Darling is actually from Managua, so she doesn't know very many people in Rivas...it's a messy situation! But they both accepted Christ, so we will begin believing that He is going to make changes!!

After lunch, Daly came to pick us up...Renán, her brother-in-law, was driving...then we picked up Mayling (Pastor Rafael's daughter) who was going to do the filming for us. Renán also found the location for us to use to film the video. He planned to use one ranch, but when we saw the Hacienda Ganadería Nahualapa, we all thought it was the perfect place. They have huge Brahmann bulls. Here's Chris with Coronel...





he's won several prizes in Central America...he weighs a mere 2,200 pounds!!! The owner's son, Danilo, runs the entire ranch for his dad. He was so nice...he let us use the house and showed us around!! He was really listening when Chris and I were sharing testimony of the walk. They are trying to sell the ranch to buy a larger one...and he's got his eye on the one he wants. The owners of that ranch called and asked him to come out to see it, but he told them that he couldn't come right then. They'd have to wait a bit. That is God! (We didn't find any of this out until later by the way.) After we finished sharing about the journey, Daly wanted to film us sharing the Gospel with the Evangecube. She suggested that we show it to Renán and Danilo. We did, and they both prayed the prayer to accept Christ.

Once we turned the camera off, we asked them if they were serious. Danilo was absolutely serious! AND Renán truly wanted to rededicate his life to the Lord! (Renán even shared testimony with us after he took us home!) Praise God! We weren't even supposed to film there and then Danilo was supposed to leave in the middle and go see about the other ranch! God's plan...God's timing...it blows my mind!!

By the way, Ganadería Nahualapa is located right on Lake Nicaragua...the largest lake in central America and the 2nd largest in the Americas right behind Lake Titicaca in Bolivia/Peru! It's really pretty...here are the volanoes that you can see from the shore...they form an island about 10 miles off the shore where we were standing!









Wednesday, September 19th
Today we went to find some more Bibles...we had to find a new store because we bought the only 2 they had at the other store yesterday, but God provided 2 more!! We took one over to Walter and Daly's house because Walter was going to work on Danilo's Hacienda that afternoon. While we were there, both Walter and Daly shared how they came to know the Lord. God has truly restored their lives!!! The other Bible...well, I wasn't sure why we needed it, but I wanted to have an extra Bible with us...trusting that God was going to put someone in our path to give it to!

Then we went to look for a coloring book and crayons for Jenifer...she was soooo excited to get them! She wanted us to color a picture with her, so Chris and I both sat down to color!! We also met Pedro Luis's girlfriend...Jenifer talked her into coloring a bit as well!!







Tonight we went to the house church that meets at Walter and Daly's house. We worshipped the Lord through song and then Chris and I shared testimony of the walk. Chris decided to share the underwear story. (If I forgot to tell you about it...well, send me an e-mail and I'll tell you what happened.) I didn't want to translate it, but I did...everyone got a kick out of it! Oh well! God provides in mysterious ways! We said our good-byes to Walter, Daly, Pastor Rafael and the church family. We knew that Thursday morning it was time to leave.

Thursday, September 20th
Time to walk...well, in the morning we played with Jenifer just a little more before we headed out. Then we said our good-byes to the family!! The first family that we've stayed with since El Salvador! It was wonderful!!

We walked about 6 miles and ate lunch at a place just beside Lake Nicaragua...we were even closer to the volcanoes!! It was a beautiful day. The Lord gave us shelter from the rain twice in the morning...once underneath a tree and another time at a bus stop.


We continued walking after lunch...honestly it was a really tough decision for me because there was no way for us to make it to the next town unless God intervened and we ate lunch at the restaurant of a hotel. I know that we walk by faith and not by sight though, so I knew in my heart that I could trust God to provide!

We met up with Alberto, a cyclist from Argentina, about 3 miles later. He was headed north...his destination is Mexico...he had trouble at the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He was really nice and told us to search out the fire department anytime we couldn't find a place to stay.







On we walked...it was getting really dark...we weren't getting near a town, no one had stopped to talk to us, nothing...we weren't really sure what to do...we were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by huge ranches...all we saw most of the afternoon were cows. When it was almost completely impossible to see anything else, I saw a guy riding a horse. I asked if we were close to a town or somewhere we could stay the night. He told us that we were still 3.5 miles from town, but we could stay at his house! We couldn't believe it! At the last second, God opened the door for us to stay with a COWBOY named Omar! Even more interesting...his wife, Sandra just left to go back to her mom's house. They've only been married 2 years. So we were able to pray with Omar and talk to him about Jesus. He's been going to church, but he isn't ready to make a decision. We asked him if he had a Bible, and he explained that Sandra had taken his Bible when she left. God showed us the person who needed the Bible a lot quicker than I thought!! Praise the Lord!







An aside...pray for Nicaragua...they are in an energy crisis right now. In the hours of high electricity usage, they are turning off the power in a large part of the country. (For 5-7 hours at the time.) When this happens, they can't get water either because the pumps to bring the water to homes are operated on electricity. The government is saying that they are going to have the situation straightened out by November...it's been an issue for a long time, but it's never been this severe until this past February.

Well...we are headed out tomorrow...we think that we'll make it to Costa Rica...we are only 7 miles from the border!! We'll have to see what God has in store for tomorrow! May God bless you and keep you! We miss y'all a ton! As you seek the Lord, ask him to use you as His own hand, feet, and mouth in your community! We love you!!