Our week with the World Racers!!

We had the privilege of working along side a team from the World Race this past week!  These young people spend 11 months in 11 different countries serving the Lord!!  It is a fantastic organization and this group represented their organization fabulously!!  We have experienced unusual cold temperatures in Costa Rica this week, however, we were still able to get a lot accomplished!!  The team shared their testimonies in the Bible studies in Cipreses and Santa Rosa!  They also did some planting with Jorge and also help dig out new irrigation for the new plants.  They also got to go the Victor and Melba’s house and visit and love on the children there!!  They also made us the welcome sign that you see in this picture!  This group just brought us so much joy and they expressed God’s love to everyone they came across with their joy!!  When I think of them, I just think of the joy of the Lord shining!!  🙂

You guys know how I love to cook and so I also cooked them a Christmas feast since they did not know for sure how they would be spending Christmas!!  I look forward to keeping up with these guys and seeing how the Lord uses their journey over the next 9 months!!

 

New Videos!!

We just made a new tab for videos of the work here!!  There are 4 new ones!!  Check them out and enjoy!!

 

Quick Update and Prayer Requests

Just wanted to thank everyone for your prayers for our upcoming trip out of the country.  We will be leaving tomorrow at 5:30am CR time to go to Panama.   We hope to pass through without incident.  We will be traveling by bus to the border, we will most likely have to walk across the bridge to Panama, then the bus will take us to the dock where we will take a 40 minute water taxi ride to the island we will be staying on.  We will be returning on Sunday. We would appreciate your prayers as we cross the border, both for safety and for our passports to not cause us any problems.  We do not want to pay any fines, so please just be in prayer for us.  We really appreciate it.

 

Reflections and thoughts

As the anniversary of our commissioning service has just passed, it got me thinking about this journey that our family is on!  It excites me to see where and how the Lord has taken us through more than we could have ever imagined possible and we are praising Him for that.  Back in early 2007, Jacob and I submitted to the Lord that we would move where ever He wanted us to go to be a witness for Him.  At the time, we were assuming we would move somewhere else in the US.  After much prayer, in August 2007 a team from our home church (including Jacob) went to work in a small village called Cot on the side of the Irazu Volcano in Costa Rica.  As Jacob was gone, God was moving in my heart that Jacob was going to come home and say that we were to move to Costa Rica.  And at the same time He was moving in Jacob’s heart as well.  Even other team members from that trip said they could almost watch God move Jacob on that trip, not even knowing at that time that we were called to move there.  Once Jacob returned to SC, things just started moving at a whirlwind pace as our house sold with out even putting a sign in our yard and we began to sell our things and then before we knew it we had moved to Costa Rica and then the first year was gone and we had, by God’s grace alone, learned Spanish, we came back to the States to share with everyone, then moved back to Costa Rica and here we are now.  WOW!!  What a whirlwind 🙂

I say all of that to say that things have happened over these past years that had you told us we would go through or face we would have said, “No way!  I would never be able to make it through that!”  And yet God has been faithful to us and has showed us His strength, peace and faithfulness through it all.  He has guided us and provided for us in such a manner that it is just exciting to watch!  I know that you all realize that I am writing this from Charleston, SC while Jacob and my babies are in Costa Rica, and that alone has been such a journey demonstrating God’s grace and faithfulness to our family – and it may seem weird (weird is a word that many have used to describe me anyway 🙂  but aren’t we all weird when it comes to Christians living in this world?) but I am thankful for this disease because it has given our family a unique opportunity to draw close to our Father and rely on Him and experience Him in a way that otherwise would not be possible.

I am taken back to one of the most special days for our family and that was our commissioning service back in May of 2008 – please go back to read about it in our archives for May of 2008 (Special weekend or something like that) if you have not read about that weekend.  My favorite part was that our praise team allowed me to pick out the music for the service.  I picked Mighty to Save and My Desire by Jeremy Campy.  That song “My Desire” sums up still our hearts.  I will place a link here so you can listen to it on YouTube but I also invite you to read the words.  We are committed to being used by God however, where ever He sees fit.  Thank you all for praying for us, following us and standing by us on this wonderful journey that our God has us on!  We are all working hard for our family to be reunited in Costa Rica and serving/loving on the Ticos.  We are standing in awe of our Lord and thankful for His constant guidance, love, by our side, comfort, peace…..

Here are the Words….. “My Desire”  Jeremy Camp

You want to be real, you want to be empty inside
You want to be someone laying down your pride
You want to be someone someday
Then lay it all down before the king

You want to be whole, you want to have purpose inside
You want to have virtue and purify your mind

You want to be set free today
Then lay it all down before the King

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire to be used by You

You want to be real, you want to be emptied inside
And I know my heart is to feel You near
And I know my life
It’s to do Your will
It’s to do Your will

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire, to be used by You
Oo yea
This is my desire, this is my desire
To be used by You

All my life I have seen
Where You’ve taken me
Beyond all I have hoped
And there’s more left unseen

There’s not much I can do to repay all You’ve done
So I give my hands to use

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire, to be used by You
Oo yea
This is my desire, this is my desire
To be used by You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiQaRn0k88w

 

Update and Prayer Requests

I know that we have not posted in a while and I am I am sorry for that.  I want to update everyone on what has been going on.  Back in October I (Courtenay) began to have pain in my left hand, wrist and shoulder.  Thinking I had slept on it wrong I ignored it.  It continued.  Once we returned to Costa Rica it quickly escalated.  I went to see our family doctor in December and he referred me the next day to a rheumatologist.  I was receiving wonderful medical care in Costa Rica and was happy with my doctors, but was not finding the cause of my problems.  So, on this past Saturday it was decided that I should fly back to SC and have testing done at MUSC.  I flew back on Sunday leaving Jacob and the kids in CR (a decision that was very difficult).  On Monday I saw the head of research for rheumatology and immunology at MUSC.  I immediately had an ECHO done and a ton of blood work.  We are still waiting on much of the results.  One thing that stood out was that my cpk was over 1000 and the normal is 200 or lower.  That apparently explains why my muscles have been so weak and hurting.  Today, hopefully I am going to have a MRI of my thigh muscles and at CT of my lungs.  Depending on the results of the MRI, they may do a biopsy.  The doctor is saying that this could still be a result of a virus, but being that it is pushing 7 weeks of pain, we are nearing the end of time for that.  He has tested for Parvo, Lyme, mono, and many other things, but we don’t have all the results.

Please continue to pray for not only my health, but Jacob and the kids in CR.  Jacob is facing not only doing his job, but all of mine (including homeschooling) and Satan just seems to be throwing things at them left and right.  Two nights ago one of our gates broke and he had to fix it.  Then that night Jacob woke up at 2am to find the kitchen flooded.  And last night our only means of communication, our Mac computer, dropped and the screen cracked.  He could seem my sister Monica’s name on the Skype, so he was able to contact her, but not us and therefore, we have no means of communication.  This is obviously making this time of separation even more difficult.

Please also pray especially for the village of Cot, CR.  We are in need of a place to hold services.  Fransisco is currently staying at our house.  He is welcome to stay as long as he needs, but without a home in Cot, there is also no place to have church services or Bible studies.  Also, on our way to the airport on Sunday, we ran into a wreck on the autopista (Pan-American highway) where a bus had flipped.  Jacob heard that 25 people died in that wreck.  Not to mention injuries.

We must all realize that when we step out to battle Satan that our most powerful weapon against him is prayer.  So we are calling on that.  The area of Costa Rica where we are working is a stronghold of Satan’s and at one point a tica (Costa Rican friend) said to me, “Wow, you guys are going to attack the heart of the dragon here in Costa Rica by going to Irazu and Cartago to minister.”  So please not only remember us in your prayers, but also the Ticos.  This is a matter of eternal salvation.  They need God’s grace and salvation through the finished work of Christ.  We are bringing them that message and Satan wants to stop us.  But we are not going to let him.  We are going to persevere and we are going to continue to do the work of our Heavenly Father.

I will keep you updated on all of these situations as we know more.  Thank you so much for partnering with us and bathing us in your prayers.

 

Flying back to Costa Rica!!

Here are some pictures of us waiting in Charlotte to fly back to Costa Rica!!  We did great with the weight of our luggage!  Everything was between 49 and 50 lbs!  I had to wear 3 shirts to get my clothes all back, but it is worth it!!

 

Alabama and Global Outreach Visit

We spent last week in Alabama visiting with friends and sharing at Parkview Baptist in Tuscumbia, Alabama.  It was such a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement.  And Jacob thought it was wonderful to get to be around so many Alabama fans!!  We are used to seeing  a fan in SC and pointing and saying, “Look, an Alabama fan!”  We noticed ourselves doing the same thing when we arrived!  It was so funny!  He even got to watch the Bama vs. LSU game Saturday in Alabama with Scot!!  He was so excited!!  ROLL TIDE!!  At the end of the week we went to Global Outreach headquarters in Tupelo, Mississippi.  As soon as we walked in the building we were embraced, literally, as family that we have not seen in a while.  I cannot say what a blessing it is to be a part of such a wonderful mission agency.  Thank you guys for all that you do for us!  You guys ROCK!!  Here are some pictures!!

 

We have moved into the mission house!

Over the last two months our home church has been remodeling an old home on the new church property to make it into a mission house!  We were able to move in yesterday!  It is such a huge blessing to have a place to call our own while we are back in SC!!  Thank you to everyone at Mt. Moriah Baptist for this blessing!!  You guys are awesome!! We have finally moved out of our suitcases after a month of living out of them!!   Here are some pictures of our home for the next 2 months!!

The dedication of the new mission house!

The mission house!

The front porch!

The den with the girls enjoying a movie on our computer!

The dining room

Encouraging little touches

Benja’s bedroom

The girls’ room

Lizzie decorated her bed as soon as we arrived!

The kids’ bathroom

Our bedroom

Even a tire swing in the backyard!!

 

We have graduated!!

And we have moved out of casa verde.  It has been a year of a lot of work and prayers and we can now speak Spanish!!  Praise the Lord.  It was hard to say goodbye to all of our new friends, but we were ready to be out of language school and on to Irazu!!  I don’t have much time to write a whole lot right now, but here are some pictures of graduation!!

Jacob and I getting ready to graduate

Last time singing with the praise team

We just received our diploma

It was a whole family accomplishment!!

Our friends the Hynums!

Jacob and I with our grammar teacher Oscar!

Jacob, Travis and Danny on our last night together

Me, Emily and DarLynne on our last night together

The kids with all of their friends the Mittens and Frederiks

 

Where has the time gone?

Wow!  It is August 8, 2009!  We have been in Costa Rica for one year today!!   That is so hard to believe.  We have one more week of language school before we graduate and we are spending the weekend with Enon Baptist on Irazu!  It seems that we have a mountain of things to do, accomplish, wrap up, find, buy, organize……before we return to the States on August 25th to raise our support for our second year on the mission field!  We have had such an amazing year.

When we arrived, I could not speak a lick of Spanish.  Now, my teacher has tested me and I received an “Advanced Low” in my ability to speak/fluency.  And that was one level higher than I initially thought I would receive, but hoped I would receive.  Jacob and I both can carry on conversations, listen and understand sermons and fully function here with our Spanish.  It was a lot of hard work and it has paid off.  Even today, I was able to translate for Pastor Scott and his wife Robin while the father of the orphanage we were visiting was explaining in Spanish the origins of their ministry.  It was such a big moment for me!!

This past week, Lizzie turned 6!  Benjamin will turn 8 tomorrow, and Sophia will be 4 on the 22nd!  It seems like they have grown tremendously since we have been here and it is so much fun to hear them use their Spanish.  Although I must say, they do not like to use it with Jacob and I (English only with us), but they use it with other children that they know only speak Spanish!!  They played with the children at the orphanage today and had no problem communicating with them!!

We are certainly looking forward to our next steps on the mission field!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek and follow God’s direction in our lives.  Our goal is solely to serve Him and bring Him all the praise, glory and honor.

Here are some pictures that I have been slack about posting.  They are random times and photos….

Some of the girls and I at the goodbye party for Dawn and Tully!

Benja and his buddy Gabe!

Jacob and his friend Anthony!

Kite flying in a local park!

A rare treat of going to Burger King with the kids after kite flying!

A beautiful sunset off our front porch!