What do you Do on the weekends....

Well, here in Costa Rica it is the only time Mark and I are not in class. When we were back home in North Carolina we were able to be very  involved in church and the activities that went along with church. We loved being involved and sometimes we had our hand in a little of all the areas of church. We loved to work with the children. I worked in the nursery and in the 2 year old class some and on Wednesday nights we worked with the AWANA's program. We both were in a wonderful Sunday school class and sang in the choir. We also went on visitation each week and when we had special door knocking Saturdays.

When we started on deputation in August and moved to Tampa we started to attend another wonderful church. We went to Sunday School but because we were always on the road trying to raise support we could not get involved as much as we would have liked. Now, that we are on a foreign field and without the proper tools to help it is still very hard to get involved.  That is until we found "EL FARO". It is so amazing at how God puts you right where he wants you. Just to say this the name of the church in Honduras is in fact Iglesia Bautista Misionara "El Faro". The only thing that is different is that this church has Missionary in the title. We love it. We love the people and the fact that there are so many youth. Here like in other countries it is hard to find Latin American men in church. In fact today for Father's Day the only men in there were the 3 "Gringo" Daddies and the Pastor. Now we are able to serve the Lord in a new ministry. Hopefully we can now spend our Saturdays serving in the The Mountains of Los Guidos. They have a heavy population of young people and are on the poorer side of San Jose. We will be serving along side of Pastor Gabriel and his family and some of the best teens around. They give up their Saturdays to help serve the children and then they are faithful to return back at 6 for Teen Activities.

 But with their smiles you would never know. We spent almost 4 hours playing games and singing with the children. There were about 65-70 kids there. The Pastor had a Bible lessons and then we passed out a snack. We brought sugar wafer cookies and lollipops. The KIDS went CRAZY!!!! At the end when we were almost ready to pack up an elderly lady from the community...probably an "Abuela" or grandma came to thank us for helping the community. We had not really done anything but use our time to serve the Lord. It felt so good to be back serving like we once had. We look forward to many more Saturdays serving in the hills of Los Guidos.

Since today was Father's Day....one of the little girls from the church named Alexandria made Mark a card. Feliz dia del Papa....it was so sweet. She was also at the Bible Club as well and has grown to love Josiah and our family.

Who knows.....she may not have a papa at home to look up. Please pray for the church and the people here. The need is great but their hearts are willing.

Well.....what happened...where did the time go?

              I know that we can all say that once upon a time...ok at least once a day we look down at our watch and say..."Where did the time go?" I think back on my teen years and young adult years and think about the same thing. I was saved at a young age but I must confess that I did not do all that I could have during those early years of my life.  Now, I think about all that I could have done for the Lord, but we can not dwell on or live in the past. So, that is why  you need to do all that you can today.  We all have had good intentions but we can all look around and see where we failed to reach the goal that we had set. Maybe there are books that we purchased that sit neatly stacked on a shelf that we never took the time to read. It could be a nice pack of greeting cards that you meant to mail out to those sick in your church or the ones that just needed an encouraging word. God has given us 24 hours, 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds in everyday that will be spent in some way or fashion. The time that God gives us is ours to spend and we must determine how we spend it. We can fill it with life building life experiences or let it slip right through our finger-tips.

I know that being here in language school Mark and I spend alot of time studying. Sometimes we come home straight from school and study in some fashion until almost time to start dinner. Then there are times where we are so tired that we have lunch and put Josiah down for a nap and crash ourselves. However, it is very important that we always use the time that we have to spend with our children and also to share the gospel with those in this world. We are very excited that we are learning words and phrases in Spanish. We are in great anticipation of the day that we can share the Romans Road in Spanish to those that we meet here on the streets in San Jose. Please pray that we will use our time wisely and learn quickly what the Lord would allow us to absorb in the year that we have here. As for my readers just remember that God gave you this day and it is up to you on how you spend it.

 "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. "

John 9:4