One down, two to go!

We have completed our first semester (we call them tri-mesters) at Cincel, the Assemblies of God Spanish Language and Cultural Acquisition school in San Jose, Costa Rica. The picture above is the group of people that graduated this semester, and they are on their way to their countries of ministry. They are all our friends, and we will miss them greatly. From left to right (front row): Karen Nichols, Tara Kenyon, Christina (Vanguard student), Lisa & Randy Parr, Monica Peercy, Michelle & Bob Perez; (back row) Gerritt Kenyon, Efrain & Katherine Figueroa. I hope I spelled all of their names correctly. I am sure I will hear from them if I did not. In my mind, I am confusing Spanish and English spelling. I did not realize it would be this difficult.

Speaking of difficulties, there are a lot of things that are hard for missionaries. We are finding out that one of the hardest realities is saying good-bye. In the life of a missionary, there are a lot of "hellos" and "good-byes." It's just a reality of life for all of us. I did not really understand this until we said good-bye to all of our family and friends in the U.S. Then, we began a lot of hellos and making of new friends in Costa Rica. At the end of our first semester, some really good friends left because they were done with language school. Again, it was very hard saying good-bye. Some of them, we will only see once every four years, possibly. Some, we will never see again until Heaven.

I don't want you to think that I am complaining in any way. In truth, I am not! I just want you to understand part of our lives, now. It is the same for many pastors and their families, or the military families all around the world. You move somewhere, work hard to make new friends, and a year or two later, you have to uproot your family and move. It's not easy on the parents, and it is definitely not easy on the kids.

Chariti, Kaylee, & Chaz are troopers. They are all very involved in their school. They are learning how to play soccer really well. They have made a lot of new friends. These last couple of weeks have been tough for them because several of their friends left as well.

In the midst of all the change, we had another change as a family. Housing became available on the language school campus. So, we moved into a larger apartment. It is a nice apartment with a lot more room. We really like it a lot, and we look forward to being so close to the language school. We have a lot more room and we are closer to most of the other students here. Also, three more families have finished raising their budget, and they are here ready to learn Spanish.

One thing we have learned very quickly is to remember that people come and go in our lives, but God always remains the same. Does that mean we are going to forget about everyone that has left or moved on from our lives? No, not in any way, each and every person has been part of our lives. God orchestrated this time together, and He has a purpose for bringing them into our lives. We are different people after we have been influenced by friends and family. God places different people into our lives to help us grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Please feel free to email, write, or call us whenever you feel like it. We would love to hear from you.

All of our contact information can be found on our website: www.mattixfamilynews.com.

Blessings to all,

Charley