Traditional Dance

Last Wednesday evening, we had the privilege of being invited to a celebration for Guanacaste Day. This is a day that Costa Rica celebrates every July 25. It is a day to remember the annexation of one of Costa Rica's provinces. The name is Guanacaste.

This picture is Gabriel, the youngest son of one of our teachers, Roxanna. He is doing a traditional dance from Costa Rica. Gabriel is 10 years old, and he has become a friend of Chaz'. In fact, the entire family has become close friends. When my mom and dad were here, Roxanna invited us to her home for dinner. They are a really neat family with big hearts.

It is there desire to help as many people as they can with whatever they have. Roxanna's husband, Jose Antonio, has told me that their desire is to purchase a microbus (basically a large passenger van). The reason they want to buy one is to be able to take students to different places in Costa Rica and learn more about Latin American culture. Jose Antonio also was dancing and teaching about the cultural dances. He desires for students to not only learn the language, but he really desires for them to learn his culture. He wants students to understand Latin Americans and the way of life here in Costa Rica. He also wants to keep the traditions alive so that others, in the future, will learn about what life was like in the past.

It was a great night! The dances were beautiful and they taught us a lot about Costa Rica. In fact, during one dance, all of the dancers came off the stage and grabbed a bunch of us up on the stage to dance. I didn't know what to do! I do not have any rhythm. Sherry did really well. I think she could really learn some traditional dances. Who knows? In Paraguay, the girls might learn some traditional dances and show them when we come home for itineration.

We hope and pray that you are all doing well. Every now and then, we receive emails or updates from the States about someone going through an illness, injury, or a tough time. Please be reassured that you have a missionary family praying for you. We know and understand the power of prayer. If you have a need, or you would just like to ask a question or update us on how you are doing, please drop us an email or give us a call.

Blessings to all,

Charley

Visiting Parents

The last couple of weeks have been very busy. As I announced on our last blog, I was going to write several blogs and post them. Well, I did write several blogs, but I failed to save them. Now I have figured out how to set the automatic save. Hopefully, there won't be anymore mistakes like those. I am planning on posting some more this week. So, please keep checking back.

My parents flew into San Jose, Costa Rica on July 9th and stayed for 10 days. This is a picture of them with our kids at the Cataratas La Paz, the Peace Waterfalls. The river is called La Paz, and in this area it has a lot of waterfalls, hence the name.

Anyway, we had a really good time. My dad loves to take pictures as well. So, between the two of us, we have a lot of pictures. I hope to get some more posted on our website soon.

During my parent's visit, we went all over this country. Well, not entirely, but we went a lot of places. They were able to visit the volcano, Arenal, downtown San Jose, Cartago, Alajuela, Heredia, Puntarenas, and many other locations. My dad's favorite part of the trip (besides spending time with the grand kids, of course) was the time the entire school went to Cafe Britt. Cafe Britt is a place that makes coffee. They harvest the cherries, separate and classify the beans, roast, package, sell, and deliver them to stores. It was a neat experience, and my dad, being a coffee-lover, loved the entire time we were there. I enjoyed it as well, and I learned what a really good cup of coffee really tastes like. The picture on the right is Sherry holding some seeds that can be planted, and if they are watered, fertilized, and have the correct temperature, you might have 25 pounds of coffee per year starting 4-5 years after you plant them.

Anyway, we really enjoyed our visit, but we miss them greatly. It was hard saying, "Good-bye" at the airport. When you think about, we are not promised tomorrow. So, will we ever see them again? I sure hope so, but if not, then we have tremendous memories. My dad is fond of saying, "Go make some memories!" I think he is wise in saying that. It is important to make some good memories with the ones you love.

Go make some good memories today with your family and friends,

Charley

Retreat to Arenal

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been so long since our last post. I will be writing several posts in the next few days. So, hopefully, I will get you all caught up on what is going on in the lives of the Mattix gang.

This picture is at Arenal. Sherry and Chariti, two beautiful young women, posed for this shot as the clouds moved away from the top of the volcano, Arenal.

We went to Arenal for a yearly retreat that the school, CINCEL, has, and it was really nice. The entire school went, and we had a really good time. We rested, a little, and then, we had several different training sessions. It was a good time of getting away from Spanish and spending a few days getting to know the other missionaries better.

Sometimes, we need to "get away" and allow God to speak to us. Now, I am not suggesting you need to get away from your family to hear from God. What I am saying is that we all need some time in our week to spend with God. How else are we going to hear from Him. We must have time to spend with Him.

Today, in chapel, a pastor from Texas spoke about staying connected to the power source. His illustration had to do with the jaws of life that firemen or rescue workers us to help recover people who are trapped in their cars after a wreck. He explained that one time, he and his partner were working to get a young person out of a vehicle. He heard his partner fire up the generator, the power source, but the jaws-of-life would not work. He looked back and saw that the power cords were not plugged in to the power source.

He went on to explain that many people in the church come every week and hear the power source. They know the power source is there, and they see Him working in other people's lives. Yet they don't feel like God is working in their lives. You know what? Maybe, we should stop and make sure we are CONNECTED to the power source.

So, today, take some time to check your power cords. Are they plugged in to the power source?

Blessings,

Charley
Don't forget to check out our website. As soon as I figure out what is wrong with my Adobe Acrobat PDF maker, I will post our newsletters.