Last week, we had a visit from a couple of our friends from Ozark, Missouri. We had such a good time. This is a picture of them in Sarchi. Sarchi is a city that has kept alive the tradition of painting carts. i believe there is a picture on our website of an orange painted cart.
Carlos and Karen Aviles have been family friends for over 10 years. In fact, when Sherry and I went on our first mission's trip, Karen was a nurse in the medical clinic, and Carlos was an interpreter. Carlos is from El Salvador. I learned something new about Carlos this trip. I always knew that he was a Christian, but I never asked him about his testimony.
He told me the story of how he was invited to a small Bible study. He went because one of his friends went. Then, John Bueno, our executive director of World Missions, began to talk to him about Jesus. Carlos said that he wasn't interested because he was catholic. John Bueno invited him to his church. Carlos went with his family. At the end of the service, John Bueno was giving the altar call. Carlos' daughter elbowed him and told him to raise his hand. He did, and he went forward to accept Jesus as his Savior.
How amazing that God would use a missionary to reach out to Carlos in El Salvador? How amazing that God would use his daughter to tell him to raise his hand for salvation? Carlos' life, personality, and character are amazing. He loves God, his wife, and he loves to help people. Currently, he works at Cox Hospital in Springfield, Missouri as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking patients. He selflessly gives of himself to help others in whatever way he can. He is a great blessing to our family. Please do not get the idea from this blog that Karen is not a blessing to our family and other people. She is an amazing nurse.
They both travel the world together, reaching out to hurting people. I do not know for sure how many mission's trips they go on each year. I do know they go all over the world. I believe Karen told me they have been to 14 or 15 countries together. Can you imagine the number of lives they have touched? I want to be there the day that they stand in front of our Lord! I can only imagine what that would be like. I don't know exactly what God will tell them. I am guessing it will be something like this: "Welcome home! Welcome home, my good and faithful servants! Enter in to your rest! You deserve it!"
Blessings,
Charley
This past Friday, we attended our second graduation ceremony at CINCEL. Several of our good friends graduated and are headed to Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. This picture is of all the faculty and the graduating students. I will try to name them all for you right now: from left to right; Alex, Maria Rosa, Rosita, Nicky, Janie, Paul, Kristi, Caitlyn, Ryan, Vicky, Kate, Guiselle, Yorleny, Lizbeth, Luis, and Roxana.
You can probably tell the graduating students from the professors. Our friends, Nicky & Janie Rider, Paul & Kristi Robinson, Ryan & Caitlyn Jordan, and Kate Freeman all graduated. The Riders are going to Mexico, the Robinsons are going to Colombia, the Jordans are going to Colombia, and Kate is going to Argentina. We will miss them all, but we will remain friends for life. They have all added something special to our lives, and we will never forget them.
To all of you who faithfully support us with your prayers and financial support, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are almost done. We can almost feel and smell Paraguay. Although we are excited about going to Paraguay, we know that we need as much Spanish as possible before we leave Costa Rica. We will be working very hard for the next 4 1/2 months, and then we will be graduating from language school. We could not do this without your prayer and support. Again, thank you so much. Your investment in our lives and ministry will touch many lives in the jungles of Paraguay.
Blessings to you all,
Charley
Here is the blog I promised. A few days ago, I just had a bad day with Spanish. I had not done well in my phonetics class. Then, I had a grammar test that I felt I did really poorly on. As I was running downtown to run an errand, I just felt like I had lost all of the Spanish that I had learned. I couldn't understand a thing the clerk was telling me at the store, and I just was thoroughly frustrated. As I was leaving the store, I asked the gentleman if he would call a taxi for me. He said he would, and I went outside to wait.
Now, here in Costa Rica, it rains pretty much every day. I think it will be this way until about October. Well, on this day, I had at least remembered to bring an umbrella. As I was standing outside, it started pouring. It was one of those rains where an umbrella does not keep you completely dry. My shoes and socks were soaked, and I was getting cold. You may ask why I didn't go back inside. Well, I didn't want to miss the taxi if I didn't wait outside for it.
I was standing there feeling sorry for myself, and I looked up into the rain and said, out loud, "God, if you can hear me and see me, please send a taxi driver I can understand and be able to talk to!" What happened next was amazing!
As I got in the taxi from the pouring rain and told my taxi driver where my home was, I just made up my mind to at least try and practice Spanish with him. He was very patient and seemed really interested in talking with me. Our conversation turned to why we were here. I explained about learning Spanish so we could start a medical clinic in the jungle of Paraguay. His head shot around as he heard this, and he began asking questions like: why? who for? who are we working with? etc.
Well, it turns out that he is a Christian. He attends a Baptist church not too far from our apartment, and his church loves helping the poor kids in their neighborhood. In fact, he gets up early every morning to serve breakfast to the kids and make lunch for them if they don't have any for school. His church believes in feeding, clothing, and ministering to the poor.
As we talked, he let me know that he had been having a bad day. He had a lot of customers that were rude to him, and he had just asked God to please send a Christian along to ride in his taxi. As we pulled up to the apartment, I did not want to get out, and he did not want me to leave. We talked for a few more minutes, and he thanked me for being an answer to his prayers. I thanked him for being an answer to mine. Then, just before I got out, I handed him a prayer card. He promised that he and his family would pray for us. Then, he looked me in the eyes and said, "May God bless you, your wife, and your kids. May He bless your ministry! May many people come to know the Lord as a result of your ministry! May He bless your medical clinic, and may His Holy Spirit lead, guide, and protect your family!"
If you are having one of those days, don't think that God doesn't see or know. Who knows? Maybe he will send someone that needs you just as much as you need them.
Blessings to you all,
Charley
Here are some pictures of three different types of carts. The colorful one is the traditional cart of Costa Rica. These carts were used to take the coffee beans to the different ports for export to other countries. The farmers and indigenous people used them for hauling many things all around the country. There is a lot of pride placed into building and painting these carts. I met a man named Carlos in a town called Sarchi. His grandfather, father, sons, and now his grandsons have all been painters of these traditional carts. Carlos is 75 years young, and he is still working. He and I talked, in Spanish, of course, for about an hour. He was very nice, and he taught me a lot about these carts.
The other picture with the oxen, cart, and the man was taken on a small road near the Peace Waterfalls (Cataratas de La Paz). He was a funny man. He saw my dad taking pictures of him. So, he posed like that for this picture. Then, he waved and smiled as he drove the cart up the hill. It is a "little" different than the traditional carts, but I think it serves the same purpose. It looked to me as if he was heading home from a long day of work.
The other cart was at the Royal Rangers father/son campout. This was the camp workers and leaders cart. This was used to carry around the Roman leader, Caesar. Then, at the end of the camp on Sunday morning, they had a chariot race. This cart became stuck in the mud hole and didn't finish until well after the other carts. It was a lot of fun.
All different types of carts with many different uses. Some for recreation and some are used for working. Just like people! There are many different types of people. Some are hard workers, others like to play a lot, some are a mixture of both, but we are all important in life. There are some people who understand the importance of doing what God has called them to do. There are others who still are trying to figure out what God wants them to do. I do not know all that God wants me to do, but I do know this. He wants me to be ready for when He calls. I strive to hear the voice of God! I strive to be ready for the times He wants me to do something.
To hear about a time when God answered a simple prayer of two men from two different countries and two different languages, then be sure to read the next blog: A Simple Prayer Answered!
Blessings to all,
Charley
Hello again! This post is a different kind of story. Last weekend, we had a three-day weekend. So, we took advantage of the opportunity, and we took a trip. We went to an area of Costa Rica called Manuel Antonio. It is about four hours from the language school in San Jose. We really had a good time.
One of the reasons for this trip was to take a final big trip with a couple who have become really good friends of the family. Their names are Nicky and Janie Rider. They are missionaries to Mexico. They will be leaving language school in a little over a week and head off to Mexico. Also, we invited our friends, Randy and Nati, to come with us. They agreed, and we spent a couple of days together playing games, eating lots of food, going to the beach, and practicing our Spanish with them. If you do not remember these two people, then here is a reminder. They are our Tico friends who come over once a week for dinner to help us with Spanish. Also, they are the same friends that invited us to their wedding. What an honor!The two pictures above are the reason for this blog. The place we stayed at was not enclosed. The bars on the windows kept humans out, but it did not keep our little friend here out of the house. He, and his buddy, ran across our roof, down the other side, in the kitchen window, and he stole a banana. (I think he has done this before) Anyway, it was a sight to see. I can be pretty sure when I mention that most of you have not had this happen to you in the States.
We had a good time just getting away from it all. The kids enjoyed the beach and seeing all the animals at the National Park. Here are some pictures of some of the animals we saw: WHITE-FACED MONKEY
RACOON
CRAB (Look at the colors on this one)
Last week, we had a visit from a couple of our friends from Ozark, Missouri. We had such a good time. This is a picture of them in Sarchi. Sarchi is a city that has kept alive the tradition of painting carts. i believe there is a picture on our website of an orange painted cart.
