Where are the months going? It is so hard to believe that we have been here in San Jose for close to two months! Our foremost feeling at this point is one of extreme gratitude for all those who have given to help us have the privilege of studying here at the Spanish Language Institute. Although some students complain and groan about homework and language study, Daniel and I are both what our teacher calls “Nerdos!” You guessed it— nerds! Supposedly in Costa Rican Spanish that carries the significance of one who really loves studying and learning. So, I guess it does apply since we are enjoying every minute of learning !

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OUR CURRENT MINISTRY…

Really we have two main ministries right now. Our first ministry is to the Colombians we will be serving. Although we are here in San Jose, our current ministry to the Colombians is in studying Spanish as hard as we can so that we will be able to communicate better and have a more effective future ministry with them in Bogota.

Our second ministry is one that we have just begun. We have started attending a church in Los Guido, a very poor community that started as a Nicaraguan refugee camp. While it is an established neighborhood now, with actual houses, etc, the living conditions are very poor. When any Costa Rican person hears that we are going to Los Guido, their eyebrows raise and they say, “Why?” Known to be one of the more dangerous areas of town, it is a place that most people want to avoid. We have not felt the danger since we ride to and from church with the pastor.

The name of the church is Iglesia Bautista El Faro. (Lighthouse Baptist Church) Pastor Gabriel and his family are from Chile and it has been a blessing to get to know them and learn from them. Daniel and I are getting involved in the youth group, giving testimonies, etc. and Daniel has had the opportunity to preach in Spanish several times. We are excited to learn from Pastor Gabriel as we try to lose some “American” ideas of how to “do church” and learn from a Hispanic what works best for this culture. Please pray for our neighbor Guillermo and his family. We are to have 'cafecito' with them sometime soon. We hope to be able to witness to them as well.

LEARNING CULTURE…

For our anniversary, we had the opportunity to leave San Jose on Friday and take a bus ($4.50) all the way to Monteverde. We were able to visit the rainforest and see a little more of Costa Rica along the way. The bus ride was almost 5 hours long, hot, dusty and very bumpy! We were excited to be able to figure out the bus system and make it all the way there and back safely! We are learning how to travel around town as well. Certain areas of town require taking a taxi, while others are easily accessible by bus. We‟ve had to learn where to catch which bus because often a bus stops at a seemingly random spot on the side of the road. We ask the people standing there which bus they are waiting for (there are no signs) and if it‟s the bus we want, then we wait too. We‟ve asked people how they know the bus is going to stop there but they just smile and shrug and say, “I don‟t know… it just does!” Most of the time, we walk to wherever we need to go. The nearest grocery store is only about a 15 minute walk. There are two parks, little restaurants, shops, pharmacies, beauty salons, and at least four bread shops called panaderias, within 5 minutes of our house.

Thank you for your prayers!

Dan, Jen & Ellie

How You Can Pray For Us:

• language classes 
• cultural adaptation to Costa Rica 
• remaining support to come in (11%) 
• Neighbor Guillermo & family 
• Eliana's health & development 
• Ultimately - that we would 
  graciously accept God's perfect
  will for each of these requests 

Praises:

• Our refrigerator is fixed! 
• We now have a church to serve 
  in God has given us several good friends
• Neither of us has been sick at all!