Christmas in Costa Rica

Christmas here in Costa Rica is always interesting and we are still trying to get used to it. Although it has never snowed here snow is all the rage. It is always a bit of a shock to see giant inflatable snowmen for sale next to a grove of palm trees. This year the thing that stands out the most is the tamales. Where as in the States you might give a  plate of holiday cookies, here they give tamales and this year we received our very first gift of Holiday tamales. Late one evening last week we heard a knock at the gate and it was the neighbor boy with a bag of hot tamales that his mom had sent. It was a bit difficult to think "Christmas" while biting into a fresh tamal wrapped in banana leaves served with hot coffee but for the first time it really felt like we were a part of our community, sharing in Costa Rica's traditions. We havn't attempted to make our own tamales yet, maybe next year. : )

 Another very special Christmas event that we wanted to share was Gabriel's graduation. He and Zachariah have been attending a small kindergarten near our home but next year Gabriel will be changing schools and entering Preparatorio, with would be the first grade in the US system. He was very excited to walk the stage and receive his first "diploma." He is growing up so fast!

Blessings to you all!

Merry Christmas from the Johnstons

YWAM Costa Rica fellowship weekend

This blog is a bit late but we didnt want you all to miss out on our YWAM Guanacaste adventure. Two Saturdays ago we headed out to Guanacaste, the northwestern province of Costa Rica, to spend a weekend with all the staff members of YWAM Costa Rica and to celebrate the inauguration of the new YWAM base in Quebrada Honda, a small farming community on the Nicoyan peninsula. There were over 100 of us who attended and it was a special time of fellowship and building relationships. It seems that God is doing something special here in Costa Rica and drawing together an incredible team of people from many different nations. 

We started out the weekend with a bang celebrating the marriage of one of our Costa Rican staff members to another Ywamer from the States. Here they are getting a ride to the wedding reception via ox cart. 

From there we all headed out towards Guanacaste, one of the most beautiful parts of Costa Rica. Here's a photo of the main house. 

Part of the event was the pig that they butchered the day before the event, and then placed in a pit to slowly cook for the next 16 hours. As it was a bit of an experiment the poor pig got a bit overcooked but it was still excellent!

The boys had a blast as they were 2 of about 25 kids. They spent the weekend  running around the property and looking at the cows.

The other major event of the weekend was a jungle hike that start out by fording several creeks with in 15 passenger vans and ended with us hiking through chest high water at dusk trying to escape a bees nest. Karen and Gabriel both were stung but not too badly and every one eventually made it back to the van. One more Costa Rican adventure under out belts!








Karen and i had a great time as well hanging out with old friends and making new ones. Over all the weekend was a lot of fun. We finished it out with a time in prayer together to dedicate the new base and its directors to the Lord.

We will will post again soon with some more ministry orientated updates and a rundown of what this next year will look like. Thanks for reading, many blessings,
Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah