4.08.2016

13 months later...


After 13 months of living out of suitcases, visiting 6 countries on 4 continents, sitting with refugees and sipping tea in Lebanon, sweating through summer in Cairo, 3 months climbing the hills of Amman, and then experiencing winter in the great Northwest of the USA, we finally arrived again in our beloved Costa Rica!


  We spent the last few weeks of our time in the US doing a road trip. Through some fellow missionaries in Costa Rica we made a connection with a couple who works for Disney who gifted us 2 free days at Disneyland which was a dream come true for the whole family. It was spring break for a couple of states so the lines were a bit long but that didn't bother us a bit. From LA we headed east and visited some of Karen's family in Arizona and then on to Texas to visit my family. We boarded the last flight of our long journey last Saturday and arrived safely here in Costa Rica.
We have spent the last couple days reconnecting with friends and our life here. As well, we have had to start the lengthy process of picking up where we left off thirteen months ago. Our first major hurdle is finding permanent housing. At the moment we are living in two small rooms that our mission center is providing. After living out of bags for so long we are definitely ready to settle down some place more permanent. As some of you might remember, several years ago we were able to purchase a small home on the south side of San José but unfortunately the mission center is on the east side of town and travel between the two areas is quite difficult. As we enter into this new season of ministry we have felt that it is very important for us to have a home that is easily accessible for people from the center so that we can use our home for discipleship and ministry. The afternoon after we got back into the country we headed out to see what was available in our area and we have already seen five houses and found one we are hoping might be the house that God has for us.


We ask for your prayers in this process, first that we would be able to sell our other house quickly, second, that we can get approved for a loan for the balance. And third, this will mean an increase in our monthly expenses so please pray for God's provision as well.

Ministry wise, the focus of this next season will be on gathering a team of like-minded people who are committed to seeing a mission movement begin here in Costa Rica as Costa Ricans are sent out to reach those who have never heard the Gospel around the globe. We recognized while were in the Middle East that the vision that we have is much larger than we can hope to accomplish on our own and that together with a team we could accomplish so much more. We have 2 couples and a single fellow that have been on our minds for a long time. Please pray that God will give us clarity and wisdom in this process of team building.

We are excited for the new things that God will bring in this next season of our lives here in Central America and we will make sure to keep you all up to date as things move forward. Thank you all again for your prayers and support.

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah

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