January 2013 Praise Report and Update

We only have one more week until we are back in the states and we are so excited. December and January have been very full and satisfying months. We had the pleasure of attending 4 weddings and we had a part in all of them. I had the very great privilege of marrying two of my them both were former students. Monette, a student in this last Bible school married a wonderful fellow Canadian here on a beach in Costa Rica. Another of my former students, Paola, a Costa Rican, married a fellow from California who she met while he was serving as a missionary here in Costa Rica. I was very blessed to be asked to perform the ceremonies for both couples and am glad to say that both went pretty smoothly (according to Karen). Marriages are not my strongest area of expertise but I was honored none the less.

Other than marriages our year here at the YWAM San Jose base started with a bang. Our first DTS started on the 4^th of January with 16 students from 10 different nations. We had many people on vacation over the holiday (including our base leaders) and so the operation of the base fell to Karen and me plus a couple of other members of the base leadership team. Also The Christmas season and January are always busy as we receive a good number of short term teams during this period. As well we receive Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) from other locations who come to Costa Rica to do their outreach. This year already we had 3 DTS teams from the US and three short term teams for a total of around 200 people. Our base serves as host for a number of local ministries working with children, street people, building homes in slum areas, mobile dental clinics and several other ministries as well. The teams come from around the world and connect with one (or more) of our local ministries as missionaries from our base serve as facilitators and hosts to help it all function. Our own part in it all is more logistical and pastoral. Karen and I serve the staff of the base teaching, mentoring and discipling as they serve in their various ministries. Our desire is to see these young people raised up and send out as leaders in key areas of influence in Costa Rica and around the world. It is wonderful to see how God puts the body of Christ together with each one working in their gift so that his kingdom is built. 

Here at Youth With A Mission (YWAM) we love to see young people leading out in missions, starting new ministries and finding new ways to communicate the Gospel clearly to our rapidly changing world. In the last month Karen along with her staff has had the opportunity to sit with almost every one of our 40 plus missionaries here at YWAM San Jose and talk with them about their dreams in ministry, where they see themselves in 5 years and how they hope to get there. This is an area where Karen shines and it has been great to be able to do what she loves (and to have some help!!!) 

In addition to all our ministry tasks we have also been madly getting ready for our trip to the US! Before we tell you anything else we have a major praise report. In our last update we let everyone know about our extra expenses for travel and a couple of other annual ones as well. We want to let you all know that we received all the money that we needed, both for the trip and for the extra expenses!!!!! It is always incredible to see how God provides for us. I had a couple moments of doubt looking at the amount and asking how it would happen and God rebuked me and softly reminded me of the thousands of other times that he has provided. I set my worry aside and simply trusted and of course he did exactly as he has done before and provide for our needs. 

We will see you all soon !!!   We are trying to plan a couple of open houses and once we have dates nailed down we will let you know.

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah

Almost Christmas!

The directors of the three Costa Rica Bases

It has been very hard to watch the news over the last few days and we mourn with all those that have lost loved ones. Here in Costa Rica the last few weeks have been pretty packed as the year draws to a close. One of the most exciting things that happened has been the coming together of the YWAM Costa Rica community. Here in Costa Rica there are three different bases operating. The base That has been here the longest is located in the hills north of San Jose in a town called Heredia another is in Nicoya which is close to the coast in the northwest corner of the country,  and of course the location that we serve at in the heart of San Jose. This year has seen a huge movement in the three bases to start working in unity. Three weekends ago Karen and I joined with the other leaders and their spouses from all three locations for a time of fellowship and meetings. It was incredible to see how much God has done for us

and for the nation over the twenty years that YWAM has been in Costa Rica. Thousands of people both here in Costa Rica and around the globe have been ministered to though the work of these three bases and the faithful men and women that serve through them. This last weekend we headed out again for an annual all YWAM Costa Rica fellowship in Nicoya. All three bases came together to take Bibles house to house in a small community near the YWAM base and to fellowship together. It was an amazing time and lots of fun for the boys. 

Here in San Jose the base has been growing rapidly and a large part of what Karen and I do is to help direct and channel that growth. One of the goals of our base is be a training center for the nations where people can come and be disciple. But unfortunately training centers don’t happen by themselves and there are lots of details that need to be worked out. It is a lot of work and a lot of meetings but we are excited for what God will do in this next season of our YWAM base.

Marianela and Jose

A key part of that training center is, of course, the Bible school. We are now in week eleven of twelve in our fifth school and the end is in sight. Everyone is getting excited to be done and celebrate Christmas including our family. Two of the students that I have worked most closely with are Jose and Marianela a Costa Rican couple that have been wanting to do the Bible

Ready for Bible Distribution

Our good friends Jake and Michelle

school for a couple of years. They came into the school so hungry for more of God and his word and it has been wonderful to see them dive into it with all their strength. They will be leading the Discipleship Training School (DTS) that is coming up in January and we are very excited to see their hard work start to bear fruit in the lives of the next group of students. They also have been praying for a while about getting pregnant and have just received the good news that Marianela is expecting.  The Bible school is becoming known as the school to take if you want to get pregnant. We have only had three couples and two have been blessed with pregnancies during the school. Our next Bible school will not start until July so we have a bit of breathing room before the next one starts. 

Fun with FIRE!!!!!!

 We are in the midst of planning our trip back to
the States and are getting excited to see you all. We

Reading with Grandpa

have tentative dates planned for the 6^th of February through the 8^th of April. The boys are praying for snow and we are excited to spend time with family and friends. We have enough mileage saved up from the last few years that we have three of the four tickets covered but we are in need of some extra funds to cover the fourth. As well we have several end of the year expenses to cover including our residency renewal and our car registration.

Between the ticket, residency and car registration we need right around $2000. We would ask that you pray about making a donation to help with the extra costs. It is always a bit stressful when we don’t see where the money will come from but we have learned in

We got to MC our  friends wedding last weekend.

the last 6 years here in Costa Rica that God always brings it from some place unexpected. We arrived here in January of 2007 with about $400 dollars in monthly support and just our rent was $500 but every month God has provided for our needs and we have alwayshad enough. He has been so faithful to us and we are incredibly thankful both for him and for each of you that has help to make all this possible. If you would like to make a donation, just click on the “Make a donation” button above. 

Many blessings,

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah

Bible school in full swing!

We are well into the Bible school and week five is about to begin. We have studied the book of Acts, Philemon, Leviticus, 1^st Peter and now John. Lots to cover in 4 weeks but since the school is only 12 weeks long we have to take advantage of every moment. We always work to keep the school a good mixture of rigorous Bible study and discipleship and most of what we do has a double purpose. The first to dig deep into whatever book we are studying while learning valuable Bible study tools. Second is to help the students wrestle with the truth that they are learning and to apply it to their lives.

I want to give you all an idea of what a typical day looks like: We start each morning with an hour of either corporate worship or prayer. Then from 9:15 to 12:30 we have lectures on whatever book are studying. Lots of coffee to start things off of course. In the afternoon from 2 to 4 we spend a couple of hours going over homework with the students answering questions and handing back assignments. From 4 to about 6 the students have work duties, helping to clean and run the base. It seems funny to spend a couple of hours cleaning bathrooms or sweeping floors but it gives them a chance to put what they are learning in the classroom into immediate practice. Dinner at 6 and them back to the classroom for more homework until bed. We mix it up with small groups and one on one sessions to help the students process and continue to move forward in their studies.

This is Jose one of our two Costa Rican students showing off his home work assignment. 6 pages of chapter titles for the book of John.

It is a very challenging school both for the students and for us as a family. Lots of time and investment in the students and all so very worth it.

We have been very blessed this last month to have had the opportunity to house sit for a fellow YWAM missionary family who have been in the sates. There house is about 4 minutes from the base in car and a 10 minute walk. One of our passions is for discipleship and we have been able to have more people over in the last month than the last 6 months at our own home. It has also lessened our stress level an enormous amount due to the logistics of living father from the base.  It has been wonderful and we are continuing to pray that God will open up a way for us to live permanently on this side of town.

Every fall we start to miss Portland, the change of seasons and getting to where our warm clothes that we have stored in Karen's parents attic. We are planning a trip home but not for a few more months. Our plan is to come home in February and Lord willing stay through the beginning of April. We have enough mileage saved up that we can cover 3 of our 4 tickets. So if anyone would like to help us get home to experience a Portland winter you can make a donation right here on our blog site by clicking on the link below or at the top of the page where it says “make a donation.”

We miss you all and wish you a blessed fall.

Douglas, Karen and the boys

A very happy fall to all of you in the US. We hope that your back to school season has been blessed. Here in Costa Rica we are about to start a new phase as well. Our Bible school is about to start up again, this time we are expecting 11 students from the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Colombia, Bolivia and of course our beloved Costa Rica. We are looking forward to another great school and are excited to see what God will do in the lives of the students as they study His word. We are blessed yet again with an excellent group of staff members without whom we could not run this school. The students start arriving this next week and we start orientation on Saturday morning. This is our classroom last week, obviously with a lot of work to go. We are repainting and adding lighting and windows. Lost of work but the end result will be very worth it.

It is such a privilege to be able to share in what God is doing in this school. A good part of our YWAM staff has now taken the school and it has been an excellent discipleship tool. Karen and I often find ourselves swamped with individuals (and couples) that what to sit with us and continue the discipleship process. Since this is the passion that God has given both of us it has been wonderful to have opportunity to walk with so many people. 

Alongside the Bible school we have been part of another development that we have been waiting years to see. This last month Karen and I traveled to Guatemala for 2 days to meet with YWAM representatives from every country in Central America to discuss our role in reaching un-reached peoples throughout the world. It was a great time to see and hear what God is doing in and through YWAM Central America and to strategize  together as a region. We are developing a 2-3 year missions training program to equip and mobilize Central Americans into full-time missions and to send them into some of the neediest and least evangelized areas in the world. This has been a vision of ours since 2005 when God spoke to us during our Discipleship Training School about sending out Latinos into world mission and it is very thrilling to see our part in it really begin to take off.

While we were in Guatemala we took advantage of our time and took a day and a night in the beautiful town of Antigua to celebrate or ninth anniversary. It was wonderfully relaxing with incredible views of the volcanoes, great coffee shops and more than anything just time together as a couple. God has been so good to us over these last 9years giving us a vision of reaching the nations and the ability to follow him to Central America and serve him working in the area where he has give us talent and passion.

 Another exciting recent development is that Karen has finally been able to begin to pass off some of the more logistical jobs that she has been carrying which will give her more time to focus on discipleship which is her true passion. We have been praying for this for a long time and it has been a challenge but we are happy that she will be able to walk more in her gifting. This Monday she is going to be teaching a full day course on Spiritual Gifts for the YWAM staff. She loves more than anything watching people as they begin to understand and use the individual giftings.  It is her highest desire for people to understand there true identity in Christ and live in that reality.

The boys are doing well. Today Gabriel had his 8^th birthday party although his real birthday isn’t until Monday. He is reading pretty well now although we are still working pretty hard on speeding him up. We are both enjoying homeschooling but it is really hard to find the time to do it well. We will see next year if we are able to keep it up. Riah is growing up fast and has lost FOUR teeth in the last two weeks! He is hoping for his two front teeth for Christmas!

Thank you all for your love and support. We miss home more than ever especially during the fall season.  We appreciate your prayers for our continued health and support and everything else that comes along with serving in missions. May God bless you all richly.

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah

Hello dear friends and family
We just wanted to post a very quick up date to let youl know we are still alive and well and catch you up on the past few weeks. 



We were super blessed to go and visit Douglas' Family in Houston for just over a week.  It was a wonderful time hanging out with his parents and  his brother's family. This is the first time in our married life that we were all together for an extended period of time. The boys had a blast with there 5 cousins and I especially enjoyed getting to know my sister-in-law better.

Even though it was so hot we thought we might fry the boys ventured out for a one night camping trip and Kathy and I joined them for a few hours to watch the boys fish.   

 We also enjoyed the community pool a lot, although the water felt a lot like bath water.

The kids had a great time running around the Zoo and checking out all the animals. I think our favorite spot was the air conditioned aquarium building.



(get the feeling it might have been a little warm!)





We have been very busy since we got back from Houston with a three day nation wide staff training and now Douglas and I are preparing to leave for Guatemala tomorrow. We are going for a very exciting gathering that we want to share about in detail but do to the late hour that will have to wait untill we get back in five days. The boys will be staying here with a close friend so we appreciate your prayers.( I always get a little nervous traveling with out the boys.)

Thanks again to all of you for your love and support.
 Karen, Douglas and the boys 

Biopsies, Minivans and Bible Schools!

First we want to apologize for taking so long between updates. We like to update in small chunks but sometime life doesn't work the way we think it should. We are just now finally getting our feet back on the ground and we have a lot to tell you all. The most important is in regards to Karen's health. We wrote about her having a nodule on her thyroid that needed to be biopsied and we are glad to report that it is benign and at this point poses no threat to her health. However, the doctors are going to be watching it and if it changes they will have to remove it. They are hoping to be able to control it with thyroid medication as it seems to be related to her poor thyroid health. Karen has a follow up appointment in two days to look at treatment options. Please be praying that we can finally start moving forward and finding some solutions for her health.

The second important piece of news is about our vehicle. Over the last few months we received many donations and were able to raise about ten thousand dollars. We started our van search with that amount and we were able find a 2004 Toyota Sienna which is a vehicle we had wanted but they dont import to Costa Rica. The owners bought it new in the States and moved to Costa Rica for business. They paid nine thousand dollars a year ago just in taxes in order to bring the van into the country and now were selling it because the business was moving them back to the US. They offered it to us for ten thousand, just enough to cover the taxes and import fees and unknowingly, exactly the amount we had to spend. The car is valued at almost twice what we paid for it and we know that this was the hand of God. It had been on the market for a couple of weeks and we have not idea, other than the grace of God, why someone else didn't buy it first.

So far we have taken a couple of our dear friends that came to visit and teach in the Bible Course to the beach and gone to visit some friends for Zachariah's 6th birthday and all in a wonderful miracle vehicle. We feel so blessed. One of the areas of ministry that we have not been able to step out into has been regularly visiting two YWAM ministry locations here in Costa Rica in order to provide pastoral support. We have not been able to do this because of our car troubles but now we are fully released to walk in this ministry. Praise God!

The third essential update is the Bible school. We graduated 13 of 14 students two week ago today. The 14^th is going to be working to finish the school over the next two months and we have high hopes that he will finish by mid September. As always the school is such an incredible adventure as we get to watch the students be immersed in Gods word for 12 solid weeks. My own personal passion is to give the students a firm grip on the major themes and history of the Old Testament. The final assignment of the school included a biography of God using things that the students had learned and it was incredible to read the treasures that they had grasped especially from the Old Testament. It was great to know that my teaching and passion had sunk in! I have never seen so many students so excited about the book of Leviticus.

Most of our students are staying on as staff here at the YWAM base and it is so rewarding to see them using the tools that they have learned in their own lives and ministries. We are also in the beginning stages of planning the very first Bible outreach trip, something we have wanted to do but have been unable to up till now. We are planning part of the trip here in Costa Rica working in rural churches and part of it in an undisclosed location which is still being defined. We will keep you posted.

The next school starts in 2 and a half short months and we already have 10 students lined up with several other possibles. Please be praying for Spanish speaking staff for the school. We have been praying for more Latins and so far half of the students are from Latin America. However, at this point, I am the only staff member who speaks Spanish which means more work than I could hope to accomplish. God has blessed this school so much and we are confident that he will bring us a solution.

Thanks to you all for you prayers, love and support during these crazy last 3+ months. We promise that our next update will be more fun and less business. May God bless you all richly.

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah

The Bible school in full swing!

In the midst of car engines exploding and our search for a new home the Bible school has continued moving forward. This current group of students is the largest yet; 14 students from Canada, the US, Norway, Guatemala and Costa Rica. Up until now i have only had one young lady who has been helping me to run the school and this time we have been blessed to have five young ladies. Karen and I have had many good laughs about all my girls. They have been a constant blessing and encouragement in so many ways, everything from stepping in to help coach the students through their assignments to running to the store for extra coffee.

These are 4 of my 5 wonderful staff members: Top left to right: Debora,
Karin, Leigh and Jody on the bottom. The only one not here is Crystal. 

Class started with a bang on the 7th of April with the students reading the book of Acts. I love starting with this book since it gives such a wonderful foundation for the rest of the New Testament. I taught the whole next week of class using Acts as a basis for teaching the Inductive Bible Study Method which is the core of what we do in the Bible school. I taught the next week on the book of Philemon which is quite different from Acts and gave the students a very different challenge moving from the narrative of Acts to the personal letter that is Philemon. It is such a packed book, addressing all kinds of issues such as servant leadership and the social equality of human beings. 

This week we studied first Peter, taught by Pati, my former student and school staff member. It has been incredible to see her grow in her understanding of scripture and teaching ability. We combined 1 Peter with the book of Leviticus that I was able to teach. I have spent a lot of time in the Old Testament and I absolutely love this book. It gives us one of the clearest images of what Jesus did for us on the cross and how much God really wants to have relationship with us. It is easy to focus on all the various laws but at the heart of it all is God wanting to be with his people. So good!

One of the goals of the school is to give the students practical experience reading and studying all the various types of books found in the Bible and to help them to make the connections between the Old and New Testaments. So after Leviticus, next week, we will dive into Romans looking at what exactly Jesus has done for us removing our sins and making relationship with God possible. I am very excited and ready for this next challenge. The teacher is a good friend of mine, a Costa Rican fellow that I have been teaching with since we came here in 2007. 

While the first three weeks have been super busy and complicated especially with the loss of our van, we are doing well and enjoying what God is doing through us in the lives of the students and staff. We look forward to seeing the changes that God will work in their lives as they immerse themselves in his word and look forward to sharing those stories with you. 

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We couldn't be here with out all of you. 

Blessings, 

 Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah

House / Car update

Hello friends and family,
We wanted to send you a quick update to let you all know about a few things that are happening with us.  First of all we wanted to give you an update about the house that we had put an offer on.  As most of you know we put down an $800.00 dollar non refundable deposit to hold the house for a month so we could look into borrowing money to make a down payment.  The month has ended and we were not able to come up with the money needed. Unfortunately this means we have lost the $800 and most likely the house.  We talked with the agent and she has informed us that there is another couple now interested in the house.  We will not lie and say that we have not had our moments of disappointment but we do believe that God is in control and that he has a plan that we do not yet understand.    

The more urgent matter at this time though is our van.  I believe that we had communicated our need for a different vehicle, ours has been having problems for a while and at this point to fix all the issues would cost more than its value. This was already true but as of a day before yesterday we are officially without a working car. We were on our way home when the van started to sound like a diesel truck, it died and by some miracle we got it restarted and limped the rest of the way home but we are pretty sure there is no repairing it at this point.  

Despite the difficult circumstances God has been encouraging us through this whole process. First, by us receiving an e-mail the moment we got in the door after barely getting home saying that a check is in the mail from one of our supporting churches to help with repairing our car or buying a different one. The very next day during a time of prayer that Douglas' school was having that he had to miss do to our car situation the students and staff took up an offering for us and raised $800.00 !!!! What an amazing encouragement and blessing that was.  

So, we are fervently praying for direction and provision.  There is a family that we work with that is trying to sell there minivan and they are willing to sell it to us for a very reasonable price.  The  issue we have is that it is the same exact van we have now the only difference is it is newer than ours.  Neither Douglas or I feel a real peace about purchasing this van but it is the cheapest thing that we have seen since we started looking. We have about $3,000.00 between money we have saved, the money from our church and the offering from the school. That does not include whatever money we might be able to get for our dead car. But that is not even half of what we need for a new van due to the fact that here in Costa Rica cars cost at least double what they do in the states due to the high import tax. We have our eye on a van that would be great for ministry. It is large enough for 12 but it costs much more than just a minivan would. We want to be wise and patient so that we honor God through our decision.    

Please join us in prayer for direction and provision. If you would like to help us with the purchase of another van or you have ?'s please contact us.  

Much Love,
Douglas, Karen and the boys too.

Serving with YWAM

San Jose, Costa Rica

www.dkgjohnston.blogspot.com

www.ywamsj.org

Good things to come!

It’s been a while since we posted so we apologize in advance for the length of this post but we hope that you will bear with us. Blessings, D & K

The last several weeks here in Costa Rica have been particularly challenging. We sent out an email a couple of weeks ago letting people know about our two current challenges, our home and car, both of which we are looking to change soon.

 In regards to the house we made an $800 initial payment to give us one month in which to figure out financing for the down payment. We had a couple of people contact us with advice and possibilities but we are still waiting and praying. We have found out that US banks are not allowed by Costa Rican law to issue loans for house purchases in Costa Rica so at this point it looks like a bank loan is not a possibility. We have a couple of other options that we are looking at but we ask that you be lifting this all up in prayer. Here are a couple of photos of the house so that you can see what it looks like. For those that missed the email, our current home is far enough away from the YWAM base that ministry has become very complicated and at times impossible simply due to the distance. The house that you see in the pictures is a little over a mile from the base and, most important, right on the bus line so that we can be at the base in about 10 minutes by bus and 5min by car. If you would like to see some more photos just click on this link: House Photos

Our car is the other challenge and another place where you can be lifting us up in prayer. Our van is approaching the end of its life. The repairs that need to be made are more than the value of the car and so we simply need to find something else. We have had about $1500 come in towards repairs or a new vehicle but since cars are 50 to 100 percent more expensive here due to taxes we still need a sizable amount of money.

In the midst of these two challenges we have had a lot of stress to be sure, but at the same time we have felt the peace of God knowing that we are not here of our own accord but because this is where God has placed us. If he truly desires for these needs to be met right now then He will show us the way.

Here on the YWAM base we are gearing up for the next Bible Core Course (BCC) that starts in a few weeks. We have 14 students registered from the US, Canada, Denmark, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. The most exciting part besides having so many students is that we currently have 4 staff member besides myself commit to the school with another possibly joining us in mid April. Here are three of the four prepping for the book of Leviticus. All of them are new and have never staffed a BCC before so we will have a pretty steep learning curve but I’m excited to have the help. As a team we have already started meeting every day to pray for the school, to train and to get ready for the arrival of the students. It has been a blessed challenge to move from arranging all the details myself to figuring out how to delegate them to others. This picture to the left is our office. A shining example of my organizational skill. : ) 

One of the praises that we have is that just this last week Karen was able to start training people to take over two of the logistical jobs that she has been juggling. This will allow her more time to focus on discipleship and mentoring of our long term staff. This is something that has been on her heart for a long time and we are excited to see how it will turn out. We are excited to have the stress of some of the logistics removed but it is always difficult to give something that you have invested time and energy into away to someone else.

A bit about the boys: Gabriel has been enjoying homeschooling and extra time with Daddy. He is currently focused on learning to read and is making huge strides. He hopes to be able to read chapter books within a few more months. Riah has been enjoying his school and is learning all kinds of things. He loves numbers and all kinds of animals. The photo here is of the boys as Filibusters a group of Americans who tried to invade Costa Rica in the mid 19th century. Funny that our two boys would be chosen to play the role of the American invaders, not exactly what we would call politically correct. : ) Oh well.

There is always more to tell but never enough room. You can keep up with me on Facebook as well; I often post more daily life stuff on there. If you don’t already have me as a friend just look up dkgzjohnston@gmail.com and send me a friend request.

In Christ,

Douglas, Karen, Gabriel and Zachariah