Pura Vida! Literally translated, 'pure life', this is a common greeting with Ticos. We are happy to announce that we have arrived without hassle and are almost all the way settled in! Quick facts: Left for airport 8/19 at 6am Arrived in CR with all of our bags at 1 pm CR time (currently on mountain time--but CR doesn't do daylight savings and time stays the same year round) No problems or taxes in customs (9 bags, 3 carryons, 1 guitar, 2 personal items) Dinner and groceries provided for us for the first week. Set up with internet at home within 24 hrs of calling the company. What!! Language school orientation starts Monday, first youth group event is Saturday 8/31 Patrick is doing very well considering the time zone, and loves his new room! (pics below) Story Our last days in the United States where a whirlwind. We had a bittersweet time at our church on our last Sunday, and had the house [mostly] taken care of by the time we went to bed Sunday ni...
In a recent open letter to ministry parents (especially missionary parents), my friend Bret Taylor issued a warning against losing sight of your children amid the tasks of ministry. Here is my open response. Dear Bret, I want to thank you for writing your open letter to Ministry Parents. I have vivid memories of sitting in my living room talking about this very thing. You had come at my invitation to speak at the youth camp of the MK Youth Group I led in Costa Rica. We talked long into the night, and not without tears. Your letter takes me back to that room. These two things I took away from the letter: when the mission becomes more important than the family, it has become an idol; and the way to gauge if this is happening is “not because you said it – but because they felt it.” In this open letter, I’d like to address each of these, both as a friend and as a recipient, being a "ministry parent" myself. First, the matter of ministry being more important than family...
*This Article or Blog does not reflect the opinion of ReachGlobal or the EFCA. This Article is based on personal research, experience, and opinion.* This last weekend my mother in law had an open house for her art and for our ministry. When asked about the demographics of our sending team many had a common question: Why do only two churches support you? We have over 75 households supporting us--and two churches. The question came not as one of suspicion (if there are only two churches, you must be doing something wrong) but one of disbelief (how could they not want to support you?) While that was flattering, with all modesty it was a good question. We know many missionary candidates and field workers who have similar church statistics. Not only that, but we were advised numerous times to not try and connect with churches because of the low result ratio and the bureaucracy behind the long time spent waiting for churches to make a decision. I saw my parents finish their support...
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