Homeward Bound

We are spending our last night in Costa Rica just a few hours west of San Jose in Jaco. 

Here is a snapshot of the last 48 hours:

Saturday a.m we distributed fliers in the market area and invited people to see Facing the Giants Saturday night and church on Sunday.  Pablo, one of the member of Johnny’s church set up a sound system.  Ryan and Austin jammed on their guitars for the crowd and then all the Delk grandkids sang a few of their favorite worship songs for the crowd.

Pablo asked for testimonies and Ryan, Austin, Sarah and Dede shared with the crowd.  While we were there a San Jose news reporter showed up to video what was going on and even interviewed  Johnny and Curtis.  The crazy thing is that just a few days before, Johnny was sharing how he was praying God would somehow open up a way for more people to learn about his church!  Moral to the story: don’t put God in a box.

Saturday afternoon we had the amazing opportunity to have William (age 9) baptized by David in a nearby pool.  It was a really special time for all of us and a memory we will never forget!

The rest of saturday was spent getting ready for the movie-which included constructing a screen with king size sheets.  Dede sewed and Alan and John put their GT engineering degree to work and rigged a pully system to hang the screen.  It was perfecto!

Saturday pm we hosted the movie. Over 100 people came.  We served coke and cookies and they seemed to enjoy the movie.

Sunday am we worshiped with Johnny’s church and David preached through a translator. Lorie, Joan, Ashley, Jordan and I taught sunday school to about 40 children ages 2-14. Imagine teaching that age group under a metal roof on uneven rocky ground covered with fire ants!  That kept things interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever taught and said “ow” so many times. 

After lunch we headed to Jaco….translated means many hours on rocky road crossing dozens of narrow one way bridges that you wouldn’t want to ride your bike across!

It has been an AMAZING trip!  Thank you Curtis and Michelle (local missionaries) Alfredo our amazing driver  (allgodsservice.weebly.com - a website David set up while he was here to help him get more tour business) and InStep Ministries for making this trip possible!

Curtis reminded us all week that we were scattering seeds.  We sure did!  Now pray God will water them and cause them to grow!

Ruthie

Whirlwind in Costa Rica – posted by Joan

It is the norm in my life to pack 48 hours into 24 hours so why change just because we are in Costa Rica! We started today visiting an orphanage in Neilly. We made pillows with the boys and girls so they would have a pillow of their very own. A keepsake that was precious to them. Something they could take with them if they ever got the opportunity to leave the orphanage. We had gift bags for all the children. We gave them clothes that our friends had donated. They are the “best dressed” kids in Neilly. Then we hosted a party for 80 kids in a neighboring town. We played games, did crafts, handed out toys and smiles and candy. Many of the children were shy and a little hesitant to join in but after a little coaxing to join the fun….they didn’t want to leave. We ended our day with a leadership dinner to honor the leadership of Pastor Johnny’s Church. We wanted to thank them for all their hard work and commitment to serving the members of their church. David spoke to the men on “leadership” and having a vision for their church. Dede spoke to the women about the importance of prayer in their lives. While Lorie and Ruthie gave the women some helpful information about children’s ministry. John, Joan and Ashley got to have the fun job of doing crafts with kids while watching Veggietales in Spanish. Ryan, Austin, Jordan and Sarah entertained the youth by teaching them some new Spanish songs. They blessed the crowd by singing the songs for the whole group to end the evening festivities! It was an amazing day in Neilly!

 

We have been going non-stop since we landed in Costa Rica! So much to do and so little time! As a mom it is heart breaking to see these little children and the conditions they are living in. It is heart warming to see the smiles on their faces and to receive their heart felt hugs in appreciation of the parties and the gifts they have received. It is so true…..it is better to give than to receive! We have been so blessed this week by the children we have been reaching out to in the community. It might be a smile, or laugh, or hug….it seems so small but it has been life changing for all of us!!!!!

 

Joan

Showers of Blessing-posted by Ruthie

We began today by distributing fliers and inviting people to the movie night on Saturday and Easter service on Sunday.  Alan and Lorie and family and John arrived safely a little after lunch and we quickly reshuffled and got ready for our afternoon party.  We went back to one of the areas we visited yesterday where a member of Johnny’s church lives.  About 50 children were waiting for us as we arrived.  We were getting ready to set up the party in the middle of the gravel road when one of the woman in the squaters settlement suggested we move to another area because storms were threatning.  We walked down a short path and arrived at an area situated between three wooden structures we would call sheds-but are homes here.  In the middle there was a round thatched roof with a wooden fence underneath. It didn’t take us long to figure out this is where they keep the animals (cows and chickens) which they had quickly moved to make way for a party. We set up our party stations around this thatched covering and the outhouse that the families use.  The Delk kids went to work bringing some fun and love to a group of impoverished children. We ended our party with Johnny teaching the children about the meaning of Easter.  There are really no words to describe the area-NONE of us would have ever let our children play in this area, much less have a party.  Some of these children will never leave that community. Even if they do leave the cycle of poverty continues.  We are praying that many of them will come to the movie night and church on Sunday. The most amazing thing is that as we packed up the van and waved our good byes the heavens opened up in a downpour.  Showers of Blessings, Indeed! 

we would like to educate you…

…on how to kill ants!

We all know of these pesky creatures. They hide in the corners of our rooms and feast on the left-over crumbs from our tables. While some have used the easy way out of handy dandy raid, we however, have had to resort to other measures. In Costa Rica we have discovered a sure fire plan on how to get rid of numerous amounts of these specimens. If wrapping up all your food and containers does not keep the ants away, here is an easy alternative. We contemplated keeping these special tips to ourselves, but then we decided that it would be beneficial to the greater good. So we are graciously willing, free of charge, to share these secrets with you.

 Step 1: Walk into desired location (or in our case..bathroom) , being prepared to face the tiny creatures.

Step 2: Call for companion to assist you in your endeavors ( screaming usually gets the job done)

Step 3: Use water (from sink ) to drown the little monsters. This results in a paralyzing effect to the ants by the surprise attack of water.

Step 4: If the water does not sufficiently kill all of the evil amigos, and some have learned to swim in the pool of death, there is another approach. Take someones shoe, preferably one with a hard sole ( usually Sarah’s, much to her dismay). Then you and your accomplice stealthy hit the escaping ants until they do not move anymore. (this works better if you add sound effects, we think it intimidates them… as if being surprised-attacked by shoes is not enough).

Step 5: After all the ants are immobile, the only thing left to do is clean-up. If the macho Ryan is not around to assist in this ordeal, the easiest way is by using paper towels to wipe them up in one easy motion. Dispose of them properly in the trash receptacle located near the sink.

Step 6: Enjoy a nice ant-free afternoon until the next time that the ants attack again. ( which is usually within the next hour .)

On Second thought, after reading this over, maybe we should find some Raid after all…

-By Jordan and Sarah Delk.

Fire in the hole!

We are so thankful for Curtis and Michelle Cannon, who came to help us with our work in Neilly. They are missionaries in Costa Rica and are staying with us for the rest of the week – they’re great! (And their kids are awesome too!)

Mothers-To-Be

- By Jordan and Sarah Delk (the coolest people ever..pretty much )

Teenage pregnancy is an epidemic in Costa Rica. It is the normal standard for young girls between the ages of 15 to 18 to have had at least one child. Tonight we had an outreach dinner for 20 pregnant girls. Dede talked to them and her heart-felt message was well received because of her genuine grandmotherly love. Sarah and I were able to share our testimonies. Many of the girls were our same age and some were even younger. We were able to share about our faith and let them know how God had touched our lives and how he wants to be there for them as well. We had the perfect amount of gifts and gospel bracelets. The gifts consisted of baby hygiene products for which the girls were exceedingly thankful. We hosted a pizza party for them which consisted of the highest quality food. This was an opportunity for Pastor Johnny to invite them to the Easter Service and encourage the girls to attend service with their families.

Delivering Food

We woke up this morning and found out Sarah was sick. Something didn’t agree with her. So she and David stayed at the hotel today while we went with Pastor Johnny to buy food and deliver it to needy families in his church.  We went to a sparse market about half the size of a 7-11 and bought staple food supplies and some whole chickens.  We spent what 2 weeks worth of groceries would cost in the US and bought enough food to feed six families for several weeks.  Once we organized the food we started the deliveries.  There are palm tree farms here that harvest the fruit for oils.  We drove for over two hours over gravel roads in the midst of these palm tree farms.  Out of nowhere there would be a small barrio of several hundred houses.  There are over 11 of these communities spread out in this area.  Several of Johnny’s church members live there.  Think migrant worker housing in the depression era and you have a pretty good picture.  What blew us away is that we found out that every sunday Johnny makes this 2 hour trip at 7am to pick up people for church and then takes them home.  The last house we visited was just a few miles from Panama so we went across the border for lunch and walked around a few minutes.  We leave in a few hours to help Johnny with an outreach for pregnant teenage girls. Sarah feels better and is going to share her testimony. Most of these girls will be younger than her! Dede is also going to share with them how much Jesus loves them. None of these girls are christians or attend Johnny’s church. So this is a huge opportunity for him.

Posts may change

I know it is a pain, but with very sporadic internet the previous posts may change as we are able to add pictures, etc. You may want to glance at them again even if you have already read them.

Trip to Neilly

-Wednesday AM 

We had a long but good day yesterday driving from Jaco to Neilly. We first had to endure the bumping and jostling of the long gravel stretch from Quepos to Dominical – with eleven people in one van there was not alot of room to get comfortable.

In Domincalito, we saw Pastor David and the church where we put on one of the parties in 2006. We also went by Pat’s house and heard some of what God is doing in the neighborhood.

We went to Bahia and saw Pastor Marios and Cecilias new church, then had lunch with them and their family. We were able to give them a flannel board set for their children’s work, a portable DVD player with various resources, and various other materials.

We had a quick stop in Coronado to say hello to Pastor Eulogio – another location where we had done a Christmas party.

Finally, we made it to Neilly late in the afternoon and met Pastor Johnny and his family for dinner. We had a great time visiting and confirming our plans for the next few days. 

Today, delivering food on behalf of the church to various people around the city. Tonight, an outreach dinner for pregnant teenage girls. Thanks for your prayers!

Working in the River

- Ryan and Sarah Delk 

Yup. We spent the better part of this morning in a dried up river-bed.

Smiles, lots of them – plastered on the faces of children as they came running (literally) to our big van

Trash everywhere, some of it in trash cans, but most of it scattered over the ground.

 Water, maybe sewage, running out from the houses into the road that runs down the middle of the river-bed.

45 kids, thirsty as ever, for a drink of God’s love.

And we came to give it to them.

We arrived, party supplies in hand, with some of the people from the local church at about 10:00 this morning. We pulled out our parachute and jump rope and were able to get some of the kids interacting. I immediatly got some girls to jump with me, and it was amazing. They loved it! One little girl came up to me (Sarah) after her turn and grabbed my legs and gave me one of the biggest hugs i’ve had in my life. I hadn’t talked to her yet, I didn’t know her name and she didn’t know mine. But she was happy, and she felt loved. Because she is.  This morning in the river bed was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Playing games with the kids, painting their faces, talking to them in my broken spanish, helping them fish for prizes, all of it. My prayer is that through us they were able to see how much God loves them.