Our First July 4th in Costa Rica

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Laptops and Gunshots

This morning on our way to language school we saw two guys wrestling up in front of us. I said, "Missy, I think somebody's getting robbed!" Sure enough, the two guys take off running, and then we heard a shot followed by a second shot a few seconds later. We hurried up to the corner to see what had happened and saw an American lying on the road.

We had passed the same American a few days earlier on our way to school. He would sit on the curb with a laptop, trying to get a wireless signal. Missy and I had commented about how foolish he was being. Well, today a guy pulled a gun on the American and asked for the laptop. Instead of just giving the robber the laptop, the American put up a fight. The robber shot the American in the foot, but the American kept chasing him, so the robber shot him in the leg.

Someone called 911 right away, but it took about 20 minutes for the police to show up (even though there is a police station a few blocks away) and 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. By that time the victim's thigh had swollen to the size of a basketball. Thankfully, the man was hit in the leg instead of the upper body and the bullet passed through. I was the only one on the scene who knew Spanish and English well, so I translated for the police and ambulance driver. Yes, I said ambulance driver, because he was the only one who came in the ambulance! A fellow student from our language school who had also seen the robbery take place ended up riding with the victim to the hospital, or else the poor guy would have been in the back of the ambulance all by himself.

So the moral of the story is, "Don't sit on a curb with a laptop, and if you get robbed and gunpoint stop chasing the robber after he shoots you in the foot." Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so I don't have any pictures to share.

A fellow language school student was robbed at gunpoint yesterday at about the same place. It is scary, but at the same time we just have to trust God and not live in constant fear.

Perfect Pooch

My mother-in-law has mentioned a time or two that she would maybe enjoy having a small dog around the house. I found the perfect match for her!

Culture Day

Happy Father's Day two days late to all you dads. We had a good Sunday at our main church in Paraiso. There were around 50 in attendence, which is the highest that I have seen since we have been here. Pastor Rolando and his wife Carmen have been working with a number of different new families through the ministry of counseling. They have found that to be an open door which is really yielding fruit.

Last Friday I had to go to immigration while Missy got to go to a special culture day at the language school. The theme was a typical country fair and they had a lot of really neat activities. I wish that I could have been there, but then again what can be more fun than going to immigration.

Missy tried her hand at fishing. If we ever fall too far behind in support I'm sure that she could provide for us by opening a seafood store.

Teachers' faces make pretty good targets for darts.


Our Wonderful Academic Director

They even had cotton candy!


Missy threw three of her ping-pong balls through the clown's mouth and won a candy bar.

A Sunday at Paraiso

Pastor Rolando with a Visitor

Our Future

A Redecorated Church

A Streetfull of Church Members Going Home

Ear Infection and Big Blue

Well, our little man came down with an ear infection on Wednesday. It is the second one that he has had since moving down here, and he never had one before that. Hopefully we are not developing some sort of trend! Missy and I took turns staying home from school with him on Thursday and Friday. He seems to be doing better now, but we are still not sure that he is over it. The one positive thing about his sickness is that I have a good excuse for not posting sooner (I think).

I'm not sure how much of the time the devil is directly involved in a missionary getting sick, but a ministry can really be affected by illnesses. A good way to pray for missionaries it that God will keep them healthy.

I could post a couple of picture of a sick boy, but that would be sorta depressing. So I'm going to post "before and after" pictures of bath time instead.

Before Big Blue (Kitchen Sink, Not Fun, Very Messy)

After Big Blue (Shower, MUCH Better)

The Rainy Season

The rainy season is upon us in full force. They say that when it rains, it pours; that is certainly true for down here! Yesterday we got drenched on the way home from school. Today, it rained hard for a number of hours non-stop. They say that it will rain almost every day until close to the end of the year...I can't wait.