November 2011 Newsletter
Ministry Update:
Well we have been in San Jose, Costa Rica for a few weeks now and we are getting to know the area pretty well. We have been using our feet mostly to learn the location of the school, the grocery stores and others. The conveniences of San Jose are much more than that of Haiti or Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The super market near us is small; yet sufficient and should the need arise there is a larger one a few miles away.
Other than locating our shopping options and finding the school, we have been learning our options of which to be involved in at the school. There are several ministries, fellowships, etc… The kids and I will be able to be involved in many events. We have already been attending the chapel services and are getting to know several students. Once January begins with a new trimester and Justin goes through orientation, etc… we hope to learn more about their evangelic ministries and how we can get involved!
In the meantime of waiting for school to start in January, Kevin has continued his homeschooling and we are continuing to practice Spanish with Rosetta Stone. With help from both the states and current students here, we have also gathered all of our information to apply for student visas (which will save us money in the long run of having to leave the country every 90 days for 72 hours). Right now we are waiting for our papers to return from Washington D.C. and then they will be mailed to us here in Costa Rica. We hope and pray that they make it very quickly so that we do not have to leave at the beginning of January when our visas expire.
The months of November and December have and will hold several fundraising options to help with not only student visas but hopefully outreach in the future! – see below and email us if you are interested in getting involved!
December Fundraisers:
· A YouTube video encouraging a $10 donation for the Lord’s work through Son Ministries in both Haiti and Costa Rica
· An opportunity to have someone’s yard Candy Caned and spread a little Christmas Cheer
· Gift Wrapping at LifeWay the first 2 Saturdays of December (longer if more volunteer)
· Visit Tonya Shockley Photography on Facebook or call Tonya Shockley at: 479-586-3775 for her Christmas Special on Dec. 3rd. 100% of the money supports missions
Family Corner:
Justin has been building relationships with current students and some faculty at the school since we have arrived. He is continuing to study Latin American Spanish on the computer, but is definitely ready to begin language school in January. Bible studies on Sundays have also given him an opportunity to dig in the word with other men of God and he has been enjoying that fellowship.
I (Bobbi Ann) have become more encouraged in learning Spanish (even though in Spanish I sound like my almost one year old daughter!) and am very excited to get involved with some ministries in the school that will allow us to get to know and minister to people here in Costa Rica while Justin is schooling.
Kevin has been struggling a little bit with missing friends and family from the states. An area we have been trying to work with him lately in is communication and explaining all forms of communication. So he was a little better after being able to send a letter home to his mom and some post cards to his pen pals in Texas. Listening is not a strong point for Kevin so with his new friendships developing here he has been trying to listen better to know what his friends like, learn their names, etc…
Annika is able to walk, but is too scared to let go and do it alone yet; although sometimes her evil parents trick her into going alone. So she is not officially walking. She says a few words and has made some friends herself! I cannot believe that in less than a month she will be a year old.
Below was Kevin’s response when asked:
“How has the Lord been working through you this month and what is new for you?”
“I have been making friends and being nice to them. They have been being nice to me and sharing stuff. I really hope I get to sleep over with them and that they get to come to my house and sleep here.”
“I have been going to Church on certain days.”
“We live really close to a store.”
Costa Rica Culture/Christmas:
Costa Rica has a large Catholic Population, making Christmas a HUGE holiday here. Family is also a large part of the culture so we are excited to see how the festivities of Christmas Eve and Christmas day are celebrated particularly within the building we live in. (In case we haven’t mentioned before we live in a building with 4 ½ apartments; all of which are occupied by an entire Tico family (the parents, the children and their spouses and the grandchildren)). We have already seen some displays of nativities and the stores are packed with decorations!
Thanks – Giving:
As always and with deep sincerity, we want to first thank each of you for your continued support and prayers for the Lord’s work through the ministry in Haiti and in Costa Rica. We also want to thank our family and friends that played or sang at the concert last month to raise money for our student visas and for those who attended fellowshipped and gave. Thank you also to others who are putting on Fundraisers this upcoming month: the Candy Canes in yards, the Photo Shoot, the Online Video and the Gift Wrapping. The love and encouragement we get from each of our brothers and sisters in Christ means the world to us and we thank you all for that, whether it is by prayer, words or action…thank you, thank you thank you. We pray everyone has a wonderful Christmas and has the opportunity to share it with family!
Prayer Requests:
· That the Lord be glorified in all that we do
· For each us to grow closer to the Lord each day (our faithfulness to read and apply the word!)
· Christmas to be on opportunity not only for us, but each of you to share the gospel.
· Protection for the temptations of Satan and the power to defeat sin
Physically:
· Our student visa information to be in progress at the Costa Rican embassy before Christmas
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Student Visas and Such
Hola from San Jose, Costa Rica
Well, we have made it through another week. Most of the ministry work took place stateside for us this week. Our parents collected all of our legal documents and mailed them to Washington D.C. this week (our prayer is for a rapid notorization and to recieve them back in the mail a.s.a.p). Our visas expire at the beggining of January and we would like to not have to leave the country again for at least a year (once we are finished with school). As a huge praise the concert yesterday and a check recieved today has put us over the halfway point for the entire costs of getting our student visas!! Praise the Lord.
Around here in San Jose we have gotten copies made that we need when we send the visas information off from here (once we recieve the letters from Washington D.C.) and this next week we will get our pictures done as well as get our fingers prints as soon as possilbe (we are hoping to have a student from the school join us for this in case we need a translator).
Justin has been doing extremely well in Spanish and Kevin and I jump in and use words as we know them...we are still working on sentence structure. I am pretty sure that Annika says 'Hola' when she waves now but I seem to be the only one that hears that; so maybe it is just wishful thinking ;).
We continue to find new conveniences here and must honestly say it is different than both Haiti and Guanacaste, Costa Rica were. It is rather nice to have these conveniences, but we pray to never loose focus. Having a more populated and developed area also comes with more opportunities to witness and be a witness! Please pray that while learning the language we still use every opportunity to let our lives be a witness!
God Bless
The White Family...Justin, Bobbi Ann, Kevin and Annika
Well, we have made it through another week. Most of the ministry work took place stateside for us this week. Our parents collected all of our legal documents and mailed them to Washington D.C. this week (our prayer is for a rapid notorization and to recieve them back in the mail a.s.a.p). Our visas expire at the beggining of January and we would like to not have to leave the country again for at least a year (once we are finished with school). As a huge praise the concert yesterday and a check recieved today has put us over the halfway point for the entire costs of getting our student visas!! Praise the Lord.
Around here in San Jose we have gotten copies made that we need when we send the visas information off from here (once we recieve the letters from Washington D.C.) and this next week we will get our pictures done as well as get our fingers prints as soon as possilbe (we are hoping to have a student from the school join us for this in case we need a translator).
Justin has been doing extremely well in Spanish and Kevin and I jump in and use words as we know them...we are still working on sentence structure. I am pretty sure that Annika says 'Hola' when she waves now but I seem to be the only one that hears that; so maybe it is just wishful thinking ;).
We continue to find new conveniences here and must honestly say it is different than both Haiti and Guanacaste, Costa Rica were. It is rather nice to have these conveniences, but we pray to never loose focus. Having a more populated and developed area also comes with more opportunities to witness and be a witness! Please pray that while learning the language we still use every opportunity to let our lives be a witness!
God Bless
The White Family...Justin, Bobbi Ann, Kevin and Annika
Sunday, November 13, 2011
San Jose
Hola!
We are here! We made it to San Jose on Tuesday the 8th and we had internet installed on Friday and i spent all day in bed yesterday with a headache; so yay, i am finally on here to update!
This week has been mostly consisting of familiarizing ourselves with the area (grocery shopping, the school, etc...) as well as meeting people at the language school and finding out what things we can get involved in as far as fellowship and evangalizing! We are also currently working on getting our student visas. Tomorrow we will be making copies of our passport and finding out where to get pictures done for our application. Stateside they are gathering other documents of ours to send to Washington D.C. to get notorized before we can apply. Our prayer in this area is that all the documents get mailed and back to us within a matter of weeks so that we do not have to leave the country the first week of January. The upfront cost is going to be great, but in the long run it will save us money to not leave the country for 72 hours every three months. It will also save us 15 hours on a bus and going thru immigration with a 9 and 1 year old :).
As far as the area it is very difficult to describe. I suppose it depends on how you see things. There is grafitti everywhere and razor wire and gates around every home, but there is also the beauty of the mountains around. In my personal opinion it seems that every time we have left the house the Lord reveals a new beauty about the area. We are very excited to get involved in ministries here and learn the language more fluently!
Our prayers right now are that the provision comes thru for our student visas as well as for schooling for at least Justin if not for all of us. Also, we are praying to pick up the language quickly. Another benifit that i forgot to mention is that our apartment has 5 units in it and it is owned by a family (one unit is the parents two are the brothers and sisters and the other is the owner) and we are the only greengo (American) family here; that should help with learning the language! They are very nice and have already been such a help. The neighbors right next to us have an 11 year old boy that Kevin has already befriended and there are twin 1 year old girls that live upstairs and are always playing out in the yard and when the door is open they and Annika have a great time interacting!
Well, for now i will leave you with this information and we will be back on next week; hopefully to share more on how our visas are coming along as well as ministry information the school has available! The family here has also offered to drive us around next week to show us where everything is and tell us which busses to take to get to which places and how to use the taxi services, etc... We have been extremely blessed to be where He has us! Looking forward to sharing Christ with this community (hoping the language comes quickly so we can be influential for the Kingdom in all Latin American cultures!)
God Bless
Justin, Bobbi Ann, Kevin and Annika White
We are here! We made it to San Jose on Tuesday the 8th and we had internet installed on Friday and i spent all day in bed yesterday with a headache; so yay, i am finally on here to update!
This week has been mostly consisting of familiarizing ourselves with the area (grocery shopping, the school, etc...) as well as meeting people at the language school and finding out what things we can get involved in as far as fellowship and evangalizing! We are also currently working on getting our student visas. Tomorrow we will be making copies of our passport and finding out where to get pictures done for our application. Stateside they are gathering other documents of ours to send to Washington D.C. to get notorized before we can apply. Our prayer in this area is that all the documents get mailed and back to us within a matter of weeks so that we do not have to leave the country the first week of January. The upfront cost is going to be great, but in the long run it will save us money to not leave the country for 72 hours every three months. It will also save us 15 hours on a bus and going thru immigration with a 9 and 1 year old :).
As far as the area it is very difficult to describe. I suppose it depends on how you see things. There is grafitti everywhere and razor wire and gates around every home, but there is also the beauty of the mountains around. In my personal opinion it seems that every time we have left the house the Lord reveals a new beauty about the area. We are very excited to get involved in ministries here and learn the language more fluently!
Our prayers right now are that the provision comes thru for our student visas as well as for schooling for at least Justin if not for all of us. Also, we are praying to pick up the language quickly. Another benifit that i forgot to mention is that our apartment has 5 units in it and it is owned by a family (one unit is the parents two are the brothers and sisters and the other is the owner) and we are the only greengo (American) family here; that should help with learning the language! They are very nice and have already been such a help. The neighbors right next to us have an 11 year old boy that Kevin has already befriended and there are twin 1 year old girls that live upstairs and are always playing out in the yard and when the door is open they and Annika have a great time interacting!
Well, for now i will leave you with this information and we will be back on next week; hopefully to share more on how our visas are coming along as well as ministry information the school has available! The family here has also offered to drive us around next week to show us where everything is and tell us which busses to take to get to which places and how to use the taxi services, etc... We have been extremely blessed to be where He has us! Looking forward to sharing Christ with this community (hoping the language comes quickly so we can be influential for the Kingdom in all Latin American cultures!)
God Bless
Justin, Bobbi Ann, Kevin and Annika White
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Almost Time
Hello Family and Friends,
We had the privelage and the blessing to attend the Piney Point Revival services last week via Skype! Skype is a huge blessing for us while we are overseas! The services were awesome and encouraging. It was nice to be in the fellowship and hear a word from the Lord through a man of God.
This week we are packing up and deep cleaning so that next Tuesday (November 8th) we will be ready to head to San Jose, Costa Rica. Our biggest prayer right now is that we would find and move into a house as soon as we arrive! We are leaving on faith that one of the houses we have had appointments set up with (via the school administrator) will work for us. The nice thing about house hunting for us is that we have stayed in several different places and are not very picky :). However, we do want to be sure that every dime that is spent in living expenses is worth the money.
Last month when we had to get to the airport to get back to the states we also had a wonderful shuttle service that took us and they have agreed to take us and all of our things (including our bikes) to our new location in San Jose for an awesome price (huge praise). The other prayer request at this moment is that we can sell our current washer before we leave since we will have a washing machine available to us in either location in San Jose. This money can also go toward our down payment on our next apartment.
We are very thankful for each of you in our lives. We are thankful for your prayers, support and love. Please continue to contact us via email so that we can pray for you!
God Bless,
Justin and Bobbi Ann White
We had the privelage and the blessing to attend the Piney Point Revival services last week via Skype! Skype is a huge blessing for us while we are overseas! The services were awesome and encouraging. It was nice to be in the fellowship and hear a word from the Lord through a man of God.
This week we are packing up and deep cleaning so that next Tuesday (November 8th) we will be ready to head to San Jose, Costa Rica. Our biggest prayer right now is that we would find and move into a house as soon as we arrive! We are leaving on faith that one of the houses we have had appointments set up with (via the school administrator) will work for us. The nice thing about house hunting for us is that we have stayed in several different places and are not very picky :). However, we do want to be sure that every dime that is spent in living expenses is worth the money.
Last month when we had to get to the airport to get back to the states we also had a wonderful shuttle service that took us and they have agreed to take us and all of our things (including our bikes) to our new location in San Jose for an awesome price (huge praise). The other prayer request at this moment is that we can sell our current washer before we leave since we will have a washing machine available to us in either location in San Jose. This money can also go toward our down payment on our next apartment.
We are very thankful for each of you in our lives. We are thankful for your prayers, support and love. Please continue to contact us via email so that we can pray for you!
God Bless,
Justin and Bobbi Ann White
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