Why? Why us? Why
here? Why now?
We
know that some days people must wonder why we are spending time in
language school when people are dying every day without Christ. You
know why we know this, because the thought has come into our hearts
as well on occasion. Our desire to see souls won to the kingdom and
to reach the unreached people groups for Christ, puts a sort of child
like rush into our souls making us want to leap forth with His
glorious message! However, this is where God has us right now and
if we leap forward before we are ready then ‘they’, those He has
prepared ahead of time to hear…will not understand because we will
not be prepared the way the Lord has asked us to be for teaching
them. The great commandment is clear that we are to go, making
disciples, baptizing and then TEACHING. Daily we pray that our lives
are a written epistle for the Lord, but we also wish to raise up His
saints in His word before moving on to a new area. Until that time
in which He is finished with us here and sends us to raise up new
disciples through teaching, we will continue to plant the gospel at
each opportunity.
August
was a fun month for our family! At the end of July we celebrated
Kevin’s birthday, with decorations donated from the states. Then
through some monetary gifts from family and an invitation from some
good missionary friends, now serving in Peru, we were able to spend a
few days at the beach (5 hours from here). That was the first time
in a year that we have all been out of schooling and just got to
enjoy some family time focused on one another! We all had a blast
and found out both of our children are fearless of the ocean and it’s
powerful waves and then we travelled back burnt to crisps (except
Annika – she evidently tans the best). Upon returning, Justin
finished his last two days of classes and officially graduated in the
2nd to
highest level of oral evaluation (“Advanced medium”) and with and
88% written evaluation. He is officially bilingual! Along with our
graduate and our family mini vacation, the Piney Point Churches in
NWA and Cassville, MO helped us to gather supplies that we will
assemble into “blessing bags” and use as an opportunity to
minister weekly (planting seeds). All of the Churches gathered the
goals within a few weeks and we ask for prayers as Justin and
probably his dad take these bags out and minister; we hope to
continue to find ways to keep more of the Churches who support and
pray for us back in the states involved in the future! Justin has
already found ways to stay busy for the Lord while I am attending
school, both to glorify God and keep learning Spanish more fluently.
He will be communicating regularly with the school as he oversees a
project to build a Skype lab, allowing the school more opportunities
for online teaching, etc… Along with the blessing bags, he is also
going to begin working with the pastor of the Church who allowed him
to share his testimony a few months back at a secular concert –
their church is very evangelical and Justin will be finding out more
about their doctrine soon and if it is a sound Church he will be able
to have opportunities with them almost daily.
This
month we are continuing to ask for prayers for the Lord’s provision
and that you all would continue to pass the word of what the Lord is
using our family for here in Costa Rica and the future of reaching
unreached people groups. Please pray for the Lord to prepare the
hearts of those we will reach with the blessing bags, in our daily
lives and in the future communities. Lately we have only been
receiving the prayer request list from our Church, which we are
extremely grateful for, however we would love to hear from you all
and would love to know how we can lift you up in our prayers! It is
extremely humbling to have the love and support that we do from so
many brothers and sisters in Christ around the world and we hope that
you know the love we have for you all as well. In honesty, we often
wish we were in your presence, but there is also the indescribable
joy (as many of you know) of being right here where the Lord wants
us.
God Bless
Justin, Bobbi Ann,
Kevin and Annika
