Dear Family and Friends,
My God is so wonderful, good and kind. It has been taking time to adjust to all the differences down here, but I am so excited to be getting into ministry.
This weekend was very exhausting and fun. I had the opportunity to help teach a Sunday school class on Sunday, and will now be helping out with ages 6 to 7 at "Renacer" in Curridabat.
On Friday, all the women got together and had a sleepover party. None of us slept very well and we all ate tons of chocolate. Sister Nancy, gave a short devotional on Saturday morning and we spent a time of prayer. (Her cooking is amazing by the way.) One of the missionary's, Cathy, has been on the field with her husband for 38 years. They were in Tanzania, South Africa for many years, and have been serving here in Costa Rica for 8 years. Both Steve and Cathy need our prayers as they will be returning to the U.S. in December. Steve is sick and they are not sure what the next steps will be, but they will be very sad to leave the field. Please pray for them.
My Spanish is hopefully improving, but I know that I have a long way to go. I hope that all of you are doing wonderful as well. You have been in my thoughts and prayers.
One of the highlights of this past month has been when Pastor Luis Apuye came to my house. He gave a short message at this "prayer meeting," where Cecilia, her daughter Diana, and I hosted about 20 women...and only one man! haha. He spoke a message about seven important keys we must hold in our hands to receive from God what He has for us. The prophetic word He spoke into my life that night was an exciting confirmation to the desires in my heart. I have always hoped to learn Hebrew one day and to use that in my ministry, and I did not tell that to anyone. His words could not have come from man. Praise the Lord!
I am so excited about what this next month will hold! When you think of me, pray that I will learn so much Spanish, and be able to balance all of the relationships. Pray because at the church "Renacer" we will be looking to start a children's ministry program in the church.
Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to talking to you soon! There are so many of you that I wish I could talk with more frequently, but alas! it is so hard to balance my time. Hopefully in the nearby future, I will be able to get internet in my house so that I can connect with you easier.
Peace and love.
Joanna Joy :)
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Opah... I have to go back to classes in like...1 minute
My dear friends,
Thank you for all your prayers. I have learned so many things about the Tico people and their way of life. I especially love my friend Cecilia... or "Mama Tica" who is quick to give me advice of so many kinds. It has been fun to connect with many people here as well. The teachers are very patient with us and help us with many things.
Opah! that means oops in Spanish. There goes the bell and I am late. I promise to update you after classes today.
Dios los bendiga mucho MUCHO!
Love your friend and family,
Joanna Joy
Thank you for all your prayers. I have learned so many things about the Tico people and their way of life. I especially love my friend Cecilia... or "Mama Tica" who is quick to give me advice of so many kinds. It has been fun to connect with many people here as well. The teachers are very patient with us and help us with many things.
Opah! that means oops in Spanish. There goes the bell and I am late. I promise to update you after classes today.
Dios los bendiga mucho MUCHO!
Love your friend and family,
Joanna Joy
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
A new land, a new language, a new home...and homework!
My dear friends and partners in prayer. Pura Vida! This means life is an adventure...live well...live fully...enjoy.
You who know me so well, know how much fun I can have, and at the same time how serious I can be sometimes.
Since January 2nd, when I arrived at 10 pm. This has been a full head-on adventure. God is so good.
Jennifer Dahlager picked me up from the "Aeropuerto Nacional de Juan Santamaria" on Tuesday evening. We arrived about 20 minutes late, and I was so excited. I had two students arriving with me. They were Leslie, who I have nicknamed "Le," and LaDawn, who I nicknamed "La." They are my two songnotes and they have both been an incredible blessing so far already. Leslie was a Missionary Associate in Colombia for 7 years and she is now going as a fully appointed missionary to continue working with the street children there. LaDawn was a MK who grew up in a mixture of the United States and El Salvador. She love El Salvador, but is returning to work now in the Dominican Republic with some missionaries in translation and children's ministry (I believe) She is going to be a MIT or Missionary in Training there.
Leslie and Ladawn both knew each other from a previous time when they roomed together at school.
The Dahlagers started their school for "Hijos de Pastores" (Pastor's Kids) on Tuesday the 1st. They had a great time at camp. They hosted 6 guys from Argentina who gave special workshops and spoke in the evening service. Because I had the day off on Friday, I was able to go and be a part of their camp activities. The guy who spoke from Argentina was very powerful and the presence of God was strong. I also saw that God was moving on the behalf of the students. One teenage girl fell under the power of the Holy Spirit right as she was exiting the sanctuary.
Back to Wednesday night, I met my "new" mama. She sends greeting to all my family and says she is taking care of me. She is very nice, and she has three sons and one daughter. She also has three grandchildren. Her daughter is going to be moving in with us soon. I talked with Cecilia (Mama Ceci) until 1 am on the night of my arrival. Since then, we have become great friends.
On Saturday, I met all of the new students of CINCEL and we had a tour with a young man from the school whose name is Pablo. We didn't tour the city so much because even though Pablo was showing us so many things, we were all talking and getting acquainted. It was pretty hard to pay attention. We returned around 1 pm, and we enjoyed a very American picnic with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans. We had an orientation of sorts as well where we were introduced to all the students who were already here and the teachers. We had another orientation on Monday.
On Sunday, I visited "Centro de Excelencia" with my Mama Ceci. She really loves her church, and the pastor is Pastor Luis Apuye. The whole service was very refreshing and enriching. The pastor spoke a very appropriate message for me about life. He spoke on how everything in life is a process. He talked about learning to be patient with ourselves and not "over-achieving." It was very good.
Mama Ceci and I had prepared a room also for a girl who came on Sunday. Angela came to stay with us for one week and she is studying one week's worth of Spanish. She came without knowing any Spanish and she has learned so much!
This has been a huge transition for me, and I am enjoying everything and hope to take it all in. Definitely this is the biggest adventure of my life, and there have been many challenges.
I was up late doing homework last night, and I suspect I will be again. I could tell you so many stories, but here I will cut it short.
Suffice is to say, there have been many new words, people and adventures in this past week.
I miss you all and love you dearly. Please stay in touch.
Joanna Joy
You who know me so well, know how much fun I can have, and at the same time how serious I can be sometimes.
Since January 2nd, when I arrived at 10 pm. This has been a full head-on adventure. God is so good.
Jennifer Dahlager picked me up from the "Aeropuerto Nacional de Juan Santamaria" on Tuesday evening. We arrived about 20 minutes late, and I was so excited. I had two students arriving with me. They were Leslie, who I have nicknamed "Le," and LaDawn, who I nicknamed "La." They are my two songnotes and they have both been an incredible blessing so far already. Leslie was a Missionary Associate in Colombia for 7 years and she is now going as a fully appointed missionary to continue working with the street children there. LaDawn was a MK who grew up in a mixture of the United States and El Salvador. She love El Salvador, but is returning to work now in the Dominican Republic with some missionaries in translation and children's ministry (I believe) She is going to be a MIT or Missionary in Training there.
Leslie and Ladawn both knew each other from a previous time when they roomed together at school.
The Dahlagers started their school for "Hijos de Pastores" (Pastor's Kids) on Tuesday the 1st. They had a great time at camp. They hosted 6 guys from Argentina who gave special workshops and spoke in the evening service. Because I had the day off on Friday, I was able to go and be a part of their camp activities. The guy who spoke from Argentina was very powerful and the presence of God was strong. I also saw that God was moving on the behalf of the students. One teenage girl fell under the power of the Holy Spirit right as she was exiting the sanctuary.
Back to Wednesday night, I met my "new" mama. She sends greeting to all my family and says she is taking care of me. She is very nice, and she has three sons and one daughter. She also has three grandchildren. Her daughter is going to be moving in with us soon. I talked with Cecilia (Mama Ceci) until 1 am on the night of my arrival. Since then, we have become great friends.
On Saturday, I met all of the new students of CINCEL and we had a tour with a young man from the school whose name is Pablo. We didn't tour the city so much because even though Pablo was showing us so many things, we were all talking and getting acquainted. It was pretty hard to pay attention. We returned around 1 pm, and we enjoyed a very American picnic with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans. We had an orientation of sorts as well where we were introduced to all the students who were already here and the teachers. We had another orientation on Monday.
On Sunday, I visited "Centro de Excelencia" with my Mama Ceci. She really loves her church, and the pastor is Pastor Luis Apuye. The whole service was very refreshing and enriching. The pastor spoke a very appropriate message for me about life. He spoke on how everything in life is a process. He talked about learning to be patient with ourselves and not "over-achieving." It was very good.
Mama Ceci and I had prepared a room also for a girl who came on Sunday. Angela came to stay with us for one week and she is studying one week's worth of Spanish. She came without knowing any Spanish and she has learned so much!
This has been a huge transition for me, and I am enjoying everything and hope to take it all in. Definitely this is the biggest adventure of my life, and there have been many challenges.
I was up late doing homework last night, and I suspect I will be again. I could tell you so many stories, but here I will cut it short.
Suffice is to say, there have been many new words, people and adventures in this past week.
I miss you all and love you dearly. Please stay in touch.
Joanna Joy
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