Hello!!!

Thought I would let you all know that I am alive and kicking... :)

Things have stayed really busy and though I am grateful that boredom is never an issue, rest is something my body actually demanded of me this week.

The once a month Activities reaching out to the kids of the community have gone really well...
We have a mini-fair scheduled for next Saturday the 15th and a Walk through Bethlehem scheduled for December 13th. Anywhere from 80-100 kids come out and our time together is always encouraging.

Sundays are becoming more of a routine and less stressful. I am currently working with the leaders in planning our Christmas Series...a few years back my Mom sent out a Christmas card that had a large Christmas Tree on the front cover, beautifully decorated, as the reader opens the card and turns the pages parts of the tree start to be taken off until on the very last page the reader is left with a cross and a crown...using this symbol we are going to talk about why Jesus came to Earth as a baby to ultimately suffer and die for our sins, creating a bridge from us to God by rising again and offering new life to those who believe. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek his wisdom in how to present the true meaning of Christmas with our children and those of the community.

Hmm...I am growing and being challenged daily...there is so much I could write and I hope to have the time to do so soon. For now, thank you for your prayers and know that you too are in mine.

God bless you!!
Kris

What's been happening...

Where to start…

God is faithful always!!

Any fears that I had in coming back to Costa Rica and beginning this new season of my life have completely evaporated. The transition and changes that have taken place have been smooth and orchestrated by the hand of our great God, who is BIG and POWERFUL!!

Let’s see…I have my own office, which we are still in the process of putting together, but it is such a blessing. Take today for instance, in the morning one of our kid’s was waiting for his dad and after sneaking away came and hung out with me in my office for awhile. We spent some time looking at and talking about the message of the evangicube…which he now wants one, unfortunately I only have the one so I said he would have to wait until I could get another one. And one of the leaders that I serve with stopped in just to say hi and show me the color of her graduation dress. :)

Since I have gotten back, boredom has not been a problem; exhaustion on the other hand has had its moments. I had about two days before being oriented at the church, moving into my new home and getting my stuff from Belen. I jumped in with trying to be a support to the leader planning the Kid’s Day Activity and was asked to attend a Leadership Conference, which ended up being two weekends in a row, by Sunday of the second weekend I was in tears, for no reason at all, just pure exhaustion. After which, I took my day off and ran errands, worked on my bible study curriculum and worked on taking it easy throughout the rest of that week. I am starting to settle in more, becoming more comfortable in a routine and familiarizing myself with where I now live.

I am living with my friend Esteban’s mom, Doña Elena. She is so fun!! Her husband died several years back and all of her kids except one are married. The youngest lives about an hour and a half away but stays with us Saturday nights. She is used to living alone…but has accepted me with such grace. She treats me as if I was one of her own, which is a great blessing! She trusts me; she cooks for me and lets me cook for her. If she hasn’t heard from me all day, she’ll call to check in. She allows me the space that I need, without inserting a curfew and at the same time makes sure that I know for whatever I need all I have to do is ask. We have had some wonderful conversations; she shows great wisdom and had such a dear heart. I have my own room with two beds…I have full access to the house, my food is included as well as my board, laundry, etc.

My official title at the church is the General Coordinator for the Children’s Ministry. I have begun to accept more responsibility and find my niche with how to plan, how to run meetings and ideas for the future. I have Mondays free and my schedule is fairly flexible. There are days that I barely go home which thankfully are not as frequent as they could be and others where I’ll get the few things that absolutely must be done that day completed then head home to rest, work on my bible study coarse, or spend time with some of the leaders or kids. Since getting back we have celebrated Kid’s Day, which is a very big deal here in Costa Rica. However, our Pastor is not much for celebrations…rather he is all for activities that can be used to reach the community, the lost, for Christ. So I worked with Gaby and the other leaders to plan an outreach activity to celebrate the day and also share with them the message of Christ…Gaby chose the theme of Obedience and used the story of Jonah to illustrate for the kids what happens when we choose to disobey the Lord. The day was well-planned with a ton of activities, that between the torrential downpour and the lack of hours we weren’t able to do all of them. Roughly 86 kids came out for the event and left the leaders in a little bit of a tizzy. I have begun to see why the Lord has allowed me to have jobs over the years that have taught me administration and planning. I have been asking him for wisdom in how to best serve my leaders in this area. To eliminate certain frustrations that with some slight changes should function rather smoothly.

Thank you for those of you that were praying for this day specifically. I was able to see some of the areas that I need to seek the Lord’s direction in how to facilitate better and the kids had a blast!! The plan is to continue with a once a month Activity designed for kids from the community that don’t necessarily attend our church or know Jesus. Our desire is to show them Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit to use us to draw them to a relationship with the Savior. Our next activity will be October 18^th…please keep it in your prayers. The idea for the 7-12 year olds is to open with some games; watch Facing the Giants with snacks, then reinforces the message of the movie with a short lesson afterwards, divide into discussion groups and then finish with a few songs and prayer. Since the plan is a movie, we will need to plan a separate program for the 3-6 year olds and the 0-2 with their moms. Please keep in prayer the planning that needs to take place as well as the organization so that the leaders are well aware of their role and do not feel the stress of having no idea what they are supposed to do or how to do it…

The leadership conference was excellent! Also very long and tiring. My Spanish has really grown, I am understanding almost everything, though I do phase out when someone starts to talk really fast and get excited, I have trouble following at that point, especially if I’ve been sitting and listening for several hours…I think my brain just gives out at some point.

I am content with my position at the church and with the growth of the leaders. It is incredible to see the hand of God at work firsthand. It is a privilege to serve with those that I am currently serving with. Please pray for them, especially that the Lord might bring more guys to work with the 7-12 year olds, and moms for the nursery. Other prayer requests are: for the January Camps, the outreach events that we are working to put together, the opportunity to get involved with the public school here in the mountain, discipleship groups for the arts…dance, instruments, chorus, drama, choreography, etc…the lesson series that I am working on defining for the coming months, training, starting up a middle school class on Sundays in conjunction with a special activity for them once a month…and whatever else the Lord may have in store for the kids of Monte de Dios.

And for those of you that know me really well, will be very proud of me, because I have been getting up between 5 and 6 am to go walking with my friend Laura. It is rather chilly at those hours so getting out of bed is a little rough…but it is so worth it. I am totally fascinated by what I see as we find different routes to take. I grew up in Suburbia, so seeing cows, horses, chicken, crazy amounts of dogs, turkeys, coffee plantations, farms is totally foreign to me…but I don’t know kind of fun. I am actually taking care of a chicken while Doña Elena is in the States with her daughter because one of her grandsons just had some pretty major surgery done on his legs. Thankfully he is alright but in a lot of pain. His name is Pablo and he is 11 if you would like to pray for me. I’m sure how to explain the details of what his condition was or is but the surgery he had yesterday lasted a little over 7 hours. So it was pretty intense.

I have also gotten to see most of my students from Palabra de Vida and spend some time with the Befus’s. I’ve made some good friendships from my time at the school and will hopefully be able to see the students from time to time and also hang out with some of the teachers and staff that are around my age and have established a friendship with me and the desire to stay in contact. :) Please pray for the school…they have been able to use two missionaries that were supposed to start in January to teach Robin’s two classes but Lisa is still teaching the 7^th grade English class and my classes are having a hard go of it. There teacher is very nice but they speak more English than he does, so they are not enjoying the language as much as they had been. I know that God is faithful and that He has a plan in all of this, so I am thankful for his control of the matter. :)

At the moment I can’t think of anything else to share…but I will try to write to all of you again soon. Thank you for your prayers, for thinking of me and for showing me such KINDNESS. You are a Blessing, THANK YOU!!

God Bless You!! :)
Kristin

fotos...

Hi!! I know that it has been forever...not having internet as easily accessible has definitely kept me from writing and posting more...
God is Faithful, SIEMPRE!!
I am so blessed in the new season that God has moved me into...
I promise to sit down, hopefully before going to bed tonight,
and journal my experiences throughout the last month and catch all of you up
on what has been going on.
For now, here are some photos in random order from the last 2 months.
I love all of you and thank God for you as I remember you in my prayers!!
Blessings :)

Kid's Day-CR

Obedience vs. Disobedience

Lunch after the Kid's Day Celebration...

the other end of the tables...

Enjoying cake..mm, yum!

Except for the color of our hats, Anna & I matched...

Lisa, Anna, Lucia, Ile, & Fabi all fascinated with Genesis,
the baby in the carrier...

Ileana & I at Lisa's 13th birthday party...
(Ile is one of the leaders that I serve with...)

While I was in Jersey, Mom and I went up to
Bush kill Falls in the Poconos for a day :)

Girl's Night out at PF Chang's with Mom, Alex & Martha!! NJ

Micaela, Alex and Elijah...my buddies!! NJ

Anna, Lisa and I being silly :) CR

randomness

For the last month I have been able to relax, spend time with family & friends, continue healing and grow in my walk with the Lord. Yay!!

Here are some pictures from my time in Jersey, well actually only one at the moment, and a few from my last few days at the school.

This is a view of NYC from the ferry ride in, when two very dear friends were in Jersey visiting from Costa Rica :)

Bryan & Robin's last night in Costa Rica (pictured with Matt, Lisa & Natalia)

my roommate for the last few months at the school, Rachel

Robin and I

Just a quick update...

Let's see...I am recovering well, still slightly swollen and sore but feeling better every day.

I was able to work with the teacher that took over my classes several times before leaving and enjoyed getting to know her very much. I miss my students terribly but I am trusting in the Lord's will and plan for my life and am glad that they have a teacher who is just as excited as I was to interact with them on a daily basis.

I arrived safely in New Jersey and have spent the last week with friends from Costa Rica and enjoying time with family.

It has been quite the adventure being home...I have seen God's faithfulness daily, it has been so cool!!

My Mom and I have been able to spend a lot of together and it has been great seeing God's hand at work in her life. This last year has not been easy on my family but it has definitely been much needed. My Mom has begun to realize that she needs to let her kids go and has come to a place where only God could have brought her.

I wanted to thank all of you for praying with me this year and for supporting me. You will never know how much your presence in my life has impacted who I am.

I will be in Jersey until August 17th and would love to see as many of you that I can, please let me know if you are free and would like to meet up. After which, I will be returning to CR to start working for the church full time to see where God leads the next chapter of my life. I am excited and terrified and learning how to trust him daily.

If you have been sending financial support to LAM for me, I am no longer under them at this time and you may stop sending it to them. If you would still like to support the ministry that God has given me I will be sending out a letter soon with the church's information and you may give directly to the church, Monte de Dios, where I will be serving as the Children's Ministry Coordinator.

I love each of you dearly and praise God for putting you in my life!!

Atenas...

This weekend Esteban, Laura & Cata took me to Atenas with them for a change of scenery and a chance to hang out. Atenas is where Laura grew up and where her family still lives. It was fun getting off campus and both Esteban & Laura have become really dear friends. I did a bit of walking and we did a lot of talking. Atenas is very peaceful & very country. I enjoyed my time with them very much. Saturday night was what we might call a "god moment" where I just knew it was where he wanted me to be at that time for that moment.

I hope all of you are doing well and look forward to seeing many of you when I return to the states in about a week.

Here are some pictures from the weekend....

the goodbyes have begun...

Well as most of you know by now my time at Palabra de Vida is ending. Robin just used the word surreal which is probably the best way to describe how I feel right now.

On Friday many of the students and a couple of the teachers came up to say goodbye since it was the last day before their 2 week break. There was a lot of crying and hugging, I was very sad and since then have been pretty numb, not ready to face the reality.

I am blessed that though I won't be returning to the school in August I will be returning to CR for 4 more months and will be able to visit and wait on the total goodbye part...though still not making these last two weeks easy.

I am still extremely sore and the swelling is going down so very slowly. I went to the grocery store yesterday and tried to be very careful but spent the afternoon in quite a bit of pain, still have no idea what I did that caused it. But God is so good and I am so thankful for the many people He has put in my path that are looking out for me and caring for me.

The last few days I have been suffering from headaches so I haven't been accomplishing much other than trying to sleep them off...but other than today I have been trying to walk at least to the pool to sit and read and then back again. I have to tackle a small hill, so it is a good walk for me.

I have some grading to do, grades to put together, lots of filing, packing, I want to write notes to my students and I am looking at material for Sunday School lessons...so there is definitely plenty for me to do...and since I am sleepy by mid-afternoon what would normally be a few days worth of work is taking me much longer than that.

Well, that is about all that I can think of for now...here are some pictures from Friday...Enjoy!

Me, Fran & Robin (Fran asked me for something of mine that she could keep
and then gave me the pair of earrings that she was wearing...)

Jeni, Robin, Me, Christina & Vivi
(they sang "Let it be...by the beatles" for Robin and I...)

Lucia, Pri, Veronica, Me, Paola, Karen, Ale & Kata
(some of my girls...)

My 8th graders :)