Dear Heavenly Father,

                I want to thank you my Lord and Savior!!!  Without You, I would be nothing. Yet with you I can be or do anything. I believe the reason I am here in Costa Rica is a test on many different levels. I accept the challenges you have/will set before me. I hope that whether I am ready or not, I will not fail you.  You said “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do.” John 14:12 I just pray that you give me the strength, the words, and the wisdom to do your will, no matter where I am.

                                                                                In your Name I Pray…..Amen.

Dear Readers,

                I want to share a few things with you that have happened this past week. I’ll tell you about the following;

• ·         How Steve Gray and Mark Ebert arrived and a bit about our excursions her in Limon.
• ·         Give you a little news on the planning for the school of music.
• ·         Morgan has finally made it back to Limon after a mishap with her passport.
• ·         Give you numbers and news about our Choral Workshop that is in progress.
• ·         Church on Sunday
• ·         Joe Mixon Arrives.
• ·         Re-writing the Curriculum for the school of Music

 

This is a funny story about Mark and Steve’s travel to Limon. I talked to Henry (Provincial treasurer) and Steve and Mark on Monday night and determined that they would be on one of the early buses to Limon. Henry told me that he would call me and tell me which bus they would be on so that I could be there to receive them. Well I woke up to my alarm clock and not to the phone so I guess Henry just forgot to call. So I went down to the terminal around 9:45am to wait for Mark and Steve because Henry said he would drop them off around 7:00am. Usually the bus takes 3 hours so I figured they would be there soon after 10:00am. I waited patiently watching each San Jose Bus unload with no Mark or Steve in sight. I felt a bit nervous about being at the terminal with limited Spanish but about the same time I started to pray that God would get me through, one of the older gentleman from the Buenos Aires congregation came up and started talking to me.  We had a great conversation about everything from Moses to Lunchmeat. The whole time we were talking I was watching each bus from San Jose.  Around 12:30pm I get a phone call from Mark. After saying hello I ask “where are you guys?” he then responds with “I’m at your house.”  Luckily my landlord was there and let them in. That night I made dinner…and I just wanted to say how much Mark was flipping out over the Cho-Cho which is kind of like a squash. It was pretty darn good. After every bite he would say “man that’s wild.”

The Morning of Wednesday the 28^th Mark, Steve got the chance to go and visit Fuente de Vida Moravian Church and see the roof and condition of the church. After determining that the roof does indeed need to be replaced we moved onto visit the land the church owns and is being considered for the school of Music. The land would need a lot of work to even be ready to start building. So we have thrown out the idea of retrofitting an existing building in town to serve the same purpose. The Board is also looking into other options. After visiting the land we visited Sister Sally’s sister’s house that she rents out that would be great for our work teams from the states (I have included some photos.) 

Mark and Leo left Limon Friday morning. But before they did I woke up to the sound of a male trio on the balcony of my apartment. I know I must have lain in bed for almost an hour listening to them singing. I could have easily gotten out of bed and joined them in singing. But I was just content in listening. As a musician I think it is easy to get caught up in performing music and not listening to the music. I believe it is the same for Christianity. Sometimes I think people get caught up in being a disciples or “role models”, and giving the message and not listening to the vary message they preach. I have been very blessed to have musical visitors in the house. It has been a blessing beyond words.

Morgan has finally made it back to Limon after a mishap with her passport. She went to make sure her passport was where she put it as she had done all week. But this time it was not there. So she missed the flight. After talking with Sam they determined the fastest way to get the replacement was to travel to Washington DC and apply in person with a signed letter from The North Carolina senator. So after treading through snow and rain she had her replacement and was on a flight Thursday to San Jose. After staying the night at the parsonage she made her way back to Limon. She made it just in time for the beginning of the choral music festival.

The music “Mini Course” started Friday January 30^th at 5:00pm. With one person…by 5:30 we had about 10 people. We ended up having a total of 16 people on Friday night. Saturdays schedule was a little more intense. 10:00am-1:00pm session with provided lunch and fellowship from 1:00pm-3:00pm then another session from 3:00pm-5:00pm overall we had 13 people participate on Saturday. To tell you the truth I was a bit worried about attendance at this free clinic because I was not sure if people were passing the word along. But my fear was shattered and my prayers were answered last night we had an attendance of 36 people. We shared three hours of intense worship…although it was not a service; the words of all the songs we were singing provided the message. It was amazing to see all the children and visitors. There were members from around 8 different churches attending the festival which made it feel as if we are helping to bring the community together.

On Sunday Sister Rev. Herta Downs asked us (Steve, Morgan and I) to bring a special song for service. So with Steve on the Keys and Morgan with her Violin and me with my trumpet (as well as our voices) praised our Lord with “How great Thou Art!” I was excited to play my trumpet before the congregation because the occasion had not ever presented itself for me to share in this capacity. Usually if I am sharing my musical talent, it is from behind the keyboard playing the hymns and liturgy for the service. I was also excited because while we were singing I had the tenor line above the melody. I hit an F# full out and it sounded great. Beyond the singing and playing, the message that Sister Rev. Herta Downs brought was awesome. She talked about following in the footsteps of Jesus and walking a path that would be pleasing to Him.

After church we walked downtown and decided to get a bite to eat. We went to Brisas (I think that’s how you spell it) and started casually chatting. When my eye caught this guy come around the corner. He looked like he had not showered in a while. He went from trashcan to trashcan (I thought he was looking for drink cans to turn in for cash) and eventually found something. When I saw him take something from the trash to his mouth my fears were confirmed that this man was hungry, yet afraid to ask for help. As Morgan and Steve continued their conversation, unaware of what I was witnessing, I interrupted their chatting to tell them what I had seen. Once I saw him put something in his mouth I wanted to jump up and offer him to join us for lunch. But I didn’t. I felt so bad. But when he came back up our way we offered him a place at our table. His name is Leonardo. He was very hungry that he ate twice the amount that I can usually put away and downed his Coke in two sips. I gave him 10,000 Colones which is about 20 dollars which I hope keeps him from digging through the trash for at least a few days. I thank God for showing this man to us…I have noticed similar situations here in Limon. And know that I alone can’t help them all. Every time I see something or someone in the same kind of situation I pray for them and hope that God can help them where I cannot.  I hope you will join me in praying for everyone who goes to sleep hungry.

Joe Mixon arrived yesterday in kind of the same fashion the Mark and Steve did. Because Morgan’s cell phone has been acting up we have not had a direct line of communication to anyone. So we were not sure which bus Joe would be on, so Steve went down to hang out and wait on Joe. He sat for a good three hours and eventually came back thinking that maybe what happened to me might have happened to him. So upon his return he realized that this was not the case. So Morgan then proceeded down to the terminal wait on Joe. About twenty minutes after she left Joe arrived in a taxi. We realized that Morgan would now be waiting for no one. Steve and Joe then went down to retrieve her and go to the grocery store. A guitar student Edwardo Chow then came to visit and we started to jam for about 45 minutes and then headed out to the workshop.

Sometime over the next few days we will sit down with Steve and Joe and brainstorm about the future of the school of music here in Limon and what the students really need to learn to be a musical asset to their congregations worship. We hope to write a curriculum that will best benefit our students and will be easy for the next missionaries to use (if they want to).  I pray for God’s guidance and patience throughout this process and hope that it is an easy transition.

Overall I have had a great week and am very excited to see, hear, and perform with the choral clinic on Friday night. I am also very excited for the third trimester…registration just started and hopefully over the next two weeks we will have a record number of students register. I pray God fills our classes with eager souls and hungry minds.