Director Bob with the Basket Ball Team
Well, we hit the ground with our feet running, as the old expression goes! After a very short but enjoyable time at home for two weeks in August we were very rapidly back into the swing of things. Honestly, it usually takes me a couple of weeks to get my heart back into the right place after enjoying being home with family and friends, but that was not available this time! Bob's new position as interim director of Sojourn, the preschool through grade 12 school that is attached to the Language institute, was in full swing just 7 hours after getting back to our house here in Costa Rica. The first week was teacher orientation and classroom preparation time. I was there every day as well helping serve homemade lunches for the teachers as Bob led them into a new year with a vision for unity among the faculty and students. The teachers are finding out that Bob is a quick thinker and also enjoys a good laugh. He has put them on "alert" to be looking for practical jokes at any turn in their day! Later in the week after a teachers luncheon for the girls only, I was sworn to secrecy as the teachers started planning how to deliver a little surprise attack on their new boss! The first two weeks were filled with long hours and a few almost sleepless nights as there are many bases to cover. Opening day brought 200 students to the campus, about one third of them Costa Rican children who want a better education than the local public school has to offer. Bob is enjoying every minute of this fast paced position and being able to share God's gift of grace with them.
Bob with Missionary Students
My work at the prison has taken on a new look this fall. I will be involved in offering a new program called Celebrate Recovery. This is a twelve step program based on the beatitudes. It has had great success in the United States and now is starting to gain popularity in other counties. Through many connections, including Waldoboro Baptist Church's donation of the money to purchase the books and North Woolwich's donation to the prison ministry last winter, God has opened a door to get this ministry started. The connections God has put together has truly amazed me, almost providing answers before the need arrived! He provided not only finances but also the people. I am now working with two wonderful women who will co-lead the program with me. One of them has led Celebrate Recovery before and is training me and the other woman in the program. Even with all these connections being made outside the prison I know that without God's hand of grace and mercy we would not get into the prison. So, right before coming home in August I made my first appointment with the director of education and asked for a place in his schedule. God would have to go before us to help us gain access. Praise be to God! He opened a time slot, but we were told that we would have to wait for a new room to be made into a classroom, which was now being used for storage and was full. After asking if we could help get the room ready he told us that would really speed up the process. We just finished our first full day of transforming our new space last week!
Bob was able to take a day off from his position at school to come over and help clean out and put up a wall to close off the space. The day was a typical one in that we left the house at 7:15 to go buy materials and after lots of paper work and purchasing of materials we were on our way. Half of our day was spent cleaning out the space and restocking the old storage shelves. Every once and a while a prisoner would come by wanting to know what the place was going to be used for. Upon finding out that it was to be for the specific class, starting with the women who are English speakers from other countries. there was great concern that a class in Spanish would be added soon for the greater population to be able to participate.
Our second day of working in the space the English speaking prisoners were able to join us to paint the walls and ceiling. I am excited to see God bring this all together and to see what He has in mind for the future. Please join us in praying that God will continue to provide the rest of the supplies needed, including the Celebrate Recovery Bibles.
When I am not at the prison I am busy teaching in several locations God's Word. I have started a teacher's Bible study at our home with some of Bob's staff, a Bible study in our church and a one on one discipleship with a woman from our church. I am also co-teaching a class with another missionary doing an Inductive Bible Study for the local missionary women.Life has gotten very busy, but what a blessing to be involved in sharing the power of the Gospel with these groups through the study of His Word!
