Connecting to the ministry

We are in the middle of May with two and a half months left here and with no idea of where God wants us to be next. We are praying for our next step more than I think we've ever prayed for anything. Coming to Costa Rica seemed so much easier than where we are at right now. We knew we were coming about 8 months ahead of time. God provided our position here, our house we are renting, found us renters for our condo, provided financially through dear friends and family, etc. It was literally one thing after the next, everything fell into place. We are so thankful for that because we've never had a doubt we were supposed to be here. Even when things were a little tough this year, we KNEW that God called us to Roblealto.

But now, we really have no idea where God is calling us next. We were hoping we'd know by the time we left Costa Rica at the end of July, but we're beginning to wonder if that will happen. So we keep praying for guidance and wisdom. Thank you for your prayers. There are a few church possibilities right now, but we'll have to see where they lead. What we do know is that as God was faithful to us this year, he will be faithful to us in the next year. And we are grateful for that assurance.

One thing that has recently been a blessing for me (Emily) is helping our department with translating the last couple of weeks. I've been reading and translating letters from the kids here who are writing to their sponsors. They say really cute things such as one little boy who wrote to his sponsor: ¨Today I'm going to play soccer and all the goals I score I will dedicate to you.¨ I've also helped translate progress reports that are sent once a year to sponsors about their kids. These are reports that the instructors and social workers fill out about how the child is doing, what he or she is interested in, and what the family situation is. The reports are sometimes hard to read because the families are in such severe poverty, often are single mothers, maybe the child has been abused or the parent has lost their job. It's one thing to know these things about the population we serve and another to read about specific cases and translate them for the sponsors. We want to be honest about the difficulties the families face so that sponsor will know how much their support is needed.

Although hard, this translating has been a blessing because it's made me feel close to the ministry of Roblealto. We are often in our office working on our computers and it's easy to feel distant from what Roblealto is all about. But with these reports I was reminded that what Roblealto does is so important and necessary. The children have a safe place to stay while their families receive classes and support to heal and be able to provide for their children. God is at work and using Roblealto to minister to the families and children. And that is what this place is all about.

Living in Costa Rica Means...

After living in Costa Rica for 9 months, we've come to take for granted what is normal for us now... We've adjusted, in general, to life here. But as we think about preparing to move back to the US, we don't want to forget day-to-day life here. For us, living in Costa Rica means...

• Looking out our window to gorgeous mountains
• Eating fruits and vegetables we've never heard of before
• Having fresh pineapple and mangoes every week at our house
• Seeing men in rubber boots cutting grass with machetes
  
• Watching smoke come out of the top of a volcano
• Driving only an hour and half to the nearest beach and the Pacific Ocean
• Sharing a car, a house, a job and being together 24/7
• Working at an organization that is meeting REAL needs
• Seeing Roblealto's mission through fresh eyes when volunteers come
  
• The sun setting suddenly at 6:00 pm all year long
• The sun directly over head at noon
• Cows living on either side of us
• Eating in open-air restaurants
• Driving by coffee plantations on the way to work
• Walking through rain forests
  
• Baking blackberry pies with berries from our landlord's garden
• Worshiping in Spanish
• Talking to family on skype
• Seeing the most beautiful rainbows
• Throwing used toilet paper in the trash
• Getting hot water from the shower to wash our dishes
• Planning our day around the afternoon rain
• Shooing chickens and dogs out of our kitchen
• Learning how to cook differently
  
• Not being able to find ingredients for recipes we're used to
• Learning to kill really big spiders
  
• A bigger perspective on God's work in the world
• Connecting with people across cultures just because we all love Jesus
• Meeting families struggling in desperate communities
• Falling in love with the children at Roblealto
• Never having to wear a winter jacket or drive in snow
• Learning how to drive defensively, but rarely driving over 45 mph
• Being trusted by the Roblealto staff with real ministry
  
• Reading a psalm in the morning and praying together more consistently
• Relying on friends and family's prayers
• Seeing God's faithfulness over and over
  
• Seeking God's direction for the future

We are indebted to you for your support and prayers that have made this year of service in mission possible. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Busy, busy

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Cor. 15:58

This last week has been busy at work.... but the tedious kind of busy. We've been researching new church contacts for Roblealto. We've been online looking at literally hundreds of websites and looking at their mission involvement. We are writing down contact information for them and sending these churches an email invitation to get involved at Roblealto. We know this initial contact might not get new churches, but it's part of a larger marketing plan we are developing to spread the news about Roblealto and get more churches in a partnership with the organization. Please pray with us for this new venture! In the past, a missionary has traveled to the US to present Roblealto to churches, so this is a new technique - we are inviting new churches here to fall in love with the kids and join in God's work instead of us going there. I've (Emily) been holding tight to the above verse knowing that no matter what the outcome is, we are working for the Lord here and it will not be in vain.

Mark continues to look into several churches and we continue to seek the Lord for guidance. We know He will provide. Some of the churches will be in contact about interviews in the next couple of months so we will see!

I have found a new hobby - baking pies! I've done blackberry, strawberry and tonight, lemon meringue. It's been a lot of fun and Mark, our visitors, and our co-workers have really benefited! Maybe when we are home, you'll get to try a piece! Much love!

Fun with visitors

We´ve had 2 weeks of visitors which has been so much fun! First, Emily´s mom and sister came for 10 days. Highlights included Krista getting to meet her sponsored child at one of Roblealto´s child care centers, taking mom and Krista to our Spanish-speaking church for Easter, being on a white-sand beach (the nicest we´ve seen yet in Costa Rica) and doing the canopy where we did 8 zip lines through the rainforest and mom didn´t even scream!

The day after mom and Krista left, Emily´s college friends Becki and Liz came. Emily enjoyed spending time with the girls and taking them to Arenal volcano and the hot springs while Mark stayed home and worked - sorry honey, but I needed some girl time!

We were lucky to be able to take time off to host our visitors and now we are back to work! We are continuing a project to get more churches involved with Roblealto and researching to find possible churches online. Our goal is 500 new church contacts for Roblealto. We also continue to pray for positive responses from the foundations we have looked into and hoping that they will sense God's leading to become involved in the Los Guido Child Care Center.

We actually have a lot of prayer requests right now and would appreciate continued prayers from you. We lost our renters for our condo back home due to some family emergencies they had and although we've been earnestly seeking for new renters, we haven't had any luck yet. This is an unplanned financial strain for us and we pray that we can find new short-term renters so we are not paying our rent and mortgage at the same time. We are also beginning the interview process for a new church for when we return to the states at the end of July. Mark has an interview tomorrow night with a church in Wisconsin. We are praying for God's leading to a new church which will share our vision of ministry and be a great place for us to live for the next 10-15 years. It's a very big deal! We appreciate your prayers for opportunities for Mark to interview and for God's leading to be clear as we make these important decisions.

As always, thank you for your prayers and love. We definitely feel them from here and ask that you don't stop as we continue our time here at Roblealto! Much love!

A Great Team!

We are coming off of a great week with a group of college students from Washington. Matt, one of the leaders, came for 2 weeks on his own to the Bible Home last fall and fell in love with Roblealto. He organized a team of 21 peers to join him on a missions trip during their spring break and they have been wonderful! We´ve really enjoyed getting to know each of them and sharing about Roblealto´s work in the lives of the children. They´ve done landscaping, painting, building shelves, and (the worst job) pulling nails from the floor boards that Ridgewood´s group took up a month ago! They´ve really brought an energy and youthfulness and bonded with the children. We´ve been thrilled to help them process their experience with them. Today they head to camp with the 80 children from the Bible Home for the weekend. The kids have been counting down for this camp where they´ll play games, hang out with the volunteers and hear the gospel. The theme is related to the World Cup and Jesus being the best coach ever. Mark and I will go for a few hours on Saturday to play games. This is one of the most exciting events of the year for the kids at the Bible Home!

Please continue praying with us in the Los Guido Campaign to raise funds for the new child care center. Last week we sent out almost 30 letters of inquiry/applications for foundations requesting grants for this project. We now will wait and pray that some of the foundations will be interested. We´ve requested over a million dollars in hope that we can raise funds for the first stage ($673,000). Many of these foundations are Christian families and we pray that they will see what God is doing and want to join in His work at Roblealto!

Just an FYI: After praying and talking with our families and our team at Roblealto, we´ve decided to return to MN a month earlier than originally planned, at the end of July. We want to be financially responsible and not have to pay for both our condo and our rent here and we are also eager to find the next step for us. Mark has been looking into churches seeking a pastor and has made a website resume he´s sending out. Please pray for us as we look for where God wants us to serve next!

A Day in Los Guido

It has been a while since we have posted to our blog and we have much to share. First, many of you know that Emily lost her uncle Jay tragically in a plane crash in Virginia last week. Emily flew there to attend the funeral. We appreciate prayers for the Youngquist family in this difficult time.

Before Emily left last week we had a unique opportunity to spend a whole day in the Los Guido community in the southern part of San Jose. As you've read before, this is one of the most desperate communities in this area due to extreme poverty, drugs, gang activity, domestic violence. Families have few options for a better life. Roblealto has plans to build a new child care center right in the midst of Los Guido which would immediately change the lives of 250 children and their families. With their children cared for during the day, mothers could find work and help provide for their families. The vast majority of families in Los Guido are single parent families and so the provision of quality Christian child care would make an enormous difference. Currently Roblealto is launching a campaign to raise the $600,000 necessary for the first stage of the center. You will find details, pictures and video at www.roblealto.org, as well as an opportunity to give.

During our day in Los Guido we visited three homes, listened to their stories of need, and than shared with them the hope that soon the Roblealto child care center could be built. We then prayed with the families holding hands together. What we learned about Los Guido that day will stay with us for a long time and will provide added encouragement for us as we research Christian grants and communicate with Roblealto's partner churches. Here is what we experienced:

• Los Guido has 30,000 people living in poverty and at risk situations.
• Most families are led by a single parent, making employment very difficult.
• The condition of the homes were difficult to see, especially as 3 or 4 families lived together in one small house.
• The people of Los Guido are surrounded by realities such as unemployment, gang violence, domestic abuse, poor sewage and water services, child protitution, and child labor.
• The families are stuck in a cycle of poverty with little hope of getting out.
  
• That being said, we were welcomed into homes with smiles, hospitality, faith and hope.

Emily and I were stuck with a sense of God's presence as we experienced the Los Guido community first hand. It is clear that in some of the darkest places on earth the light of Christ shines strongest. Our prayer is that with the help of donations from many sources, large and small, God will answer the prayers of the people of Los Guido for Roblealto's services. We thank the families for their permission to share their stories and pictures with you and on the Roblealto website.

God bless all of you back in the States and in Canada as the winter season winds down. We look forward to a visit from Joan and Krista in just a few weeks! It will be great to share some time together.

Thanks Ridgewood!

We just had a great week with the group from Ridgewood, Emily's home church. It was a small group this year, but the 4 guys plus Mark plowed through their project of demolition - exhausting, but they can't fool us, we know they loved it. They tore through the walls, ceiling and pulled up the floors - all that's left is the frame and the outer walls basically. Quite incredible! This is one of the homes at our temporary shelter. It's 40+ years old and Roblealto plans to replace it next year with a new house to expand the capacity of the Bible Home.

Emily kept busy this week working on letters for grants for the Los Guido child care center, putting together a big mailing for the sponsors and emailing the churches who will be receiving the Los Guido campaign information. Oh, and she really enjoyed the time with Lois, Pamela and the house mothers. Lois made a delicious ice cream treat and brought supplies for a fun craft activity. It was a great time of fellowship.

Tomorrow we are headed for Panama City. We have to leave every 3 months for our visas and though we're a little early, we had to plan around all of our groups coming in and this week worked best. We've been glued to the TV watching the winter olympics - Mark LOVES cheering for Canada. The Costa Ricans don't get it at all as they don't have any winter olympians :) The hockey game is apparently the most important thing, so we'll see...

Have a great week to all!