Lee Family Update: From North Of The Border To South Of The Border

Rope holders,

We made it to Costa Rica a few days ago and did so without our luggage. The bad part of making it without our luggage was that we didnt pack any extra clothes in our carry-ons so we had to wear our "cleanest dirty shirts" for a day. The airline did a fine job in locating our bags and had them to us in less than 24 hours, so we were thankful.

Costa Rica is a beautiful place. As we flew in we could see villages perched on the sides of the mountains. Oh how I wanted to jump out of the plane right then, parachuting down to them! San Jose has not revealed anything unique at this point about its self. So far it seems to be another Latin American city. I know however that the longer we are here, its personality will begin to show itself. One neat statistic that I have learned is that it is a country that has a 20% Evangelical presence. 

The weather here is incredible. I have yet to wish that we had an A/C. Both the windows and doors stay open all day long as the cool Costa Rican breeze blows through our house. If it were not for the neighborhood dogs (they tend to bark a lot) we would sleep with our windows open. 

I have not been able to take many pics due to being advised that it would be in my best interest not carry a camera around our neighborhood, meaning if I want to keep it. The crime rate of San Jose is apparently rather high. This is strange to me since I rarely felt threatened in Vancouver (as far as someone wanting to steal my camera) though the streets seemed to be much tougher (Hastings and Walley). Here, I am advised to feel threatened, but do not. I dont think that violent crimes are the norm here. Maybe that is why? We will see as time progresses.

I was able to take a couple of pics from our balcony last night.  The house is really neat. Megan made a video of it (hopefully I will figure out our new camcorder and post it at a later date). Though it is only about 1000 square feet, it seems much larger. We also have a back yard filled with tropical plants and we have had a few tropical birds visit as well.

Language school will start shortly so please be praying for us as we begin to learn to communicate the life giving message promised to Adam and Eve all the way back in Genesis. Pray that we may understand it in such a way that we might be able to clearly present this message of hope to a dying Latin world. Also pray that we will be sensitive to learning customs. Our desire is to be able to not only communicate clearly through language but to communicate clearly though our actions and gestures. Pray that we learn how to better become not just Latinos and not just Mexicans but more specifically Queretarians through learning how to be more sensitive to local customs here.

Also please pray for Matthew. He is the man who I met on Hastings Street in Vancouver who I wrote about a few posts back. If you will remember he was the Christian man who agreed to help start a Bible study by inviting his Hastings friends but seemed to "disappear" on Sundays when we were to have Bible study though he always showed when he and I met for one on one study. 

I had lost contact with him for a good month and concluded that he didn't want to participate any more so I didn't pursue starting a Bible study with him any more. However while my dad was up visiting I took him on a tour of Hastings and we bumped into Matthew in a coffee shop. I didn't mention the Bible study to Matthew but did encouraged him to stay in the Word and to evangelize and equip those around him so that they too would be able to do the same. Please pray that he will be one to play a part in the reformation of Hastings Street. I have posted a picture of Matthew on this post as well.

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. May God continue to bless you as you lovingly partner in grasping the ropes.

mmjtjlee

Hellos, Goodbyes and Transition

HELLOS

The past two weeks have been good. We have had my (Mike) parents come to visit and Megan had her mother come. Our time with both was wonderful and refreshing. We and especially the kids are very thankful that Mimi, Poppi and Nanna were able to come and play. Since we are literally in the midst of packing in order to start our next leg of our journey (to Costa Rica for language school) I will have to be very brief with this update.

GOODBYES

Our hearts are very heavy since we will be leaving behind some dear friends. The church that we have been attending, Primera Iglesia Bautista, has been a great reflection of what the body of Christ is to function like. We were made to feel welcome from the beginning. The Pastor Orlando is a great man of God who has a passion for God. His plan for his church is to start a new congregation about 20 miles south of their current location once their membership reaches 100. Please pray that God blesses this body of believers and that His name is made known among the Spanish speakers who are arriving daily through this congregation. We are very thankful because Primera has agreed to be one of the churches to "adopt us". This means that they have agreed to pray for us and our ministry.

TRANSITION

As stated above, we will be flying to Seattle then to Atlanta and finally to Costa Rica. Please pray for safe travel. Also pray that our stress level would not be too high. We are excited because we will be joining many friends who we met during our training time earlier this year at FPO.

Thank you for being the holders of the ropes. Thank you for doing your part in making His name known among the people of Vancouver and now for doing your part in making His name known south of the border. May God bless you all.

MMJTJLEE

Mimi and Poppi come to Vancouver

Mimmi and Poppi came and stayed with us this past week. It was quite a blessing to be able to have them spend so much time with us. We sure did miss them. 

They were able to "walk our trails" here  in Vancouver. Hopefully their understanding of who God is and how He works has been broadened. We know that our stay here in Vancouver gave us a better understanding of Him. He is much bigger than he was just 4 months ago. 

We will see you in Costa Rica! We love you!!

mmjtjlee

Video of Vancouver

This video was made by a fellow worker while here in Vancouver. I thought that you might enjoy some of the clips and pics as well as some of the information. The picture of the man and his dog  is of a guy who I met and asked for prayer for sometime back. His name is  Bill (the dog is Chopper for you dog lovers). He is a simple homeless man who is not addicted to alcohol or drugs.