Happy Father's Day to All Dads

Happy Father's Day to all dads out there. What a blessing to be able to enjoy rearing children and influencing them for Christ! I hope your day is amazingly blessed by grace, mercy, and joy.

Yesterday David and Jama Mosher and I went to La Paz Waterfall Park with my host father, Emilio. We had a fabulous time. There is an aviary there, plus a butterfly center, hummingbird stations, and four waterfalls. It was a beautiful day. The rain held off until the evening, and the temperature was perfect. We enjoyed celebrating the creativity and diversity of God's creation. This morning I will attend the El Redentor Church in downtown San Jose. David and Jama are going with me. They aren't staying with a host family during their visit, so they are trying to get out of their apartment and into the community as much as possible, to enhance their immersion experience. Jama is pictured here with a butterfly that visited us during lunch yesterday. I have also included a picture of David and Emilio and me next to the river on our walk to the waterfalls. I have some beautiful bird pictures to show you too, but I'll save for those for my next post tomorrow or Tuesday. Thanks for your prayers and your support!!! Much Love, Dan (and Nancy)

A Great First Week

Hi everyone. This is Dan. I have had a great first week in the Spanish Language Institute in Costa Rica. The staff here are very good at assessing student problem areas and grouping the students accordingly. They strike a wise balance between stretching the students and knowing when to back off a little and let them "breathe" and process. I am thankful for this opportunity to improve my Spanish. I am going to learn a lot.

I am also thankful for the immersion experience with my host family. We are enjoying one another. They have permitted me to cook breakfast two mornings, and this morning they provided a Costa Rican breakfast of scrambled eggs with onions, combined with a delicious version of black refried beans. Emilio, the father of the host family, also asked me to try an avocado sandwich with butter. I don't like avocado, but I felt I should try it anyway. I actually liked it a little bit. It won't make my list of favorite foods but it was palatable. He was very pleased.

Today (Friday) I am going with Emilio to do some kind of work project that he has. He is a freelance truck driver (small panel truck). He does all kinds of jobs, from hauling trash to delivering furniture. I'm not sure what we'll be doing this morning, but I want to experience more time with him because he talks very fast and so being with him is developing my capacity to understand native speakers.

Tomorrow Emilio is going to take me and two friends of mine from the Institute to a park that has a small butterfly center, hummingbird station, and two or three beautiful waterfalls. Nancy and I have been in the past, with our great friends Virgil and Jo. I look forward to introducing this area to my new friends David and Jama Mosher. They are school teachers in the Knoxville area and they are participating in the Institute in order to improve their ability to communicate with their friends in the Hispanic congregation that they are a part of. I'll update the blog again Saturday night or Sunday and let you know how my work project goes today with Emilio, and also how our day trip goes on Saturday. Please keep praying. Pray especially for my blood pressure. It's been a little high. It's better today, so please pray for that trend to continue. Much Love, Dan

Musical Treat Sunday night

Sunday night I had the pleasant surprise of getting to listen to Diego and six of his friends play music for several hours. Diego is playing the keyboard in this picture. He is a music education student and very talented. He and his friends have been practicing on Sundays for about 5 weeks now, and they sound very good. I was reminded of the days when Chris and John had their band practices in our home. Good memories! Diego is the 19-year old son of my host family. Rodrigo is the older son (20), the father is Emilio, and the mother is Zoraida. I hope to take a picture of the entire family soon, but they are never all home together! Rodrigo leaves the house at 5:45am to go to work, then he goes to night classes at the university, so by the time he gets home, I'm already in bed. Hopefully we can work around their schedules somehow to get a picture of them together. Anyway, they are a great family and I am thankful for their hospitality. Please keep praying! Much Love, Dan

Church Yesterday, First Class Today

Yesterday I got to worship at El Redentor Church in downtown San Jose, and then enjoy lunch with our missionary friends, Ray, Lidia, Sarah, and Emma Zirkel. They are some of our ¨missionary mentors¨ and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

Today I had the first day of classes at the Language Institute, and I am very thankful for this opportunity. The classes were fabulous, and I am going to learn a great deal while I am here. Being immersed in the language with my host family is also a big help, and they are wonderful people. I hope to have a picture of them for you in a few days.

Please continue to pray for my time here in Costa Rica, and for Nancy as she takes care of things back in the States while I am away. Many Blessings, Dan

Dan Arrived Safely in Costa Rica

I arrived safely in Costa Rica today. I am almost finished unpacking and settling in with my host family. I will attend the El Redentor Church tomorrow and then begin my Spanish training on Monday. My host family hopes to buy a router on Monday so that I can use my laptop in their home. If that turns out to be the case, I will try to upload some occasional pictures with my updates. Thank you for your continued prayers. Much Love, Dan

Georgia, then Costa Rica, then Venezuela

We have enjoyed a couple days in Georgia visiting with good friends, and are reminded of how blessed we are to have so many wonderful people in our lives. On Saturday Dan flies to Costa Rica to begin his 11-week ministry trip. During the first 7+ weeks he will be in language school. He will also be working on an independent study for his doctoral program, related to how Costa Rican churches reach non-Christians. At the end of July Nancy, Ralph and Donna will fly down to meet Dan and we will all enjoy 4 days of vacation prior to the mission team coming down to work with Pastor Sonia in Guapiles. We are looking forward to this mission team experience. After returning to the States for two days to wash clothes and re-pack, we will fly to Venezuela for two weeks, where we will celebrate the first graduating class of the Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela, and where Dan will teach a class titled "Encounters with Christ." Please pray for us during our summer ministry time.
Many Blessings, Dan and Nancy

Preaching in Nicholasville

Last night (June 1st) we worshiped with the Hispanic congregation at Nicholasville UMC, with Dan preaching. We enjoyed being with these loving brothers and sisters in the Lord, and were especially moved as they gathered around us and prayed for our summer travels. We invite you to be in prayer for us too as head to Georgia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.