2 Corinthians 4:6-7
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
Greetings dear friends,
We are incredibly blessed to be able to share with you some of the wonderful things that have been happening over the last couple of months. It is great to be able to reflect and see the Lord’s faithful hand in it all.
In February we celebrated our two year anniversary of dental clinics by branching out to a new area. We took the dental team to the area of Tsipirí, hosted by our friends Phillip and Saukeen Jones, which is in the Cabécar reservation about an hour’s drive from our place in Paso Marcos. Here, the dental team was received very well, and the Cabecars were generous with their produce of a variety of root vegetables, plantains, and beans. There is much need for dental care in this area, and plans are to continue to provide dental care here as well as continuing in Paso Marcos.
March and April have been a whirlwind of events, starting with Dan and Lori Friedly, along with their teenagers Dustin and Kristen, joining us for long-term service in Costa Rica. Dan and Lori felt God calling them to come work with us in Paso Marcos when they were here with a team a little over a year ago. They will be starting intensive Spanish study in San José at the end of April, and will then join us for the work in Paso Marcos permanently when they are done. We feel so blessed to have them here, and are so thankful for more hands and feet to do the work in this area.
Soon after the Friedly family’s arrival, we hosted a team from our home church in San Antonio, Village Parkway Baptist Church. The team had been working hard to get into physical condition for the hike to Tsimari (about 9 hr hike in the reservation), and we were working hard getting everything ready to start the bridge-building project in Tsimari. We prayed for good weather so the helicopter would be able to fly in, since we had been having unusually rainy weather for this year’s dry season. What do ya know – we had good weather, but a piece broke off the helicopter as it was leaving the hanger that morning.
The trip to Tsimari was cancelled for that week as the helicopter underwent repairs, but the team had a project to do: the night before as Alekcey was packing the supplies on top of the cars, the carport collapsed! It is a miracle that no one was physically injured – as Alekcey saw the roof coming down he immediately jumped down from the car, but his foot caught in the rack, and he ended up hanging from the side of the car, and he was completely uninjured! We brought the team back to Paso Marcos, and the team helped us rebuild the carport and help us with other maintenance on the road and property. The highlight of the week, however, was when our pastor, Pastor Steve, baptized Giovanni in the river in front of our property. It was a special time for all of us.
A few days after the team left, we got notice that the helicopter was repaired and Judith, Dan, Lori, Dustin, Giovanni, and Iris were off to Tsimari to begin the first phase of the bridge building. Alekcey was only able to make a quick trip in and out on the first day because he had some important commitments in San José, as well as the third seminar for the Aspen Institute’s Central American Leadership Initiative, this time in Nicaragua. Although it was hard for Alekcey not to be in Tsimari after so much work in preparation, it was clear that he needed to be in Nicaragua learning, building relationships, and networking, while Judith took the lead for the happenings in Tsimari.
Judith & Co. spent 10 days in Tsimari, and two days hiking out. It was incredible to experience a year’s worth of planning and pushing forward come to fruition. It was truly a community event – almost everyone from the community helped out – an elderly man with an unsteady gait, nursing and pregnant mothers, schoolchildren of all ages, and many others – everyone worked so hard that we finished the foundations for the two bridges in the time we were expecting to finish one. Seeing the community come together in this way is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced (Judith).
A few days after returning from Tsimari a group of guys from the International Youth Group in San José honored us with their presence for a couple days during Easter Week. A couple of these guys actually broke ground for the multipurpose building (where we live and work) a couple of years ago and hadn’t been back until now. Sad to say guys, Paso Marcos isn’t “roughing it” any more… We are thankful for their hard work painting the roof and helping us with other maintenance on the property, as well as the evening entertainment they provided. The rest of Easter Week we had many visitors come by – both old and new- but in the midst of it all, we somehow managed to rest.
This weekend, we are hosting another dental clinic here in Paso Marcos. It is really wonderful that the community can now depend on regular dental care here, and we feel blessed to be a part of it.
Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers. We are so thankful for you all.
By His grace,
Alekcey and Judith
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
Greetings dear friends,
We are incredibly blessed to be able to share with you some of the wonderful things that have been happening over the last couple of months. It is great to be able to reflect and see the Lord’s faithful hand in it all.
In February we celebrated our two year anniversary of dental clinics by branching out to a new area. We took the dental team to the area of Tsipirí, hosted by our friends Phillip and Saukeen Jones, which is in the Cabécar reservation about an hour’s drive from our place in Paso Marcos. Here, the dental team was received very well, and the Cabecars were generous with their produce of a variety of root vegetables, plantains, and beans. There is much need for dental care in this area, and plans are to continue to provide dental care here as well as continuing in Paso Marcos.
March and April have been a whirlwind of events, starting with Dan and Lori Friedly, along with their teenagers Dustin and Kristen, joining us for long-term service in Costa Rica. Dan and Lori felt God calling them to come work with us in Paso Marcos when they were here with a team a little over a year ago. They will be starting intensive Spanish study in San José at the end of April, and will then join us for the work in Paso Marcos permanently when they are done. We feel so blessed to have them here, and are so thankful for more hands and feet to do the work in this area.
Soon after the Friedly family’s arrival, we hosted a team from our home church in San Antonio, Village Parkway Baptist Church. The team had been working hard to get into physical condition for the hike to Tsimari (about 9 hr hike in the reservation), and we were working hard getting everything ready to start the bridge-building project in Tsimari. We prayed for good weather so the helicopter would be able to fly in, since we had been having unusually rainy weather for this year’s dry season. What do ya know – we had good weather, but a piece broke off the helicopter as it was leaving the hanger that morning.
The trip to Tsimari was cancelled for that week as the helicopter underwent repairs, but the team had a project to do: the night before as Alekcey was packing the supplies on top of the cars, the carport collapsed! It is a miracle that no one was physically injured – as Alekcey saw the roof coming down he immediately jumped down from the car, but his foot caught in the rack, and he ended up hanging from the side of the car, and he was completely uninjured! We brought the team back to Paso Marcos, and the team helped us rebuild the carport and help us with other maintenance on the road and property. The highlight of the week, however, was when our pastor, Pastor Steve, baptized Giovanni in the river in front of our property. It was a special time for all of us.
A few days after the team left, we got notice that the helicopter was repaired and Judith, Dan, Lori, Dustin, Giovanni, and Iris were off to Tsimari to begin the first phase of the bridge building. Alekcey was only able to make a quick trip in and out on the first day because he had some important commitments in San José, as well as the third seminar for the Aspen Institute’s Central American Leadership Initiative, this time in Nicaragua. Although it was hard for Alekcey not to be in Tsimari after so much work in preparation, it was clear that he needed to be in Nicaragua learning, building relationships, and networking, while Judith took the lead for the happenings in Tsimari.
Judith & Co. spent 10 days in Tsimari, and two days hiking out. It was incredible to experience a year’s worth of planning and pushing forward come to fruition. It was truly a community event – almost everyone from the community helped out – an elderly man with an unsteady gait, nursing and pregnant mothers, schoolchildren of all ages, and many others – everyone worked so hard that we finished the foundations for the two bridges in the time we were expecting to finish one. Seeing the community come together in this way is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced (Judith).
A few days after returning from Tsimari a group of guys from the International Youth Group in San José honored us with their presence for a couple days during Easter Week. A couple of these guys actually broke ground for the multipurpose building (where we live and work) a couple of years ago and hadn’t been back until now. Sad to say guys, Paso Marcos isn’t “roughing it” any more… We are thankful for their hard work painting the roof and helping us with other maintenance on the property, as well as the evening entertainment they provided. The rest of Easter Week we had many visitors come by – both old and new- but in the midst of it all, we somehow managed to rest.
This weekend, we are hosting another dental clinic here in Paso Marcos. It is really wonderful that the community can now depend on regular dental care here, and we feel blessed to be a part of it.
Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers. We are so thankful for you all.
By His grace,
Alekcey and Judith
