prego-family

Relationships:

The waiting has begun, the count down is on! Here we are in Santa Barbara de Heredia at the home of Ron and Roxanna Stronach waiting for the birth of our second. We feel so blessed by Ron and Roxanna who are part of Pura Vida Church in Santa Barbara, CA. Roxanna is from Costa Rica and her husband Ron from California, they built a house here in Costa Rica a few years ago and generously offered it to us so that we can be closer to the hospital here in the capital. While we wait we have filled the time visiting friends, going to the dentist, and getting to know the other pastors here in the central valley.

  • We attended a wonderful and inspiring seminar by Dr. Ricardo Gomez on the “The Legacy of John Wesley for Latin America” with the rest of the Free Methodist pastors.
  • Dennis was able to share last Sunday at the Free Methodist church plant in Cartago which is pastored by Juan Carlos.
  • We have been able to attend Christian Surfer bible studies here in San Jose at a friend’s house.
  • Celebrating Dennis 31st birthday on June 30th.

Surprise….. Before we left Esterillos Kyle was blessed by a surprise baby shower. Friends and family had organized a beautiful luncheon and Dennis just had to get her there. She was resting and so had on P.J.’s when she arrived at the shower. She was truly surprised and felt very special and loved.

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Being a blessing:

We are so proud of our little group; Dennis has been setting the framework of Pura Vida church in our weekly bible studies. Teaching about being a blessing to the community, etc. One Sunday night Dennis asked if anyone had identified a need in the community and the kids were excited to tell us about a brother and sister who walk 5 miles to get to school everyday. That night the congregation decided to raise money to buy them a bike. In three weeks they brought in enough money to buy the bike and were able to decorate it with all sorts of Pura Vida stickers and present it to them. Now we see them riding tandem to school every morning.

p5250057_0467We were also blessed by a visit from friends, Barry and Anna Holm and Fred and Jenny Guillermo from FMC Santa Barbara. Barry shared his carpentry skills and together with Dennis and Fred were able to change an odd corner of the house into a third bedroom. Anna and Jenny helped me to stay on top of the dry wall mess that the construction caused as well as feeding the hungry workers.

Be disciples and make Disciples:

Kyle and Lindsey (the intern) were able to have a girls only slumber party after bible study on a Friday night. Most of the girls that attend Pura Vida are between 10 and 16 years old, and absolutely beautiful so we felt the need to have a little boy talk time. We had a great time eating popcorn, playing games and talking about boys and boundaries. It was a very special time of bonding and talking as we shared with each other.

Dennis had been spending special times with the boys by taking surfing day trips on Saturdays.  They go to beaches nearby and in this way he has the opportunity to have meaningful time and conversations with them.

Dependence on the Holy Spirit:

· Pray for the group as the meetings are on hold while we are in San Jose

· Pray for leaders to emerge and wisdom for us as we train them

· Pray for baby’s birth and mom’s recovery

· Pray for wisdom as to when and where to have our group meet once we get back to the beach

· Pray for Christian Surfers groups as they minister to the participants of the ISA (International Surfing Association) contest this coming month here in Costa Rica.

· Pray that Dennis’ body continues to heal from his fall through the roof.

Thank you for your prayers! Leon Family