The Orosi Area

Hello and Happy Holidays to all of you! Here in Costa Rica the Ticos love to celebrate Christmas. This is a religious culture with lots of religious roots which extend into all areas of life including the school system and the government. That's a big change from what I'm used to! Nathan, Amber and I attended a dinner last week where Pastors from all over the Cartago province met with local political figures to discuss ways the Church can help with some of the social problems facing the government. Imagine a State Senator actually asking the local Church body to partner with him in addressing problems of crime, poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, and unemployment. Maybe that's how God planned it.

Anyway, Christmas was great and we ate lots of tamales and visited with many families. Below is a fiesta de navidad we attended near the camp.



Of course the was a ton of good Tico food and fellowship until late into the night.
I would also like to send very special "Thank yous" to all at Grace Church for the many great cards, comments and box of goodies. Every gift was something I could put to use immediately!
You guys are awesome!

Okay, just to give you all a little glimpse of the Orosi area here is a "tourist map" that gives you information on surrounding attractions. There are several national parks very nearby, rivers for kayaking and fishing, the oldest Catholic Church in Costa Rica, and much more all in beautiful Costa Rican countryside. However, I must add that with the exception of the National parks, most of the natural resources here have been severely contaminated and exploited. Charlie, it's hard to find a river clean enough to support a trout population. So they have trout farms where you can fish.



This is a photo of Victor in front of the "Puente Hamaca" (Hammock Bridge). This suspension foot bridge is the most efficient way for us to get to and from the town. Otherwise we would have to drive across larger suspension bridge past the next town to the south. Some of you will remember that I had the privilege of praying with Victor to accept the Lord as his Savior about a month ago. He is doing well in spite of some tough trials, even for a youth in a third world country. He loves reading his new bible and spends most of every day with us at El Jardin.




You will notice part of the old suspension foot bridge which washed out about 5 years ago. Below is the old sign which explains that only 5 persons were allowed to cross at one time and no one was allowed to ride a bike on the bridge.



On the hill side you can see coffee plantations, they literally cover every plant able hillside. This is the non-rainy season which the Ticos refer to as summer. All of the schools are closed for summer break (three months) so that everyone can help with the coffee harvest.


At the camp I am busy getting bids on the metal roof system for the new multi purpose building.
The concrete floor is scheduled to start the first week of January hopefully with the roof structure starting right after that. In addition I am preparing for a construction team in January which plans to address several projects around El Jardin.

Please pray for the team here at El Jardin as we prepare for the team. There is much to do so we would appreciate prayers for health, Godly wisdom in finances, construction plans and materials, and the medical clinics.

Getting adjusted

I am very excited to be on my own computer and on the Internet for the first time since arriving in Costa Rica!!!!! So here is my long overdue update. I hope you have enjoyed the videos from the Seacoast Church medical team (Nathan did an awesome job on them!) taken during my first ten days here. Since then I have been working on several fronts at El Jardin including repairs on emergency plumbing issues, helping Robert and Nathan with the yard work (a seriously endless/don't-you-dare-get-behind job) weekend Church groups, and yes, finally some electrical repairs. I have just about finished the electrical rewiring on the kitchen and will start another project soon. But first let me back up a bit to late October when I was packing for my stay in Orosi, CR.





This is my faithful friend "Ajo". I think he knew his time with me was getting short. I miss you buddy!









Thanks so much to Mike, Karen, Zach, and Leha (and Aspin) for giving him an awesome place to call "home".





This is part of the Orosi Valley and El Jardin is located just up river about 2K. We are supposed to be entering the "dry" season now but it is still raining almost every day.






The next two photos were taken from the lower part of El Jardin next to the river and are places I like to spend time with Jesus.





El Jardin Sagrado is a multi-purpose Global Outreach Missions' Christan camp. One aspect of the center is to provide a camp atmosphere for Tico church groups. Another is to work with short-term teams from the US and Canada in various forms of outreach to Ticos, indigenous people and refugees throughout Costa Rica. In an effort to facilitate this type of service and worship to God we have been working hard to clean up and maintain these 5 acres.









So, I am getting settled and seem to fit in "like a lizard in a woodpile". I live in a one-room cabin but I am comfortable and have what I need. That is more than many Ticos can say and most around the world. It may seem sad, but very true. I am blessed in many ways.





Here I am making coffee in traditional Tico style. You are probably asking "what is Ken doing drinking coffee!!!??? Well, coffee is very prominent in this culture so in an effort to assimilate I am willing to make changes. I have to say that this coffee is much better than what I've drank in the states.













Well, life here is not all work. I had an opportunity to visit the Pacific ocean at Punta Leona (a private vacation resort) and help Milton's company set up race monitoring equipment for a swimming race. We passed this river on the way and I decided to wait until we reached the ocean to go for a swim!






The shore is rugged and beautiful. I spent a great day meeting new friends and enjoying God's creation.

The winner of the race.

The team at El Jardin is running a different race. If you are part of that team, I just want to say "Thank you for giving (in any fashion) to the Lord.