The First 4 Months in Costa Rica

Costa Rica - the first 4 months from john armstrong on Vimeo.

A glimpse of Costa Rica

Happy Independence Day!  September 15th is the day that Costa Rica celebrates their independence.  There is a lot of traditional dancing, and all of the school children march in parade formation around the schools and than the streets carrying lanterns at night.

Farmers Market every Saturday

These green and orange trees can be found at any park (click on this picture and take a closer look)

Kattiana & Karsten in the Central Park

Latest Newsletter Available

Well after a month of transitions, we've finally been able to catch our breath and send out a newsletter.  Click on the picture to read an online version.

Hola Costa Rica!

 

Following an amazing send-off by friends and family in Worthington, Minnesota, we boarded an airplane Sunday morning and landed in Costa Rica that same evening.  Arriving at the airport, we made it through customs without any problems and met another missionary family who took us to our apartment.  Praise God for an incredibly smooth trip!



 

 

“Is the Barbed wire to Keep people out or keep kids in?”

-Karsten

As if school wasn’t intimidating enough, they have plenty of barbed wire and a guard shack.  I’m not sure what will happen if you don’t complete your homework…but I’m not about to find out!

The Joys of Packing

Nothing has a way of making a person feel older than sorting out junk (er...um treasures) that were put in boxes sometime in the last century.   Like running across an old application that had the following request:

I actually brought a manual typewriter to college! Not all was trailing edge of technology; most of my papers were printed on a state of the art “dot matrix” printer. 

Other signs that I am from another century:

·         I actually have slides (not power point…slides) that I took!

·         I have more cassette tapes than CDs, let alone MP3s! Still need to hand a cassette to my kids and see if they can figure out how to play it (makes me feel better about the fact I can’t work the TV half of the time)

Things that I can’t throw away:

Maybe it is me, but there are just certain things that I find difficult to throw away:

·         Pennies??? I get to the bottom of some box and there are paper clips, random business cards, pens, miscellaneous hardware, and some old candy. I can dump all of that into a trash can without blinking…except when there are pennies.  There may only be 3, with some type of green stuff growing on them, now I have to sort through it all and pick out the pennies.  WHY IS THIS?

·         Bibles- I don’t think I am superstitious, but I simply have a hard time throwing away Bibles.  Do you bury them, or put them into jars and leave them in a cave?  At some point I’ll have to accept the fact that my copies aren’t the original manuscripts.

·          Thanks to Pixar, I can’t even throw away my kids toys because there is a Woody doll in the box!

I still remember the days when I could fit everything that I owned into a Chevrolet Chevette, and complete the task in less than 10 minutes.  It was good thing, because the time I saved in packing was lost during the painstakingly slow drive offered by the 70 horsepower engine…probably was for the better not to have the option of getting a speeding ticket during my college days. 

Gone are the days when it takes 10 minutes to pack

Airventure & Agendas

This past week my family had the opportunity to attend a few days of “Airventure,” the largest airshow in the US.  In typical Airventure fashion, there were spectacular stunt pilots, endless displays of aircraft vendors, buildings full of widgets and gadgets, and a flea market (otherwise known as the “fly” market) where one can purchase the latest in non-stick cookware.  Needless to say, it is not a difficult event to find something enjoyable to latch onto and explore.  Although I’ve been to the show many times in the past, this year was particularly special as my folks traveled from Pennsylvania to spend time before we head out for language school.

My Agenda was pretty simple:

·         Attend a business meeting on Wednesday night…”Check”

·         Do some research on market potential for ag tanks…”Check”

·         See as much (as possible) that the airshow had to offer…”check”

·         Eat something fried…”Check, and Double Checked”  Wisconsin cheese curds J

Not on my agenda, but beyond coincidence (if there is such a thing)

·         Meeting up with Lawrence & Jodie Elroy, the first family to complete the Proclaim program!  Pretty cool to see the various mission organizations represented at such a large event, and Lawrence & Jodie were doing a fantastic job of sharing about the work of New Tribes Mission (the organization they have been serving with since completing Proclaim over 10 years ago). 

God having some Fun

I have no idea of how many people attended the airshow on any given day, but the total number of unique visitors ranges around a half million people throughout the week. (imagine the picture below stretching as far as you can see left and right along the runway) 

While waiting for the night airshow to begin on Saturday, I stretched out on the ground between a couple of empty chairs directly in front of where we were sitting. Next thing I know Gioconda is waking me up because two gentlemen came to take their seats for the show. What do you think the odds are that out of a bazillion people we’ve never met, they would have specific ties to mission aviation and we would end up making a connection, let alone even talking to one another?

What a great few days!

Two Perspectives of God’s Amazing Grace

Even now it is difficult to dwell on the events of July 21, 2010, a day that began with the prospects of standing atop the majestic “Grand Teton,” but ended with the loss of one of our team members: Brandon Oldenkamp.  Eight friends joined by the common bond of our faith in Christ were about to experience His grace in two very different ways; a grace that would allow some of us to walk off the mountain that day, and the same grace that would allow Brandon to stand in His presence.

Bob Miller gave an excellent interview on the events of that day, click Here to view video.

Tim Vogelaar made a wonderful tribute video of Brandon: Click here to view the video

Brandon was only 21 years old when he passed into eternity, but even at that age his faith was strong and he was prepared to meet the Creator. 

 Have you experienced the Grace of God that will allow you to stand in His presence without fear? Do you even know what that looks like? If not, click here for a good place to start.  Our family is dedicated to sharing the love of Christ, and we would love to talk with you if you have any questions.