it's goodbye...

A tough part of Puerto Viejo. It's incredible how many people sleep in each of these shacks.

Janin, one of the girls I've been teaching to skate, gets her first surf lesson.

the tropical plumeria is one of my favorite plants.

This photo from Puerto Viejo's graveyard shows that Rastafarianism is everything to some.

It was so neat to have been a small part of Pablo's life and see him come to realize his need for Jesus. Barrett baptized him in the ocean right in front of the skate park.

Sometimes, following Jesus means having to choose between two very good things. Important things.

On May 23, I will become a husband and a step-father. It's both a huge blessing from the Lord and a huge commitment. Meanwhile, I've been serving in Costa Rica for nearly 8 months. For the past few months I have been asking God for wisdom regarding decisions that needed to be made affecting my future family. I felt that since God had called me to serve in a ministry in Costa Rica that is long-term and relational, surely His plan would be for us to live here as a family after Kristin and I get married. Yet as the wedding date draws near, God has closed the door on those plans. In the process, God helped me to understand that my primary responsibility, after my own relationship with Him, was my family.

The biggest obstacle we faced in trying to move to Costa Rica was getting the approval of Hudson's father (Kristin's ex-husband). Understandably, he was not keen on the idea of it being much more difficult for him to see his son, and filed an objection to our request to move. Though we tried hard, ultimately, we were not able to come up with a workable solution that would allow us to both live in Puerto Viejo and still allow Hudson to receive frequent visits from his father.

So my commitment to being a husband and step-father means I now have to step away from the ministry in Puerto Viejo. I have loved this experience and hope to remain in touch with what is happening there, even though I will be living back in Vero Beach, Florida. In fact, Kristin and I plan on returning in mid June for about two weeks to help host a short term mission team.

My dear friends the Cruces will really benefit from your prayers, as they will be shouldering the full load of the ministry until the Lord provides help. If you sense God may be calling you to get involved, perhaps as an intern this summer, or if you want to help keep the skate park outreach running, please get in touch with me. Either way, if you have followed along with me in this journey of faith, I would love to hear from you.

To everyone who supported God's work here through your prayers and giving, I want to say a big "THANK YOU!" I believe that one day we will see the lasting fruit of your investment in God's kingdom.

Working on the ramps

my friend Jordan recently returned from Ecuador, where he surfed for Costa Rica in the World Junior surfing championships. He is a lot of fun to watch.

Downer is one of the more powerful surfers in Puerto Viejo. He loves to "get air".

Carlos asked if he could borrow my "biscuit," a fun little board I shaped last year.

Carlos trying out the biscuit.

How many people does it take to fix a broken ramp?

Last night we had a showing of The Outsiders at the skate park, with Spanish subtitles (I wish more Christian films had Spanish subtitles!!). The film features some of the top Christian surfers describing what being a Christian has meant to them, with of course a lot of great surfing action to go along with it.

As the credits rolled, I was amazed to see that the teenagers were staying quiet in their seats, which is almost unheard of in this group. It was so obvious to see in their faces that many of them were wrestling with the thought of asking Jesus into their hearts and beginning to live for Him. I asked if anyone had sensed God speaking to them through this video and wanted to invite Jesus into their lives. There was some silence, then one boy whom I've befriended honestly and bravely said "I'm not ready to do that yet." Like teenagers in the U.S. and elsewhere, there is a sense that there will always be a day in the future to "get right with God," but for now "I just want to live on my own terms." It can be hard for them to understand the blessings they are missing out on NOW, or that their life can be taken from them at any time.

I try to remember that "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2:14) and pray for a work of the Spirit in their lives.

Calvary Chapel Jupiter

Painting Amy and Barrett's bedroom

A team of 9 from Calvary Chapel Jupiter just returned from spending a week with us. Together, we helped the Cruces move into their new house. It was a week of much construction and painting, and very satisfying to see Barrett, Amy, Maili, and Makena, be able to enjoy a night of sleep under ceiling fans after spending 9 months in “substandard” housing.

Hosting a short term team on top of the normal ministry activities can be tiring, but this group was very gracious and actually took care of itself very well. We truly appreciated their efforts and attitude to serve.

One of the highlights for me was inviting Chris Goeppner, a co-leader of the trip, to share a short message with the local youth and some tourists who had gathered at our Friday night cook out. I translated his simple message about Jesus being the Truth into Spanish. I loved the way he related to his audience by saying that after a soccer match, everyone agrees on who won. There is no disputing the scoreboard. Some things are true and not relative, and Jesus is truth.

Chris took some nice photos, which I'll share with you here. Thanks, Chris!

Approaching the Cruce's new home

walking the jungle trail

team member Dwight spending time with the Lord in the morning

at the youth night cook-out

Inside the Cruces house

Sleepy-eyed and headed to the work site

some of the group posing in front of the old "tree house", where the Cruces lived for 9 months

The group enjoying some free time

Do you feel small?

Where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal

It's never a good feeling to see police officers in your yard when you come home. Thankfully, I live by myself, so I didn't have to worry that something tragic had happened to one of my family members.

While I was in Florida for one week of wedding preparation, premarital counseling, and tax filing, thieves broke into my house. When Barrett came by to see if I was home yet, he noticed that the door was open, and notified the police. This is the second time in four months, but the first time in my new house, which has a tall fence around the yard and bars on the windows. The thieves came in by busting in the wooden front door, splintering the door jamb. The front door is the only opening that does not have metal bars over it, but now I will look into getting a second outer metal door installed. Thankfully, the only thing I know the thieves took is my propane tank. These are frequently stolen in our area because it's easy to get cash for them.

Of course, my closets and things were all ruffled through, but mercifully the thieves didn't turn everything upside down or break things intentionally. I wonder if perhaps their main goal was to "case" the house for a future break-in.

In any case, I am thankful that the damage was so minor and I know that God has all these circumstances in his hands. It's a wonderful thing to be in a position where you have to trust God this fully. Half an hour after repairing the door with Barrett, I was at the skate park for the Friday youth night activities. I know the devil will use many tactics to try to get me to give up and go home, and I will not let this second break-in affect me in that way.

Jesus said: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10 (NIV)

Surf contest photos... and some artwork!

In my spare time I've been painting a little with acrylics. I even stretched my own canvas to paint on, but have also been painting on pieces of driftwood.

I painted this for my friend Alexander (Peace) as an engagement present (he also recently got engaged). He loves to spearfish and eat fish. The Bar Jack (what he calls Green Jack) is his favorite to hunt underwater and to eat...


I sponsored young Carlos for two divisions in the Puerto Viejo Open Pro surf contest. He did very well in the "grommet" division, earning 4th place. Notice the "Hazelton Surfboards" sticker proudly displayed on his board!

With obvious excitement, Carlos runs to the beach for his heat in the surf contest.

The lifeguard stand was converted to a judges stand for the surf contest.

"Downer" is a really powerful surfer and has an aggressive style. It's been great getting to know him through our house church and youth activities.

At 16, Jordan is one of the top junior surfers in Costa Rica and loves to skate at Concrete Jungle. He is also learning what it means to be a father. His baby girl is just a few months old.

The Rain in Costa Falls Mainly on the "Coast-a"

Well, we just got out of a heavy 5-day rain storm which caused a fair amount of flooding. Although my yard stood in a few inches of water for several days, thankfully the house itself stayed dry. The Cruces didn't fare as well in their "tree house." A lot of rain blew in under the roof and got things pretty wet (it's an open-air house).

On the first big morning of flooding, I went out in the rain and helped my neighbors dig a drainage channel and create a culvert for water to flow into. It was very satisfying to watch thousands of gallons of water start to drain off the flooded street, which had gotten as deep as my waist in one part.

Later, I helped my friend Jose, age 23, mop the water out of his flooded house and had a nice visit with him. We ended up reading a Bible story together that I thought would have special meaning for him, then discussing it. Jose has been through some hard things but really wants to draw closer to God. He is asking me encourage him and keep him accountable. I am really happy about the opportunity I have to help Jose grow in his faith and maturity as a Christian.

Recently, I've found several opportunities in town to witness in non-pushy ways. One thing people are always curious about is the skate park. When people find out that it is free to use, and that we provide free equipment, they are always curious. A neighbor who is a Jehovah's Witness asked me yesterday: "How can it be free?" This gives me a great opportunity to talk about the love of other Christians who don't even live in Puerto Viejo, but want to reach out to the youth here. Then, if the person is receptive, I can take it a step further and explain that this is our way of showing the youth of Puerto Viejo that God loves them, and that God's love for me is what motivates me to serve at the skate park. Most everyone in town appreciates the skate park as positive thing for the youth, which I feel helps us be a good witness for Christ. We're not a Christian club which excludes "non-members." Everyone is welcome here!

An expanding ministry team??

On Wednesday night I proposed to Kristin. There might have been some drugs in her food, because she said yes!

Yes, it is true, Kristin and I are engaged to be married, and hope to become a family in May! We believe God has brought us together to serve Him together in ministry, raise Hudson together, and be partners through all the ups and downs of this life. It's very exciting!

Isn't it funny that sometimes, when you surrender an area of you life to God, God blesses you beyond your wildest expectations in that same area. In deciding to move to Costa Rica, I basically gave my desire to find a spouse over to God, knowing that it would be very unlikely I could find a compatible mate through my own efforts down here. And yet God brought Kristin into my life just as I moved down here, and we started communicating from a distance. To me, it was as though God wanted to reward me for that step of faith.

Kristin reminds me of the virtuous wife described in Proverbs 31. “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed...”

We plan to get married in Vero Beach, FL in May, and for Kristin and her three year old son Hudson to join me in Puerto Viejo and become a part of the ministry team here right after our honeymoon. One complication is that Hudson's father has visitation rights, and moving Hudson requires a judge's decision. Please pray with us that the judge will grant the request to move if it's His will for us to live and serve in Costa Rica. If God has other plans, may he deny the request and show us what He has in store for our family.

Hudson and I played a lot of games together. He called me "Daddy Sloth" and I called him "Baby Sloth." "Mama Sloth" Kristin completed the family.

In ministry news, aside from Girls' Skate nights, for the past few weeks I have been running the skate park operations alone for the most part, as Barrett is temporarily dedicated to getting his new house livable so that his family can move in soon. They have endured many trials and frustrating living conditions for several months, and it is no hardship for me to run the skate sessions and Bible studies and youth activities on my own.

Eight boys came to last week's youth Bible study, and I taught on the parable of the Prodigal Son. Many of the kids had never heard the story of the Prodigal Son before, and were interested enough in the story to remain quiet as we read from the Bible. Afterwards, we had a lively discussion time as we considered the meaning of the parable and tried to relate to the characters in it. It was encouraging to see the kids think about God wanting to be their Heavenly Father and to consider His love and acceptance.

Hudson couldn't get enough of the skate park. For a three year old, I think he showed a lot of promise on the ramps!

On a hike to a nearby waterfall, Hudson showed no mercy for the bad guys (weeds) as he swiped at them with his foam sword. He also learned that real men use their machetes to cut flowers for the table :)

Making the drop

Moms enjoy a cup of coffee from the deck overlooking the park

Every Tuesday evening, Amy hosts Girls' Skate. The moms of some of the girls come and enjoy a cup of coffee and some cookies while they watch their girls skate. It's a nice time for them to connect and for Amy to be able to share God's love with them in practical ways (she makes the coffee, for starters!).

Well, yesterday Barrett and Amy had a speaking engagement, so I hosted Girls' Skate by myself. It was great! I had so much fun making the coffee, chatting with the moms, and helping the girls drop in on the ramps. Every skateboarder knows her limits, and it was neat to watch as the girls tried to drop in on bigger and bigger ramps, fighting back their fears. One girl in particular would stand with her board poised at the edge of the ramp for what seemed like an eternity. The mental battle going on inside was so easy to see on her face. I finally gripped her hands and convinced her to just go for it. I told her I would hold her hands and run alongside her to catch her if she lost control. She dropped in, and to my surprise, didn't lose control at all!

I probably had a bigger grin on my face than she did after that. It's so neat to help a kid overcome her fears, and to see their trust in you. I realized why the other young girls had been unsuccessful in convincing her to drop in. She needed someone bigger, stronger, and more experienced to tell her it would be ok and to help her through it.

So it is with us and God: we can take risky steps of faith because we trust in a God who is huge, powerful, and cares deeply for our well-being. The writer of Hebrews tells us that by her faith, Sarah received strength to conceive, even though she was past the age of child-bearing, "because she judged Him faithful who had promised." It's all about the One making the promise. What His attributes are. Is He good? Can He be trusted? Does He always keep his word?

Girls just want to have fun?

Even the moms give it a go sometimes!

Baby Henry Hazelton

Although this didn't happen in Costa Rica, I'm excited to share with you that over the holidays, my sister-in-law Erin gave birth to a baby boy, making me a first-time uncle, with a bonus role as godfather as well! Brook and Erin welcomed Henry into the world in New York City on Dec. 18 and he is doing great, from all reports. As you can imagine, my parents are thrilled to be grandparents and are headed up to NYC for a brief visit. I wish I too could see little Henry. I think he's going to be a very good looking kid!

I hope Brook and Erin won't mind me sharing a couple photos...

Christmas with Family

me and dad

For Christmas, I had the luxury of spending two mainly sunny weeks with my parents and several days with my brother Dan and his girlfriend Rochelle. It was a time for new adventures, and we also continued some ministry activities leading up to Christmas Day. These pictures (mainly taken by my mom) provide some of the highlights!

I watched this poor baby howler monkey fall from a tree onto the paved road, where it lay motionless. Because it was about to get hit by a car, I went over and moved it to the base of the tree, where the adults could rescue it. The adult monkeys really made some noise when they saw me picking up their baby! We decided to drive away so as to not interfere with the process. When we returned a couple hours later the baby and the troop were gone, so hopefully it recovered all right.

On the Pacific side, where my brother lives at Playa Hermosa, we got to practice "towing in" to some solid head-high waves, with the assistance of a friend's Ski-doo. Man, the speed you get going into the waves is incredible!! I would definitely do this again, if given the chance.

Franz Vasquez is a local artist, and for Christmas we visited his little house studio and picked up two original acrylics at a reasonable price. He likes to paint colorful Caribbean scenes with in a simple, idyllic style. Thanks for the painting, Dan!

checking the surf with my brother at a little-known spot south of Puerto Viejo called "Dedos" (fingers)

Early one morning we saw the receptionist at my parents' hotel arriving for work on her bike. Her first words to us that day were: "The ocean is big. Salsa is breaking." Indeed the surf break known as Salsa Brava ("Angry Sauce" in English) was breaking, and Dan and I caught some really fun and slightly scary waves that day. Scary because the wave breaks with Hawaiian-style power over a shallow coral reef.

The majority of the residents in the region I live in are known as "Bri Bri" people. This indigenous people group lives mainly away from the coast, and many make a living working in the banana fields, although some follow a very traditional way of life in the forest, using their extensive knowledge of plants to survive. Feeling adventurous, my parents and I negotiated a ride on a dugout canoe without knowing where exactly we were going. We ended up seeing things that are far off the beaten tourist path: a pig being ferried downriver to market in one canoe, stacks of bananas being tossed from another canoe into the back of a truck...

Here I am about the help push an overloaded truck of bananas out of the mud. These bananas were headed for Germany. I bet the Germans eating these bananas have no idea what the bananas went through to get to their grocery store!

There was no store or restaurant where we ended up, but girl in the red shirt was kind enough to knock down a few oranges for me and my parents as a refreshing snack. She was shy around us.
"Come here little pig..."

Here's what house church looked like for our Christmas party. After a nice pork roast meal, we watched "The Nativity" together. Great movie!

20 mins. drive south of Puerto Viejo is the small town of Manzanillo. It has some of the nicest beaches in Costa Rica, and that's saying a lot! Plus there's a good surf break where the jungle hits the reef. You can sometimes hear monkeys howling while you're surfing here.

Puerto Viejo has a nice botanical garden called "Finca La Isla." If you look carefully, you will see a red poison dart frog on the vine under my mom's neck.

My parents helped me throw a Friday night cook-out for the youth. Sebas (far left) prayed over our meal.

I moved! And yes, the railings are pink! I call it the Barbie house. My parents found a small house for rent in town. The rent is a little higher, but has more space and will hopefully be safer. One good thing is that all the windows have metal bars on them, and there is a tall fence around the yard...my own yard..yay! Can't wait to plant a plumeria.

Inside there are three rooms, plus a closet. There is one bedroom, one living room (which could be converted into a second bedroom), and a kitchen/dining room.

This is the bedroom, of course. It's small but that's fine with me!

I have this nice patio area. You can see the garage door to the left.

This is the view from the front gate looking toward the water. The ocean is barely visible at the end of the road. Check out the cool Caribbean-style houses on my street!

Living in town is going to be great for ministry: I'm a little closer to the skate park/house church facility, but mainly I will be right in the middle of where most of the youth live, so there will be a lot of opportunity for informal activities with them. Lord willing, I would love to start a Bible study at the house eventually. Plus there's a garage where I can do ding repair or even surfboard shaping as a bridge to the youth. Most of the youth here love surfing.

My main prayer request right now is for God's wisdom as Barrett, Amy and I make our personal and ministry plans for 2009. Also that my Spanish would improve. Although I can communicate fairly well in some ways, I'm definitely not at the level where it's easy to have deep conversations with people, so it's hard to be effective in evangelism and discipleship.