I wanted to show you a picture of the "tree house" where the Cruces are staying while their house is being built just a hundred hards away. They had me over for a bean burrito dinner on Wednesday night and it was great!

This week we've been busy with the normal ministry afternoons/evenings at the skate park. God has really helped me to start connecting with some of the youth, both teenagers and kids who are 7-12. It was funny...the other day I happened to be riding my bike past a group of five of the younger ones. They knew that I was heading to the skate park, so they started chasing after me, wanting to pile onto my bike and hitch a ride. I made them run for a while, but eventually let them catch up to me. I agreed to give one of them (the first one to get on) a ride. He had the BEST time rubbing it in to all his friends afterwards. At the end of the skate session that day, one little boy named Oscar gave me a big hug as a way of thanking me for letting them skate.

Lately, it's also seemed that the kids have been behaving themselves a bit better and following the rules (I'm finding that consistency in enforcing them is so important!)

In terms of my housing situation, I have nothing new to report, but a few new leads, and I'm supposed to check out one rental house tomorrow which I'm excited about. A lot of people have been asking around for me.

By the way, as a follow up to the story about the handcuffed man whom I had given some water to, I've since had more contact with him. He recognized me on the street the other day, and quickly asked me if he could buy me a juice, as he said "for respect". I agreed, and picked out a grape juice with him at the nearby store. It was a nice moment. I remember reading a book somewhere about how men and women have different needs, and it argued that one of a man's biggest needs is to be respected. It also said that when a man needs respect the most is when he feels the least respectable (or the least honorable). I think the reality of that came to life for me in my encounter with this guy. My compassion for him (regardless of what he might or might not have done to get arrested) seemed to have impacted him in a positive way.

Sorry not a lot of pictures today, but here's another of Jose (the skater from last week), clearly enjoying himself at the skate park, and loving my skateboard which I have been loaning him.

Baptism has no upper age limit!

Here's a look at some stories from the past two days of ministry...

This is my friend Jose in action on the skateboard ramps during our Saturday skate session. He brings a real "surfing" style to his skateboarding. I've enjoyed setting up for the skate sessions and talking to the kids and watching them three+ days a week. I make sure the kids are equipped with skateboards and helmets and I also get to be the music "dj". The job has its frustrating moments, like when kids fight over equipment, or break the rules over and over, but through this experience, God has given me a better understanding of how abundant His mercy is towards me when I disobey Him. Another lesson God showed me this week is that we all, like these children, fight for what we think is "ours", not realizing that everything in the universe belongs to God (Deut. 10:14). For the kids it might be a helmet that they think is theirs, but for us it might be that we we feel entitled to a certain luxury item or luxury service.

Here is Ronnie, guest preaching at the Baptist Church in Limon, which is about an hour's drive from Puerto Viejo. We went up to support him and his family as friends and team-members. He did a great job teaching on the prodigal son!

Three people were baptized during the service, including this elderly man. Seeing him being lowered into the water by these men reminded me of the story in John's gospel of the lame man whom Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda. That man had said to Jesus:

"I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred."

Well, the man pictured above had no shortage of help getting into the baptismal pool. Praise God!

The Cruces: aren't they an adorable family?

Makena and Samantha enjoy ice cream and a ride on "Dumbo" at a restaurant in Limon. I would adopt either one in a heartbeat!

A couple of you have asked about my personal prayer requests. The main one I have right now is for my housing, that God would provide something safe, clean, and peaceful. The past couple nights have been uncomfortable at the hostel (loud music from the nearby disco until 3 a.m., plus a horrible dead animal smell that after two days was discovered to be a mouse that had electrocuted itself in the circuit box in my room.) Then last night I came home to a rat scampering off my food shelf, so that was disheartening. Rats and roaches aren't the end of the world, but when you're sharing the same 10' x 10' hotel room, you sort of feel like your in their environment rather than vice versa! Still I'm thankful to have a place to stay, and to have no worries for food or clothing or anything like that!

p.s. the sloth has moved out to greener pastures. No doubt it grew hungry after its long siesta!

Handcuffed man and sloth

locals come out to see what the fishermen brought in today.

This morning Barrett and I prepared the for tonight's teaching and discussion at youth group. Because it's in Spanish, it takes both of us a while longer to prepare, but it's actually a great exercise for us as it helps us improve our language skills. Afterwards I went and ran copies for the handouts.

In the afternoon I went snorkeling just off the beach in Puerto Viejo and enjoyed the beauty of the live coral reef and some of its colorful inhabitants. Where I swam out was near to the police station, and I had noticed a guy who was handcuffed to a pole on the outside of the police station, in the hot sun. On my home later in the afternoon, I noticed that he was still handcuffed to the pole, and I thought to myself "he must be thirsty and could probably use a bottle of cold water". But I kept riding and got home and showered. However, the thought wouldn't go away, and I was beginning to feel like giving the guy a cold bottle of water is the sort of thing Jesus might have done.

So I pedaled to the store, then back to the police station. I asked the man what his name was, then offered him the water. He accepted it with thanks, and started to drink (as best he could with the handcuffs). Before I could say anything he said to me "God bless you". It was like he knew it was from the Lord before I said anything, and it felt so good to see him smile in appreciation.

To change the subject completely, for the past three nights there has been a wild sloth sleeping at the hostel where I've been staying. The spaces inside are a semi-open for air flow, so it's not hard for animals to get in. What was funny was that the sloth made himself so at home (and no one has fed it). I have enjoyed coming home to this fascinating animal curled up in the rafters each night!

Skate night

Today at skate night, two 7-year olds were having a great time pestering me and trying to get my attention. The would poke me in the side, hoping I would respond by "attacking" them. So of course I would indulge them by tickling them, picking them up and swinging them around, etc. Like all children, they need and love the attention of adults. Meanwhile, a couple of the other boys were enjoying showing off their best skateboarding moves for me. I also got to play a few games of "Uno" with one of the boys (I can't always give names in order to protect their privacy...). He had to teach me the rules because it had been probably over 20 years since I last played!

It's amazing how even something as simple as just sitting on the steps watching the kids skateboard opens huge doors to be a part of their lives and share Christ's love in practical ways. It's rare for any of the parents to show up at the skate park and watch their kids, so they look to me and Barrett for affirmation and love while they are here, especially the 7 to 13 year olds. They get to skate from 3:00 to 4:30, and then the older kids are allowed to skate from 4:3o to 6:00. After the skate session, two of the barefoot boys came by and offered me some of their plantain chips, which I'm sure were purchased with hard-earned money. It was touching, to be sure.

Here's a picture of Tammy, who is serving with Alternative Missions in Puerto Viejo together with her husband Ronnie. She is pictured here with a little girl she was babysitting (she also has two girls of her own). Tammy is really great with kids and runs a local AWANA program in Spanish with her husband.

Snake and team dinner

Last night we had a team dinner at the skate park. It was a nice way to thank the Adams family (interns) for their three months serving here and at the same time welcome me to the team. I had a great time with everyone and their kids!! It was fun cooking on the grill too. Some of my new friends from Puerto Viejo (youth) were there too and we enjoyed sharing the meal with them. Meals are such a great way to build relationships, here as in all cultures.

After dinner we had some entertainment from the girls. Here is a high-energy performance by Beka and Hope, the Adams girls.

Earlier in the day I accidentally rode my bike over a 7 foot long bushmaster snake. It had just been killed by my neighbor. Bushmasters are highly venomous and one bite can be fatal!!

one of the fangs is broken off, but check out the other one!!