Tico Tuesday, July 31st

¡Hola!
The past few weeks at work Lily (the full-time Christian Education Assistant) and I have been pouring hours into printing pages, drawing border lines, pasting and putting plastic on visual aids for the house moms to use as they lead devotions each night in the month of August. August is family month, so there are 4 sheets on Jesus' family, 7 sheets on the church, plus 4 virtues (I found the cute pictures on the ones you see here), a 6 page long banner, a right and a responsibility, cover sheets, instruction pages, etc. Times 9 (since we have 9 houses now). And we get to do this every month! And this is just one of many many responsibilities we have! No wonder Lily needed help! Thankfully, I've already been able to suggest a couple ideas to help us get more organized and hopefully save us time in the future. The good news is, everything we're doing will be reused in the next year, 2 or 3. Today we handed all 9 packets over to the mothers of each house and explained all the material to them. Whew! It's nice to let our work go and let it be put to use. Please join me in praying for it to be a blessing to the house mothers and the children under their care!
Thanks!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 24th

Hello and happy Tuesday to you!

Last night I went to one of the houses that is full of brand new children and a new host family to translate for them and two volunteers who are on a short term mission trip here with their church. It was a challenging evening, but I truly had a great time. I was glad to hear the volunteers tell me the same when they left. Even though these children have only been with us for a week (at most), I can see God working in them and I see their yearning for love, attention and acceptance. These kids have a long way to go, and the house parents have a lot to learn too (of course they do, they're new!). It's hard, but this is God's work and he is more than capable of equipping, transforming and growing these children and house parents in ways far better than I could ever imagine. I invite you to join me in praying for the Eden and Porvenir houses. ¡Gracias!

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 17th

It's Tuesday again!

I've enjoyed getting to know this lovely lady since coming to Roblealto. Mami Marielos has been a house mom at the Bible Home for around 4 years and she loves to share amazing testimonies of what God has done in the lives of the children who have been under her care. Yesterday, we were receiving several new children at the Bible Home and I heard her say what she was going to do to receive the new boy in her house. She was going to wait for him at the door with 2 balloons. When he came she would open the door -and her arms- wide and say "Welcome!" and give him a hug. So adorable! And just what kids need when they are having to leave their families and come and live in a new place. I got to go make house calls last week to check on some of our kids and their families and see how things were going while they were on vacation. Boy was that eye-opening and heart-breaking. One family we visited didn't even have food for lunch and their house is literally falling apart. Please keep praying for the kids we serve and their families, especially the ones who are arriving this week! Thank you!
God's blessings on you and your family!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 10th

Happy Tuesday!

I'm writing to you from my new apartment in San José de la Montaña! This is what it looked like on move-in day. I will soon have pictures of what it looks like when it's all unpacked, but I'm still wondering what that's going to look like myself, so we're gonna have to wait on that. ;-) I used to say I would never dare to live by myself and that I would surely be miserable. Say I'm in the honeymoon stage if you like, but I am actually enjoying having a space all to myself, especially after sleeping in 17 beds over the course of my time in the States and having at least technically shared a room for the past approximately 8 years of my life. Is it/will it be lonely? Sometimes I'm sure it will be. But I share a wall with my landlords and there is plenty of singing and noise to let me know I'm not isolated. And it's really fun having my own kitchen and just knowing I have my own, cozy little getaway. I thank God for his provision for me here, and I encourage you to consider joining God in that work. Moving and obtaining furniture, appliances and the works have their costs, but you can serve as God's tangible means of provision and grace. I appreciate your prayers as I continue to settle in to life here and juggle unpacking, studying, work, and other fun things like finally getting my car fixed after the bus hit it 11 months ago and getting Migration to renew my residency.
Thanks!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 3rd

¡HOLA! It's a real TICO Tuesday again! :-) I'm so happy to be back! I've already gotten so say hi to a number of people again and plan to visit Roblealto's central offices where I used to work. (As of Monday I start working at Roblealto's temporary shelter, the Bible Home as a Christian Education Assistant/Family Area helper.)

Yesterday I got to tour the newly finished Arco Iris (Rainbow) house. IT IS SO GORGEOUS! The house mom is already putting in plants all around the house and the kitchen is the envy of all the other houses.

And another piece of exciting news: Roblealto is about to max out its new capacity of 90 children! We've been looking for house parents all year, but in less than 2 weeks these new families will join us and 20 new children will be arriving! Please be praying for everyone at the Bible Home as we enter this stretching transition.

Muchas gracias!

Love,
Carrie

PS Sorry, no picture, I'm having some internet connection problems