Tico Tuesday, May 27th

Diamonds or Toads? To introduce the theme for this year's camp for moms, I participated in a drama about the tongue, and how kind words are like jewels and flowers and unkind words like snakes and toads. I got to be the jewel and toad bewstowing fairy and it was so much fun! From the interaction I had with many of the moms, I saw open attitudes and women ready to learn and enjoy themselves. God did wonderful work in their lives. I think one of the most powerful things was through the letters we had the kids and house moms write for the moms at camp. They opened their letters and I saw tears streaming down the face of almost everyone in my cabin. Then, we let the moms share testimonies (one of the lessons we had about a jewel-like tongue was that it testifies to God's work). One mom shared how her son had turned against her and hated her and never wanted to see her again. Her son hasn't been at the Bible Home for long, and they have slowly been rebuilding their relationship. His brief note of, "I love you, Mommy. I hope you have a good time at camp" with a heart with his and her initials at the bottom of the page filled her with such emotion and joy she could not withhold the testimony of what God has been doing in her and her son. Mom after mom got up to share what God has done in them in their children. My heart was full of praise! God worked in the moms at camp, and he did some work in me too, some of which I'm still processing. I can't thank him enough for his goodness and for all he has done.

The wonderful women in my cabin on our dressup evening

One mom, who had a poor attitude when her daughter joined us, has been transformed by God's power. She received Christ in February and has been attending the biweekly Bible study, participated in the women's self-esteem therapy group, and becoming more involved
with the rest of the family treatment plan. She was able to take her little girl home to stay yesterday, thanks and praise be to God!
I had a wonderful time sharing with the moms and getting to know them better. One mom is a year younger than me and her son will soon turn 10. Wow. She was actually at the Bible Home too when she was younger. 95% percent of families in Roblealto don't need our services in the next generation. This woman is one of the 5% who do. Please pray for the cycle to stop with her!
May all the words of our mouth be like diamonds and not like toads!
With joy and gratitude,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 20th

A Week of Surprises
-The number of people who came to Arbolitos (young adult group from church) on Wednesday. We are growing!!
-Being served my favorite drink fresco de mora en leche (like a fresh blackberry milkshake) when I went to the Nido house for a snack one afternoon
-The beauty of the bean plants a couple boys have planted and are caring for all by themselves

-Forgetting my shoes at home and wearing Chrissy's sandals for a fun girls night out with her and Jessica. Oops! Surprise for you: Chrissy and I will be roommates starting in September! I'm really excited to live with her!
-Running into a girl from the Bible Home and her family at the feria on Saturday morning. (The kids were home visiting their families this weekend. One weekend they are home, the other they stay here.) That was fun and sweet!
-The clutch on my car dying. God protected, cared for, and provided for me as only He can though! I was in a lighted, not particularly dangerous area, not alone, not rearended when my car suddenly stopped, and my amazing mechanic personally received my car after 9pm on a Saturday night after calling his tow truck friend who only charged me $50. Getting a taxi would have cost about the same!! (No AAA here... I might considering upping my insurance for roadside assistance though.) Oh, and an angel had swung by to push my car onto the median and off the center of the highway. I am so thankful to God for his goodness to me! I was bummed to miss the goodbye party I was on my way to, but I know the quality hang-out time I had with Kiki on Thursday was better than what I would have gotten at the party. Also, shout out to Paul Pittman, the Area Director for UWM Latin America, who was very helpful and caring over the phone while Jess and I were figuring out what to do.
-A coworker's hilarious, enthusiastic participation in the personnel meeting on Monday.
-Realizing the short-term mission team from my church in Maine will be here in less than a month!!!
-God's goodness in many other things...
How has God surprised you this week?
May he remind you once more of his care, goodness, and love!
Carrie

PS Please be praying for the Camp for Moms this weekend. We have been working hard making many preparations for it! There are supposed to be 110 people total! (Moms from all of Roblealto's programs plus staff) Thank you!

Tico Tuesday, May 13th

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend United World Mission's (UWM is the organization with which the LAM merged) Latin America conference. We spent a nice long weekend at the beach with worship, field reports, and forums/workshops in the mornings, and then nice afternoons and evenings of time to enjoy the beach, pools, and one another's company. Two other "LAM background believer" families were there for most of the weekend as well (and my friend short-termer Kiki helped out with the kids).
 Callie, my new kindred spirit who works in Mobilization (formerly with LAM and now UWM), and I were there the whole time. Callie and I first met at the LAM/UWM retreat a couple months ago and enjoyed the brief time we shared together. This time I picked her up at the airport and we were buddies all weekend. We were the only young single women participating in all the sessions. I am SO grateful for her! We have a lot in common--she actually served here in CR for a while, so she speaks Spanish really well, and with tons of tico slang that cracks me up! I was relieved she wanted to be active and swim in the pool with me. I was afraid I would be missing my mom, since we have always been hotel pool buddies. (Did you remember to call your mom for Mother's Day?)
The weekend was a wonderful opportunity to gain a better understanding of UWM and how it works. It was also neat to meet the other UWMers who are in Latin America and get to know them. I now have friends in Chile, the DR, Argentina, Colombia, and a really sweet couple is on its way to Peru!
The downside of the weekend: the violent 24 hr stomach virus that hit many of us. But God was gracious, and miraculously I did not give it to Callie, Kiki, nor the Kamper kids whom I was babysitting when it hit me. Another upside? The last morning I got to have breakfast with John (the president) and another leader from the office in Charlotte. Our conversation was a great blessing to me and I cannot say how happy and grateful I am for the leadership of UWM. I admire them deeply. I'd love to say more about my weekend, but it's late and this is already getting long. Maybe another blog post later. My next semester starts on Monday!
There are UWM board meetings the latter half of this week. Please join me in praying for them! Gracias!
Peace and good health be with you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 6th

Another week has come and gone, and thanks be to God and your prayers, I was able to finish all my assignments for the semester with an hour to spare! Thank you also for praying for my friend I mentioned last week. I dropped off some groceries for her today and she is doing much better.

One highlight of this past week was May 1st. In Costa Rica (and apparently other parts of the world too), it is Labor Day. But at the Bible Home, it is the day for everyone who has ever lived or worked at the Bible Home to come back and visit: Alumni Day/Homecoming. We have a feria and sell all sorts of food, clothes, trinkets, we have a trampoline and a bouncy castle thing, we have a special service that the sweet old people that spent their entire childhoods at the HB lead (the HB used to be more of an orphanage), and lots of other things. I was in charge of the photo stand. We had pictures of Homecoming last year, as well as more recent pictures of life at the HB. It was fun, and we sold a lot more pictures once we moved the stand to a more central, obvious location. I think the highlight of my day was getting to see a girl who was with us all year last year. She even masterfully braided my hair again! I can see she has grown up a lot in the last few months. Sadly, her home situation is a mess (still. Maybe worse than before?) But, she says she is going to church regularly. Please join me in remembering to pray for the children who have been at Roblealto to remember and apply to their lives all that they learn with us. Returning back to the world is not easy.
Thanks so much! An April Chronicle should be coming your way in less than 48 hours!
Carrie