THANKFUL TO PRAY IN SPANISH!

I was excited when Mandi told us at the dinner table. "I am much more thankful now that I pray in Spanish." As a dad, I was thrilled to hear of the cultural and spiritual advancement of our third child. But...my pride was cut short when she finished her statement. She said, "...because I do not yet know how to ask for things in Spanish!" Amanda says hahaha. Sooner or later we will all learn how to speak with the one and only true God...in another language!

CHECK OUT THE ABWE MESSAGE!
In the fall of 2006, I had the privilege of being on the cover of the Message Magazine, our info, encouragement and recruitment magazine for ABWE. Don't get too excited because you know me. I am not famous, I just happened to be the only male missionary candidate in the office when they needed a picture STAT!I will say I am excited about the article written in the Message magazine this month. It is a brief interview about our prefield ministry experience. So many of you were a part of this journey, we praise God for YOU! I am reminded of a phrase from the article, "I know there will be difficult days on the mission field. I also know I have a bank vault full of valuable reminders that this ministry is of God." Check out the full article at http://message.abwe.org/vol56no04/Step-by-Step.html. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers! To check out our testimonies in the ABWE Message magazine from Fall 2006, go to: http://message.abwe.org/vol54no03/Candidate-Class-2006-testimonials.html#D

Recently, a friend posed the question, "What is a missions minded church?" I must admit, that while learning the Spanish language, my mind has been focused more on how to buy milk and to tell the taxi driver how to get to my house than it has been on missions. But...this question got my juices flowing! I began to think and write and here are just a few of my thoughts. I welcome your feedback.

MISSIONS MINDED CHURCH - The church is missions, therefore, it is impossible to validate the existence of the local church without intentionally fulfilling the great commission in its Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts. A Missions Minded church is one that is committed (verbally and visibly) to obeying Christ's great commission by making, marking and maturing disciples as we have already been sent by Jesus Christ.

MARKS OF A MISSIONS MINDED CHURCH.

1. PASTORALLY the pastor is personally INVOLVED in going
2. PASSIONATELY the congregation is INTENTIONAL in it’s pursuit
3. "PURSE" FULLY the budget is INTEGRATED with opportunities
4. PERSONALLY the body is INFILTRATED by missionaries
5. PRAYERFULLY the body is INFORMED of needs & oopportunities
6. PURPOSEFULLY the leadership INITIATES missions partnerships
7. POSSIBILITIES the body INVESTIGATES who will WE send next

Some random PASSIONATE thoughts at 9 PM

Hey, this is Amanda! I want to let everyone know about an important thing in missionary life. Peanut butter! Peanut butter is a very American thing in most parts of the world, including here. Therefore, it is either hard to find, or EXTREMELY expensive. In our case, it's expensive. This jar of peanut butter I'm holding in the picture, you would usually throw awaybecause it's basically gone; we will use for about another week's worth of PBJ sandwiches :). So, when you eat peanut butter, pray for us, that we would learn Spanish well, and that our peanut butter would go far. Thank you for praying for us! Dios te bendiga!

FLOWERS FOR MY LOVE

Ok, it has been long enough here in Costa Rica without buying flowers for my wife, I figured it was about time. Lukas and I walked 1.5 miles to get them, but the smile on her face was worth every step!

SUSHI NIGHT AT THE DAVOLL HOUSE
Psa 57:9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.

We have always enjoyed foods from different countries. Sushi just happens to be one of our favorites. Jeff made this sushi tonight with cucumber, immitation crab, carrot, avocado, and red pepper. It came complete with wasabi that burns your nose and homemade noodle soup (made by Amanda). It is a good reminder to us there are people around the world that need Jesus Christ!

Update for Faith Baptist Missions Conference

"CONFLEX" - CONFLICTS - CORNFLAKES?

Language barriers are always fun. We were asked to get "conflex sin dulce" for a chicken recipe a Costa Rican lady was making for us. "Sin dulce" is without sweet, but what is "conflex?" I looked in my pocket dictionary...nothing. I looked in the online dictionary...nothing. I looked, and asked at the grocery store...nothing. I asked another student who has finished their language studies and likes to cook...nothing. I asked another missionary for whom she cooks...nothing. Finally we had to ask her to tell someone else who who spoke Spanish. It was Corn Flakes! Since we do not eat cornflakes, since they are about $4/box, Deanne spared no expense and bought 2 individual serving boxes for 180 colones, the Costa Rican money. I am looking forward to our chicken and brocoli with $ .34 worth of "conflex."