How/What We're Doing

After a long, long week of travel (thank you SO much for all your prayers!), we've now been in Ciudad Guzman for more than 3 weeks, and we're finally getting settled in here.  I wanted to take a few minutes and let you all know what we're up to here, and share how you can pray for us as well during this time.

How would you like to drive THIS route with 3 little kids in the car?  Anyone??

Once we got to Guzman, there were two priorities: make the house livable, and rest!  It was amazing how exhausted we were after a week of travel, and it felt like it took us almost a week just to catch up on rest and not feel like we were completely out of energy.  However, during that time, we still had things to do.  We had a home, but not much else.  We didn't have a refrigerator, or any furniture at all except some mattresses that our friend Ariel had purchased for us in Guadalajara before we came down.  So, we very quickly had to find our way around the city enough to get started!  We managed to find a new little family owned furniture store next to the hotel we stayed at the first few nights, and we bought a dining room set and some couches there (we were able to get those thanks to the generosity of College Heights Baptist Church, who held a garage sale for us the weekend we left and sent the proceeds to us to get started).

The volcano overlooking Ciudad Guzman, as seen from the roof of our house.

The kids in front of one of the fountains downtown.

Thanks to Pastor Julian, who pastors a church here in Guzman, we found a place where we could also get a refrigerator and a washer.  Armed with these items, we felt ready to start living in our home!  Even then, there was a lot for us to learn.  For example, we now have a gas tank (on top of our house)... so, how do we get it filled?  And now I have a gas water heater, which is totally new for me... so how do I light it? (I know, I know, I'm a loser for not knowing that... but I know it now!)  Where do we shop here?  What's available, and what are we going to have to do without? (Pickles are really hard to find, and tomato soup is impossible to find... so are a lot of spices that we're used to using).  About half of the lights in the house weren't working, which I found out was due to bad switches.  So, where do I get new ones?  And what's the right vocabulary (I didn't learn much electrical vocab at language school!)  Step by step, we're getting these things figured out, and getting more used to our home and more settled into our house.  I even managed to purchase some lumber (another place where my vocabulary failed me... what's Spanish for 2x4?  Sanded?  Planed?  Anyone??)  and build a bed for Sara and I, so that we don't have to sleep on the floor anymore with our mattress.  Hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll get one built for Gabe, and maybe tackle a bunk-bed for the girls! (Though we also need some shelves for the books and Bibles we bought.)

New table and chairs!

Getting lumber for the first time in Mexico... quite an experience!

The bed that I built for Sara and I.  Just two beds to go!

We've also slowly been getting to know the city.  I (Nick) can find my way around better and better now, and I'm pretty used to the crazy back and forth of the one way streets here.  Almost every street in Guzman is a one way, and some of them are two ways that become one ways.  I even know of at least one street that is a one way, in both directions, depending on where you catch it!  It just switches back and forth across town!  Needless to say, it takes a while to get used to this, and to figure out which one way you want for the direction that you eventually hope to end up.  Also, the #1 form of speed control here in Mexico are what are known as topes: speed bumps.  Every street has them, often times one per block (there's one almost right in front of our house for our street).  When they're new, they're painted yellow, and are easily marked... but most of them are completely faded now, and it's a joy (especially at night) to try not to hit them going fast.  So, eventually, you just learn where they are, and how to drive them.  The final ingredient is the traffic and style of driving here.  4 lanes of traffic often fit into two or three lanes on the road.  One turning lane will have two or three lanes of traffic turning into it.  Buses start and stop, which means that all traffic darts in and out around the traffic.  Plus there's the motorcycles, the bicycles, the potholes, and the cars backing in and out of parking spaces that add to the general madness.  When Sara drives here, she's constantly muttering to herself "be aggressive... be aggressive,"  because being passive here sometimes just brings more trouble than good as a driver.  The other night, Sara said, "Nick, you've learned how to drive like a Mexican," to which I replied, "actually, I've always driven like a Mexican, it just was frowned upon in Wyoming."

Caitlynn in front of some of the fountains in the central plaza.

In the midst of all this, we've starting finding things.  We know a few grocery stores to visit.  We know a few places to get great tacos and tortas.  We found the tianguis (it was called a feria in Costa Rica, we would call it a farmer's market).  Little by little, we're finding what we need to live here.  We're also meeting people, in our neighborhood, at the church we're attending, and around town.  There's Marcello, who owns the bike shop a few blocks away, where Nick goes and visits once a week.  There Maria and Jesus (seriously, and Maria is even pregnant!), who live far away, but Maria works at the school across the street from us.  There's Santiago, who works at the grocery store we visit a lot, and Abel, who works at the Taco place we eat at sometimes.  Right now, these are just acquaintances  who we hope will grow into friendships, and chances to share the Gospel more.

Excited about the berries at the Tianguis in Guzman.

Next time, I'll talk about the ministry here, and what we're envisioning for the future here in Guzman.  For now, let me leave you with a few ways that you can pray for us:

• Pray for us as we continue to settle into the home, and as we try to make things a little more permanent here.
• Pray for us as we continue to meet people, that God will help us make connections and friendships in the neighborhood and in the city.
• Pray for our Spanish, as we still have a lot to learn, and there are a lot of differences between the Spanish here and what we learned in Costa Rica.
• Pray for us as we're away from friends and family over the holidays.  We've already been gone over Thanksgiving and Zoe's 6th birthday, and it's hard to be away during this time.  Pray that God will protect our hearts and be with us.  Pray that people will contact us and encourage us while we're here, too.
• Pray for the kids.  Zoe and Caitlynn have already had some struggles being away from the grandparents and friends we left behind in Wyoming (and our friends in Costa Rica, too), and we've been dealing with some behavior issues, not to mention some random outbursts of crying.  Pray for them as they adapt here.  It took almost 3 months for them to adapt when we moved to Costa Rica.
• Pray that all the support we need will continue to come in, and offer prayers of thanks for all the wonderful people and churches that support us in the ministry here.

Celebrating Zoe's 6th birthday

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  If you want to know how to contact us here in Mexico, email me at missionguzman@gmail.com, and I can pass along our physical address, phone number, or Skype name.  If you're from a church, we'd love to Skype with your congregation at any time and share what's happening here!  God bless!

Saying Goodbye

The Johnson Family: Ready for Mexico

Well, it's hard to believe, but our time in Costa Rica has drawn to a close.  When we came here in December, the end of language school seemed impossibly far away, and we had no idea what to expect.  When you don't know the language, the culture, any people, or have any idea what our time here would be like.  Would we learn the language quickly, or struggle all year?  Would we ever make heads or tails out of the neighborhood and culture that we suddenly found ourselves in?  After living and working in Wyoming our whole lives, what would it be like for us to suddenly be so far away in every possible way from all that we were used to?  How would we make the transition from being close to our family and friends?

The last day of Nick's Grammar Class this Trimester

The answer through all of this was: God.  He has helped us, sustained us, renewed us, given us grace in many forms (comforting grace, empowering grace, etc), and has brought us to the end, of this part of our lives at least.  We met amazing friends here (both among the missionary families and among the Ticos here in Costa Rica).  Not only did we adapt to the culture and the neighborhood, but we came to love it.  We learned some Spanish, and the learned that we'd still be learning years from now.  But, we leave here feeling more solid in the language, the Latin American culture, and in our ability to live away from home and on the mission field.  There have been some challenging times, and we still have much to learn, but we can't thank God enough for the time that we've had here.

Walking at graduation last week carrying the flag for Mexico.

Last week, we finished up classes, walked in our graduation ceremony last Friday, and said some hard goodbyes.  Many of our friends have already left Costa Rica, on their way to Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and the United States.  Others, we'll be leaving behind in just a few days.  This weekend, we said more goodbyes, this time to our Tico friends that we've met here in the community, and in the church that we've been blessed to attend this year.  In the next two days, we'll say more goodbyes, this time to the student families that we've become closest to.

With our friends the Darnell family, another Global Outreach missionary family, of the way to Ecuador.

Good byes are hard.  Tonight, I laid in bed with Caitlynn, who couldn't stop crying.  When I finally was able to get her to calm down so I could ask her what was wrong, she said, "We have to leave here and it makes me sad."  How real kids are sometimes, willing to show out in the open what many of us only feel and hide on the inside.  I was able to tell her that it is sad, that we'll be leaving behind some wonderful friends, and that it even makes me sad.  However, then I was able to talk to her about the future, and the things that are coming that we have t look forward to:  seeing our family in the United States, visiting our home church and seeing our friends.  We talked about living in Mexico, and making friends there that we wouldn't have to leave so quickly.  Finally, we talked about God, who has promised to never leave us or forsake us, who is there at the top of the highest mountains, and at the bottom of the sea, and how there is nowhere we can go in all of creation where He will not be.  Caitlynn loved the idea, in the midst of hard goodbyes, of a God who never leaves us, who never says goodbye.  And, I love the idea too!

Dinner with Mayela and her family, just some of the amazing Tico friends that we've made here in Costa Rica this year.

Keep us in your prayers over the next few days as we pack, prepare, and say those hard goodbyes.  Ask God to strengthen us and encourage us in Him, that we might find our joy, peace, and direction in Him.  Pray specifically for the kids, especially Zoe and Caitlynn, as they struggle with their goodbyes here.  I will write again in a few days to let you know what the next few months looks like, and how you can pray and be a part of it all.  For now, we love you all, thank you for your prayers and encouragement, and we can't wait to see and hear from all of you as we're back in the States for a few months!

Saying goodbye to Esteban, one of the young men that I'm going to miss here in Costa Rica.

The worship team from the church, over at our house for lunch one last time before we leave this Wednesday for a few months in the United States.

The Test

This past week, I had two very intense tests to prepare for.  The first one was last Friday, and was a 30-minute oral exam.  There wasn't much I could do to prepare for it, because no one knew what the questions would be.  I just showed up, and started talking, answering questions with the teacher as I went, and hopefully showing fluency  in Spanish.  In order to pass the oral test, I needed to achieve an 'advance' rating on my speaking abilities. (One teacher told me that an 'advanced' level is when a Spanish speaker who has never talked to a gringo before can walk up to me and hold a conversation, and I can understand and make myself understood.)  Considering that I came to Costa Rica to study Spanish only 7 months ago, and that I came in with almost no Spanish, getting an advanced rating would be pretty huge for me after only two trimesters at the school.

The second test was last Tuesday, and was a comprehensive, 3 hour, 300 point written exam.  It covered everything: present tense, past tense, future tense, subjunctives, parifrases, comparatives, quoting people... everything!  In order to pass the written test, I need at least a 70% as a final score.  Most students take both exams after their third semester at the school, but since we are leaving in less that two weeks, I decided to take them now.  I took them for two big reasons:  First, I wanted to graduate here with the diploma (in order to graduate with the diploma, you have to pass BOTH tests first!).  Second, since we are leaving early, I wanted to confirmation that my Spanish had grown to the level where I'd be able to converse well when we get to Mexico.  I was hoping that these tests would assure me that I have everything that I need to serve and minister in Mexico.

However, as I've been waiting for the results, I realized something: I was looking for something from these tests that should only come from God!  There is NOTHING in this world that can make me a competent minister of the Gospel apart from the Lord, no classes, no tests, no human confirmation or adulation.  Nothing makes me 'good enough' or 'equipped enough' except God.  I was reminded of what God told the prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 1:



      Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
                  and before you were born I consecrated you;
                  I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the LORD said to me,

                  “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
                  for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
                  and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
            8    Do not be afraid of them,
                  for I am with you to deliver you,
                  declares the LORD.”

9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,

                  “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
            10  See, I have set you this day kover nations and over kingdoms,
                  to pluck up and to break down,
                  to destroy and to overthrow,
                  to build and to plant.”


The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Je 1:5–10). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

God was well aware of my deficiencies when He chose me.  He was aware of my sin when He saved me.  He knew about my pride and my struggles when He began to sanctify me.  He knew of my terrible Spanish when He called me to serve and share and minister in Mexico.  God knew!  And not only did He know, He called me anyways!!  I don't need a test or a class or a piece of paper to tell me that I have what it takes to serve in Mexico, because God has already confirmed this in me!

So, I'm going to go receive my scores in about 5 minutes.  I'll be excited if I pass, and I'll be disappointed if I fail, but I will remember that neither one defines who I am or my ability to serve God, because it is God who is doing the work in me, and it is He who will see it through to the day of completion.  May I never build up something else to have the significance in my life that only God deserves, because if my God is for me, then who (or what) shall be against me? (and that includes my terrible Spanish!).  May you also find yourself justified and covered today with all that you need in Christ, because He is more than enough for us!

Mamóns

This will just be a fun little post about a new delicacy that we found in the Feria around here lately.  In our Feria (fruit market) that we attend every Saturday, there are tons of fruits and veggies that you can buy, many that are familiar to Americans, but some are totally foreign.  It's a fun place, especially if you're willing to try new things.

Our weekly Feria here in San Francisco de Dos Rios

An example of what you can find at the Feria each week.

This week, we got a bag of the newest, weirdest fruit to be in-season here in Costa Rica.  The official name is a rambutan, but here they call them Mamón Chinos (literally means 'Chinese Suckers'.)  These are some weird little fruits mainly because of how they look: they have the color and size of large ripe strawberries, but are covered in these weird looking hair like things with the texture of something offered by Nerf.  On a scale of 1 to Weird, these are a 12!

Remember these toys?  That's kinda what a Mamón Chino feels like.

Some of our selection from the Feria this week.

So, we decided to get half a kilo (about a pound), and show everyone how to eat them!  The girls helped me with this experament.  Zoe and I loved the Mamóns, while Sara and Caitlynn didn't really care for them (and Gabe was too young to try).

The girls with their Mamóns all ready to try.

The first thing you have to do is use your fingernail to crack open the Mamón, so that you can get to the fruit inside.  (Thankfully, you don't have to eat the 'hairy' part, I'm not sure I could do that!)

The Mamóns all broken open with the fruit showing.

Once you have it cracked open, you can take the top off to see the fruit inside, which you can squeeze into your mouth.  It has the texture of a peeled grape, with a very large seed inside.  You suck on the fruit until you eat all the fruit off, then can spit the seed out.  The fruit is somewhat sweet, kind of like a grape, though not as juicy.  Overall, they're a lot of work to eat, but very good!

The seed with all of the fruit off of it... you wouldn't want to swallow that thing!

If you want to see more, you can watch the video below and see my assistant Zoe show you how to eat a Mamón.  If you ever stumble across them in the markets back home, give them a try!

A week of... rest?

A few weeks ago, we had 'Spiritual Emphasis Week' here at the Spanish Language Institute.  Every semester, they bring in a guest preacher, who shares at chapel during the week.  However, instead of just having chapel on Tuesday and Thursday mornings like normal, chapel is every morning and afternoon during the week!  Also, teachers are not allowed to give out homework during Spiritual Emphasis week, so it's supposed to be a time to step back from the Spanish (a little), and focus instead on the Lord (a LOT!).  In theory, it's a time of rest... in practice, not always :)  But, it's always blessing!  This semester, I'm the worship leader for the institute's chapel time, so that meant there was a lot of preparation to do to get all the worship ready for each chapel time.  However, it was a great blessing to gather every day and worship with the students at ILE.

We were blessed this trimester to have David Sitton come and be our speaker for Spiritual Emphasis week. David has been a missionary to Papau New Guinea, focusing on completely unreached tribes, many of them comprised of head-hunters and cannibals.  Now, in addition to continuing trips to PNG, he founded and runs To Ever Tribe Missions, (www.toeverytribe.com) which focuses on sending missionaries to the unreached people-groups all around the world.  He spent the week sharing about his experiences in missions, and encouraging us in the theme that 'Jesus is Worth It.'  It's good to be reminded that, when we struggle with the language, when we miss home, when we are unsure about our finances coming in on time, and have countless other struggles, that Jesus is worth it!  It's also challenging to be reminded that, when there are times of personal loss, when people reject our message, when we share Christ for a long time without seeing clear fruit, that Jesus is still worth it!

David Sitton (right) with our friend Scott from the Institute

We were also blessed to get to have David in our home on Friday night for dinner.  We got to just talk to him about our mission to Mexico, and hear more from him about missions.  To Every Tribe supports missionaries in Oaxaca, Mexico, sharing with unreached people groups just a 2 days' drive from the US border!  We were also blessed to hear David's heart for Mexico, and to find out about ways that David might be able to help us as we prepare to get started in Mexico.  It's so amazing how God brings the right people into our paths at the right time!

Gabe checking out someone else's yard

Patriotic girls at our school's 4th of July party

We also had a great surprise during our week of rest, because Sara's friend from the States, Michele, came for a surprise visit!  I (Nick) had known for a few months that she was coming, and helped work out a lot of the details, but the entire idea for the trip was Michele's!  I had to lie a little, and tell Sara that I had a men's meeting at the church to go to, then I went across town by bus to pick up Michele in a cab and bring her back home.  I had told Sara that someone was going to be staying with us on Monday night, so she was expecting a guest, but she definitely wasn't expecting Michele!  It was so great to see her reaction, and to get to spend time with Michele for a few days.  Michele stayed with us, went to classes with Sara a few times, and we took her downtown one day to see a few sights and do a little shopping, but mainly we just enjoyed our time with her here.  What an encouragement it was to Sara to have Michele here!

Walking through downtown San José with our friend Michele.

It was a very BUSY week (of rest), but we couldn't have been more blessed by it all.  Now, as I'm writing this, we're down to only 40 days in Costa Rica before we come back to the States for a few months!  Be in prayer for:

• The end of our schooling here, that we'll learn as much as possible.
• For Nick as he'll be taking a massive exam at the end of July called the ECHO exam.  It consists of a 30 min oral examination (that must be passed at an 'advanced' level), followed by a 3 hour written exam (that must be passed at a 70 or higher).  Nick really wants to pass this test, so keep that in your prayers.
• Pray for us as we get ready to say goodbye to some amazing friends here in Costa Rica.  The difficult truth is that, for many of these great friends that we've made, we may never see them again this side of heaven as we spread out around the globe to share Christ.  Our goodbyes will be very hard (some of them already have been), but we rejoice in the time that we've had with everyone here.
• Pray for us as we are still seeking more churches to share at when we're back in the USA from August to November.  We are hoping to share about our mission at many new churches, and raise a little more support, but the doors haven't been opening well so far.  Keep this in your prayers, please!

Thank you for your love and prayers, and for remembering us!  

Zoe having one last play date with one of her best friends here, Bethany, before their family leaves for Mexico City this weekend.

One last time being silly before having to say goodbye.