The Year in Review

It was an eventful year for us in Costa Rica--so eventful, in fact, that we're now in Dallas on a two-month break due to burnout! A supporting church in Dallas, Highland Park Presbyterian, has a house across the street for its missionaries to stay in when stateside, so we're taking advantage of the opportunity.

The year 2011 began with us receiving $5700 in seed money from the church here in Dallas for a construction project in Tejarcillos. More gifts from other churches and individuals would follow. We're still not finished--the cost overruns have been mind-boggling--but we do have a functioning facility for the ministry now.

A local couple named Fran and Ileana has been working with us for about six years now. Under their leadership the children's program had grown from 15 to about 50 kids. Tejarcillos is a tough place to do ministry. For a while there was a gang of teenage thugs that would wait for folks at the bus stop in front of Fran and Ileana's house and rob them when they got off the bus. When the gang was out, parents kept their children home from the kids' club. Folks would call the police, but they seldom responded. Eventually, the cops started cracking down and the gang became less brazen.

Two weeks before we came to Dallas, I was leading the adults' Bible study at the ministry center when we heard what sounded like firecrackers outside. We hoped that's what the sound was, but in vain. Another young man had been gunned down in the heart of the neighborhood. When we had our kids' program three nights later, half of the children stayed home due to the parents' fear of flying bullets.

But the news is far from all bad.

The kids' program had outgrown the space we had built for them on Fran and Ileana's back patio, and something had to be done to accomodate them. No matter how inadequate the facilities were, they just kept on coming! So we finally decided to gut the existing house, build an upstairs for the family to live in, and use the entire downstairs for the ministry.

Fran, Ileana, and their two daughters Naomi and Fiorela moved out to the back patio (it was walled and covered) in April and lived there until September while we built the upstairs. The second floor is almost finished now, and the downstairs is gradually becoming a kid-friendly ministry center.

We're down to $150 in the construction fund and hope to raise more funds and start putting the finishing touches together in March.

This was actually the second construction project we had undertaken in less than six months.

Fran's mother Norma had been in poor health and had to go live with with them. They had already taken in granddaughter Alexa, so Norma had to share a small bedroom with her, Naomi and Fiorela. First Presbyterian Church of DeLand, Florida provided the funds to build a bedroom for Norma. This was a powerful testimony to Norma of God's love and it opened the door for Ileana to lead her to Christ. The last month of Norma's life showed a marked change in her. She went to be with the Lord in January.

But the first month of 2011 left us no inkling of the workload that Martha would face...

Buen Pastor women's prison was literally falliong off a cliff, so they moved several hundred women to other prisons while they built new facilities. Martha and co-leader Barbara continued to have Celebrate Recovery classes at Buen Pastor with the women who remained. Meanwhile...

Several of the women landed at a prison called La Reforma over an hour away from our house. They asked the prison to provide a Celebrate Recovery program for them, so Martha ended up taking Celebrate Recovery to both prisons. At La Reforma, Martha co-leads Celebrate with an inmate from South Africa named Loriette. Loriette completed the program at the other prioson and is a changed woman.

2011 also saw two prison riots. Martha had the opportunity to counsel some of the women in the aftermath. One riot ensued when the roommate of one of the women in the program died due to gross negligence on the part of the prison staff.

But Martha's work didn't just double with the prison transfers. She also continued to support and mentor women who were given "half time release."

One of these women was Dana from Romania. When an inmate has served half her sentence, she becomes eligible to go live and work with a family in order to reintegrate gradually into society.

But...

the program is subject to abuse...

Dana went to a family that had her sharing a bedroom with a man and working in their restaurant thirteen hours a day, seven days a week. Martha and I went to meet with the Romanian consul (there's no Romanian embassy in Costa Rica; a local Costa rican businessman serves as consul), who promiosed to recify the situation. Dana endured two more months of exploitation by her "host family" before the consul hired her on as an administrator for his own family's farm.

Dana is thrinving in her new situation and is now supporting and helping care for other inmates at the prison.

Dana, however, was just one of many folks we tried to help in 2011 whose survival depended on being exploited.

The Nexus group faithfully made its rounds ministering to prostitutes on Wednesdays throughout the year. Most of them seemed genuinely glad to see us. Some walked the other way or said they were too busy to talk. Every night was an adventure. The year ended with a Christmas banquet for them at the church offices. We had already come to Dallas, however, and so could not attend.

Caleb turned 14 and made good grades at the rigorous Collegio Metodista (Methodist School). He served in student government and takes guitar and tuba. He attended two youth groups weekly, one in English and one in Spanish, plus a weekly Bible study. He overtook his dad in height this year.

Joseph turned six this past year. He has a knack for reading and art. A painting of his, called "El Aquario" (The Aquarium) was chosen to represent his school in a city-wide art show in October.

Martha and I tried to take a date on Mondays whenever possible. I got certified in scuba and we're now both Open Water divers.

Martha enjoyed good health and had no new signs of cancer.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! May you have a happy and blessed new year!