Dios Ha Sido Bueno

This Christmas season has given us a chance to do a lot of reflecting & if we have learned one thing, it's that God has been good. He's been faithful. He's blessed us beyond imagination. And He's only just begun . . .

Sometimes, especially during this time of year when we are used to being with family (& also now that we have a new baby nephew), we begin to long for "home." We are tempted to wonder why we are here & if we might be better off back in Ohio . . . and then we start to think about our journey thus far. And it hits us that, wow, God has guided and provided so much in our lives. He has been so good, what reason do we have not to trust Him??

Its an amazing feeling to look back on the last year and see God's goodness in action. To begin with, God has given us this unique opportunity to serve His people in Costa Rica. Leaving in September, we were not entirely sure what life would look like here. And while it has of course been a transition, we can now see the many blessings that He has poured out on us . . . He has kept us safe and healthy. He has given us brothers and sisters in Christ who have encouraged us and kept us laughing. He granted us an enriching experience at the Spanish Language Institute. He helped us adjust to a new town & community. He blessed us with a home and even a car to help us get around. He led us to some fulfilling assignments at LPDV and gave us a vision for next year. He has blessed us with a vibrant church to attend. He has given us ways to stay in touch with our families (and within those families, a love that knows no borders). Through all of it, His hand has been on us.

For this reason, we trust that God will continue to be faithful in our lives as we strive to serve him here in Costa Rica. We're so excited to see where next year leads us!!!

Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers, encouragement, & support. May God richly bless you this Christmas and also give you a chance to reflect on His goodness.


"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
Prov 3:5-6

more mail info . . .

I got some advice from an official Post Office employee, Denise Bardash. Here's some additional information that might help if you're looking to mail something to us (Thanks, Denise!) . . .

"Certified mail is a service only for within the states and not foreign mail. Best way to send in a secure manner and with recorded delivery is by using Registered mail with return-receipt request. Registering requires you. the addressees, to sign for the mailpiece and sign the return receipt, which is then mailed to sender as proof of delivery. Mail piece needs to be secured with tamper-proof paper tape which the window clerk should be able to do for sender or can be purchased at local stores. Any other type of tape is not acceptable as it can be resealed with no evidence of being opened...only paper tape is secure."

Address & Phone Number :)

We finally have an address & phone number! How exciting, huh?
I don't want to post it on the blog here for security reasons, but if for some reason you did not get our email with all of the information, just send us an email at brkandel@hotmail.com & we will be glad to share! Goodnight :)

The view from here!

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope that everyone is doing well, with full stomachs & full hearts . . .

I am happy to share with you all that we have settled into our new apartment & it's beginning to feel a little like home. We are getting to know San Antonio de Belen, the bus routes, and the good places to buy pinapple (very important). We have been involved in a few different areas at the school (many many English placement interviews, some staff meetings, and some other miscellaneous work). We also had a neat experience serving with a bible school/food ministry for poor children in a city close to here. . . Overall this month has been an amazing opportunity to meet new people and to see God at work in the lives of many.

Thought we'd share some pictures with you so you can get an idea of life here . . .

Our apartment:
(the view from our bedroom on a clear morning)
(the view from our bedroom on a rainy afternoon - where did the mountains go??)

The bus stop (about a 5 minute walk from our house) & the surrounding neighborhood:


A street in downtown Belen:
The beautiful Catholic Church in Belen:

Our Thanksgiving Celebration:

(Robin with another missionary teacher, Kristin)

Thanks to everyone for your support through all of this! We wouldn't be here without you!!

Moved again!!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we are pretty much settled into our new apartment in San Antonio de Belen. We managed to find some furniture, washer-dryer, fridge, stove, and a couple of other things. Still far to go to make it a home . . . We also have been working on getting internet and phone and whatnot, and it´s been a little frustrating, but now we can proudly say we are owners of a cell phone line! It was too difficult to try to get a land line here. . .
Anyways, we have been doing some things at the school so far this week, mainly observing and helping out with classes. This weekend we are going to help out with some entrance testing and interviewing, which should be fun. They have several other projects that they´d like us to help out with, so we will definitely be busy over their break, which is a good thing!
We really think we are going to like it here, and praise God for his provision. Please continue to pray for us as we seek God´s guidance for our work here. Thanks to everyone for all of the encouragement with comments, emails, and prayer. We really appreciate it & miss you all!!

Moving on . . .

Tomorrow is our last day of classes at the Spanish Language Institute. In many ways, we are excited and in other ways, it's difficult . . .
It's taken us longer than we expected to feel comfortable where we are, but I'd have to say that we have somewhat settled into San Francisco de Dos Rios. We have really been blessed with a loving host family and have had some wonderful opportunities to get to know them. They say that they are sad to see us go, and we can honestly say the same. We've also had a neat experience at the language school, with some fun classmates and excellent professors. We've marveled at the beauty of the mountains in the morning. We've figured out where we can go to get notebooks, shampoo, and some great coffee. And its all flown by. . .
Monday we leave this area & with some help from some missionaries close to LPDV school, we should be into our condo by Wednesday. We're still working out some minor details, such as: how do we get electricity, where should we get a fridge, and when can we get our keys?? We know though, that God has it all under control. We're so thrilled to be on our own, and to begin our work at LPDV, but we know that its going to be another transition. We'll need to learn all about San Antonio de Belen and how life flows over there. We'll need to learn how to be somewhat self-sufficient in our own home. We'll need to learn where and how God wants to use us at LPDV. But we are excited because we know God has called us to this life and that He is faithful. There have been a couple instances which have prompted me to think about going home this week (the fact that many of the students are going home now that they're done with language school, and also the fact that we had a return flight that we weren't able to exchange that flew out today). A part of me thought, how awesome would it be to go home where I am comfortable and see all of the people that I love??? But much of me thought, I don't think I would feel fulfilled going home now. Our journey is just beginning.

Please continue to pray for us as we take this next step in our mission. Please pray specifically for:
- Our individual relationships with the Lord (We want to be fully equipped for our mission.)
- Our relationship with each other (I don't think we've ever spent this much time together & while it's great, it's something new for us.)
- Our daily safety (There have been a couple of incidents in our neighborhood here and we don't know exactly what the area we are moving to will be like.)
- Our move to the condo (That we would find all that we need to make a home.)
- Our move to Belen (That we would get to know the area and also make new friendships within the community.)
- God's guidance in our roles at LPDV

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement, we deeply value all of it.
God's peace be with you . . . goodnight

We´re still here!

In case anyone was wondering, we are still alive and well! We have been getting used to the area and school, and are beginning to feel a bit more at home here (about the time we have to move again). We have been plenty busy with schoolwork, but we´ve been enjoying our time at the institute. We got our first test back today and it wasn´t too bad! Well, I wish I had more time, but my hour at the cafe is running out. . .for a more detailed and exciting blog, check out Bryan´s Blog. He´s way better at this thing than me!
We miss you all. Please continue to pray for us as we continue at the spanish language institute and also look for a house on the other side of town. Thanks & ¡Que Dios Los Bendiga!

Stopping by to say hi . . .

Hi everyone! I'm too lazy right now to email all of our groups, so I hope you continue checking this blog and Bryan's for updates . . .

Let's see, where to begin??

We can start with our host family. It has been nice getting to know them and talk with them. Like Bryan said, we are living with a nice woman and her daughter of 17 yrs. They are Christians and very very faithful. They have taken us around San Jose and have been willing to help us out however they can. They have also continued to feed us WAY more food than we (I) need, which is nice, but can get to be overwhelming after a while. I think I've finally communicated that I don't need as much as Bryan!

We live about 5-10 minutes from the school. It's nice to walk around. We've also managed to make it to a few stores, this internet cafe, a mall, and other places. The neighborhood is very close to downtown, but kind of suburban (though not like the suburbs you would think of in the US, still very busy).

We started language school on Monday. I was happy to make it into the same level as Bryan, as he has been teaching and knows more than me. We are alone in our grammar class, which is nice, but also intense. We are in a conversation class with another man named Rob, who is here with his wife. They took us out tonight for coffee. I guess you could consider them like parents because of the age difference, but we always seem to identify with people older than us. Anyways, the classes are what they are called - "intensive." Our conversation teacher has already given us way more assignments than I needed to know we were going to be doing. However, I think it is going to be a good experience for us. I am just mentally exhausted when we get out at 3:15. Bryan however, gets excited about the assignments - he may be just a little bit too much of an overachiever for me!! haha

I'm not sure what else to say, since we really haven't been here for too long yet. Please please continue to pray for us (thanks for the prayers thus far) - we are still missing home and family quite a bit, we've had bouts with cockroaches that we're not too thrilled about, and I have been getting very tired by the end of the day (which by the way is at like 5:30 when the sun sets here!! it also rises around 5:30 am . . .weird, i know). Please also pray for our safety, while out walking or on buses, and also while at home. We know that God has called us to this place, and want to fulfill that call with joyful hearts. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement through email, blog comments, and prayer, please keep it coming!! We love you much . . .goodnight!

ps - I was able to watch Monday Night Football to see the Eagles beat the Packers, so that was nice. I didn't think that would happen (capacity to watch real football in CR, not the fact that the Eagles won!)

We are here!

Hey all! This blog is going to be pretty short, as we are using internet cafes for internet right now. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are here and doing well. We´re living with a very nice host family, and start language school on Monday. Please continue to pray for us as we get to know the area, start school, and begin looking for a more permanent place to live. Thanks & God Bless!!

PS - Bryan also posted on his blog, if you click on his link below (to the right). I have no idea what he wrote, but check in there to see if he gave you more info than me!!

This is it!!!

I'm taking a break from all of the craziness to let everyone know that we are leaving for Costa Rica in less than a week!!! Wow, when did that happen?? It's actually funny because we've been planning this for oh, 4 years, and somehow I still feel like this snuck up on me!!

But yes, it's official, we will be leaving for Miami at 7:15 on Monday, Sept 25th and finally arriving in beautiful Costa Rica at 12:35 on Wednesday, Sept 27th (we have to stop in the LAM office before leaving). So, this week for us looks to be full of packing, moving, gathering up all of the important stuff that we need, last minute things, anxious anticipation, enjoying the rest of our time here, and of course some very difficult goodbyes. We just want to say thanks to our friends and family who have been incredibly supportive of us through all of this. Please continue to pray for us, especially during this time of transition. We believe that God has an amazing plan for us in Costa Rica, and can't wait to see it begin to unfold.

Please keep in touch with us & we promise to do the same - we should be able to email and post updates fairly often. Also, if anyone would like to say goodbye, there will be a party on Saturday evening. . . . let us know if you are interested.

3 weeks away!!

Hello again! Well, so now that Bryan has discovered the wonderful world of blogging (check it out - you can use the new link on this page), he has been severely showing me up in the frequency category. So here is my attempt to update you all, to let you know how we are coming along!

Yes, it's true, we only have 3 weeks until we will be in Miami, getting ready to leave for Costa Rica on the 27th. Our plane tickets are booked and we are now running all over the place trying to get things set. We're making our lists, and checking them 20 times. It seems like every day something new pops up. Right now we are just trying to make sure that our first month of language school is set, and that we will have all of the important things that we need. Being the procrastinator that I am, it's really hard for me to think about packing right now, but I know that I need to get things done because the time that we have here is just going to fly.

Other than getting ready to leave, Bryan's played a few shows, I've been on the loooooong road of wisdom teeth recovery, we've been babysitting our nephew Jeremiah (now that we're "unemployed"), and honestly, I don't even know what else we've been doing!!! We've been plenty busy though, and ask that you continue to pray for us.

Here are a couple of prayer points:
- That we would be aware of all of the things that we need to take care of before leaving.
- That we will be fully supported by the time we leave (we are really close!).
- That Bryan has a happy birthday (26 on the 6th)!
- That I would fully recover from the wisdom teeth/throat pain ASAP.
- That all remaining tests and health insurance will work out.
- That God would prepare us for Costa Rica & Costa Rica for us!! :)

Thanks & Have a Blessed Week!!!

News!

Hello again :) I know we are really bad at keeping this updated, we have just been soo busy . . . we are thinking that things may be starting to slow down just a bit for us before they get crazy again! Here's what's been happening in our lives:
Bryan has been busy talking with LAM to get some things worked out, babysitting our cute little nephew Jeremiah, and going on long long bike rides trying to outdo himself!! I (Robin) just worked my last day at Nationwide on Friday (phew) and am thinking about all of the things I need to do now that I have my days free! Before I can do any of that, we're leaving this Saturday for a family vacation to Florida (woohoo!) just relaxing in Ft. Myers. We are very excited :) Once we come back from that, we have weddings galore, doctors appts (including me getting my wisdom teeth out - scary!), and really starting to get ready to leave!

So how are we doing with support & when are we leaving?? Like I said above, Bryan has been working hard with LAM to try to get things figured out.
As far as support goes, we were able to actually lower our required support level, and we are a LOT closer than we thought!! In order to leave, we only need about $210 a month more (about $5,000 total). We are confident that God will be faithful to provide as he has done already.
We were also able to set a goal date for leaving - we need to be settled in down in Costa Rica by October 2nd (so we will probably leave about a week ahead of time). For the first 4 weeks, we will be going through an intensive language class just to brush up on our skills & to learn any dialects or culture that we don't yet know. After that, we will be able to begin work at the school!!
We are so excited & almost can't believe that this is finally happening. We've been talking about this for probably about 4 years, and God is now saying, yes, the timing is right, you are ready. It's thrilling and scary at the same time! Please continue to pray for us as we get down to crunch time. :)

I'll leave you with another tidbit of news: We just found out that we are going to be getting another little nephew in December (I got to watch the ultrasound last Thursday - pretty amazing!).

We hope you all have a great week & we'll be back in another week or so to update you . . .peace

We're back!!

Please forgive us for not updating this blog more often . . .we promise to get better at this!!! I just wanted to share this latest update email that Bryan sent out to some people. We are still working on getting our email list together, so if you didn't receive this one, we haven't forgotten about you. We hope all is well with everyone & that you have a great Memorial Day weekend. Anyways, here it is:

Dear family and friends,
Greetings in the love of Christ. We hope this email finds you well. We are very busy at this time of year, and we imagine that many of you are too. Robin is finishing up a training class at work and is working up to twelve hours a day. Bryan is finishing up school and baseball and is also working long days. We are writing for a couple reasons.
First of all, we want to let you know about an upcoming fundraising dinner at our church. Our Sunday School class is hosting a dinner to raise support for our ministry in Costa Rica. The dinner will be at 5:00 on Saturday June 3rd at Christ United Methodist Church in Louisville, OH. The church is located at 600 E. Gorgas St. in Louisville. Feel free to write and request detailed directions. A meal of hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salads and desserts will be served. We will not be selling tickets, but we will take donations at the door. All the money earned will go towards our trip. Along with the dinner, entertainment will be provided. Bryan along with two friends Tony and Andy Wolfe will be playing music from the cd that they recently released. We will also be selling the cds that evening. Half of the profits from sales of the cd will go towards our trip as well. For more information about the cd, check out: www.wolfeandkandel.com We will also be available to talk about our trip and answer any questions you have that evening. If you have any questions about the dinner, please let us know. We realize that this is a busy time of year, but we hope to see many of you there.
The second purpose of this email is to update you on our support raising. We have been working to raise support for our trip for nearly a year now. The process has not been easy, but it has given us the opportunity to travel to many places and tell others about the ministry God has set before us. We've been blessed by many financial donations, prayers and encouraging letters. Currently, we have nearly 50% of our financial support collected or pledged. We are excited to have nearly half our support raised, but we realize there is much work left to do. We are still working hard to raise the 100% of support that Latin America Mission requires before we can depart for Costa Rica. We hope to leave at the end of August of this year. If you have any questions about our trip or our support raising efforts, please don't hesitate to ask. You can email us, write to us or call us. We would be glad to hear from you and answer any questions you may have. If you are interested in making a donation, checks can be made to "Latin America Mission" and sent to: Latin America Mission PO Box 52-7900 Miami, FL 33152 If you send in a check, please include a note that states that the money is for us, but do not write our names on the check (for tax purposes). If you prefer, you can send the check to us and we will send it to LAM. Also, if you are interested in receiving a pledge card from us, let us know. Pledge cards can be used to pledge an amount of money each month. Thank you and God Bless you. We hope to see many of you on June 3rd. For those of you who can't be at the dinner, we would love to hear from you.

We're getting there!

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd leave you with a little update. . .
The title of this blog is in reference to a couple different things:
1 being that this website is slowly evolving. I'm still working on a couple of other things, like adding in our slideshow of pictures from Costa Rica. Hopefully it'll be there soon, so keep checking in!
2 being that we're getting closer and closer to leaving for Costa Rica. Although we don't have a real date firmed up yet, we're confident that the Lord will provide for us to leave by early September.
Other than that, both of us remain insanely busy at this time of year. I've been working very long days and Bryan is starting baseball, along with playing coffee houses & whatnot for his new CD. It's been fun!!

All in all, we're ready for this craziness that we call life right now to calm down so that it can get crazy again (but maybe in a better way?).

We're glad you stopped by our site & hope you find it helpful & interesting. Let me know if there's something else you feel that it's missing. Otherwise, just leave us some love here!!!

New Link!!

Ok, so we haven't been quite as quick as I'd hoped in getting this thing up and running. But, if you look, you'll notice that I did add something new tonight. On the right, there is a link for Prayer Requests. If you click on it, you can read some of the joys & concerns we currently have. Enjoy! & thanks . . .