Costa Rica Update

Hello Family and Friends!

     It's been a long time since we last gave everyone an update about our journey to El Salvador...I am sure most of you have thought "Are they really going to leave?" Well to tell you the truth, I personally was starting to question if it was ever going to happen. The great news is that we have finally sold our share of the dental practice.  Phil was able to find a worthy successor to take over the position of delivering the highest level of dental care to all his existing and loyal patients. After several attempts to close the deal to sell the practice, Phil met Dr. Pham through a neighbor's manicurist's sister...now doesn't that sound like a true divine appointment? God has a funny way of just bringing the right people in your path. The manicurist mentioned to our neighbor that her sister's husband was interested in purchasing a dental practice in Orange County. When Phil mentioned it to our neighbor that we were still trying to sell the practice,  Voila, truly a match made in heaven! It really helps that Phil has taken time to get to know all of our neighbors personally.  My mom always jokes that Phil is such a social butterfly, he could almost run for President. It seems like God had a special time for us to go, and that day will be on September 2nd. He was showing us how he took care of all the details and that we just needed to wait for His perfect timing.

     The next answered prayer was finding the right people to rent our home. It was not a coincidence for us to meet a lovely family that lives around our community who were searching for a home to rent by the lake, and who were also willing to move in at the right time before we have to leave.  This family were the only people we felt at peace knowing our home will be left in good hands. Selling the practice and finding renters were the 2 major elements that needed to be set in place so that our family can move forward to our next step which is to attend language school in Costa Rica for 8 months.

     What is language school going to be like? Cincel is a school specifically designed for missionaries who are under the Assemblies of God church, to help us learn Spanish and to have the opportunity to immerse ourselves into the Spanish culture. This is an important requirement in our program because it will help us interact with the people of El Salvador, and will also help us adapt easily to the new environment. Although I lived in a third world country for 20 years, it will still be a new culture and new language that will make everything challenging but also exciting. All we are required to do is to go to school Mondays to Fridays to speak, think, and interact in Spanish. 

     There is also the Sojourn Academy, a school designed for children from kindergarten to elementary school, that does an excellent job in assisting in the transition of missionary kids from English to the Spanish language. We have friends who have young children,  who are currently going through the Cincel and Sojourn program. They have had nothing but awesome stories to share about how fast the kids have adapted to the culture. Selah and Shiloh, being younger than the minimum age when we get there, will be at a day care facility in the same campus that Phil and I will be attending.  

Cincel and its graduates
Photos from www.cincel.org

The students at the Sojourn Academy
Photos from the Sojourn Academy Website

     The next few weeks will be focused on packing and sorting things that we will need to bring for our trip. I guess you can say the long anticipation of this trip has now brought an increased excitement to just finally get things moving. Our hearts are prepared, and our hands are ready for the task involved.  Please keep us in your prayers as we settle the final details such as selling our car, making sure my mom will find a good place to settle down, and to make sure we make the best decisions for our future. We would like to thank all our partners for believing in us, and would love to connect with you before we leave for fellowship and prayer.

     Looking forward to starting this chapter of our lives by obeying God's voice and trusting that God is leading us every step of the way!

Costa Rica...here we come!