Preparing to Say Goodbye

     We only have two weeks left before Graduation Day! As this important day fast approaches, we face bittersweet emotions. Although we are very excited to see our family and friends back in California, we are also sad to leave a country that has grown very close to our hearts. We also need to stop by California to fix all our paperwork and important documents to prepare for our 2 year journey to El Salvador. Costa Rica will leave an unforgettable mark in our lives that we will cherish forever.  

    From the moment we arrived up to this very moment, we have felt the warmth and acceptance of the Costa Ricans.  A fellow missionary asked me the other day, "What is it about Costa Rica that I will miss?" I responded to her that I will miss the community that we experienced here at CINCEL. The friends that we have gained through language school have become almost like family to us.  It is not always easy to find a community where everyone gets along, but with the staff and fellow missionaries here at CINCEL, we have found a community that is filled with harmony, servanthood, friendship, and love.  With fervent prayer, we have prayed for a community that would help each other through cultural integration and the obstacles of language learning. God has provided grandparents, uncles, aunts, sisters, and brothers for our children that have been a huge blessing to help them transition through this big change. Some say it takes a village to raise your kids, and we have found that to be true here in Costa Rica. Without this community, adjusting into a different culture would have been very difficult.

     Coming from a crazy lifestyle where Phil and I worked crazy hours, it was very hard to spend quality time with each other. Living in Costa Rica for the last 8 months has allowed us to learn Spanish; to appreciate the Latin American culture; and to value the precious time that we got to spend with each other throughout this entire journey which is so far from over.  As our season at CINCEL draws to an end, we still have to prepare ourselves for the real mission ahead which is our trip to El Salvador this May 2016.  Although we have learned the Costa Rican culture, it will be a completely different experience trying to learn the Salvadorian culture.  

     Despite the differences between these countries, it was important that we learned an important foundation of cultural integration which is to Listen, Observe, and Apply. We learned to listen to how the locals speak;  we learned to observe the locals customs and traditions; and we learned to apply the lessons that we learned in class. 

     The key to adapting to this culture was to be intentional about hanging out with people who only speak Spanish. Even if we knew they could speak and understand English, we still chose to speak to the locals in Spanish. We are so thankful to the Costa Rican families that we have met, and so amazed by how gracious and patient they have been to help us understand their culture.  In addition to learning their culture, we have also learned to adapt and humble ourselves to the concepts that we thought we already knew, and to accept that we are still constantly learning and understanding new things every day that can never be taught in a classroom or a textbook. Living life amongst the Latin American people is the best classroom we could ever have. 

     An important lesson we have learned from this entire experience is that our family can be content in any circumstance.  The Bible says in Philippians 4:12-13, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

     Before we left for Costa Rica, I personally thought that I would not be able to get through this with our girls. Phil has been a rock and a pillar of faith throughout this entire experience.  Although Phil and I had so much disunity about coming here, I am happy to announce that God can change hearts.  The real testimony behind all this is that God is able to bring unity in marriages, in friendships, and in church communities, if and only if we choose to seek His will ahead of our own will, and to trust that God is in perfect control.  The moment we surrender and release our dreams and desires to Him, we will then only experience complete freedom and peace.  

     Despite all the amazing breakthroughs, we ask for your continued support and prayers for the following:

1. Open doors for a safe and comfortable home in El Salvador.

2. Wisdom on which school to choose for our children.

3. Continuous monthly support for our term in El Salvador till 2018.

4. Opportunities to share the Gospel and help those who are in need.

5. Protection from any sickness or health issues.

6. Supernatural comprehension of the Spanish language.

     Thank you to all our partners.  We are humbled by how God has provided for us to finish language school and proceed to serve in El Salvador this coming May. 

     We will post a final update on our final exams, also known as ECOS. This is a test to measure how much we have learned in the past 8 months here at CINCEL.  We take our studies very seriously because we know that this is an important tool to communicate with the people from El Salvador.  We are far from becoming fluent, but we have come a long way from where we started, and we are forever grateful for that! Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Blessings,

The Gendreaus -Phil, Mia, Selah, and Shiloh

At Punta Leona, Costa Rica

Our Time Here in CINCEL is Coming to an End

      We are in the middle of our second semester here at CINCEL.  It feels a little odd being the veterans here on campus. We have a smaller group compared to last semester,  but we are enjoying our time getting to know everyone personally. Although we had so much fun with all our missionary friends from our first semester, we are also blessed to have so much fun with a smaller group this semester. God has found ways to help us experience different seasons and different perspectives so that our family can learn and understand how we can be content in all things. The girls have experienced so much love and care this semester. We are so overwhelmed how God has put so many amazing people here to help us grow and discover the importance of family. With a smaller group, which we like to call the power of 7, it is easy to become more intentional and purposeful with one another. Here are the powerful missionaries of  CINCEL 2016 First Tri:

The Castros- Brian and Michel Castro are missionaries called to serve in Santiago, Chile. They have a passion to share the gospel to  students in universities. The are part of the Chi Alpha group, and they also have an amazing talent in photography and making videos. We pray that their ministry will soar and that they will be able to use all their giftings in their future ministry! 

Beth Shaffer- a former fourth grade teacher who is here as a missionary called to serve in the country of Ecuador. She will be working with an indigenous tribe known as the Quicha.  She has a passion for helping women find their identities in Christ. Our children often refer to her as Beth Shaker, which could be a prophetic name that could mean that she will be shaking dimensions of this world to stir up passion for the love of Christ! 

Beth Ellen Glenn- our dear missionary friend who has received a call from God to also serve in Ecuador in the administrative side of the mission field. She is an intelligent woman who loves the Lord with all her heart, and is admirable for her devotion and obedience to follow God's call on her life. My heart has connected so much with Beth Ellen because we have so much in common, and we are so excited to see how God is going to use our friendship to further His kingdom! 

Last but certainly not the least...

Kiersten Hakes- Kiersten is another veteran student here at CINCEL.  Her ministry is to serve the people of Nicaragua. Kiersten is part of our family... she is an aunt to our children, and she is priceless beyond measure. Kiersten is so many things that one could write pages and pages of all the wonderful things God has used her to touch people's lives, but to try to wrap it up in one word for me, she is truly " Irreplaceable! ". Her wisdom is definitely way past her years and her love for the Lord is pure and genuine. We love you Kiersten! 

Honorable Mentions:

The Selers- Denny and Debby, directors of CINCEL, have been a tremendous blessing to us. They may be our directors, but they have a genuine servant's heart. They have also been the grandparent figures for our daughters here at CINCEL.  We have the utmost respect for these two leaders, and we are so thankful for all they do for the students.

Jeremy Wootten- Assistant to the director, CINCEL also known as "The Enforcer." We appreciate Jeremy for all the things he does here at CINCEL. We often refer him as the "glue" that holds everything together. Thank you for all that you do.

     There are 8 more weeks to go before we graduate, and I am already discarding items that we won't need to bring back to the U.S. We are also planning our food purchases to make sure that we don't leave an excess of food behind. Costa Rica has been a wonderful experience, and our girls have learned to call this place home...of course you know the saying " Home is where your heart is... where we can also say,  Home is where  mommy and daddy is...or Home is where our toys live...

      It has hit me by surprise how attached I have become to this amazing country.  As our semester is speedily coming to an end, we want to thank everyone who have been faithfully praying and partnering with us through these months of learning Spanish, and to prepare ourselves for the real journey ahead of us which is the journey to El Salvador.

Work Day at CINCEL

    

CINCEL Academy

      Once every semester,  we have a "Work Day" at CINCEL where we all get a chance to help do different projects to make sure the campus stays nice and clean. For this semester, we had a chance to rake and sweep the yard where all the children play, to remove any leftover debris such as glass and nails from the previous construction. We also cleaned laundry rooms, painted walls, power-washed and re-painted gates that have not been touched since the day the campus was built somewhere around 1991. It was a pleasure to see how much work was done, and what a difference it made afterwards. We wanted to make sure CINCEL looks its very best! Here are a few pictures from our "Work Day."

Girls Adjusting to Costa Rican Life

      The girls have overwhelmed us with how well they have adjusted through all these changes. From having over 13 missionary kids here from last semester, to being the only 2 students here in CINCEL, they have shown that they can thrive in various situations. The girls miss their buddies from last semester, but they have been doing well adjusting to the change since they constantly receive so much love from the entire student body. They have gained spiritual aunts, uncles, and grandparents here at CINCEL.

      In the last 6 months, we have learned how to go to church, stores, and various places using the public transporation systems (bus and taxi),  we have learned to  interact with the locals here in Costa Rica using the Spanish that we learned so far, and we have also learned to adapt to the customs and traditions of Costa Rican life..

For instance:

1. When riding a taxi, you do not slam the door when entering and leaving the taxi because it shows disrespect.  You have to gently close the door.

2. When entering a room, it is mandatory to greet every single person in the room to show that you appreciate each person. This is sometimes hard for most Northern Americans since we are accustomed to entering a room quietly making sure we don't disturb others if they are in a middle of a conversation. 

3. Never yell at someone from across the room/street. You must always walk closer to the person that you want to speak with so that you can talk to them using a normal tone of voice.

4. Never speak to someone in English if you are in a room with other people who speak in Spanish.

5. The hardest thing was to make sure you throw all toilet paper in the trash can, and never inside the toilet to avoid having any plumbing issues.

     It takes a while to get used to all the changes, but after six months, everything becomes part of your routine. These are just a few things we all learned to adjust to living here in Central America. The kids are learning values and concepts that we would have never had a chance to teach them if we did not come here to Costa Rica, and we are so grateful for this privilege. Thank you for your prayers for smooth transitions and supernatural peace and acceptance through all the changes!

           Here are some photos of the girls :)

An Opportunity to Serve

     This February, Phil had the opportunity to serve for a few days at a health fair in Orozi, Costa Rica. He worked with a team of medical and health professionals from Canada, United States and Costa Rica representing the Global Outreach Mission Organization.  The team saw about 130 - 200 patients per day.  Phil was able to do several exams, extractions and fillings. In addition, he also had a chance to pray for the patients.  Many people had a chance to come to know Christ during this event.  The patients were so grateful for the dental care that they received.  Some people showed their appreciation by either offering  food that they grew in their own farms. Some people invited us to come to their homes to have a meal with them in the future.  Others expressed their appreciation through physical gestures such as hand shakes, hugs, kisses on the cheek, or just a simple "thank you" because they could not afford to give anything else.

   Thank you so much for all of your prayers and giving for making this possible. This ministry would not have been possible without you. Participating in this event allowed patients to receive dental care, love through community, and the message of Jesus Christ. 

     Phil and few other missionaries  have also been going out to the streets to share the message of Jesus Christ. Despite the language barrier, the Lord is still able to use this opportunity to bring healing to the sick, to plant seeds in people's hearts, and to bring new family members into the family of Christ. Last week , Phil prayed for a man named Geraldo who has been dealing with severe back pain. After several prayers, all of his back pain left and he is now feeling better. We praise God for his complete healing. We are constantly looking for  more opportunities to reach out to our local community. 

Photo with a happy patient who received
dental care and Dr. Kyle, a pediatric dentist

Another happy patient and Dr. Ronald de Paz,
a retired pediatric dentist from Costa Rica

We also had the privilege of taking
care of this young girl

Some members of the medical and dental team that we worked with

Our photo with the gardener who we witnessed
to while in a park in Costa Rica

We went out to the streets to witness about
Jesus Christ and the people have been receptive

We are thankful to have this opportunity
to share about Christ's message to the
people in the local community

                                         

Our Family Photos

    We were so excited to have had the opportunity to take some family photos here in Costa Rica. These pictures were taken by, Amber Oliver, a fellow missionary, who is very talented and creative in any form of art you can think of. She has an excellent eye when taking photos, and she is great at painting pictures, creating DIY crafts, and even baking yummy pastries! Amber, her husband Robert, and her daughter Briana have been a blessing to our family. They are currently serving as missionaries in Ecuador.  We are so happy that we got a chance to know them during their time at CINCEL, and we are so thankful for these family pictures that we will treasure forever!

Feliz Año Nuevo

      After classes ended, we had to say goodbye to a lot of missionaries that we got to know when we first arrived here in Costa Rica. Most of them had completed their term here at CINCEL, and they were ready to leave and serve on the field that God has called them. We were sad to see them go; however, we were excited for all of them to start their journey in their own mission countries.  

Photos with our missionary friends

Saying goodbye to the graduating students' kids

      It felt almost like a ghost town here at CINCEL over the Christmas break. We thought it was going to be a long and lonely vacation, but surprisingly we were able to do a lot of things together as a family, and we were  also able to spend some good quality time with each other playing, painting, and (would you believe)... studying our previous Spanish lessons. We are eager to learn the language, so we tried to practice our vocabulary with the locals as much as possible and also practiced conjugating verbs with each other as often as we could.  We were also able to visit a few local spots here in Costa Rica, and we also got to spend a whole week with Phil's mom, dad, and sister, Isabelle. Our girls were excited to spend time with their grandparents and aunt while they were here in Costa Rica. What a blessing it was for them to be here with us. 

     Spending Christmas and New Year in Costa Rica was a great experience. The Ticos are known to be very warm and hospitable. We got to try their traditional food known as tamal which is almost similar to tamales from Mexico except that the tamal has a slightly different flavor, and it is wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks. 

Costa Rican tamal!
Photo from www.caroincarolina.com

    Fireworks are also popular here during the Christmas and New Year season. You can see a few fireworks every night, and on the actual eve of Christmas and New Year, you will see and hear them everywhere in the city..unlike in the States, fireworks are only allowed in certain cities. When  we asked a few locals how they celebrate Christmas and New Year, most of them said they  either go to the beach, or go camping. Living in the States, we think about snow,  scarves, beanies,  and cold weather, but when you are a Costa Rican, you think about spending Christmas with the sun and sand. It was fun to experience Christmas in a warmer and more tropical environment.

Costa Rican New Year!
Photo from informationcostarica.weebly.com

     Now that the holidays are over, we are ready to start a new semester. We are expecting 4 new missionaries to join us this semester. It will be a smaller group since we will be 7 adults and 2 kids compared to last semester  having  over 25 students in total. It will be different for us,  but we look forward to the opportunity of having deeper connections with everybody!  

    We are thankful for the time that we have spent here, and also we are thankful for the new semester ahead of us.  We are so blessed for God's provision and also for all our partners for helping us make this dream a reality. There are 3 1/2 months left until we graduate! 

     Thank you for staying with us on this journey, and we pray that the Lord will continue to bless you and your families this year 2016.  

      Happy New Year from the Gendreaus!