Pablo & Judi Kauffman

On Tue, Jan. 22 we flew to Costa Rica. This is the land where Juid & I met (many long years ago!), so it's kind of special to us. Not only is the place special, there are very special people here, such as Victoria Vargas, with whom we stayed. She has a guest room she calls the "Elisha room." She made us feel right at home.

Her nephew (and good friend of our son Kirk) Dave Diller Jr., wife Christina and daughter Mavie are here for three months and are living next door to Vicky. We had breakfast with them just about every morning. Dave's mother, Mayela, would be impressed with her son's gallo pinto (a special mixture of rice & beans). We were! Little Mavie is a doll!

Another friend, Martin Matamoros, picked us up at the airport, drove us around, and was in short, a super friend and host. Martin is a retired lawyer from the criminal justiice court, is pastor of the New Covenant church, and is interim president of the Costa Rican Mennonite conference. He's pictured here with wife Dolores.

We spend a day with DeLynn, Gloria and Carmelinda Hoover. Judi is kind of a grandma to Carmelinda since her real grandma, Doris Stauffer, passed away in 2006. They went out on the town together. D G & C are pictured here on the porch of "Elijah's Cave," the campground where groups spend the first 3 days of their 9-day "Pura Vida Missions" adventure. The porch, by the way, was built by a family missions/work team from Shiloh the summer of 2005, of which Judi and I were a part.

Judi & I got a chance to visit Jose Maria ("Chepe") Lizano, a friend of Judi's from VS days. Three years ago Chepe was paralyzed from the neck down from a gunshot while being robbed. He's pictured here with Judi and Anabelle, a good friend who worked with Judi for a time in a clinic down on the Caribbean coast, near Chepe's former home.

Ray & Susie Schlabach were one of the two missionary couples sent by RMM to Costa Rica in 1961. They lived in the Talamanca region of the county where Ray worked in translating the Bible into the Bribri language while doing church planting (or was it the other way around?!). The New Testament in Bribri was finally finished and published late in 2007. Ray and Susie have retired in Heredia, Costa Rica.

The main reason we came to Costa Rica was for Ken Miller & Dailey Mora's wedding. Ken is a longtime friend, fellow VSer with Judi in Costa Rica, fellow missionary in Ecuador, and just a good fellow all around! The wedding was held in a beautiful outdoor setting among trees, flowers, many friends, family and well-wishers. It was a special joy to be here to share in this special day with Ken & Dailey.

Toward the end of the reception a trio came to serenade the wedding guests, and Martin got them to sing "Las Mañaitas" for us.

Tomorrow we head for Nicaragua for a week to help out on an eye team. Maybe we can post something from there.

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On Jan. 11 we left for Florida, spending the weekend in Tallahassee, where we shared the vision for Spain at Berean Mennonite Fellowship on Sunday morning and in the afternoon at the Spanish service. John and Edith Nissley are the pastors there.

Steve, their son, was in Ecuador with us for a couple years, where he became enamored with a young lady there, Karina, who became his wife. They are in Tallahassee, where Steve serves as assistant pastor at Berea. Their children are, in order of age, Kristi, Stephen, Kelly and K____ I can't remember her name! Olga, Karina's mom, is visiting them from Ecuador.

We then headed further south to Sarasota for a busy week of meeting people and sharing the Spain vision with them. It was good to see friends from Plain City, as well. Below is Rick & Connie Beachy. He changed Kenton's diaper when Kenton was 2 yrs. old. Rick is now assistant pastor at Abundant Life.

Fran & Elma Overholt go way back with us. Fran was my teacher at Sarasota Christian, we sang together in the Ambassadors Quartet, and now he is one of the elders at Abundant Life.

Some past and present Plain City-ites.

I even took time to do a little fishing and caught one about the size of the one Dave Troyer caught.

Now we head to Costa Rica for Ken Miller's wedding on the 27th, then to Nicaragua for a week to help out on an eye team. After that we'll be back in Sarasota for about a half week before heading for OH on Feb. 11. By then we hope to know something about the status of the visas. Stay tuned...

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Getting ready for Spain started in earnest on Sept. 16, 2007, with an evening farewell in which a number of people said nice and encouraging things. We then set off for PA, DE and VA to visit churches and see family. In early November we were blessed with a family vacation to Vevay, IN (see picture below), for which Shiloh so kindly provided.

Here is a better picture of Malia, born on Oct. 14.

By then we realized our scheduled departure in late Nov. was going to be delayed due to a snag in applying for visas, so we were able to participate in pre-Christmas activities and finally apply for our visas in Chicago on Dec. 21. Then we were blessed to be present for the birth of Kenton & Karissa's daughter, Nakeah Jayde, on Dec. 31, a precious little "tax deduction." "Nana" (Judi) and "Buelo" (I) are very happy with 4 grandchildren, two boys within two weeks of each other, and two girls within two months of each other.

On Jan. 11 we plan to leave for the south, spending the weekend in Tallahassee, FL, then moving on to Sarasota for a week, doing development for RMM and sharing the vision for Spain. We also plan on taking in Ken Miller's wedding in Costa Rica on Jan. 27, then helping out on an eye team in Nicaragua for a week, returning to FL on Feb. 6 to wrap up contacts there, then back to OH the week of Feb. 11. By then we hope to have heard from the Spanish Consulate regarding our visas, and if all goes well, leave for Spain on Mar. 5. We'll try to keep you posted with blog entries as opportunity permits.

Waiting is not all fun and games. Things like delays, malfunctioning vehicles and unfulfilled expectations tend to show the real self, which is not always a pretty sight! We've learned much about ourselves, our inability to be "in control," and our need for complete dependence on God. But with plans gone "awry," it gives opportunity to deepen trust in God, who sees the whole picture, not just our little window. It can be kind of intimidating to go to bed each night wondering what tomorrow will bring. But it also can be terribly exhilarating. We want to live closer to the latter than the former! Stay tuned!

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