Swimming Together

When we lived in Louisiana we attended the only church I have ever heard of that had a swimming pool. I'm not talking about a baptismal, but a real swimming pool with a diving board. If you know of another church that has a swimming pool, by all means, correct me.

This swimming pool was great incentive for attending the Wednesday night prayer meeting because we always got to swim afterwards. I have very fond memories of rushing out of the church building and jumping into the pool. Now don't get me wrong, it was by no means refreshing. Jumping into a Louisiana swimming pool at the end of a sweltering summer day is like jumping into a warm bathtub.

One of my fondest memories is playing in that pool with my friend Annie McFatter. Our last swim together was about 16 years. Last week we both jumped into yet another steaming swimming pool.

This time the swimming pool was at Baldi Hot Springs at Arenal Volcano, and it was steaming because it was heated by the nearby volcano.

It was a pleasure to host our first summer missions team of the year that came to us from Lafayette Bible Chapel in Louisiana. Among the twelve participants were my swimming buddy Annie, her parents, and a young lady who was five years old the last time I saw her. It was wonderful getting reacquainted with old friends and meeting new ones as we scraped varnish off the brick floor, grouted the new floor, dug a foundation for a retaining wall, and traveled to and from one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

In the evenings we heard Latino missionaries share their passion for missions and learned what it meant to follow the discipleship strategy of Jesus.

Thank you to all of you who were lifting us up in prayer. Although by the end of the week my parents and I were tripping over our feet from exhaustion, God saw us through the very last moment of the trip - Upon which we all collapsed on beds and rubbed our sore muscles (scraping varnish is hard work!).

At the moment my parents are away at the beach resting while I house sit for them. As I begin to catch up on the work that I left undone while the team was here, I am also finding time to rest. This morning I spent a wonderful time on the back porch singing hymns and listening to a sermon from Autumn Ridge Church .

I wish all of you back in the US a happy Memorial Day and rejoice that you can enjoy the sun once again.

Trusting Him ,
Kari

Please Praise:
-Our first short term missions team was a great success. The team went away understanding better what we do here, what it means to be a disciple, and how a new floor can contribute to youth ministry.

-My parents are having a good vacation and I got to sleep past 6:30 today!

-Yesterday my roommate hosted the first training module for out new Latino missionaries. She did a great job sharing about fund raising.

Please Pray:
-On to the next team! Alpine Chapel will be sending us a short term team on June 20th. Pray for us as we put the finishing touches on plans for them.

-I have not been able to get back into a regular schedule with my English students since March! Pray that I might be able to invest in my English students on a more regular basis.