Glimpses of Panama

Hey All - I posted some photos from the Panama Visa Trip. I wanted to share it all with you. I got a sunburn too, but don't worry I won't share that =) I hope all is well.



The Beach

Crystal, Dawn and I at the beach

Me at the beach...

I guess I can't say I don't like fish anymore... =)

El pescado y yo

David, me, Issac, Krystal, Dawn and Dina

La Playa

It was Karolyn's Birthday - She got the Panama TGIF version of the birthday song

There was a circus in town - so the girafe and all the other animals were given the town tour

I missed the bear, so the tiger will have to do =)

That's all Folks =)

Live In His Love!

An update and some musings....

Hello -

It has been a crazy last few weeks. The homework has increased. I went out of town, as well last weekend and will be going to Panama this upcoming weekend to renew my visa. All of the students at Cincel are going. We leave tomorrow in a bus. It is a lovely ten hour drive on a curvy road. I bought my motion sickness medicine last week and my ginger ale today. I did a little snack shopping today, as well. It is important to be prepared for these long bus rides =). It will be nice to have a day off from school and to be able to relax at the pool or beach. Last weekend a group of us went to Manuel Antonio for the weekend. This was nice. It makes the week a little more busy, but definetly worth it! I have posted some pictures.

I just want to leave you with these few thoughts that I have gathered from readings and different chapels over the last few weeks:

1. Today in Spanish Chapel the pastor talked about how in crisis there is opportunity. In that opportunity we are allowed to grow in God. He talked about how in crisis we can smile and find peace because God is in control. He used the story of Joseph and the crisises he went through to show how crisis can become opportunity.

2. We have a lot of chapels about perserving and pushing through the toughness of language learning, culture learning and missions work in general. These messages are important because at times it can be hard and difficult. It is good to be reminded to fight the good fight. But, I think that it is important to remember the joy of serving the Lord. The joy of remembering how God provided to get you where he has you, the joy of learning a new word, the joy of being able to minister to so many more people because you now know their heart language, the joy of experiencing a new culture and finding things you like just as much or more as something in your own culture, the joy of being able to go to school and worshipping at chapel in the morning and so on. Where ever you are in life, where ever you are in the world, please don't forget the joy of knowing the Lord, the joy of forgiveness and mercy and the joy of living in His love and freedom.

3. Lastly, I am reading this book The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning. The last chapter I read was about the courage to risk and the importance of risk in the Christian life. Their are two quotes I want to leave with you: "Tom Minifie, an associate pastor in Seattle: 'To be at ease is to be unsafe.' The church of the Lord Jesus starts to decay when the members who compromise it forfeit their willingness to risk"(pg. 189). Manning also quotes Winston Churchill, "Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts"(pg. 193). So, have courage and live boldly the life God ask of us!

Here are the promised pictures...

Dawn, Krystal, Aimee, Karolyn and Myself at the national park in Manuel Antonio

Me at the beach a little before sunset. The sky was beautiful!

Some volcanic rocks in the ocean

The sunset - this was one of many pictures I took.

Musings from Luke 6...

I read Luke 6 the other night. I have typed part of it below because I wanted to share it with you. I encourage you to read the whole thing. This chapter is pretty powerful and pretty counter to how we want to behave. Love your enemies? Pray for those who give you a hard time? Stand there and take it when someone slaps you? Seeking truth and not popularity? Give away your life? Then lastly a reminder to make sure that we are taking God's word and letting it change us and they way we live. That we are burying it deep into us, so that when the storms hits we will stay strong. Christianty, Christ-following, is not about bible-studies, a social club, a cultural belief system, who you know or don't know and what church you may or may not attend. Christianity is about a relationship with our heavenly father. It is about fellowshipping with him, reading his word and then asking him to help us apply his heart into the way we live our lives. Asking Christ to walk this walk with us and to help build a foundation that will not be shaken...

"There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contest are not truth contests - look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.

To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you are hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run of the mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think thats charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that. I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never - I promise - regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back - given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.....

If you work the words into your life, you are like the smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible Studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was total loss."

Luke 6:27-37

Here are some pictures from the Bible Study we have here at the house. Sonia (Mami) leads it.

This is Osqui and Rey. They are our in house worship team =) Osqui is Mami and Papi's son and Rey is a family friend.

This is Andy and Isaac. Andy and his wife Connie are missionaries who will be going to Chile. Isaac is a student who wants to go to the Domincian Republic to finish school and teach.

This is Sonia and I

This is Papi and Mami.

This is Rey and Diani eating the after Bible Study treat. Diani and I go on walks and she puts up with listening to my broken spanish. =)

This is Andy and Connie.

I hope all is well with you. I am enjoying life so far in Costa Rica. I appreciate your continual prayers and support. Thank you so much for the sacrifice, so many of you make so that I can continue this work with Convoy of Hope. I know times are getting tough, but God knows and as I read in Luke last night Christ told disciples and the parents of the little girl who everyone thought was dead " Just trust me and everything will be allright". Luke 8:50 (Message Version).

Live in His Love.

Claire Balch