Moving On...

It is with deep sorrow that I write this last update from Costa Rica. I have put it off for some time that I might focus on the growth rather than the pain of the last 2 years. I hope that this blog serves as an encouragement to those of you passing through hard times. I hope to focus on the character change the Lord blesses us with in those times of pain, rather than focus on those things that cause the pain. I am at a point now in my walk with Christ that I have truly cast all my cares on Him, and have found refuge in the promise of Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” I pray that all of you may be comforted in your trials. After 5 years of service to the Costa Ricans and various American CCBC students/staff, it has come to our attention that it is time to move on. We had planned to serve here for the rest of our lives if that is what the Lord desired of us. However, due to recent information concerning those sent to help, along with church politics, we are forced to move on to ensure that the ministries started will continue unto the glory of God. We want to make it clear that we harbor no hard feelings towards those involved. What has been done is in the past and now we press on with more wisdom than before to the glory of God. Both Chelly and I are very grateful for these trials we have faced because of the extreme growth it has brought to our lives. We have been exposed to the reality of God’s grace. Through the testing of trials God’s grace has been reveled over and over again. While here in Costa Rica I have failed in many ways. At times I have not been a good husband, father, and family member. I have failed many times at being that spiritual leader others sought, I have frequently questioned my calling (as I am sure my critics were quick to do as well, lol), at times I have not been a good friend, I have been selfish and judgmental, I have been quick to think the worst (also known as being negative), and the list goes on. But you know what is great about seeing all these short comings? I can now look at my life and see what I fall short in during stressful times. I can now see the things that I must put before my Savior daily. I can now recognize that I am truly hopeless apart from Christ. Before I covered these things up so that I could convince myself that I was worthy to be a Pastor and Missionary (without trials this is very easy to do). But every trial that I have faced has driven me to see what kind of man I really am. So many times I felt I was just in my attitude and actions because of the injustice that was happening to me and my wife. It has been a joy to look back and see how much the Lord has cared for me by showing me my many faults. Psalms 39:11 “When with rebukes you correct man for iniquity, you make his beauty melt away like a moth; surely every man is vapor.” Oh, it is so good to be in Jesus where the “moth” is not the end of the story. Now we look forward to the work he has prepared for us in a different place. 1 Peter 5:10 “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (I should state here that we in no way are trying to compare our suffering to others or think that we have suffered much. All we wish to do is encourage through the Word and through our walk with Christ.) We are thankful to the Lord for making us into more useable tools in His hands and pray the same might happen with you. We have seen many lives changed through the power of Christ over the years. It has been an exciting testimony to His power to make the selfish sinner into a selfless saint; to change the prideful man into the humble servant and the vain woman into a cherished jewel. It is so awesome to be a part of His ministry and to know that our labor is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58). We are thankful that there are others here who will continue the work and lead the believers to the truths of Christ, that they also might produce fruit. Please continue to pray for those who will lead, pray for their protection that they would not fall into their own pride. Pray that they would grow in their leadership skills and that they would not become unloving, critics of those around them. Pray that while they continue in grace they might be able to also give grace as well. We have had many future options presented to us and look forward to more. For now we will be returning to the States on the 30th of May and working with my parents in Juarez, Mexico. So we will not be leaving the “mission field”, we are just relocating. We plan on being with my parents for 3 to 6 months, or more time if needed, to help their ministry, Servant Senders, and also to help my dad build a garage and apartment. Once we have completed our work there we will see where the Lord leads us next (there may be a future opportunity to return to Costa Rica). We ask that you pray for us as we make this transition. We have put down many roots here with the people and it has been very hard to tell them we are leaving…many tears have been shed. We have a lot of work ahead of us in selling all that we own and moving the family back to the States. We treasure all of you and are so grateful for your sacrifices over the past 5 years. To those who support us financially we ask that you would continue with us as we are not leaving the mission field, we are just relocating. As many of you know when there are changes in leadership or transferring of Missionaries there also tends to be rumors and thoughts that follow, which may not be accurate. So we ask that if you have heard rumors please speak with us, as we would be happy to give our perspective in the most responsible way. Be blessed and keep fighting the good fight. We look forward to seeing many of you in Colorado as we have plans on taking a trip in June or July. For those of you in California we would like to see you around the first part of June. We will give you the dates as the time draws closer. In our Savior, Curtis and Chelly

Hello everyone from me, Chelly! It’s my turn to share with all of you. A lot has happened since our last update so, I’ll make it brief. If you call two pages brief. • The Holidays Our last update was in mid October which means that we’ve done our share of celebrating since then. We hosted our annual Thanks Giving Dinner and gave thanks to our Lord with about 30 people. Everything went surprisingly perfect! This year’s tamale cook yielded the most ever. The volunteers this time around were three sweet German girls who are serving in a ministry just 20minutes to the west. With the help of our new friends we made 220 tamales in record time!

Christmas was a true time of blessing. For the first time in 8 years the Mini Schockeys had both sets of Grandparents present at Christmas! And, instead of spending money on lots of presents, we spent it on making memories with their Nana and Papa. That means we took a few short trips and had a ton of fun! New Years was a blast. Even though Nolan used all his fireworks on Christmas Eve (a Costa Rican tradition), we still shot off the ones the girls gave him for Christmas. There was family, games, food and a great view of several displays. All this in a country where there are very few limitations on everyone’s favorite colorful explosions. • The Mini Schockeys have been dancing fools these past few months. You may recall that their Nana gave them all ballet lessons for the year. That has proven to be an excellent investment. Rya has come out of her shell, made some friends, and improved her understanding of Spanish. Ali has gained poise and grace quite shocking for a Tomboy who spends most of her time on all fours. Zoe stepped out of the shadows and proudly leads her group. We have discovered that Ava, who is now in a more advanced class, has a true passion for dance and shows promise. As I mentioned earlier, these little cuties have been rather busy with performances throughout the holiday season. Between school and ballet, they each participated in 4-5 programs which included 2-3 routines per program. Please note that the girls have an excellent teacher. Because of her competence and dedication their particular company has become a well known request at local events.

• Chelly has found her nitch. During all the end of the year activities I was flattered to be the only “stylist” recommended to the entire studio, and preschool. Between individual appointments and the hairstyling classes I now offer, I was able to earn and contribute money toward the coast of all the costumes required of my little performing artists. In just 8 weeks I completed over 160 styles at 5 events, and loved it! The best part is that this new role has allowed me to build relationships with women who wouldn’t normally open up to a missionary. Strangers are now bringing other strangers in to my home where, being a wife and mother, my testimony is the strongest. God is great! • The Marriage Retreat was awesome! Seven missionary couples and their 15 children attended the 3 day event. For many of us this is the only time we can relax and completely focus on our marriage. Thanks to Curtis, Annie and Darwin, who put it all together, everything ran like clockwork. That is impressive considering that 12 kids arrived with just 3 couples. Everyone was enlightened and encouraged by Kent and Rebecca Nolley’s teaching entitled The Mission of Marriage. All were blessed. Just spending time with other like minded couples who share in similar struggles is like a week at the spa. Add good teaching and fresh mountain air to that, and that’s enough for most of us to go another 12 months.

• Women’s Ministry is going strong. I’ve shared in the past about troubles with commitment and trust amongst the women in our area. We had a small, but major break through last May at our Ladies Retreat and asked prayer for God to continue that work. In the last few months while teaching on dedication, I have seen the Lord soften the women of our Saturday study. They interact and share more in the study. Even more wonderful, our group has grown a little! Some new young ladies and a return visitor or two have joined our group. Plus two sisters of the late German have started attending as well, which is another prayer answered! • Up Next The Second annual beach trip with the rehab guys is next week. They are all supper excited about this, and will enjoy one entire day in the sand and Son. • Coming Soon Women’s retreat in May • Please Lift Up Darwin and Aaron, who will be teaching at the beach trip. Ballet moms, to act on their curiosity about the God of my family. My sister Bethel, who is studying for the MCATs, already has a job waiting and just needs to pass. Selling my Mom’s house, it has become a burden to manage since we are all out of state. My Grandpa French, his wife of 65 years joined my mother in heaven just 12 after Christmas. He’s not saved, and at 85 I know there is not much time left. Sonya, our long time friend, severely broke her hand in December. In rout to the marriage retreat she fell just before the entrance. I rushed her to the hospital where she waited 4 weeks for the emergency surgery! After surgery she was sent home with a plate held in place by two large screws on either side of her wrist that extend about 2.5 inches from her skin. Sonya must clean and change the bandages daily herself. Every now and then she returns to have the screws tightened. Sonya is currently waiting for an X-ray which will determine how successful the surgery was, and how much longer she will need the screws. Please pray all heals well for our dear friend.

Hello Friends and Family, Well we really wanted to get another vlog out to you guys, but we have been too busy to make another one. So you will have to suffer reading instead of watching. I will try and keep it short and to the point. First of all, and most important, is thanking you guys for your prayers and support. It would be so much harder to work down here without you guys going before the Father for us. So we have been up to a lot of different activities, mostly revolving around our little girls. As a Christmas present to our girls Nana has paid for a year of Ballet. The girls love it and have put on many dances both publicly and here in the house to our personal pleasure. Along with home school and public school we have had our hands full as I am sure that many of you can relate. Chelly has decided to start her own side business of painting nails and teaching hair style classes. She had her first class a few weeks ago and the women loved it, and are asking when she will have more. Chelly is hoping that this will be a way to get closer to the women here giving opportunities to share Christ’s love with them. I have been thinking of starting a little business building Cajons (wooden box that acts as a drum) for the local churches. This is still in the thinking stages so we will see if it materializes. Some very exciting news about our direction in ministry has developed in a different way than expressed in the last update. As you all know we were set on moving to Buenos Aires at the first of the year. Well it looks like we will be putting that off for the next year and a half. One of the biggest needs that we had in our decision to move to Buenos Aires was that Chelly would have peace about going there. We prayed for many months for this but it never came. I began to wonder why the Lord was not giving her peace when He had spoken so clearly to me. Now when He had spoken to me through His word there was no timeline with it. So as we began to pray for His direction the Lord began to give us peace about working with the CC Bible College here. Now as many of you know this is not at all where my heart or vision was. So as this direction began to evolve I took a couple of days by myself to go to Buenos Aires to pray for clear, 100% direction that this is where the Lord wanted us. We had to be sure because of the humbling times that would be sure to pass in the near future. The Lord gave me many verses as I struggled to accept what He wanted for us. I would say that it was a sweat time with the Lord but in all truth it was very lonely and humbling. In the end it was very clear that at least for the next year and a half we would be joining forces with the CC Bible College. I have committed myself to being a “helper” for the rest of this semester and then becoming part of the staff for the next 2 semesters. So what does this mean for the other ministries we are involved in? We will continue with our Wednesday night study as this still has a very important place in our hearts. A study has been started on Saturday nights with the family of German. Remember that there were about 11 of these family members that accepted Christ. Well for the last month and a half Darwin has been diligent in providing a Bible study for them in their homes. So we will continue to support Darwin and Annie in this study and fill in when needed. Also we are going to continue to visit our new friends in Buenos Aires to ensure that a strong relationship is kept. Please continue to lift us up, that we might serve everyone around us in the same way. Please pray that we would have an awesome vision and a huge heart for the ministry we will be entering. Also pray that the Lord would continue to shape us, making us more like Him. If any of you would like more information on what we will be doing in the near future please write us an email Facedownzealot@gmail.com. Oh, yes, and please be praying for me as I take a sudden trip back to the States to help my dad build a wall for 2 weeks. Pray that my family is kept safe and Chelly will have very little stress with the girls. We love you guys and thank you so much! Blessings, Schockey Family

Trip to the States and path to Buenos Aires

Hey everyone! We are trying something new as far as how we deliver our updates. I have been working the last few days on this video. It is my first time putting something like this together so we will see how it goes. I hope to master my skills with the next video updates. Please keep up the prayers, enjoy. Blessings, Schockey Fam

vlog 8 5 12 num 1 from Curtis Schockey on Vimeo.

Well the family is getting super excited about going back to the States to see everyone! It will be 4 ½ years since we have been back as a family. We are excited to introduce our youngest Rya to all of you for the first time. We plan on visiting friends and family in California, Texas, and Colorado. We really want to see all of you, and least have a meal together. So here are the dates that coincide with the places that we will be. May 31 – June 10 Murrieta, California (Curtis plans on attending the pastors conference the 4th through the 7th) June 11 – June 15 El Paso, Texas June 16 – June 18 Durango, Colorado June 19 – July 2 Colorado Springs, Colorado Each Sunday we plan at being at a church to share or just to fellowship. We would love it if you could contact us by e-mail or by facebook to let us know if you want to see us. That way we can get everything organized before we come, so that we can hang out with as many of you as possible. The Lord has been so good to us in these past few months. We asked you to be praying for us in the last letter because we were going through some heavy spiritual warfare. Well thank you so much for lifting us up! The cloud has lifted and we have emerged with a greater love for those with us and those around us. We are super excited about what God is doing in the people’s lives. Please keep praying for your brothers and sisters here among us. Just like you they constantly are battling the wisdom of the world. Pray that the Lord would be seen in their lives so that others might question them about their hope. We are so blessed that the Lord would include us in His plan here. As I was studying for the class I am teaching on Missionary biographies, I came across a truth from Hudson Taylor (missionary to China in 1800’s) which he took from Matt 25:21. “If we are faithful to God in little things, we shall gain experience and strength that will be helpful to us in the more serious trials of life.” This can be seen in the life of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. It is so encouraging that the difficult times can mean growth, depending on the response. Anyways, please continue to be praying for the people coming to the Wednesday night study, men at Hogar Crea, and those that Darwin and I have been ministering to in town (real quick here are some of their names: Andres-drug addict 20 yrs old; Santiago-alcoholic late 30’s; Angel-alcoholic early 40’s; James-drug addict 18yrs old; Carlos-works construction 31 yrs old; German’s wife and children; Carlos and Sona’s children and spouses). Also please be praying for the Sunday service that we are going to be starting again after Darwin and I are done with our classes. We have great news about the women in the church! The study that Annie and Chelly have been doing every other week has been a consistent interest by the women here. Next month they are planning to have a 3 day women’s retreat to the mountains. They can’t wait to see what the Lord is going to be doing in these women’s lives! Please lift them up that they might learn from the Lord how to be a light to their families. Thank you so much for praying for us, we can’t wait to see you and sit down to give witness of the Lord’s work here. I doubt that I will get another update out to you before we leave for the States, but please let us know if you are available to meet with us. We are scheduling people on the days we are available so please let us know soon if you want to be on the list. Blessings, Schockey Family

Delight and Stretching

” I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you.” Philemon 4-7

To all our friends and family in the States and abroad, Thank You! We have completed 4 years here in Costa Rica and are very thankful to our Lord and Savior, and to all of you who have supported us financially and by way of prayer. We hope to have another year of serving our Savior in the work He has for us here in Costa Rica.
The last few months have been full of delight and stretching. The delightful part was all of the ministry opportunities that we have had. The stretching part has been the spiritual attacks that seem to have increased since the first of December. I don’t want to go in depth on the attacks, but I do ask that you please keep all of us here in the ministry in prayer, especially me. We are looking for direction in what the Lord would have us do here in the town or even in another. We are praying that the Lord would give us direction before we leave to visit the States in June, but we will see what He has in mind. Specifically the thing you can be praying for is that we would be patient in waiting for an answer and that we would understand the direction clearly.
Now for the delight we have had in the past few months.
• The trip to Natividad went well; remember she is the lady taking care of her 3 handicap nephews. Darwin, Zoe, and I were the only ones that were able to make the trip. She was very thankful for the clothes, diapers, and shoes.

• We had our third annual tamale cook out which went very well. I love the time it affords to spend with people in the church. There is nothing like a bunch of guys sitting around a fire waiting for the tamales to cook. The women had a good time of prepping the veggies and meat. All in all it is a great time to be able to talk with the people about their lives.



• A few days after the cook out we enjoyed the fruit of our labor at the Christmas party. Again another time to grow closer to the people and encourage them in Christ. At the end of the party, as always, we had a fire work show thanks to the help of my Dad. It is such a fun time of the year.
• One of the guys (Gerry) that came down a year ago to start a Bible college here was married to a local lady (Silvia). That was fun to watch.
• The Lord has been blessing Darwin in his ministry with Hogar Crea. As we have been trying to find more time to spend with the guys there, Darwin came up with a great idea to take them to the beach. So on the 30th of January we had a beach day with 13 of the guys from Crea. It was a great time of playing games, surfing, sleeping, and teaching about Men of Valor. Please continue to pray for Darwin and the ministry he has with the men there.


So we will see what the Lord has planned for this year. We are continuing to teach through the New Testament on Wednesday nights and have now combined our Sunday study with the guys Sunday study at the Teaching Site (aka Bible College). We plan on being back in the States for a month in June. As the time gets closer we will give you more details of where we will be during the month. We would love to meet with every one of you while we are there. It looks like the first 10-12 days we will be in Murrieta, CA; then 5-7 days in El Paso, TX; and then the rest of the time in Colorado Springs but first passing through Durango, CO. So we will see what happens.
We love you all and thank you for your dedication to us through your prayers and finances.
Blessings,
Curtis, Chelly, Ava, Zoe, Ali, and Rya

The Last 3 Months

Hello friends and family. I hope all is well with you and your families. Sorry for taking so long to get you this update. I think it has been 3 months since Chelly wrote the last update, so bare with me as I inform you about all the fun we have had.
First of all I want to thank all of you for reading our updates and praying for us over the years. In January it will be 4 years of ministry here in Costa Rica. We have seen a lot of people come and go in that short time. We are thankful to have the time with them and pray that they are able to continue in the faith despite their surroundings. There are so many things that distract them and choke them out in this town. Things like drugs, alcohol, bad parents (as far as always looking for another person to “love”), lustful desires, the need to please men, bad doctrine, ect. I know this is all over the world but I wanted to give some specifics that you can pray for. So please continue to pray for those the Lord is bringing to us.
I am going to do the bullet list of things that have happened here over the last few months. It makes the update shorter and I think easier to read.
• We have been in contact with an indigenous community about 2 hours from the church. We were planning on having an outreach to the children in this community but ended up not having the manpower and finances needed, along with other politics in the community. We are, however, going to go down there in 2 weeks to meet with a family that we met on one of our trips. This family has 3 boys that are all mentally handicap. The parents are both alcoholics and have deserted the boys leaving their aunt to take care of them. They live in a humble little home in the jungle with other relatives close by. When we were there last time we met with the aunt, Natividad, to see what she needed for the boys and herself. So in a couple of weeks we hope to take her the stuff she needs for the boys. Please pray that this will open the door to be able to share with her. The last time we were there she was very cautious and closed because we told her that we were Christians. So we will see what the Lord has planned for her and us.
• Carlos and Sona are doing great! They were able to go with us to visit Natividad and talk with her. Also Carlos has been going with Darwin to minister to the ex-drug addicts at Hogar Crea. It has been wonderful seeing this couple grow in Christ. Please be praying for their children, that they all might come to the faith as well.
• Continue to pray for all the guys at Hogar Crea (the drug rehabilitation center). Darwin has been doing a great job of teaching the guys through the book of Galatians. We are trying to figure out how to spend more time with those that have excepted Christ. Hogar Crea has a very strict schedule so they are only able to give us once a night every week with the guys, but we will see what the Lord has planned.

• We were blessed by a family that came down from Honduras for a week. Eric and his wife Chyo with their 2 children had to leave Honduras for a week because of visa issues. Eric is a pastor of a Calvary Chapel and also was one of my parent’s students in Juarez, Mexico for 2 years. While here, Eric built us a beautiful pulpit and Chyo made some great Mexican food!
We were very thankful for their visit and hope to see them again.
• After a very busy 2 months I have finished teaching apologetics to five American students here in Costa Rica. I had a great time teaching them, but I am very happy to have my mind back in the ministry here. I appreciate the opportunity to teach given by Ryan the director of the Bible College here in Costa Rica.
• As some of you know we had a girl, by the name of Bailey, come down from the States to start a Kids Club every Saturday morning. To get the Kids Club started we had 2 Kid Festivals (aka VBS) that Bailey organized. She did a great job of bringing in the kids and teaching them. It is sad to say but Bailey had to go back to the States last month. It was great having her help and we hope she is able to come back someday.

In the church we have a couple new faces that have been coming regularly. A guy by the name of German has been coming with his daughter Bianca. We met German in the park and talked to him about Gods love for him. After that he has been joining us on Sundays, and he tells us that he is really enjoying the study because he is being challenged. Also one of the guys that Darwin and Gerry met in Crea has been coming to the studies as well. He is also enjoying his time with the church. Last night he told us how he felt he needed to be in a place that teaches the Word as it is. Please pray that he (Wendel) and German continue to come and be challenged.
We are excited about the next 2 months because of what we have planned. Like I said before we will be going to the indigenous family again. We also plan on having our annual tamale cook and hand out. Also we have the church Christmas party complete with fireworks. My (Curtis) parents are also going to be here from the 14th to the 28th. Thank you so much for keeping up with us over the years. I will write another update after the holidays to let you know how everything went; so happy holidays from all of us here serving the Lord in Costa Rica. If you want more details or would like to chat with us please email us and let us know.

Blessings,
Schockey Family