Word From Chelly

Hey everybody! Curtis said that it would be a nice change of pace if you all got to hear an update from my perspective. So I’ll start with the family first. Curtis is a very busy man these days. Between preparing for each service, counseling, and all his fatherly duties has also volunteered to teach for the Bible College. There is now a Calvary teaching site located in our town. And for this, the second semester in operation, he will be teaching one of his favorite topics, Apologetics. Being a hard working man, Curtis can’t sit still all day. He usually has some project back in the church to ease his idle hands, and a lovely assistant whom he covers with saw dust.
When I’m not helping Curtis I’m usually translating home work with the kids. At this time in my life there is much less physical labor (praise God). Almost all the kids can bathe, dress and keep busy on their own! Considering that I am also comfortable with my Spanish, I feel free for the first time in ten years. That’s not to say that I’m not occupied. On the contrary, I can always count on my day to be busy and unpredictable. Only now, my work load is no more than any other missionary.
This year God has really blessed me with friends. The mother of Ali’s best friend is a sweet Christian lady who likes to hang out. Some good friends of ours are returning here to the mission field. We are really excited because not only are they our friends, but their kids are good friends with our kids as well. I’ve also had more time to be in better contact with friends and family back in the states. Not to mention I have my sister here too. God is good. My personal life is the complete opposite of the overwhelmed and lonely life the year before.
As far as ministry goes the last two months are a blur. We have been blessed with visitors, activities, new comers and new ministry opportunities. At the same time we have had crazy schedules, more families leave town and an increased work load.
Starting back in June, Baby Mery was dedicated to the Lord on the 5th just three days before her mother’s birthday. Just one more reminder how very blessed we are to have Annie and Darwin serving along side of us. In that same category, my Dad and Stepmom visited for 20 days! We all had separate times to getaway and enjoy the various attractions that Costa Rica has to offer. Their visit was a fun filled, jam packed, blast!! And of course we missed them the very day they left. On the bright side, Donna, my stepmom is planning to return at the first of the year for the birth of Annie and Darwin’s second baby!! They do not know the sex of the baby yet, but we let you know next time.
You might remember from other updates a woman named Odelva. She and her daughter attended the church until they moved south. Odelva did come up for her baby shower we held at the church. She is in her last trimester but not doing well financially. More than anything we worry about life after the birth. She’s in a small house out in the pineapple fields, and work very is scarce. Please pray for God’s provision over this special family.
At the same time that my family was here several people (including Pastor Dave Shirley and good friend Mark Schwartz) came down for the end of the semester and the Bible College graduation. That’s was just the beginning of our recent visitors. The first week of July our beloved Children’s worker Bailey returned from a sort trip to the states along with her wonderful parents. We were blessed just to spend time with them. To continue the theme of overlapping visitors a group arrived as well. A sister church in San Jose (the capital) brought a great group of American teens to evangelize in the town plaza. They made a loop and ministered in all the Calvaries south of the capital. These kids came with servant’s hearts. The ladies of the church all gathered the day before to prepare a meal that would later be dispensed by the group. We targeted prostitutes, homeless, street venders and drug addicts. One man received Christ and another man has been consistently attending the mid week service. Praise God we get to be a part of this all!
The evangelism also set the stage to promote a Kid’s Festival which we held the following weekend. Bailey and her mother even lead a group to the mall to paint faces and pass out fliers. The Festival was held here at the church for two days. We preformed the same puppet shows as last time, so we were all well prepared and excited. Everybody who came had a great time (us included). Sadly, we did not see a single person that we invited while in town. Instead, God brought families from around the neighborhood; even better. People might not be interested in coming to learn more about God themselves, but they do want their kids to. We are happy to help the children understand and know their Savior. Every week following the event we are told that the kids sing the songs at home too! Please pray that they continue coming to the weekly kid’s club, and that God can use Kid’s Club as a stepping stone to bring whole families to Christ.
Speaking of families, we’ve seen our fair share come and go all in the last two months. Last month Curtis wrote about a new family named Jorge, Gladice and their two boys. Unfortunately, they returned to their hometown after Jorge lost his job. They were with us about five months. Another family that you might remember from the very beginning of our life here in Costa Rica began attending both mid week and Sunday services. Sirly and her four kids lost their home during a tropical storm three years ago. Located on the river bank, the small house was destroyed and washed away along with all their belongings. This was the first family we were able to minister to, and we have remained in contact off and on these past years. As it turns out, they, like many others before them, only wanted “good” council. As Curtis speaks the truth the congregation is pruned.
Above all, as I look back at the last two months I see that although the enemy is trying to destroy this work of God, it is He who prevails! For this reason we ask that you pray for the leaders and members of the church that we may remain strongly united in His love. “And they will know we are Christians by our love.”
Blessings,
Schockey Family

Thoughts and Changes

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. 10 4, 5
Well since I last wrote in March we have seen a lot of change here in the church. We have a person to run the children’s ministry, a new couple, new outreach, foosball table, and other things. It has been a challenging time for us, but the Lord is leading. I put that verse in this update because for me I have been in a constant battle with my thoughts; they have not been very obedient to who I am in Christ. It has been a time of growth for me, and I thank God for correcting me. It has been taxing to see people leave the church and the changes that have taken place. Some have left because of better jobs in other cities and others have left because of the changes that have taken place. I write this so that you will please pray for the church here and for me. I want to serve this church as God has called me to, but I have been losing hope and direction. Anyways, on with the awesome work the Lord is doing here.
We have had a girl named Bailey come down from the States to help us get a kids ministry set up for the church.
She is a great girl and fits right in with our family. Right after she got here she started to plan for a kid’s outreach that would have puppet shows, crafts, Bible stories, games, and so on.
We had it during Easter when the kids had a week off of school. There was about 27 kids the first day, 20 the second day and about 11 the third day. We think that there were so few on the last day because it was the day of purification for the Catholics (A day that they don’t work or go out much so that they might take the time to purify themselves in the preparation for Christ’s death). Anyways, it was a lot of fun with the kids. We were hoping that this “Kids Festival” would start up a weekly kids club, but after a few weeks the kids stopped coming. We are going to try again soon in another neighborhood so please be praying that the festival will have an impact on the kids, and that they would want to return weekly. Also be praying for Bailey, sometimes it can be discouraging in the ministry here.
As far as people in the church we have seen people come and go. Among the ones that have left are Odelva, Camilla, Gezel, and Jennifer. Please be praying for these women. Odelva is expecting her second child and is in the process of building a little house a couple hours south of us. Jennifer had to leave due to problems in a relationship, but she is doing great in the harbor town of Limon. Keep praying for Camilla and Gezel. As many of you know they have been with us for a long time, but due to different situations they have decided not to come any more. As far as the new people, we see new people just about every other Sunday, but for some reason they never come back. However, we do have a new couple that has been coming consistently. His name is Jorge and her name is Gladis. They just had their second child. Chelly and Annie threw a baby shower for her about a month and a half ago that went great; almost all of her family came! Sona and Carlos are continuing to come on Wednesdays. Please be praying for them and their family, they are going to be changing some things soon.
Darwin and Gerry are now serving guys at a local drug rehab called Crae. They have been teaching through James and a little of Galatians on Fridays. It has been great to see how the guys are responding to the teaching. They have many questions about what it means to follow Jesus and how to follow Him. As always there is a big turn over in the rehab so be praying for the new guys that come in and the guys that are leaving. Also be praying for my friend Dennis’ rehab and the guys there. As some of you know we were trying to get into the local prison, but God has other plans. The door was shut due to space at the jail. They told us that they are full of religious groups and that we need to wait until they build a larger meeting place. So we will wait a year and try again.
Thanks for your time in reading this update and for your prayers. Please write us to let us know how you are doing and what the Lord is doing in your lives so we know how to better pray.
Blessings,
Schockey Family

Known...

“O Lord, You have searched me and know me…”
It is so awesome to know that God is so personal with us. He knows each and every one of us as individuals. Read the rest of Psalm 139 to see how personal He is with us. The question God has been challenging me with is whether I have the same desire to know Him like He knows me. Now it is a given that God is all knowing and I could never come to the point of completely knowing God the way He knows me. However, the challenge is more about the desire; where is my heart. I have found it very easy to pay God lip service by talking about how great He is, but only so that others might think I am closer to Him than I really am. As of late I have been challenged to know Him by experiencing Him. As many of you know this is a huge challenge, because it means that He takes you to places that are very uncomfortable, places that you have to fully rely on Him. Needless to say, in the in the end it is a wonderful result. I am now able to say, “God is truly Merciful” with the intent to worship, and not to make men think that I am spiritual. I thank God for what He is doing in us here, and I will continue to pray for your growth in the things He has set before you.
It has been such a great time these last 2 months with all the work God has accomplished. First of all I was invited, by my friend Wil, to go on a long hike in the mountains. Wil has a friend named Honorio who is a part of the Cabecar Tribe here in Costa Rica.
He serves his people as a pastor to 3 different church locations. So Wil asked if I would like to go with him to see what Honorio was doing and if there was a need for some sort of help. It took us about 7 1/2 hours to get to his house. The trail was wide, narrow, rocky, muddy, wet, steep and everything else in between. Anyways, I made it and it was a blast! I had the privilege of baptizing 6 people, 2 of which were Honorio’s children in a beautiful, cold river.
Later that night we shared in communion with the church, and listened as they sang praises " to God in their native tongue.
Needless to say, it was a time in my life that I will never forget, thanks again Wil. (If you want to read more about our trip in great detail check out my friend’s blog www.costaricamissionprojects.com/blog/)
A few days after our trip to the Cabecar tribe we had 5 guys come down from Grace Church of Durango, CO, to pour the floor in the church.
These guys were such hard workers finishing the work in a total of 9 hours! It was so good to catch up with the pastor, Justin Ross, and talk to him about what the church was doing in Durango. He is such a great guy and it was really neat to see how the Lord has been using him. They definitely blessed us while they were here and are continuing to do so. Thanks guys!

Real quick I want to thank all of you that helped us with our car. We had some of you that responded to the last update and we were so blessed by your selflessness. We are now praying for what the Lord would have us do. We have the choice of selling this car and getting a micro bus, or keeping this car and renting a micro bus when needed. If we get rid of our Montero we will be limited on the places we will be able to go, but with the micro bus we will be able to take more people with us to the places we can access. Anyways, be praying for what the Lord would have us do and that He would make it clear to us.
If you remember in the last update I talked about Darwin and Gabe’s idea to have a soccer tournament. Well last weekend the church, with the help of the church in the States, put on a tournament for kids from 14-24 years old. It was awesome! We had such a great time with only a few problems; one broken arm and a fight. Gabe and Darwin shared messages about having a relationship with Christ. In the end we had over 10 kids respond to Jesus! This Saturday we are going to have a video slideshow for them at the church here. We hope that they will all come so that we might keep a relationship going with them. We hope to start a youth group so please be praying for these kids/young adults.





Again thank you so much for investing your lives in the ministry here. Please, if you would like, send messages to us. It is so nice to hear about your lives and to here encouraging words from you. We are praying for you, but it would be great if we knew exactly what you need us to pray for. We ask that you pray for this Saturday (the youth), for the women’s study also this Saturday, our children’s safety in school, and please continue to pray for the people’s hearts here. Many thank yous from us and the church here in CR.
In our Savior,
Curtis, Chelly, and girls

Fun Filled Time With the Lord

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24
Thank God that He is slow to anger and He is merciful. I would have been “consumed” a long time ago if He had not poured His Mercy out on me. I am sure that many of you would agree in your own lives. Now we can take the step He has put in front of us and make Him our portion daily. I love my Savior and the change He has made in my life. My soul can only call out to Him and praise Him because what He has done and continues to do. Thank you so much to all of you who have remembered me and my family in your prayers. We can tell when we have people behind us in prayer, please continue to lift us up and this ministry.
So on with the news from the past month and a half. This past month and a half has been the busiest time in our ministry here in Costa Rica. It has been so awesome to see the Lord working in people’s lives here. These are some of the things that happened:
• The 4 guys from the States (Ryan, Gerry, Gabriel, and Sosimo) made it here safe and sound. It is so nice to have other guys here that have the same goal in mind, Matt 28:19, 20. Also it is great to have more friends!
These guys have been such a great help in the church. Please pray for them, that the Lord would grow them in their time here, protect them, and provide for them.
• The Christmas gift hand out at the Salvation Army went great! We as a church, the church in the States included, were able to give 29 gifts to the kids. The guys, Annie and Darwin, and Chelly and I were able to cook (well Chelly cooked) and serve the people (there were about 150 kids and adults there).
Thank you so much to those of you who were able to buy gifts for these kids and give us an opportunity to serve them.
• Well this year we were pressed for time and were not able to have a Christmas party with the church. However, we did get to make tamales as a church, we made about 190. We gave them out to our neighbors and to some of the poorer people in the center of town. The tamales provided a great opportunity to share the love of God and we hope to continue this tradition.

• Once again my parents were able to come down and spend Christmas with their grand kids. While they were here we were able to go to Rivas and have lunch with Adriana and 2 of her boys. Please continue to pray for her as she looks for work and tries to provide for her boys. As far as my parents, they had a nice time and a needed break. Please also be praying for them, their students, and their safety in the ministry in Juarez, Mexico.
• We had our first baptism! Yendry has wanted to be baptized for the past year, but due to timing and a phobia of water we had to put it off.
But on the 9th of this month we were able to baptize her in a kid pool in the back yard! It was a fun time with her and Alex, her new husband.
• We also had our first wedding! Alex and Yendry were married on the 16th of this month. Darwin and I preformed it in both English and Spanish, Chelly prepared all 6 of the kids that were in the wedding and Annie and Ryan played the music for the wedding. They are a great couple and I can’t wait to see how the Lord is going to use them as they head back to the States.

The church here has seen many new faces come and go in the last few months. It has been great to be a part of their lives, but sometimes it can get depressing when dealing with people. It is so sad to see a person come in our house, get really excited about hearing the Word and the promises of God, but then turn around to go right back into the temporal satisfaction of the world. You want to see them succeed in Christ so bad, and pray for them to the point of tears. I guess everyone has their choice, but this brings me no comfort. Please join us in praying for these people, they have such a thirst but no drive behind them. They have been ruled by their own lusts and desires for so long that they think that it can’t get any better than the present. On the flip side, there are those who do understand that they need Christ, even coming to him in tears, but in the end, after the emotion has faded, they once again please themselves by the world. Ahhhh, my heart breaks for them; I cannot image what God goes through. Ask that the Lord would continue to pour His mercy out on them, and that they in turn would repent and have God be their portion.
We have many things planned for the next few months and ask that you pray that the people would respond to the work that the Lord has us in. Gerry, along with Darwin, has started to plan a prison ministry and maybe a drug rehab ministry. We are trying to get paperwork ready for the prison ministry right now, please pray that the Lord gives Darwin and Gerry favor with the director of the prison. They will be able to have 30 guys for a couple of hours 2 times a month. Also Gerry and Darwin talked with one of the local drug rehabs here in town to see if they could teach the Bible to the guys. The director said that it will be possible on Wednesday and on Sundays! So we will see what the Lord has planned.
Darwin and Gabe have come up with the idea to have a soccer tournament in March. The plan is to have the church set up a tournament with 12 teams and preach the Gospel to all that come. Pray that we can get some help from some of the shops in town for prizes, food, or drinks. This is going to have a huge impact on the community. As far as the women, Chelly and Annie had a “Women’s Té” on the 18th of December that went very well. They had about 13 women come and listen to a little study in Philippians, and also to have some fellowship. They are planning to have another on the 29th of this month.
The building is almost done! I still need to put lights up and pour the floor, but we have already met once out there. We have 5 guys from Durango, CO coming down to pour the floor at the end of February. I cannot wait to see these guys and have them share in the ministry down here. Also a huge thanks to our sending church in Murrieta for giving us this building.
One last thing that I think is important to let you know about. We have been having a lot of problems with our car. Back in March we had a shop in town rebuild the motor for a hefty price. Since then we have had other problems with the heads (top part of the motor) that have cost a lot. Needless to say we have come up short these last two months. Please pray for the Lord’s direction. We are thinking of selling the car so we can make it the rest of the year, but this will affect the ministry. When the girls start going back to school we will have less time with the people and a very unpredictable schedule (the schools here are never consistent in the time they let the kids out). However, if the Lord doesn’t want us to have a car we are more than ready to do what He wants. So we ask you to pray for us in what decision the Lord wants us to make.
Again thank so much for your prayer. Please do not forget us or the people that are here serving with us. God can make a fish have money in its mouth, but He can’t force us to talk to Him. Prayer is so very important to us so please continue in it.
In our Savior,
Curtis, Chelly, and girls

It is Enough!

“Are you still sleeping and resting? IT IS ENOUGH! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man…” Mark 14:41
It is a great question to ask ourselves as we keep our eyes on heavenly things. I wish that it wasn’t so easy to get caught up in “sleeping” and “resting.” So many times I am blinded by my selfishness and forget that I am in a war. I ask that the Lord would wake me up and you as well. It is such urgency that we share who Jesus is with people, and who they can be in Him. It has been great going to the central park and bus stop with Darwin. Darwin has such a heart to see people understand Jesus and His work. It is so great to have another guy that shares in this urgency. So far we have seen one lady respond to this work; her name is Gretel. Gretel even brought three other friends with her to the study! It is so exciting to see God working! Please be praying that they will continue to come. We hope to see even more people draw closer to the Lord in the near future.
In October I was able to go to a pastor’s conference in El Salvador, thanks to my parents. It was a great time of sharing and learning. The other pastors from different parts of Central and South America were a huge encouragement to me and others.
Annie and Darwin are doing great with their new baby. They are fitting right in to the work the Lord has for them here. Darwin and I are still waiting on the timing of the Lord as to when to get the men’s study going. Right now Darwin is trying to get enough guys committed to coming. Please continue to be praying for this ministry and the guys that will be coming.
This update is going to be shorter than the others to save room for the next one. We have many things planned for the next few months. Please be praying for:
• The 4 guys coming from the States on the 13th of December (finances, travel, furniture and appliances for their house, ect)
• First Women’s Tea on the 4th of December
• Salvation Army Gift Handout on the 18th of December
• My parents coming to visit on the 16th December
• Christmas party for our church and our neighborhood
• Construction of the house we are in (we are building a huge room off the back of the house to have more space for the studies)
• Time with Adriana and her boys in Rivas (young widow)
• My broken toes would heal right (I missed the ball and kicked a rock under the water at the beach)
• The car would be repaired the right way this time (having problems with the head)
Thanks again to all of you that take the time to read our updates. And thank you so much for praying for us and the Lord’s work down here. Have a great Christmas and New Years!
Blessings,
Schockey Family

Patience and Persevering

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5: 7, 8

Hello everyone,
We hope all is well with you and your families. I am so excited to write this update to you because of all the new things the Lord has been doing here. As some of you already know Chelly’s sister and husband, Darwin, have come to join the work here in Costa Rica! Annie arrived here in the first part of July and later her husband joined her in the first part of September. They came from Peru after helping another church plant there. It has been awesome to have Darwin and Annie here to help with the “tilling of the ground.” Darwin has a huge heart to evangelize (not just a heart but a gift), and Annie has been playing worship for the church. We cannot fully express the joy that we have by having them here! Also while they have been here Darwin and Annie have had their first baby! They had a little girl named Mery Angelica Torres on the 18th of September.
It is so nice to have family close by.
Here are a few great things that have happened in the last few months:
• Joel, the 16 yr old that I have been teaching, is doing great and continuing to grow closer to his Savior. Right now he is learning how to study the Bible the Inductively. He loves it and is learning a lot in Scripture. He has also been going out on his own to share his faith, even when I am not around!
• 2 weeks ago we started Sunday morning services!! We are going through Genesis right now and will continue to move through the Old Testament unless the Lord gives us another direction He wants to go.
• We have a new couple that has been joining us for the last few weeks. Please be praying for these two, they have a long way to go in their marriage.
• Soña and Carlos are doing great! They just had a new granddaughter this last week. Their other daughter, Yenri, is getting married in January.
• We are almost done going through Acts in our Wednesday studies, only three more chapters and then on to Romans. It has been great to see Soña, Carlos, Yendri, and Camila grow in their faith and understanding about the beginning of the church.
We are so excited to see what the Lord is going to be doing in the next few months! We have 4 guys coming down from the States to help us for a whole year; we are super excited about this! We think that the next year is going to explode with fruit. We are so excited and can’t wait to see what the Lord has for the people here.
Some things that you can be praying for:
• Darwin, Joel and I are going to be going into town weekly to share Jesus with the people. We really need prayer that the Holy Spirit over flow us for this work.
• Darwin and I would like to get a men’s study going on Tuesday nights. We plan on renting a synthetic, indoor field to play soccer on. We want to have a 45-60 min study with the guys before we play.
• In January, with the help of the 4 guys coming down, we hope to get a youth group going on Friday nights. Pray for the youth here, Darwin and Annie were walking in the park one evening observing the youth. They watched as many of the youth smoked pot and crack. These kids have nothing to do here in the night or on the weekends.
• That Annie and Darwin will get their Costa Rican Residency.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for praying for us. Please don’t forget your call where you are and be encouraged to continue on in the strength of the Lord.
In our Savior,
Schockey Family

Slow Moving and Challenging

Hello Friends and Family,
We hope that this update finds you seeking diligently after the Lord. We really miss all of you and hope that someday the Lord makes it possible to see you again.
Well the last 3 ½ months have been long and challenging for us here in Costa Rica. We started off on a high note in May with a marriage retreat in the northern part of the country.
We had a great 3 days with our missionary friends from around the country. Pastor Rob Salvato, from Calvary Chapel Vista, was able to come down and bless us with his teaching. It was a great time of fellowship for our whole family. The rest of May was pretty slow going. We were able to talk to a few new people in town, but we are still waiting to see fruit. Sometimes it takes a while before the people make a choice to come back and talk with us. Near the end of May we did have our old house cleaner, Jennifer, come back to talk with us after not seeing her for a few months. She had come back to tell us that she was sick of living the way she was, and that she wanted to make some big changes. She had a new guy in her life that also wanted to see her change. So we shared with her that she needed to stop walking on the fence, and get down (die to self) so she could walk in Christ full time. It was a great time getting to share with her and later her new boyfriend. It seemed like everything was going to be much better in her life. However, 3 weeks later we got a call from her boyfriend that she was in the hospital from an overdose. A few days later we found out she was doing better, and then when we tried to call a few days after that her phone was disconnected. We have been to her old apartment and work, but no one knows where she is. Please be praying that we can find her again and that she is ok.
In June we had quite a few people come down to spend time with us. At the end of May and beginning of June Chelly’s family came down for 10 days to have some fun with the grandkids.
We had a great time with them and can’t wait to see them again. Also Alex, the boyfriend of Yendri, came down from the States to see his future wife and hang out with us for a little bit. Alex brought a friend named Shawn down with him. While Shawn was here we were able to share Christ with him; please be praying that he will make the decision soon. We also were able to see our Pastor and his wife for a couple of days. It was great to see Pastor Dave and get to talk to him about the things going on here. It was also nice to have him be a part of the study we have on Tuesday night.
The studies on Tuesdays have been great! We look forward to what the Lord is going to do each Tuesday. We are still going though Acts with the people the Lord has brought here. This next Tuesday we will be going through Acts 15. Please be praying for this next study because once again we will be talking about the law vs. grace. This has been a hard topic for some of those that have been coming. Some of the people in the study believe that we can be saved by/through the law, and that in our own power we can fulfill it. It is so sad to see people still trying to be saved by their works when it clearly says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” Eph. 2:8, 9 (also Titus 3:4-7; Rom. 3:21-26). Also I will be bringing up a touchy topic here in Costa Rica. Last week the main Catholic Bishop set up a “Holy Door” in the city of Cartago, which can forgive your sins. All the people have to do is go to Cartago, walk through this “Holy Door,” and then pray before a holy rock that looks like Mary and all their sins are forgiven. Please pray that the people will not think that I am attacking them, but that their eyes would be opened to the lies.
We plan on trying to get the Sunday serves going again soon. We are going to see if having the serves in the evening will bring people in. Please be praying that we are doing what the Lord would have us do. We believe that soon we are going to have a big increase in the church. We have been tilling the ground and planting seeds for a year and a half now. Please be praying that this is the time when many will turn their lives to Jesus. We have new help now and more coming in September to help with this increase. Chelly’s sister Annie is here with us now and later in September her husband, Darwin, will be joining us. Annie has been working in Peru for the last 5 years, and her husband is has grown up in Peru and has been working with Calvary for 6 or more years. So we will have a worship leader and an evangelist fluent in Spanish joining the work here! We are so excited to have this kind of help and family. Darwin and Annie plan on having their first child here in CR. Please be praying that Darwin will be able to make it to his child’s birth in September and that he will be able to stay here. It is hard for Peruvians to enter CR and then stay here as residents. The new baby will make it possible for him and Annie to stay here just like we did, but the whole in-between time is what we need prayer for.
I, Curtis, had the chance to go join my parents on a short term mission trip to Managua, Nicaragua during the first part of this month. We went with some brothers and sisters from the Methodist church to hold a 2 day teaching seminar for the Methodist pastors of Nicaragua. I have been on many short term mission trips in my life, but this one topped the list. We first went up to the northern part of the country, Estelí, to see a pastor and a project called Febretto. Febretto is an after school teaching program trying to teach kids so that they have a better living.
Nicaragua is a hard place to live, it is very poor. Everybody was telling me that it is the second poorest country in the Americas next to Haiti. The second part of the trip we went back to the capital, Managua, to teach the pastors. The first day my parents and others on the team taught how to study the Bible inductively. The pastors sucked it up and were very excited to use the tools they had been given. The next day my parents and others from the team taught the pastors through some lessons in the book “Self-Confrontation.” A great book used to disciple people through the Scriptures with no outside doctrine or denomination. When we were ready to leave we encouraged them to continue in the faith. One of the pastors asked what we were going to do with this new baby we had just adopted. They wanted to know if we would be back to feed them more from the Scriptures. This made it really hard to leave them. Please pray that the Lord would protect them from men’s traditions and keep them focused on His word.
One last thing before I end this update; we ask that you all please pray for our children. As some of you remember in December and January Chelly and I were being attacked in our marriage, well now the enemy is after our children. The last few months have been very challenging for us in dealing with our kids. Our two older children have become very strong liars. By strong I mean that they are unwilling to change. The lies have been horrible causing the teacher of our oldest to think that we abuse our children. We had to have a meeting with her to clear all the lies up. Everything is fine right now with the teacher, but I just caught our oldest in another lie this morning which she was planning on telling the teacher. So please pray that we would know how to deal with this problem, and pray that our witness would not be destroyed by these lies.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this update, sorry it is long. Also thank you so much for keeping our family and this ministry in your prayers. We love you guys and pray for you often.

In our Savior,
Curtis, Chelly, and girls