Santa Semana in Nicaragua (Visa Renewal)

We arrived last night (Thursday, April 1) at our “home” in Costa Rica… “home” is where you can put things in drawers, know the neighborhood, and yes, walk around in your underwear (not that we do, but we could!).

We knew the border crossing going into Nicaragua would be bad… the Saturday before Santa Semana (Holy Week) is a big travel day. Santa Semana is like Memorial Day and Labor Day in the US, but bigger because it lasts a week. Every one goes on vacation, and since Nicaragua and Costa Rica are both officially Catholic, holy events like Easter are a big deal.

We had a 5 hour bus ride from San José to the border, 5 hours at the border – 2 ½ hours waiting to “leave” Costa Rica and 2 ½ hours waiting to “enter” Nicaragua… officially we didn’t exist in ANY country for the 2 ½ hours waiting to get into Nicaragua!

We certainly saw a difference in the two countries: Nicaragua has a lot more trash along the roadways, the highway system is not as developed, and things are generally cheaper. We had seen street vendors and beggars many times, but never saw people that came to your table while eating, stare at our food, and ask for some. One guy even had a make-shift chair he carried around and sat down to eat at the corner of our table. He finished one of our hamburgers, the French fries, and asked the waiter for a bag for the other hamburger!

The weather was hot but the evenings were cool when the breeze was blowing. Jeff, a pastor from Michigan who has visited Masaya, Nicaragua many times previously, had arranged a few tours for us, including a church service, cultural entertainment, and dinner. We got to visit several cathedrals, go shopping, tour an active volcano, and simply relax.

What a way to stay “legal” while renewing our visas!

Encouraging the people not to litter - "Granada is not a Trashcan"

Everyone joined in the "procession" - one of many, 2-3 every day of Santa Semana

Statue on left is Jesus, on the right is Mary - compare the sizes

A little cultural entertainment at the church

From the edge of the volcano

Ready, aim, FIRE! First the flag, then the church!

Jesus and Mary "floats" during the "procession" - carried by purple-robed and hooded volunteers

Passing by the church, with local Hot Dog vendors ready!

We Have to Leave Again!

After the Christmas break, we arrived in Costa Rica on January 5. Since we only have a "tourist" visa, we are only allowed to stay for 90 days at a time. Although we could have applied for a "student" visa, that is a costly and timely process, so we opted to keep just the "tourist" visa... besides, it makes it necessary for us to visit other countries! Last fall we were "forced" to visit Panamá!

Catholicism is the national religion in Costa Rica and Thursday and Friday of Holy Week (Semana Santa) are national holidays; many people take Monday-Wednesday off and vacation the whole week. Our school will not have classes next week.

One of our classmates works with a church in Nicaragua. He has organized a trip to Granada, Nicaragua during Semana Santa, allowing us to visit this city and interact with the people in his mission. We will leave Saturday morning, March 27, bright-and-early at 5:00 AM, endure the 6-hour bus ride to the border, deal with immigration and customs, and drive another hour to Granada. He has arranged for us to stay in homes of people from the mission for 5 days, and then we will return to Costa Rica on Thursday, April 1.

When we return to Costa Rica, we will have another 90 days before we have to leave again. We plan to return to the US, however, at the end of this trimester at the end of April.

Don't you just love international rules?

Back to Normal?

If you’ve been following our blog, you know that Sandy just reached a milestone where she no longer has the Hep-C virus yet must stay on the medication for another 40+ weeks. Once again, however, God arranged for someone to bring the medicine to us from the US (thank you Susan from Asbury Church in Madison, AL!). So, we now have a supply of medicine and we can get back to normal.

But then I step back and think: since when does having a 90-day supply of interferon in the refrigerator, an extremely potent and dangerous drug, and well over 500 pills to be taken 3 at a time twice-a-day, that cause tremendous headaches, become “normal?” What’s wrong with this picture?

Thursday morning in chapel, a fellow missionary and piano player was sharing an appropriate message. It is dealing with the ordinary things in life, day after day, that shape who we become: obvious and profound. She gave a great object lesson by playing a song on the piano metronome-perfect. She then played it again with feeling and expression and it sounded like a different song. She played the exact same notes, but she played with another motivation and the song was completely different. She also talked about how the smallest acts we do every day, the smallest decisions we make, all add up to place us where we are at any given time: simple yet insightful (and from C.S. Lewis!).

What is “normal” in your life? Do you go day-by-day thinking there is no point? Do your circumstances dictate who you are or how you feel? Or do you know who God made you to be? Do you spend time with Him everyday, not only in your devotions but with all other activities in your life? Are you living your life “metronome-perfect” or do you live every moment as if it had meaning, and thereby give yourself a new life?

No, we’re not happy about what has become “normal” for us, but we don’t let it determine who we are or how we look at life. We don’t ask God: Why has this happened, or why does Sandy have so much pain? Rather, we ask God to help us bear it, to help us remain faithful, and to be a witness to others.

Dios les bendiga!

NEGATIVE Is a Positive

We got Sandy's blood test results yesterday - she is NEGATIVE for Hep-C, which is a POSITIVE for us! Praise God for this act.

As we have learned so many times before, God is always on-time, and seldom early. One of our classmates has a team coming here from the US on Saturday. We now have just enough time to schedule a delivery for them to arrive on Thursday and they can bring to us on Saturday.

Please pray:
1) nothing goes wrong with the shipment to Asbury United Methodist Church in Madison, AL
2) the storage for two days, and delivery to us on Saturday are uneventful
3) Sandy's endurance remains high - she has another 46 weeks of treatment!
4) thanks that God has so well provided for us!

Bill & Sandy

Update on Sandy’s Blood Sample

It is now Friday morning, February 26, and we should have had the results by now (the hospital lab drew her blood Monday, the 15th). This past Tuesday I checked with the lab in Miami performing the test and they told me the sample sent by the hospital here was insufficient for the test. That was disturbing news.

I called Sandy’s doctor here and he said that sounded very strange because they generally send double the amount needed. We got a call from her doctor yesterday afternoon and he told me the lab said the sample was coagulated and not enough remained to be tested and we would have to draw blood again. That’s easy to do and would be OK in most situations, but we needed the week 24 sample, and it is now week 25!

So, we are off to the hospital this morning to have double, or triple, the amount of blood needed and try again. I will be calling the insurance company to see what the options are in our current situation.

One GREAT thing that happened last week: we spoke with the Academic Director at the school about Sandy’s condition (she already knew the background), and how mornings are Sandy’s most difficult times. She offered to let Sandy drop the first two hours of her Lenguaje (Language) class and use a private tutor to cover the same information in the afternoons. Praise God for small miracles!

New prayer requests:
1) that God give us patience to continue dealing with the hospital here, and this whole process
2) that the insurance company grants a waiver to the week 24 rule and allows this week 25 sample
3) that this new sample arrives safely in Miami and is usable for testing
4) that the results are accurate
5) that the results are ready in a timely manner
6) that the results show a negative report (no virus found) (which means 48 more weeks of treatment!)
7) that we are able to get the next shipment of medication delivered to someone in the US in a timely manner
8) that Sandy’s physical side effects (headaches and weakness) are manageable

We know God is sovereign and already knows how this will turn out and that His plan is best for our lives. But just like you and everyone else, sometimes it can be hard to live day-by-day, and even hour-by-hour, in the midst of trials like this.

Bendiciones. (Blessings)

God’s family…

We know that we are part of a family, God’s family, but it never ceases to amaze me how incredible His family is and what a privilege it is to be a part of it. God’s family… seems like it would be so big that you would get lost in it, but God continually shows me how intimate His family is. This weekend I had the privilege to go to a women’s retreat that was being put on by a church in the US for the women of ILE (the school we are attending in Costa Rica).

Kirby Woods Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee sent a team of women down to minister to the specific needs of the women missionaries who are learning Spanish here in Costa Rica. As it turns out, this church was one of the three churches that sent a team to Las Vegas Nevada nine years ago to start a church there. You guessed it! Hope Baptist Church. What an incredible time it was to meet with the very people who started the church that sent us as missionaries to Latin America!

The speaker at the retreat was Amy Barron. Amy worked for Bob Pitman, pastor at Kirby Woods, and is father to Vance Pitman, our pastor at Hope! She knows Vance and Kristy personally and it was a great time to see how God has brought back full circle the plans He has made.

And here is the topper! A few months ago we were having difficulty getting my medicine approved for shipment. Time was short and it seemed like everyone Bill spoke with, even though he told them we were living in Costa Rica, they still wanted to know our zip code before they could proceed! The stress was unbelievable. He was finally able to speak with someone that understood our situation; Rebecca offered to track down the right people in her company that could help us, she called us back several times to confirm details – she had compassion! Turns out, Rebecca is Amy’s daughter-in-law! To now to find out that she is part of our family is such an incredible blessing!

All of this is a reminder to me how Great our God is, how intricate His plans are for us, how He takes care of our needs before we even know we need them, and what a blessing to be able to see that pattern as we walk the road he has led us to.

As Paul says in Philippians 4:19, And my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

I believe his glorious riches are many things, one of which is the family network that He creates to take care of His children.

We are the only arms God has to hug his children with.

NOTE: We are still waiting to hear the results of my blood test form Monday the 15th.

We are in serious need of prayer…

We are in week 24 of Sandy’s treatment for Hepatitis-C. This is a major milestone – if the medication has fully destroyed the virus, she will be able to continue on the treatment for another 48 weeks (11 months, through January 2011). If, however, there is any remaining virus, she will be considered a slow-responder and will have to terminate treatment. As bad as the side effects have been, it would be nice to quit treatment and get back to a normal life. We realize, however, that we would then have to start over in the fall of 2011 when the next drug, currently in clinical trials, is ready.

Sandy has responded remarkably well to the treatment: her viral load was almost 11,000,000 when we started treatment, 180,000 6 weeks into the treatment, and 1800 12 weeks into the treatment. We have already drawn the blood for the 24-week report, but do not yet know what the viral count is (but certainly God does!). It takes two months to determine the results here in Costa Rica. Our insurance company requires that the test be performed in the US. The hospital here sent her blood sample to the US yesterday.

Always remember that the power resides in the one being prayed to, not the one offering the prayer! No need for eloquence, the bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will supply the words if we make the effort. Please make the effort.

This is where we need prayer support as we continue to trust that He has everything under control, as He has displayed so many times:
1) pray that the sample is safely received in the US
2) pray that the sample is not lost
3) pray that the results are accurate
4) pray that the results are ready in a timely manner
5) pray that Sandy shows a negative report (no virus found)
6) pray that we are able to get the next shipment of medication delivered to someone in the US in a timely manner
7) pray that Sandy’s side effects would ease (her headaches have gotten worse and now she has occasional upset stomach)
8) pray that God gives us strength and patience to see this through

Thank you.

¡Dios les bendiga!