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First Baptist Church 105 West 6th Port Angeles, WA 98362 (360) 457-3313 (360 457-3314 fax info@fbcpa.org www.fbcpa.org |
BUS TRANSPORTATION AVAILABLE
Transportation is provided to most Church Activities
Our bus is available for Handicap Access including Wheel Chairs
CALL FOR RIDE 457-3313
Monday thru Friday in the morning to schedule pickup
Childrens Programs We offer Sunday School classes for all ages. Using biblically based material. Each class is taught by a team of trained, screened leaders. Sunday (childrens) School breaks for the summer.
Vacation Bible School during Summer.
Youth Programs Wednesday evening gathering for Jr.High & High Schoolers at 6:30p.m.
Monthly Activities for Middle Schoolers
Weekly Activities for High Schoolers
Camps, Conference and Mission Trips
Bible Studies and Adult Programs 2 Sunday School Classes for Adults
Weekly Wednesday evening Potluck and Bible Study
Men's Prayer Group
Socials
American Baptist Women's Ministries Group
Ecumenical Women's Retreat in April at Lake Crescent
Family Camp at Camp David Jr. on Memorial Day weekend
MISSIONARY SUPPORT & REPORTS
September 26, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
We thought it was time we gave you a better picture of what life is like for us here in Costa Rica. If we miss something, please feel free to ask about it, because probably lots of other folks are wondering about the same questions.
We have several classes started by now. All the students, high school and adults come to our house in the evenings because that timing works for their schedules. Some are taught individually and some in small groups. We have about twelve students on five different nights. There will be an additional class for men whenever it gets organized. A group of women meets on Monday evening, an advanced class on Tuesday evening, and individual high school students on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings (their schedules are as busy as any teen’s schedule). During each class we serve cookies and tea (not coffee, because we wouldn’t be able to sleep if we drank coffee in the evenings!). The women’s class would like to have occasional lessons in cookie baking, and that would work for us.
Our teaching schedule will match the school year here. The schools and universities here start at the beginning of February and end in the middle of December. We will return to Port Angeles the 14th of December. We plan to return to Costa Rica for the start of their school year in February.
We feel it is important to live and worship with the Costa Ricans and SPEAK their language. To this end we take two one-hour sessions each week in Spanish with a private tutor. He teaches during the day at the Spanish Language Institute where we studied for several weeks. Larry’s hour is similar to first year university Spanish and Robin's is like third or fourth year university Spanish. We must travel into San Jose on two different buses and then take a third bus out to our tutor’s house. All the buses here go from outlying areas to the center of San Jose and back. We walk the several blocks between the bus stops and enjoy the walk except when it’s pouring rain. But we have learned to always take our umbrellas. Our tutor delivers us back to San Jose since it’s dark at that time, and it only takes two buses to get back home in time for evening English classes.
The bus from Santo Tomás to Santo Domingo costs 20¢, the bus from Santo Domingo to San José 40¢, and the bus from San José to the tutor's house in San Sebastian 35¢. The journey takes about an hour and a half, but can easily take longer during rush hour. We haven't yet ridden the bus to the Baits home in San Ramón de Tres Rios, but we know where both the bus stops are pretty much, and will have to try that some day.
Many Saturday mornings we walk the mile and a half to Santo Domingo and shop at the weekend farmer's market for fruits and vegetables and delicious local cheeses. Then we walk to the Palí, the grocery store across the street from the bus stop, where we get most of the rest of our groceries. It has a limited selection, so every couple of weeks we manage to get to a store with greater selection.
Francisco, our tutor, also is helping us learn more Costa Rican cooking and how to use the unfamiliar-to-us fruits and vegetables. One adventure has been pineapple marmalade. Larry loves it, and Francisco asked if we had made any. I found some recipes on the internet, and he and Baits helped us find pint jam jars (they are hard to come by here). This past weekend we both tried the recipes, and both had success. A very common dish here is olla de carne, a vegetable and meat soup. Robin is learning what vegetables to put in it, and has shared the Port Angeles hamburger soup recipe with Francisco. We'll see what gets cooked this weekend!
We attend Sunday School on Sunday mornings and some weeks return Sunday evening for that service. Our landlady has been very helpful in getting a few things fixed in the house and helping us learn our way around the area. God has really gotten us settled in here, and we are enjoying the experiences and the classes.
With our love and prayers,
Larry and Robin