We Arrive In Costa Rica!

It's been two weeks since we arrived in Costa Rica.
As I write this, it's breezy and cool, steadily raining, and the children are sleeping. It's really nice.

But don't get the wrong idea. I finally understand
why so many of you called us brave
...moving our family of eight to another land.
Oh. My. Goodness!
This has rocked us. This IS rocking us.

I'll back up.

It was a really wild summer in preparing to move. And we completely failed. I mean, we moved, but we didn't even finish packing our house before we left it. We finally had to stop trying because we ran out of time. Family and friends finished the job.
How humiliating!

But, we were blessed beyond words by your help.
Community is essential. On our own, we do not have what it takes.

We lost our first buyers two weeks before closing, forcing us to put the house back on the market. The week that we intended for packing, we spent repeatedly cleaning the house and scrambling to get out for 12 showings. It set our timetable back, robbing us of the time we intended to spend with our families. We were heartbroken as the fly date came closer and closer and the job just wasn't ending.
It was HORRIBLE.

Working late into the nights, in and out of the ER on two different occasions (Cappy broke his finger and Aspen broke his foot).... We were exhausted. On Saturday, we gave up, realizing that we just weren't going to get it done. Tearfully pulling ourselves away from the house at 11 PM, we repeatedly lamented, "This is not the way we thought we'd end here." We spent our last night in the United States in Holtwood at my sister's house.

The next morning was surreal as we drove from my sister and brother in law's farm to the airport... our luggage taking up an entire truck bed...24 pieces of checked luggage. I sobbed on the way, wondering, "Why are we leaving those we love?!?"

Several times since arriving here, we've asked, "What did we just do?" - only to instantly sense "God is doing this, not us. We're simply following His lead."

I've had to adjust my own expectations. Every time I've come here for the past 35 years, I've come as a visitor, a tourist, a vacationer. Now we're living here. We don't yet have a vehicle, so we're dependent on the buses and taxis. And our feet, which has been kinda fun actually. We walk about half a mile each way to language school, four days a week.

Although, the first week left their heads swirling in Spanglish - the CISA immersion language school is totally legit. With enthusiastic and caring teachers, Heather and the children are really enjoying learning.  Aspen already has a great accent! I've had one class thus far, which has been completely conversational - hearing the director's life story, sharing mine, and then learning about the current political climate. I think I'm really going to like it. The instructor, Hector, is the one who founded the school. He too has been a worship leader his whole life and we're roughly the same age.

Huxley and Caspian are gradually adjusting to being in childcare at the school each morning. I've stayed in the room with them, for those moments when Caspian feels out of sorts, and each day has gotten easier. There are also three little girls in the childcare, daughters of Cody and Jessica Matthews, currently the only other students.  They hail from Florida and are headed to Peru in five months. We're looking forward to getting to know them!

We live in the Green House, a rental that the school owns. It used to be the school itself and was the birthplace of the Voz Que Clama Mission (Voice of One Crying, the church that started the school). Upon our arrival, we were alarmed to find it loaded with termites and smelling of mold and pesticidal fumes...  a non-functioning refrigerator, and a first floor ceiling that requires me to duck in all the rooms except for the kitchen/dining, and bathrooms. Thankfully the fridge was replaced after that first weekend, the ceilings are nice and high in the bedrooms, the eaten up walls and floors are still strong enough to hold us, and unlike mosquitos, termites don't bite!)

Here though, you want to leave all the screenless windows and doors open for ventilation. Which makes the safety of our 18 month old...not so safe. That along with... who knows what kind of biting insects, poisonous creatures and plants, or the stream - I mean, small river -  that's just 20 feet, and one large slippery, moss-covered rock away... are lurking. (Gosh, I sound like a first time parent!!) So, we enjoy the open doors when he's sleeping, even so, let's just say, that it's been stressful.

On the third night, Juliana (our seven year old) discovered a baby boa constrictor on the roof just outside her bedroom window. She almost reached out to pick it up, thinking it was a hair band (!). Hector freaked out too when he saw the picture I sent, then he told me, "I lived in that house 12 years and never saw a single snake. Your family MUST have a very special mission here - you are here for a reason!" He sent some men over to find and remove it, and they assured us that it's a "good snake, just hunting for some mice".

We are now calling the Green House, the Greenhouse, a place where plants (and in this case, our family) can flourish in the specific care, and timely light and warmth of the Son. We believing that God is using this time to prepare us, and by His grace He will achieve beautiful fruitfulness in us.

So, it's been hard, at times, so hard. And it's been good. It's been life. It's been like nothing we've ever experienced before. Definitely not the usual.
But I guess you didn't think it would be.

Thanks for praying for us.

If you would like to send mail, you can send by regular mail only (no FedEx) to:

CISA

HECTOR SOTO

C/O DAVE & HEATHER HELMUTH

28-7150 TURRIALBA

COSTA RICA

Please don't send food, liquids, or lotions since they will get stuck in customs.

If you'd like to contact us, our phones still work when we are on WiFi (which we have at home and school), so you can iMessage, WhatsApp, email, and even call. Just use our same numbers and emails.

If you'd love to partner financially with us as we pioneer and prepare in Costa Rica (either one time or monthly), you can give through Vital Seed at Adlibmusic.com/Give.

Love,

Dave, Heather, Aspen, Clementine, Louis, Juliana, Huxley, and Caspian Helmuth