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Update from the Wicks
Greetings Friends and Family,
It’s hard to believe that in less than three months we will have finished Spanish classes here in Costa Rica and will be in the process of moving to Colombia. This year has gone by so quickly and we’re so thankful for such a time of growth, transition and reaffirmation of our calling to mission work. This year has been so much more than just learning Spanish.
We recently started a new term of classes and Kristina started 7th grade. There are 14 in her class this year and she is enjoying her classes along with soccer. Berit actually finished the Spanish course last term due to her previous Spanish studies but is taking a translation class this term along with a Christianity course at the seminary. She’ll be starting a class for teaching English as a second language next month. Dan has switched his studies to just tutoring this term to be able to go faster and to allow more time to work with other ministry organizations. We’re thankful (and a little surprised) that Spanish has come along pretty well for all of us and we’re trying to prepare ourselves for an environment of almost all Spanish speaking.
A real highlight of our summer was having the youth group from our home church in California come to Costa Rica for a short term mission trip. They lived in a barrio neighborhood where they put on kids programs and played with them. One of the programs had close to 200 in attendance and although the youth didn’t speak Spanish, many friendships were made and the Costa Rican kids are still asking about the “gringo kids from the States.” The love that was shown by the youth will have a long-term effect on many of the kids in the barrio.
Dan’s brother, Doug, got married a couple of weeks ago near Charlotte, North Carolina and we were pleased to be able to attend the wedding. Since it was our first trip to the States in 9 months it was somewhat of a culture shock. Many experiences seemed different including driving 65mph on a freeway, nearly endless hot water and large shopping malls.
We continue to help out at a small church for the homeless in downtown San Jose nearly every Sunday morning. Attendance has grown to where they have to close the door due to lack of room. It is such an inspiration to worship with and serve these people who have such a love for the Lord but have so little in the way of material possessions. We have also become friends with and help out a Colombian brother and sister who have moved to Costa Rica recently. The situation for so many Colombians is so hard to comprehend as he was an airline mechanic and has a family still in Bogotá and she was a nurse and now has a two-month old baby. They came to Costa Rica because of the lack of work in Colombia and have provided us a great opportunity to practice Spanish as well as to learn more about the Colombian culture.
Dan has been able to help out more at ADESTRA, a Christian micro-credit organization in San Jose. He recently helped coordinate a partnership with a ministry organization in the States, which will help to expand the operations and serve more people. It’s a scary thought to think that he was also acting as translator between the two organizations! (The picture is of Dan with a client outside of San Jose.)
We’ve started to work on the details for moving to Cartagena, Colombia in January. Kristina is filling out her application for the international school there and we are working on our visa applications with the Colombian embassy. We were successful in renting an apartment with lots of room for visitors and close to the beach, so start making your reservations early! We ask for your prayers for Colombia that a peaceful resolution may be made to end the violence that has hurt the people there for so many years.
We are looking forward to being back in the States over Christmas. We leave Costa Rica on December 13, will be in Chelan with family for Christmas and then the Tri- Cities and Seattle. We’ll go to California and spend the first week and a half of January there. We’ll head to the LAM office in Miami for a day or so before heading to Cartagena in time for Kristina to start school on January 15. We look forward to seeing so many of you when we are back.
Your continued prayers and words of encouragement have been such a source of strength this year. We greatly appreciate them and thank you. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing many of you at Christmas.
Blessings to you,
Dan, Berit, and Kristina Wick
Email: dwick@LAM.org
Address: P.O. Box 52-2628, Miami, FL 33152-2628
Phone: 011-506-250-1670
"Y sabemos que a los que aman a Dios, todas las cosas les ayudan a bien, esto es, a los que conforme a su propósito son llamados."
Romanos 8:28
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