Commissioning the Volunteers in Mission Team - January 26, 2003

Back Row: Rev. Rod Quainton Front Row: LaVere Webster, Zola Webster, Mira Wood and Teran Loeppke (Garrett seminary interns), Donna Haymond, Ann Gessart, Tom Kissling

Work Done in Costa Rica

Late in 2002, our team leader, Bob Suda, learned that the parsonage in Tonjibe (a Maleku Indian village in northwestern Costa Rica) had been condemned . The minister, Marcos Lopez, his wife, Emilce, and their 5 children were homeless. It was promptly decided that construction of a new parsonage would be the major focus of our volunteer mission efforts for 2003.

Construction began in January on a small plot of land behind the Methodist Church. The new house is a tidy, concrete structure composed of a living room, kitchen/dinette, 3 bedrooms, a bathroom with shower, and a covered outdoor laundry area. Our VIM team, Marcos and his family, Christian friends from neighboring villages and several local men labored to complete the home late in February. Marcos and family moved in early in March. Marcos said that his new home and all our VIM team efforts were truly answers to their prayers.

In addition to the parsonage, our team completed some badly needed remodeling and repairs to the fellowship hall attached to the church. We also had sidewalks constructed around the church and parsonage. Once the construction on the home was completed, the existing "condemned" parsonage was demolished and the site cleaned. As you can see from the photo it is a lovely home for a loving family.

The steel trusses go up on the new parsonage with the help of the local steel workers hired by the team.

The glass is installed in the window frames constructed by team members Ann Gessert and Jaye Emrick.

The finished parsonage.

Construction work is not all that the VIM team accomplished this year. The following is a list of other activities and expenses of the team:

• Food for school lunches for students in Tonjibe. There was a delay of one month before the government supplied the food for free lunches.
• Wedding dresses to loan to local women for their weddings.
• A large supply of toys, books, and school supplies for the kindergarten that our team built in 2001.
• School uniforms and supplies for 50 students who would not be able to attend school if it were not for our supplying their uniform needs.
• Cabinets, constructed by a local craftsman, for the kindergarten storage.
• Donations of several suitcases of clothing for the local families.
• Vacation Bible School for the village children.
• Crafts and Bible study for the village women.
• Employment for several local men and women to assist in construction and cook meals for our team.

New storage cabinet with new toys in kindergarten.

Women's craft and Bible study.

As you can readily see, VIM team efforts and our local church donations for the Costa Rica mission projects are a very important witness to and support for these wonderful people.

Team #2 in Costa Rica - February 6, 2003

Back Row: Emilce (the wife of the pastor), Pastor Marcos, and Baby. Row 3: Al Roberson, Joe Groff, Tom Kissling, Donna Haymond, Teran Loeppke, Bob Karr, Abram Caruajal, Jesus, Fay Hager, Ann Gessart, and Penny Groff. Row 2: Jaye Emrick, Gorgie Murillo, Nadia Murillo, Joan Suda, Grace Murillo, Zola Webster, Denia Caruajal, LaVere Webster, and Howard Gilmore. Front Row: Johanna Murillo, Mira Wood.