Happy New Year!

It's exciting for us to be inside of the actual calendar year of our launch to the mission field! What a range of emotions: excitement, nervousness, humility, awareness of things that we'll miss, but also total confidence that we're going in the right direction and that God will take care of us and do His work.

Now that we've set a target departure date (April 20), the countdown has begun. We're beginning to be consumed with "last-minute" details of dental checks for the kids, packing for our move into storage once we sell the house on April 15, luggage and packing for the trip, plane tickets, dog health certificates, language school enrollment, finding a place to live there, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Boy, will it be great to GET there and settle in after so much upheaval! I don't want it to sound like it's terrible, though; every part of it has been a blessing, and we know that it is growing and equipping us for whatever we will encounter in Latin America.

Let us give a list of praises for the things the Lord has done recently:

• Annabel has "outgrown" her asthma this winter, eliminating the need to obtain her medication out of country. While we know that this somtimes happens in kids with asthma, we believe God has healed her at a very opportune time!
• A potential bone health concern with Andrea from years ago has turned out to be a non-issue. Where bones were apparently weak 5 years ago, they are now totally normal according to a recent test!
• While both of us remain officially "unemployed," we inexplicably have plenty of money for our bills and monthly needs, and work for both of us has come our way to provide for the next few months.
• We still can't get over the mercy and favor we have been shown in the sale of our house.

These are amazing things that show us that God is in the details, and is not too busy to attend to all aspects of the journeys that each of us are on!

Some of you may have heard or read about the 6.1 earthquake in Costa Rica earlier this month, which was centered just north of the capital, San Jose, where we'll be living. Smaller quakes are frequent in Costa Rica (which is located at several converging tectonic plates), but this is the largest that they've had in years. About 40 people lost their lives, hundreds of people were stranded when roads and bridges were destroyed, and over 1200 people were displaced from their homes. You can see some dramatic before and after pictures at http://www.crid.or.cr/crid/pdf/Antes%20y%20despues%20del%20Terremoto%20de%20Cinchona.pdf.

This has renewed the vigor of our compassion for the poor there, and given us a new urgency to get down there to help with some of the relief work. A missionary friend of ours currently living there reports that it will likely take months if not years to repair the damage left behind, both physical and emotional. People who have lost most of their earthly possessions need to hear the good news of the gospel, that the Lord can sustain and restore them, and that Christ's body on earth wants to help!

Blessings,
Andrea (&Seth)