A Colony of Workers

Ever since a young boy I have been fascinated with anything to do with nature. I remember taking walks in the woods to discover all sorts of neat things.  I would catch grass hoppers to throw in giant spider webs, watch sand lions attack ants and go on snake hunts with my friends.  Nature has always intrigued me.  Our television growing up was powered by bunny ear antennas giving us access to a total of 6 channels.  So it was always exciting when an animal or nature program came on PBS. The programs would transport me to a world that I would most likely never see.

 I remember seeing shows based on the leaf cutter ant.  They are some of the most fascinating communal creatures.  They work in such unity and force that they cut and clear a visible path for hundreds of yards from their hill in search for the right plants.  They cut and carry plant pieces up to
10  times their weight back to their nest.  They stack the plant piece in their nest to decompose. During the decomposing process an edible fungus grows on the plant pieces in which the colony eats, thus fueling the colony to grow and become stronger. When the ant egg hatches it will be either queen, male, worker or soldier ant, they will preform the role in which they were designed for.  Each role is very specific for the survival of the colony. 


The other day I had the opportunity to work at the ranch.  While walking the premises I discovered a huge leaf cutter colony.  At first I was just fascinated by how far these ants were traveling.  I followed the beaten path back to their mound. It was a huge colony.  I began thinking about God creative design of the leaf cutter ants. The ants acting according to their design brings glory to God. If all the ants decided they wanted to become the worker ants the colony would quickly stop reproducing and die off.  God designed them to function a specific way for their benefit and His glory.

Scripture is very clear that God is redeeming a people group for himself.  When individuals in the church use their specific gifts for the church, the many people become one body and God is glorified because His Church is functioning according to His design. When working together followers of Christ become unstoppable.  The Church grows and God is glorified.  When working together the path that is blazed is visible and leads to Christ and His kingdom. 

 1 Corinthians 12:12-20
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Alli and I would not be here with out the communal effort of the body of Christ.  We are a part of God's community of people seeking to grow His kingdom around the world.  Thank you everyone who has prayed for us and partnered with us financially over the last year.  We hope you all have a blessed and productive New Year. 

Do to various circumstances some of our previous financial partners can no longer partner with us. We are in need of some new financial partners.  Would you please prayerfully consider partnering with us financially.  6:8 Ministries is a non- profit organization and will be a tax write off. Follow the link below to do a one time donation or subscribe for monthly gift through Paypal http://www.68ministries.org/the-6-8-staff/mcarthur-family/ .  Thank you for your prayers.

                                                         We are blessed to be a blessing. 

  

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig!

Ninety days came and went rather quickly for us. We have to leave Costa Rica every three months because we have a tourist visa. So we packed up the car and started our adventure. And this adventure started early with two very energetic little boys yelling, "We going on adbenture!"

Seeing the country side of Costa Rica was incredible. I'm so glad we could make the five hour drive. It's green, open, lots of farms, couple of volcanos, and lots of construction.

 By 9 o'clock we parked our van on the Costa Rican border and paid for a guide to get us through the boarder. In hind site we are so thankful that we had a guide because there were no signs and we had to stop at six different stations before we were officially in Nicaragua. Some of the stations were in buildings were we paid fees and other stations were on the side of the road under a tent. It was very confusing, hot and smelly.... seriously, we were thankful for a guide!  Oh and before we finished Caleb and I had to use the bathroom. We were stopped before going in and the lady said it cost five córdobas, nineteen cents, so we gave her the money and she handed us a wad of toilet paper. Yes, very weird.

From arrival at the boarder to arrival at our hotel we had spent  2.5 frustrating hours doing the necessary to get through.  When we finally arrived at our hotel, we were hot, exhausted, hungry and very happy to be in our room!

The boys did surprisingly well. Thank you for praying. They took it all in and they minded well as we walked from station to station, slept in new beds and endured the long drive back home. And Judah slept most of the time because he was fighting something.

While we were there, we were able to see a community event. A lot of families came out and participated as they were raising money to clean the barricish river.  This event lasted all day, followed by a loud party at night...till the power went out. Ha! I've never been so happy about the power going out.

We enjoyed being in the ocean again. I loved seeing the sunset on the west coast. Delicious food, crazy moments but great memories.

Monday morning around 3ish I had finished feeding Judah and could not fall back to sleep easily because of a migraine starting. Migraines are no joke! Thank you all for praying that it would lighten up so that we could go home. We were ready. We needed to be back in our beds, have a hot shower, and drink water from the sink. So we pulled it together and left our hotel at 9:30. We made it to the border through all six stops and in the car by 11:10.  We made our way home, through more country, over mountains, and some rain storms and pulled in at 4:30. (Insert clapping hands emoji)

 We called our trip a forced vacation. It was needed, it was different and oh so good to finally pull back into our garage Monday afternoon. Costa Rica is starting to feel more and more like home, even with us being here for over three months now.

     Now for the exciting news. A month ago we began speaking with a lawyer about getting our short term residency.  He told us that he guarantees that he will get us our visas and in 3 years we could apply for residency.  The cost was expensive though.  It was too expensive we couldn't afford it.  So God in His true mercy provided for us.  We started a fundraising campaign and through many significant donations and one big one God provided for all the cost. If you are one of the many that God used to provide through, from the bottom of our hearts, Thank You!

Please pray that we get all the documents signed in a timely fashion and back to us safe and sound. We have to send all our birth certificates, marriage license and FBI background checks to various places to be apostilled and then back to our lawyer. 

It's all in God's hands! So thankful for that. He is amazing!

Our God

"Our God is greater, our God is stronger. God you are higher than any other."

 Pandora doesn't work down here in Costa Rica so we listen to music via Spotify and YouTube. Last week while Josh was cooking dinner, the song "Our God" came on. I had mentioned that I hadn't heard it in a long time and I was just letting the words sink in while sitting on the kitchen steps. "We sing it in Verbana." Josh says. "It's one of the kids favorite songs. They love it!" Tears start forming in my eyes. "I can't help but imagine some of the kids lying on their dirt floors by themselves due to mom leaving to prostitute, stomachs growling, hearing drug deals go wrong through their thin tin walls and many more unimaginable situations.  And the only thing that is bringing them comfort are the words, "Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God! And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us. And if our God is with us, then what could stand against." We didn't say anything, just smiled. 

"Our God is healer"  

We serve a mighty God who has called us here. And I am so glad that He did. We have our hiccups throughout the weeks.  These past two weeks though have been crazy. I was out for a couple days each week with something, thankfully no one else went through it too, but it threw off our grove! So far this week we are off to a good start. 

                                                         
  "Our God is awesome in power" 


Spanish is going well. It's hard. But really we are enjoying it....so far. We remind each other to keep saying it out loud, not be afraid to make mistakes because that is when we learn. The boys are picking up words here and there but for them we are focusing on English right now. A couple weeks ago Josh was working on the letter "H" with Caleb and we weren't making any progress. So we made him hop, hug and that was actually working. "Hey Caleb, what animal makes this sound, neigh!" Proudly he exclaimed, "Caballo!"  "Yes. That's right, Caleb. Now, can you say it in English?" We are excited that our kids will likely learn another language. A friend was telling me that if the kids learn a language before they hit puberty they will have a perfect accent.

"Our God is greater" 

Something that I have been wrestling with lately is Sunday. And I love Sundays, really, but Sundays look a lot different here, for the time.  
I miss our church. I miss knowing that Caleb and Micah are being loved on in Sunday school. I miss knowing that I can drop off Judah in the nursery and that he will be perfectly fine. I miss familiar faces. I miss watching Josh teach the young kids in Sunday school. I miss the preaching. I miss friends. 
I miss Sunday meals with family.

"Our God is stronger."

And it's ok to miss those things because they were a huge part of my life. And what I am realizing right now, for the time, Sundays are going to look different. This is a time to make new memories in this house as a family of 5. Life is changing and will continue to change. Friends may change. Our boys will grow up and life will change. People will come and go. But like the kids in Verbana know, "Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God! And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us. And if our God is with us, then what could stand against."

 

Life update and prayer request.

It has been over a month since our last post. To say we have been busy is an understatement. Between hosting two short term teams this past month we have met with lawyers about residency, worked at the ranch, started Spanish tutoring and tried to keep up with 3 growing boys. It is now September 26 and Alli we are wondering where September went. 

Though this month has been busy it has been a great month of spiritual growth for us.  The longer we are here in Costa Rica the more we realize how dependent we are on God.  Our budget so far has gone over our pay, and yet God has provided for all of our needs.  Some days I plan to be home by a certain hour but I end up coming home way later than expected, yet God provides energy for Alli and the grace to suffice for the day.  We started to feel the pressure of not knowing Spanish and God provided a private tutor for the missionary staff (I have a long way to go).  Just when we start to feel overwhelmed and very busy God gives us a week to slow down.  When we have had enough with Caleb's attitude, he prays and asks Jesus for a new heart.  God has been supplying all that we need!   By His grace we are on the receiving end of His blessings and we acknowledge this.  Through these various trials life can be stressful but I often find myself overwhelmed with joy and excitement to see God's provision.  There is something special about being dependent on God.

Please pray for us as we depend on God for the following and more.

In mid October we are traveling to Nicaragua to renew our travelers visas. This trip is stressful on many levels, please pray for it to go smoothly.

We meet Wednesday with the Immigration specialist to try and get long term visas so we don't have to leave the country every 90 days.  Pray that we would be able to do this quickly and God's favor would be upon us (it can be a very difficult process).

We have Spanish tutoring twice a week.  Please pray that our minds will be opened and we would supernaturally understand and have the confidence to speak the language.

Caleb continues to speak better each month however he still needs prayer.  Please pray he continues to develop his language skills.

Pray for all of our children to come to faith in Christ Jesus at an early age.

We are so thankful for so many prayers and encouraging words.  If you have any questions for us and or encouraging words please feel free to email Josh at joshmc6@gmail.com.

Micah

Caleb

Judah

Verbania

Cooking 160 Hot Dogs for hungry children

Me Amiga.

Jesus is Exciting!

     Everyone in the house went to bed with a sense of excitement.  Caleb knew that early the next morning we would be going to visit the 6:8 ranch property.  As I passed by his room he would call to me "Daddy, is the ranch far away?"  I said, "I'll tell you about it tomorrow morning." "Daddy, are there horses?" I said, "Ill tell you about it tomorrow morning Caleb, go to bed." "Daddy, are there friends at the ranch?"  I replied, "  I love you Caleb, no more talking, I'll tell you all about the ranch tomorrow morning."
 
   4 am came very quickly but with a kick of adrenaline we awoke in no time.  We prepared the car and woke the children.  We left the house at 4:30 am a little groggy but excited.  As we headed down the mountain Caleb beamed with uncontrollable excitement. (If it was up to him this is the time we would get up every morning.)  As promised I began to tell him all about the ranch, " Caleb, at the ranch, there are cows and horses,  a beautiful river full of cool water,  big fruit tree filled with ripe fruit and some of our friends will be there too.  Lord willing we will be moving there soon.  Jesus has called us to invite children with no mommies and daddies into our family so they can have a mom and dad and learn all about Jesus.  They will be your brothers too!"  With a huge grin and an uncontrollable voice Caleb exclaimed "JESUS IS EXCITING!!"  With tears near in our eyes we agreed, "You are right Caleb, Jesus is exciting!"

  My 3.5 year old gets it.  According to his Child like faith Jesus is exciting.  He might not fully understand the extent of what we are doing but he doesn't have too.  In his mind following Jesus is exciting and full of adventure and he is totally right.

    For Alli and I as Jesus shaped our minds and hearts towards Him, He became more and more exciting.  Are you kidding me?  Jesus the God-man, came to the earth to live a perfect life, taught His word, died a sinners death and defeated the grave so that we could be called His own.  He justified the unjustified, He loved the unlovable, He forgave the unforgivable and He gave purpose and  excitement to our dull lives. 

    Following Jesus is exciting.  When we loose vision of what Christ has done for us and the call He has on our lives we become dull once again.  Paul writes against this in Colossians and urges the church to have our minds set on things above. Therefore, I leave you with this verse, let this mental setting excite you for today and the future.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
(Colossians 3:1-4 ESV)



The firs two structures under construction.  They will serve as multipurpose buildings and team houses.

River of life



Coconut Tree

 

 Caleb's favorite fruit tree Mamon Chino

 Another picture of the Mamon Chino Tree

Papaya Tree

 

 

 The beautiful river

Prayers on the wall of the team house.

 

   

Our new earthly home

It is amazing what prayer does.  Thank you all so much for praying. I really can't believe that we are actually here. 

Tuesday morning started very early for us, but we made it out of the door and started our way to Orlando.  About twenty minutes into the trip I realized that I didn't have mypurse! Yeah, great start. We ended up meeting my mother in law halfway and then finally made our way south. 

I'm sure we were a sight at the airport. We were blessed with a great checkout worker and he quickly got our tickets printed and even let the pack n play go along with our nine bags. All three kids, three carry-ons and two tired parents made it through security and to the gate within an hour! 

We arrived safely with nothing broken or missing. Mema made it safely too and it was great to see her! Such a blessing to have her here. 

The boys...please keep praying for them. The first couple of days they were doing well, taking in everything and having fun. But then, oh the meltdowns and drama caught up with us! It really isn't anything new, just harder with a new environment and little sleep.  But it is such a great reminder that "His mercies are new every morning," and that the morning is a fresh start. They are picking up new words, in English and Spanish, and it's pretty cute listening to them. 

It has been great to get out, shop, see friends, and learn.

A couple days ago we went to Walmart to get stuff for the house and we bought a chicken. The next day we were getting dinner started and I was unwrapping the chicken when I pulled out the "gut bag." In my head, I was thinking, "yeah, heart and liver. No problem. Easy!" Well, little did I know that when you buy a chicken here....you buy the whole chicken. Yep! On one side of the bag I saw all of this.

I screeched and threw the bag back into the sink. I picked up the bag again and turned it over to see this

The "extras" did not make it into the crockpot for dinner. That has probably been the craziest experience yet. Although I did try some local cheese last night *gag* It was horrible! We even tried frying it. That makes things better right? Oh no! I don't think anything could make that cheese taste good. 

Thank you again for praying! Here are some specific ways to be praying for us. 

-finding a Church 

-learning Spanish quickly 

-doors would open to know our neighbors

-Josh, as he goes out with the teams, loves people and works on the ranch

-for me as I am home with the boys. I am so thankful to be home with them! It is exhausting, but i wouldn't trade it for anything. 

-please be praying for Mema's family. 

Also, please be praying for the people of West Africa as they face the Ebola crises. It is so sad and frightening. RestoreLiberia.org 

We are very happy to be in Costa Rica. We feel so blessed to be here and we are excited to see what God is doing here. Thank you all for your love, support and friendship. We love you!