Thank you/Wedding update!

Well, it has been quite an eventful few months with planning my wedding, having my family visit, getting married, and going through some ministry changes! I will share about what is going on in ministry on my next blog post (within the next week). But first of all I wanted to thank everyone for all your support especially while I was in Calgary visiting. I was so blessed to have a bridal shower at church and just be able to visit with so many people. I was surprised by how much encouragement/generosity was shown there.

I know I haven't had a chance to personally thank each one of you and with being in Costa Rica, it is a bit more complicated to do so. So with that said, I have not forgotten and I truly am grateful for each of you that were there and shared in that special day with me. For those that weren't there, I am so grateful for each one of you as well and the love and support that you have shown me. God knows how many times your encouragement and support helped me get through some tough situations here on the mission's field. With that said, I'm sure some of you are wondering how the wedding went!

The wedding went well, it came and went by so fast, but it was truly a special day and in my mind couldn't have been better. The day was perfect for me and Jorge's outdoor ceremony and everything was decorated beyond what I could have imagined, thanks to Jorge's sister in law Irene. She did a fantastic job! I wouldn't have had such a beautiful wedding if it wasn't for her. Most of you know me well enough to know that I am a "no fuss" kind of girl….formality isn't my cup of tea, just being down to earth and spending time with people and keeping things simple is what I prefer. Because of this,I didn't want to be stressed out planning a wedding and lose focus on the real importance of the day, so I showed Irene what I liked and she pretty much planned my whole wedding! This was such a blessing, and I think God knew that I needed the help!! You see, after living on the field for 4 years and having to live month to month on mostly a rigid budget…..I couldn't even imagine deciding on the most basic things for my wedding….all I could think about was the money and how much it would cost. I really couldn't have pulled off such a beautiful wedding without the support of my in-laws, parents and Irene. I am so blessed.

I am so happy that my family/best friends were able to come to my wedding!

Just as I wanted, my wedding day wasn't stressful in the least, I felt so much peace and just relaxed, enjoyed my last night as a single with my friends and just spent time with them that morning as I got ready for the day. It was so surreal that it was my wedding day…..I literally felt so relaxed like any other day, that I felt weird….I thought to myself…..shouldn't I be nervous or something? :) I guess it is only God that gives that peace. I knew that it was Him that brought such a godly man into my life and I had no doubts that he was the one God had in mind for me.

Anyways, that's a bit about how the wedding went and let's face it…..most of you would just like to see the pictures….so here are a few more! Thanks for your patience with this update, time just flew by!

This month has been a great month with lots of opportunities to translate for short term teams. I got back a week ago from translating in the small town of Cot,Cartago for a couple visiting from the States. I was with them there for a week as they shared their testimonies and ministered to the people in the local high school and community.

It was a neat experience translating for Donald Nalley as he shared about his life and how God helped him leave drug trafficking and drug addiction after 34 years of being involved. What a testimony he has! The purpose of this trip was to do different sessions and conferences in the local high school reaching both students and teachers. He would share his story, give information about drugs and how it really was trafficking drugs, and share with the teachers some ways they could prevent drug issues in their school. Of course he shared about how God helped him out of his past life as well.

One of the many student sessions we did!

When we weren't at the High School, we were visiting homes, praying over people, and preaching and sharing about God. It was an intense and tiring schedule but I felt so blessed to be able to see how God uses people's worst life experiences to reach and identify with others.

Although the week went well, there were some struggles along the way where I was forced to pray and ask God for guidance. It was nothing serious but more of a question of what my responsibility is as a translator. Sometimes its hard to translate, especially when you don't particularly agree with what you are translating. What I realized is that even though I am translating for Christian teams, at any point I can run into translating for Christians that share different ideas than I do.

I started praying about it and God brought these thoughts to mind. We are all a part of the body of Christ....Christ is about unity not about division. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter what our views are on speaking in tongues, healings, etc. The most important aspect we share is believing in Christ as Lord and Savior. As Christians we need to focus on what we do share and focus on bringing glory to God. So I gave over my translating to the Lord and trusted Him with it. It's not about my opinion, it's not about what I think....as long as I am not translating heresies, the responsiblility is not mine but the Lord's. My part in spreading the gospel many times is being the voice for those who come to share Christ and what He has done in their lives so that others may come to know God. I trust that His truth will stand and that His Spirit will speak and that he uses all different churches/denominations for His glory. I will stand for unity.

This next week I will be translating for another team who are going to serve in both the slum where I worked before and this same community of Cot Cartago. Please pray that God would give me the words to translate and encourage both the team and the locals. This team is going to be a team of 30 high school students, so I imagine it will make for an interesting week!

Also, tomorrow morning I will be saying Goodbye to my friend Stephanie :( Stephanie has been living with me and shadowing me in ministry for the last 9 months. She has been such a blessing and I will miss her! She really has a heart for God and reminds me so much of me when I came to Costa Rica the first time 8 years ago. She is praying about returning as a long term missionary one day. Please pray for her if you remember that God would be with her in these next steps, in readjusting to Canada, and in her plans to come back in the future.

I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate your prayers and your support. More than anything I thank God for your friendships. I pray that God blesses you all as you finish up this week and that God would use you to reach in your homes and work places. Please let me know if there is anything I can pray for on that end!

Happily Serving.....Happily Engaged! :)

Hey Everyone!

Things have been going well on this end to say the least! I have so much to update you on from the last couple months. There have been so many exciting things going on down here with ministry and also in my personal life. Since the title of this post already says it, I will start with the personal news!

For the last 10 months, I have been in a relationship with a wonderful godly man. I cannot even tell you how much he has been a blessing and encouragement in my life. I had waited for so many years and just never felt at peace going into a relationship with anyone until I met Jorge. His passion, commitment to God, and the way he interacted with people attracted me to him. I am so grateful to God how he brought Jorge into my life and how he brought me to someone with whom I feel so natural and at ease with. I am truly blessed.

Jorge proposed to me on February 15th and of course I accepted! I don't have a doubt that he is the one God has for me. We are excited to start our life together soon and plan to get married the end of June!

Ministry has been going well even through the unforseen twists and turns. This last month, I had the privelage of translating for a small team for a week in the small town of Cot, Cartago, Costa Rica. It was a mother and daughter who came to do activities and outreaches with the ladies of the community. We did crafts, devotionals, messages, and went to different houses in the community to pray over the families. It was so amazing to see God moving both through the Christians serving the community as well as the activities we offered. We also had the chance to go to a local high school to do some sharing.

One of our house prayer visits....this house had A LOT of people!

In my last post, I talked about how God was opening doors to disciple 4 ladies.....well, with all the twists and turns, the pastor hasn't gotten back to me about that. On the bright side; God seems to be opening doors to work with a Christian camp here as the chaplain's assistant. This would include working on devotionals, translating, encouraging camp staff and volunteers, and doing Bible lessons at the children's home also on site. I am excited for this opportunity and am hoping to start there soon. Meanwhile, I have been doing a lot of translating and doing some wedding planning! I am also translating at least a week out of every month for mission's teams. Please pray for me as I plan my wedding and as I possibly start at this new ministry. Pray that I would trust God in these next steps. It's hard when your in a place where plans seem to fall through frequently. My heart is to serve, encourage, and to answer questions people have about God. I hope to be up and running soon in ministry. For the meantime, I trust that God will use me in my daily interactions and that he is using me in informal ways with the people in my daily life.

Craft time with the ladies!

I feel so blessed that God has allowed me to serve Him here. Thanks to all of you who have lifted me in prayer and have supported me for so long even through the ups and downs and all the transition. You all are a blessing to me and I pray that God will bless all of you and your families.

Open Doors!

Hey Everyone!

Cookies and Friends!!!

First of all, Merry Christmas!!!! I hope that all of you are enjoying the holidays with your family and friends and that you have felt blessed by this year and are looking forward to next year! As per usual months go by, and I suddenly realize that I haven't written on my blog in WAY too long! Do some of you ever feel that time just goes by so quickly....I don't even feel that it has been that long! So for those of you who have been wondering for a while what has been going on in Costa Rica.....I'm sorry. I have to admit that blogging is a struggle for me, I find it hard to find the words sometimes.

Tamales!!!

Things have been getting better on this end in many ways. I thank God for some new support that has been coming in and I thank God for those of you who have really prayed for me and for the ministry here in Costa Rica. So many transitions have been happening on this end, and it seems that God has some new plans for me in the coming year. This month has been low key in the ministry department so I have been teaching some Costa Rican ladies how to make cookies over the Christmas season and I have been learning how to make tamales ( a typical Costa Rican Christmas food ) So that has been really fun!

The Kids at VBS!!!

Earlier this month, me and a friend also had the chance to run a 3 day VBS for missionary kids in a town 4 hours from where we live. It was a marriage retreat for missionary couples so they needed someone to have activities for the kids during the sessions and parent date time. We had 12 kids and had a blast going over the Christmas story and doing crafts and games. I had the chance to see some old friends from my Bible College days in Peru! It was awesome!

Bible Institute Group Shot!

The end of November I was privelaged to translate for a Bible Institute intensive course for 3 days! I really enjoyed translating and really was impressed with this Institute. What this institute does is travel around Central America equipping pastors and church leaders through different 3 day courses. There are many pastors that haven't had any formal theological training and cannot afford to/ don't have time to go to seminary. So every 3 months they give a different theological course in different locations. They form the program in a way that is transferable for these church leaders to pass on in their own churches both for educated and uneducated alike. It was very well done, interesting, and left me quite impressed. I may have another opportunity in February to translate for a course they will be doing on the book of Revelations in Nicaragua. Translating for this really opened my eyes to the possiblity of using my translation to contribute to equipping national leaders.

Another door that God has been opening for me is the chance to do one-on-one discipleship with a church plant in San Jose. In January I will be meeting with the pastor and 4 ladies to start a individual plan for discipleship for each one. Also, it looks like maybe another church plant is interested in me doing one-on-one discipleship with some new believers in their church. I guess January will reveal exactly what opportunities there are.

This is exciting for me as this is exactly what I have been praying for for so long! These last almost 4 years in Costa Rica, I have been open to a variety of ministries and outreaches and have been challenged a lot out of my comfort zone. Most of what I have done has been teaching groups in some capacity. Those that know me, know very well that I am more of a introverted type and usually struggle to lead/ interact in large groups. I feel that God has taught me to trust in Him through my weaknesses but I also feel that God desires to bring me into a area of ministry where I am truly gifted. That's why one-on-one discipleship is something that makes me excited. I feel that I come so much more alive when working with individuals. I love to encourage, pray for, and teach to meet personal spiritual needs as opposed to figuring out how to teach a range of people in one group. That way I can pray more specifically for the individual and pray for the Holy Spirit's leading for discipling/encouraging different individuals.

The interesting thing about coming to these conclusions is that I find I am so nervous teaching in groups but yet I have noticed that when I translate; I come alive and do fine delivering someone else's message in groups. It's like I become the person giving the message and mimic their personality. That's the interesting thing about translating is that your job is to accurately give precisely the message that person is giving and its important to convey that person's personality as well. So I feel God is revealing ways to me how I can serve in accordance to the giftings He has given me. It has just taken a while to figure that out. I will be doing translating for mission's teams about 1 week out of every month and am looking into maybe doing some freelance translating for other organization's doing discipleship in between one-on-one discipleship sessions and misson's teams.



Last day in Guarari...Luckily I will be visiting with teams!!

You may ask; Why all this change? For the last year, Me and Anita were hoping to do discipleship in a slum community here. What we both realized over time, was that there were very limited opportunities to do this in the ministry atmosphere we were in. We were teaching a youth group, and working with the kids there but we just realized that what the ministry's vision was, really wasn't a match for what we felt God wanted us to do. But of course sometimes feelings lie so I really prayed and asked the Lord what to do. I didn't want to give up and God knows my heart is to do what His will is no matter what that is. All I wanted to do was serve God and contribute to some sort of discipleship even if it wasn't me doing the discipleship specifically. However, I just realized that I wouldn't be able to do that there nor did I feel that I could grow there. I really tried to teach in groups but really felt ineffective and inadaquate. None-the-less, I was willing to do my best and just prayed to God for strength. Eventually both me and Anita came to the conclusion that we needed to be open to other possibilities. As soon as we left that ministry, it seems that God has been opening doors for both me and Anita in different ministries. I'm sure Anita will be sharing on her blog about where God is taking her in ministry and I will do my best to keep you all updated about the discipleship opportunities.

So I guess, what I just wrote is a whole lot of information but I hope it illuminates more of the direction I am going in so that you don't have to wonder "What is Rachel doing in Costa Rica?" Please pray for me in these changes that God would guide me. Discipleship is a huge responsibility and is not to be taken lightly.

I truly hope each of you enjoys this Christmas! Thank you for your support, your prayers, and your patience. May God use you as you are with your families, friends, and co workers!

God bless!
Rachel

Financial Struggles and Need for prayer

Hey Everyone!

While I was in Canada visiting, I was so blessed to share with a couple groups and to share at my sending church. I felt so blessed by so many people who came up to me to say hello, ask questions and just catch up. One thing that also blessed my heart was that a few people asked me about how my support has been. This opened the door for me to tell the truth and say that both me and Anita are really struggling out here. I was then encouraged to write a blog on this matter.

 Before going to Canada, I really prayed about whether or not to talk about financial support. When I shared in front of the groups this last trip, I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it unless specifecally asked. Why?  I feel so incredibly blessed that God has allowed me to serve Him here in ministry and when I am visiting, my heart is to just simply share. I have a fear of coming across that I am "marketing" for the missions field. I want people to give because God has placed it on their hearts. I want to share my heart, be genuine, transparent and hear about your lives. I never want to come accross as trying too hard to win support over.

 I know that many of you have been struggling financially in the last years as well and that there are numerous organizations, missionaries, and causes to donate to. So before saying anything else, I want you all to know that I care and realize your struggles too. I have been so blessed by so many people the last 3.5 years here in Costa Rica and God has truly worked miracles to enable me to stay. I trust in Him to provide for my every need ( though sometimes that is easier said than done! ) Anyways, I also really do realize that me and Anita being able to serve here, really does depend on the body of Christ. The truth is that we need a big team of believers in order to keep functioning on the field. We need more financial support, we need more prayer warriors, and we need encouragement. So I am throwing out an idea to invite those who God has led to support His work here to be involved in any of these ways;

We are praying for 60 people willing to commit to $10 a month
We are praying for 70 prayer warriors to pray daily and to send prayer requests that I cannot post so publicly.


I realize that the more people that become involved, the more possibilities open for both me and Anita to serve more effectively, creatively and pursue more of what God has placed on our hearts. Right now, I can honestly say that we have barely recieved enough support to pay the basic bills and have even fallen short the last few months for even that. The truth is that we need a bigger team of supporters and prayer warriors. The ministry here in Costa Rica is not mine, its not Anita's and it's not anybody's. This work belongs to God alone and by His grace alone. But since we have such a wonderful God, He longs to involve all of us in His work on a local, national, and international scale. God is moving everywhere through the hands and feet of His believers.

Please keep us in your prayers, we really need it. Pray that God would raise up more people to support the ministry here, and pray that we would continue to trust in God for all these things. He holds us in His hands and He controls every aspect of our lives here. For those of you who would like to commit to praying daily for me and Anita; email me at rachelyrach@gmail.com. For those of you who feel led to become financial supporters, the info is at the bottom of this blog. I also would just like to thank all of you who have lifted me and Anita up in your prayers and to all of you who have supported me. I appreciate each and every one of you and pray that everything is going well with all of you.

To Donate Online;

www.ctenc.ca/rachelgarber/

 To Set up Monthly Donations;

By Credit Card Call: 1-888-863-4810
By Debit: Print form from above website and mail in. (click button that says recurring gifts)

If you would like to send a one time donation; Go to above website (click button that says one time gifts)

Also, if any of you have more questions; feel free to email me or set up a skype time/ call time with me :)

 

Workshop Update.

Hey Everyone!

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for praying for the workshops we have been doing and I would also like to thank you all for your patience for this update!!!! For the last month, me and Anita have been giving workshops in the slum we work in. Being that Anita is a Psychologist, we decided to start giving workshops with Anita giving the Psychological part of a topic and me doing the Biblical part of it. So far we have done workshops on Self-Esteem, Character, and Forgiveness.



Making cookies with some of the youth after the workshop.

We have been giving these workshops on Thursdays, once in the morning for whoever wants to come, and in the afternoon for the youth. So far, we have not had alot of response with the morning workshops but the workshops with the youth has grown. Right now, we have 12 youth coming to the workshops and we are slowly getting to know them. We continue to pray that more women will be interested in the morning workshops but we realize that we do need to promote the workshops more and get out into the community to reach out to those who don't currently participate in the ministry's programs. Please continue to pray for the morning workshops, as if there is no change in the next few weeks, that door will be closed for us to continue. I trust that if God closes that door, he will open another one.



In this last month, I also had the opportunity to teach the women's bible study while their teacher was away. I find it quite interesting how God has opened so many doors specifically for teaching and public speaking since I arrived in Costa Rica. I remember the first time I was pretty much forced to take over the children's class at the soup kitchen and around the same time was pushed into teaching English at a orphanage school. I used to tremble with fear to just teach kids. I never thought that I would be placed in that position. 

Teaching the ladies Bible Study.

Since then, teaching kids no longer challenges me like it used to but God is opening doors to teach youth and adults. I embrace these challenges and ask for your prayers as me and Anita continue to lead workshops. It has been such a blessing to look back and see God's work in me and to see and understand that I can do all things with Christ who gives me strength. God does not always choose our tasks by personality but by a willingness to serve Him. When we serve Him, he opens our eyes to a whole new world of service to Him and we soon realize we are more capable than we think and that their are always new giftings to develop and discover. God has really been teaching me this lately.

Anyways, I pray that everything is well with all of you on that end and I look forward to visiting some of you when I come to Canada in August!

Canada Visit August

Hey Everyone! I know that I have been really bad about updating on the workshops we started a month ago, but I will be writing an update on ministry this coming Monday! I just wanted to let you all know that I will be visiting Canada from August 3-23 and would love to spend time visiting, finding out what God has been doing in your lives, and sharing about what has been going on here in Costa Rica :)

I am looking forward to having a time to reconnect with all of those who have lifted me up in prayer and those who have supported me. It has been two years since I have shared and I am looking for small groups, churches, and who ever is interested to share about God's work here in Costa Rica. All of you have been so important to God's work here and I am truly grateful for all your support.

Please let me know if you would like to get together for a coffee or if you have any small groups or places that I could share at. Feel free to email me at rachelyrach@gmail.com. Can't wait to see you all!