Feliz Navidad…. Merry Christmas

Dear Friends and family,

Merry Christmas! We wanted to take advantage of the tradition of the Christmas card to send you all an updated photo of our family! As our family grows so does our ministry as God has blessed us not only with our own beautiful baby girl but also with two teenage boys whom we are able to model Jesus’ love too! The new additions to our family are Selah Marlise Leon and Anthony Segura, not in the photo but now also a part of our family is Josue Rodriguez. Selah of course is our second child born in July. We debuted Anthony in our last newsletter and Josue moved in with us a day after this photo was taken.

Josue is 14 years old and like Anthony is an excellent surfer. We saw him in Jaco one day and he asked for a ride to Esterillos to pick up a surfboard he had left there at a friend’s house. He came home with us that day and never left. He has a sad story and has been struggling at school. Please pray that we can provide him with a stable and safe environment to grow up and finish school in.

As our family grows so does our grocery bill so please continue to support us both in prayer and financially. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to our ministry please send checks to the Santa Barbara Free Methodist Church 1435 Cliff Dr. Santa Barbara, CA 93109 and don’t forget to designate: VISA-Leon. Or you can give online by going to www.puravidachurch.com and clicking on “make a donation”(not tax deductiable).

Pura Vida, Leon Family

Leon family October News…”parents” of teenagers

Relationships

Meet Anthony, the newest member of our family. Anthony is 17 years old and has been living alone or with friends in Esterillos for the last few years. He is a dedicated student and an incredible surfer. Coming from a broken family with few resources he has found it easier to live on his own. Anthony moved in with us a few months ago and we were instantly the parents of a teenager! We are so great full that we can bless him by giving him a stable family. His grades have improved and he is more relaxed then we have ever seen him. Dennis is on the a.m. carpool rotation and so gets time to talk to Anthony as well as 3-4 other boys from Esterillos, including the Costa Rican national champion surfer in Jr., Boys and Open divisions for 2009.

Be and make Disciples of Christ

We are officially opening a surf shop in Parrita as our second church plant. This will be a self-sustaining ministry were the profit is used to bless the community as well as giving us a rent free space for the church to meet. In Costa Rica getting permits is never easy or fast but getting the permits for this endeavor was a breeze, by God’s grace. We have our first merchandise on the walls already although we do not officially open until December. We will be coming to Santa Barbara on November 19 until December 2 to visit you all, celebrate Thanksgiving with family and to purchase apparel for the shop. We are planning on taking advantage of the last few weeks of school to get our bible studies going on a weekly basis in Parrita. The high school students that have been coming to PVC Esterillos are excited to invite their friends from Parrita to come and learn about Jesus in a relaxed and safe environment as the discipleship process continues.

Be a blessing to the community

Our friend Lindsay from PVCSB told her friend Zack to visit us on his trip to Costa Rica, Zack came and saw what we were doing and stayed three weeks with us, he called his friend David, an interior designer, who came for a week and is helping us set up the shop, decorating, teaching us how to run a business etc. The way God brought these friends into our life at the perfect time is a miracle. The best part is that as they bless us they also feel that they are receiving a blessing. The ways of the Holy Spirit are awesome when he works through us!

Family Notes:

• Selah is rolling! She is still blue eyed and beautiful and likes to put everything in her mouth. She smiles all the time and goes by Selah, Shayla, Say, Lala, Alicia (Diego’s sister), fatty, and roly-poly.
• Elias is really getting into his imagination and loves to be told stories. He rarely is Elias anymore but instead goes by Diego and is accompanied by his kitten “baby Jaguar” as they rescue animals, usually a stranded baby chicken. For those of you not up to date on the cartoon world, Diego is Dora the Explorers animal rescuing cousin. We explained to him that when we go on the airplane he needs to pretend he is Elias because “Diego” does not have a passport.
• Dennis and Kyle are doing great. Surfing, walking with friends and having quiet coffee times together. We thank God for a strong relationship everyday, despite the stresses of a cross cultural move.
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Depend on the Holy Spirit: Please pray for:

• Dennis’ citizenship and crossing the boarder in a few weeks
• For times of relaxation on our visit to SB.
• For continued financial support from the US
• For the shop: purchasing merchandise, shipping, dealing with customs and getting everything set up
• For the people of Parrita, especially the students.

Meeting in the dark:

Reenactment of an early church meeting by candle light as we study the book of Acts, only we had no light because lightning had struck a transformer.