Thank You

CINCEL Graduation Day

Well, today was the big day. It is hard to believe that a year ago we could not speak a word of Spanish. Yet here we are now, graduates from CINCEL Language School.

We were so fortunate to have Karen Suárez as a professor, both for grammar and preaching class.

Along with our diplomas we were given a flag of Mexico.

Cynthia Nicholson prays for the graduates.

A great group of missionaries.

The graduates with CINCEL directors, Don and Jacquie Cartledge and our regional directors, Dick and Cynthia Nicholson.

CINCEL Paseo, part 2

We enjoyed a great meal at La Casona del Cafetal in this scenic location to conclude our student paseo--field trip.

They served coffee flan for dessert--we were on a coffee plantation after all. 

This little coffee maker is called a chorreador. You put a few scoops of coffee in the sock and then simply pour the boiling water over the grounds. 

Although, I am a tea drinker all my kids love coffee. Of course after living in Jamaica and then Costa Rica they have acquired a taste for the best coffee in the world.

Sophia showing off the purple hair.

Beautiful view.

Love the stone walkway.

This rendering of the Last Supper hangs outside a nearby wood shop. Inside, the owner carves items from the roots of the coffee plants.

Paseo a Volcán Irazú y Cartago

Cincel students got to go on a field trip today! We visited a volcano, a basilica in Cartago and had lunch at a beautiful coffee plantation. What beautiful scenery on the way to Irazu Volcano and Cartago.

One of several craters at the summit of Irazu.

We were 11,000 feet up and it was a bit chilly too.

Stuart and Wesley take a break.

The hippie and the superstar pose for a pic.

La Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles--Our Lady of the Angels 

Beautiful architecture.

The church is home to La Negrita or the Black Madonna who supposedly had healing powers.

Some of the faithful crawl on their knees to the altar.

Those who have been healed leave charms as a token of their healing.

A testimony from a young man who had been cured after falling from a tree.

Pilgrims splash themselves with the holy water that flows from the well behind the church.

As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you my God. Psalm 42

More to come tomorrow.

Fiesta Cultural

Culture day at Cincel is always fun, but this time with the addition of the little ones it was even better.

This Argentine cutie is the daughter of two of the students that are here to learn English in preparation for their ministry in Africa.

Our fellow students wowed us with their newly learned cultural dance.

Qué lindo.

Arroz con pollo, picadillo de papa, arroz con leche, and cajeta de coco satisfied every hungry tummy.

This dance troupe will soon be heading towards four different parts of the world: El Salvador, Uruguay, Africa, and Mexico.