Trusting in Him

It is hard to believe that it has been over 1 1/2 years since we left Costa Rica. When we felt like God was telling us it was time to return to the United States, we really didn’t have any idea how that would look. We knew first and foremost that we were to spend time with family, have a time of rest and find out what was going on with Cindy’s health. Since our return we have been on a journey of discovery and healing. This season has had it difficult moments from trying to find out what was wrong with Cindy, walking through John’s mom's journey of healing from her brain tumor, seeking God for what to do next and financial challenges due to the loss of supporters. But we have also have had a season of great joy.

One of those moments of great joy was when Cindy and her family held a surprise 80th birthday party for their mom in January. It was not easy trying to keep this party as a surprise especially because part of the secret was not letting her know that family and friends were flying in for her party. However, when she walked in the night of her party we knew that we had kept the secret well. The look on her face was one of complete shock. It was really nice to honor Cindy’s mom in this way and we are so grateful to God that we were able to help plan this special event.

We are also grateful that we have had time with family and that Cindy is almost completely back to normal. The one area that she still needs healing in is her iron levels. Her iron saturation and ferritin levels are still way below normal, but Praise God they have increased four times from where they started out at. We are also very grateful that John’s mom is doing much better. A praise report with her is that she has started driving again. We would appreciate your continued prayers for both of them as they continue on their healing journeys.

Recently we have been feeling like it is time for us to start our next God adventure, but still are not sure of where God wants us to be. We are living in a world full of lost, hurting and broken people. These people are searching for something and that something is Jesus. If you haven’t seen the movie “Jesus Revolution”, we recommend that you go see it. What was happening with the younger generation then, is happening today. They are searching for a place to belong and they are finding belonging in things that are not of God. We want to help people have a true relationship with Jesus. How does that look like? At this moment we have a few options that we are pursuing. One of them is restoring families that have kids with behavior issues. Another one is community outreaches. We believe that both of these options would allow us to continue to minister in Costa Rica as week. We are not limiting ourselves to these two options and know that God will direct our next steps as He always has. We would greatly appreciate your prayers

Costa Rica

We are very happy to report that the children that were rescued from Nicaragua are doing very well. They started school for the first time February 6th and they both seem to be enjoying school. They wanted us to let you know that they are very thankful for all of the prayers and support that you have given them. Because of your generosity we were able to buy them new clothes, school uniforms, school supplies, backpacks and we continue to help them out monthly with food.

Their grandfather is struggling with lupus and recently had to go to the hospital twice. The doctor said that he really needs to take better care of himself and that he can not be out in the sun. Another reason why he got so sick was because he wasn’t taking his medication for the lupus. The reason for this was because he had lost his health insurance. Because he is a refugee in Costa Rica he was given health insurance, but due to the overwhelming amount of Nicaraguans in Costa Rica the government had to make cuts. Praise God the lack of insurance was only for one month and he is now getting his medications again.

Some other news from Costa Rica is that we have heard from the family that used to live with us. ( Single mom and her seven children) John had been thinking about them and went on Facebook to see if he could see how they were doing. He found out that her oldest daughter had a baby about 5 months ago. Cindy reached out to her to see how she was doing and then her mom reached out to Cindy. The mom sent Cindy lots of pictures of the children including some of her newest child who is now a year old. It was nice to see the pictures of them and they seem to be doing well.

We are really excited to let you know that we have a trip planned to go back to Costa Rice. We will be in Costa Rica from April 22-May 12. We will be doing a lot of traveling while we are there because people that we have worked with during our time in Costa Rica are spread out all over the country. We will be spending time with the families that we still help out with food, visit the family that used to live with us, visit the children’s home that we helped occasionally, visit some missionary friends and lastly visit our local friends that we have known for a long time. We are trying to make this trip as economical as possible by staying with our local friends and we have paid for our airline tickets out of our personal money. The one thing that we still need for this trip is to rent a car. Unfortunately renting a car in Costa Rica is expensive because you have to buy insurance. The cost of renting a car will be $500-$600 a week or $1500-$1800 for the three weeks. Please pray with us that God will provide for this need and if you feel God is wanting you to help with this expense you can donate online here. All donations are tax deductible.

Psalms 118:24(NKJV) This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Matthew 19:26(AMP) With God ALL things are possible.

Jeremiah 17:7-8(NIV) But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green, it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

Lots of Love and Blessings,
John & Cindy Thalheimer
Missionaries to Costa Rica

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