Daniel + Jennifer Mee » Daniel + Jennifer Mee

August 2010

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:00:00 -0700

Having finished the last trimester of school, we had two weeks of “vacation” from our studies. My parents (Kris and Debbie Solberg) came to visit us for one of the weeks. Of course they loved every minute with Eliana! They enjoyed experiencing the Costa Rican food, transportation, market, and rain, rain, rain!

MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES!

At the end of the last trimester, Daniel started going with some other missionaries to a drug rehab center to share a Bible study with the men there. The other missionaries graduated last trimester and turned the ministry over to Daniel. He goes every Monday and shares the gospel in Bible study form with the guys. Afterwards, he answers questions and counsels guys who need or want help. A couple of weeks ago, one of the men, Arnoldo, shared with Daniel that he was so depressed and discouraged that he wanted to take his life. Daniel shared with him from God’s word and promised to pray for him. Praise the Lord that last week, Arnoldo accepted Christ as his Savior! Right now, Daniel is the only one going to the drug rehab center. Please pray that God will burden some of the new student-missionaries for this ministry so that it can continue in January after Daniel and I leave.

Click here for the full newsletter with pictures

How You Can Pray For Us:

ü Eliana’s passport process (we can’t leave the country without it!!!)

ü Eliana’s health (lump on her neck)

ü Balancing classes & ministry

ü Bety (Colombian hairdresser)

ü neighbor Guillermo & family

ü Walter & Carla (more distant now)

Praises:

ü Arnoldo—accepted Christ

ü language studies going very well

ü the Lord’s constant provision for us

ELIANA is seven weeks old now! She is growing up so fast. She is becoming more and more alert during the daytime and is starting to follow our movements across the room, smiling and cooing! She is eating a lot, gaining weight and getting chubby cheeks!

A couple weeks after she was born we noticed what seemed to be a small lump on the right side of her neck. You can imagine the fears that seized us as parents imagining all that this lump could be. We saw the pediatrician who ordered an ultrasound. When no clear results were given, she referred us the very next morning to a specialist in ultrasounds for children. It was a very trying experience to see such a tiny little girl having an ultrasound done on a lump on her neck. As it turns out, the lump is a hematoma—some type of bruise inside her neck that was caused by pulling the muscle. Most likely, this occurred at birth during delivery.

We are so grateful that it wasn’t anything more serious. However, we go to the pediatrician again this week for her two-month checkup. Although it seems to have gotten smaller, the lump is still there and Eliana seems to favor it by holding her head slightly to one side. We will ask the doctor about this. She had told us that if the lump is still there after three months and if the muscle starts to contract, we will start therapy for her. We appreciate your prayers for us as parents (to have wisdom and constant faith) and for Eliana and her health.

CLASS UPDATE!

Daniel is taking a “full load” of four hours of classes per day this trimester. I am taking three hours a day. Daniel’s first class is a two-hour translation class. Then, he and I are both taking a two-hour Bible language class. We are learning to pronounce and use biblical vocabulary, memorize the names of the books of the bible (in Spanish), prepare and give devotionals, etc Because there is only one other student in the class, I am able to take Eliana. So far, she has behaved very well in class and mostly sleeps through everything. After that class, Daniel takes Eliana home and I have one hour of translation and literature. I love the class because it is one-on-one and I feel I am learning a lot!

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS!

We know that you all have been praying for us concerning evangelism. The Lord has opened several doors for us and we are so excited to share the news with you all. First of all, we had been talking with Bety, a Colombian lady who cuts Daniel’s hair. After several times talking with her, we invited her over for dinner. We were able to give her a clear plan of salvation and although she did not accept the Lord, she opened up and shared a lot of her struggles with us. She expressed a desire to come again and hear more about God and His Word.

Second, we had Walter and his wife Carla over for cafecito. We were able to give them the gospel, but Walter seemed very disinterested. Since that time, he has been very distant and hasn’t done anything more with Daniel. Please pray that God softens his heart and causes him to realize his need for Christ.

Last, we are thrilled to share that Don Guillermo has started a Bible Study with us. Daniel has started going through The Story of Hope with him. Don Guillermo wants to read every word of the study and each verse or passage meticulously! Don Guillermo said he would share everything he learned this week with his wife at home and said he looked forward to the next study. As he is Catholic, please pray that God opens his spiritual eyes that he might see his need for Christ as his one and only Savior.

July 2010

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:14:00 -0700

She’s here! After 38 weeks of waiting, God has placed the Precious Blessing in our arms. Thank you all for your prayers. It was a long labor. We checked into the hospital on Friday the 16th and she was born Saturday the 17th. It was a total of 26 hours of labor. We thank the Lord that we were able to have a natural birth and that Eliana was born healthy.

Birth Facts:

July 17th, 2010

At 6:36 pm

6lbs 3oz

19 inches

Just seven days after she was born, we took her to have blood work done (it’s a requirement here in Costa Rica) and they stuck her in the bottom of her foot! Both Eliana and Mommy cried! She is eating very well and at her two-week checkup she had gained several ounces and grown an inch!

Click here for the Newsletter with Pictures

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS!

Eliana is helping us to build these relationships that we mentioned! She opens doors for us into the lives of our neighbors. We were able to have Walter and his wife Carla along with their 5 month old baby over to our house for cafecito. The conversation was mostly about babies, but we did have several opportunities to share about the gospel and Daniel opened God’s Word and shared some passages with them. Please continue to pray for this couple. Walter did not seem very interested, but he wasn’t “closed” either. Carla was very “open” and receptive.

Also please continue to pray for Don Guillermo. Our relationship with this family has deepened greatly. For some reason, they really seem to love us and want to help us in any way they can. They have given gifts to Eliana, had us over for cafecito, and sent a meal over after she was born. In this situation also, please pray that they will be open and receptive as we share the gospel with them.

OUR CURRENT MINISTRY…

Daniel and I continue to work in the youth ministry at our church. The pastor has asked Daniel and I to be youth leaders. It is a great privilege and blessing to be learning so much about ministry. Daniel prepares at least one sermon or message each week.

As for our studies, we have finished the textbook and the trimester ends on August 13th. Next trimester we will both take advanced courses. We will have two weeks of break in between trimesters in which my parents are coming to visit and see Eliana!

LEARNING CULTURE!

As of right now, our Precious Baby Girl is only Costa Rican! We have begun the very long and detailed process to get her American passport. Our neighbor Guillermo offered to go with us to show us where the building was downtown. We are so thankful for his help, because we might still be waiting in some strange line if it hadn’t been for him! I can hardly begin to explain it all, but first we would have had to wait in a very long line just to get in the building. Guillermo took us to the security guard and showed him that we had Eliana with us and the guard told us to go to the head of the line. We ended up waiting in two wrong lines and asking four official-looking people before we finally figured out where to go and what to do. We had to submit a letter explaining why we need to get her Costa Rican birth certificate and why it needs to be “rushed.” We then had to go stand in a line and wait to buy little stamps for each original copy that we need and little stamps to get it authenticated. I still don’t understand the logical reason for the little stamps. I guess it’s just a cultural thing. If they accept the application to “rush” the process, we will go back in 10 days to continue the process to get her Costa Rican birth certificate. Then we will have to take it to the American Embassy to apply for her passport. We are enjoying learning about this unique aspect of life here.

How You Can Pray For Us:

ü Eliana’s passport process (we can’t leave the country without it!!!)

ü Needing more sleep!!!

ü my emotions after birth

ü neighbor Guillermo & family

ü Walter & Carla

Praises:

ü Eliana’s birth & health

ü language studies going very well

ü the Lord’s constant provision for us

June 2010

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:57:00 -0700

JUNE NEWS!

We have been here 12 weeks now and have only five more weeks of classes for this trimester! We are excited that we will be finishing the entire “one-year” program of Spanish in this first trimester. Because of this, Daniel and I will have the opportunity to take advanced classes in the next trimester. Most likely we will have a translation class (working on translating Spanish to English and vice-versa) and a language Bible class which will help us to learn Spanish vocabulary relating to the Bible, witnessing, other religions, etc.

Click here for the newsletter with pictures

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS!

We mentioned our neighbor, Guillermo, in our last prayer letter. We did have “cafecito” with him and his daughter, Adriana, two weeks ago. They came at 3:30 and stayed until a little after 6:30. We also spent some time with them one day last week in the park. They have invited us to their house for “cafecito” this Saturday. We are enjoying this new friendship and we are praying very hard that this will be an open opportunity to share the gospel. We are also building relationships with Walter, Betty, Ricardo and Goudy. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom, the right words, and lots of patience!

OUR CURRENT MINISTRY…

We continue to work in Iglesia Bautista El Faro. (Lighthouse Baptist Church) in the poor neighborhood known as “Los Guidos.” We continue to have many opportunities to serve in the church through special music, preaching (Daniel), counseling, and working with people who make spiritual decisions. We feel that we are constantly learning so much about the nuances of Hispanic culture. Pray for us as we learn to adjust to Tico time schedules, the laid-back approach to everything, and general communication! We can walk away from a conversation having understood every single word and still not truly knowing exactly what the person meant! Ticos are very “indirect” in their manner of speaking, so that adds to the confusion.

LEARNING CULTURE!

One really interesting thing about living in Costa Rica is the transportation. Since we don’t own a car here, we either walk, ride a bus, or get a taxi. Walking is free, but doesn’t work well for long distances! Buses are really cheap (50¢ or less) but can be very crowded, dirty, bumpy and can take a very long time to get where you need to go. One time, we had just gotten on the bus when the driver tried to put it into gear and the transmission FELL OUT! I really don’t even know how that can happen! And then there are taxis: the fastest and most expensive way to travel. However, we have discovered that if we don’t have very far to go, the taxi driver will “forget” where the place is and will refuse to take us… or he will be very disgruntled at having to drive us a short distance!

SPECIAL ADDITION COMING UP!

Please note that next month’s addition of our newsletter will most likely consist of a very special “cover story” detailing the arrival of the new LITTLE MEE! She is due to be born between the 10th and 28th of July. Thank you for your prayers concerning all the details of the next 2-3 weeks of waiting!

WE ARE FORGETTING ENGLISH!

We are starting to forget how to speak English correctly! We find ourselves starting to phrase things as one would say them in Spanish. For example, Daniel asked an English-speaking person, “How many years do you have?” What he meant was, “How old are you?” But, in Spanish, that is how you ask someone’s age. Pray that the Lord will help our brains to work with two languages!

Thank you for your prayers!

Dan, Jen & Eliana

May 2010

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:07:00 -0700

Where are the months going? It is so hard to believe that we have been here in San Jose for close to two months! Our foremost feeling at this point is one of extreme gratitude for all those who have given to help us have the privilege of studying here at the Spanish Language Institute. Although some students complain and groan about homework and language study, Daniel and I are both what our teacher calls “Nerdos!” You guessed it— nerds! Supposedly in Costa Rican Spanish that carries the significance of one who really loves studying and learning. So, I guess it does apply since we are enjoying every minute of learning !

Click here for the newsletter with pictures

OUR CURRENT MINISTRY…

Really we have two main ministries right now. Our first ministry is to the Colombians we will be serving. Although we are here in San Jose, our current ministry to the Colombians is in studying Spanish as hard as we can so that we will be able to communicate better and have a more effective future ministry with them in Bogota.

Our second ministry is one that we have just begun. We have started attending a church in Los Guido, a very poor community that started as a Nicaraguan refugee camp. While it is an established neighborhood now, with actual houses, etc, the living conditions are very poor. When any Costa Rican person hears that we are going to Los Guido, their eyebrows raise and they say, “Why?” Known to be one of the more dangerous areas of town, it is a place that most people want to avoid. We have not felt the danger since we ride to and from church with the pastor.

The name of the church is Iglesia Bautista El Faro. (Lighthouse Baptist Church) Pastor Gabriel and his family are from Chile and it has been a blessing to get to know them and learn from them. Daniel and I are getting involved in the youth group, giving testimonies, etc. and Daniel has had the opportunity to preach in Spanish several times. We are excited to learn from Pastor Gabriel as we try to lose some “American” ideas of how to “do church” and learn from a Hispanic what works best for this culture. Please pray for our neighbor Guillermo and his family. We are to have 'cafecito' with them sometime soon. We hope to be able to witness to them as well.

LEARNING CULTURE…

For our anniversary, we had the opportunity to leave San Jose on Friday and take a bus ($4.50) all the way to Monteverde. We were able to visit the rainforest and see a little more of Costa Rica along the way. The bus ride was almost 5 hours long, hot, dusty and very bumpy! We were excited to be able to figure out the bus system and make it all the way there and back safely! We are learning how to travel around town as well. Certain areas of town require taking a taxi, while others are easily accessible by bus. We‟ve had to learn where to catch which bus because often a bus stops at a seemingly random spot on the side of the road. We ask the people standing there which bus they are waiting for (there are no signs) and if it‟s the bus we want, then we wait too. We‟ve asked people how they know the bus is going to stop there but they just smile and shrug and say, “I don‟t know… it just does!” Most of the time, we walk to wherever we need to go. The nearest grocery store is only about a 15 minute walk. There are two parks, little restaurants, shops, pharmacies, beauty salons, and at least four bread shops called panaderias, within 5 minutes of our house.

Thank you for your prayers!

Dan, Jen & Ellie

How You Can Pray For Us:

language classes
cultural adaptation to Costa Rica
remaining support to come in (11%)
Neighbor Guillermo & family
Eliana's health & development
Ultimately - that we would
graciously accept God's perfect
will for each of these requests

Praises:

Our refrigerator is fixed!
We now have a church to serve
in God has given us several good friends
Neither of us has been sick at all!

April 2010

Wed, 05 May 2010 19:03:00 -0700

April passed by in a blur! The majority of the month was spent in sorting, selling, giving away and packing all of our earthly possessions. We were also able to spend some quality time with friends and family during the last two weeks that we were in the states. We received all of the necessary paperwork, had the plane tickets, and packed four suitcases for Costa Rica! We thank God for the ways in which He provided for us to accomplish all of this.

April 2010 PDF

On Sunday, April 25, our church, Oak Ridge Baptist, held a commissioning service for us. It was an exciting and emotional time for us, realizing that a new page in our life of service to our Lord was beginning and the chapters we had spent and served here in the states were closing.

ON OUR WAY…

We spent the following Monday in final details (cleaning and leaving our apartment) and final goodbyes (to my parents and family.) We spent Monday evening with Daniel’s family and left early Tuesday morning for Atlanta. There was a four hour delay in our flight from Atlanta to Miami! This caused us to miss the connecting flight in Miami to San Jose. However, we have some very close friends in Miami, the Wisharts and Oetkens, who picked us up from the airport and gave us a place to sleep for the night. We did finally leave Miami on Wednesday morning and arrived in San Jose late that afternoon.

(Our apartment is in back of this building)

Orientation started at 7:30 am on Thursday morning, so you could say we “hit the ground running!” The very first thing they did after giving us a quick tour of the campus, was to take us to a classroom and give us our placement exam! During the orientation classes, we learned various cultural things along with school rules, medical advice and security issues. After school in the afternoons, we found the nearest grocery stores, pharmacies and bus stops.

(Note the razor wire on all the fences!)

LANGUAGE LAUGHTER...

As we study Spanish, we find there are myriad words that appear to be almost the same in Spanish and English. For example, chocolate is spelled the same, but pronounced a little different. However, some words sound and look exactly like an English word, but mean something totally different. During our first week here, we encountered one such false cognate that caused us much “language laughter.”

We were expecting to meet someone, a Costa Rican lady, at a certain time when the phone rang. It was Martha, for whom we were waiting. She explained to Daniel that she couldn’t come to our meeting because she was not feeling well. In fact, she explained in Spanish, she was “intoxicated!” You can imagine our confusion and bewilderment when she said good bye and hung up. The next day we shared this with one of the Spanish teachers and she said, “Oh yes, of course—intoxicated!” We then explained to the Spanish teacher that in English “intoxicated” means DRUNK! She gasped and said, “Oh no!!! Intoxicated means food poisoning! When you eat something toxic!!!

Our little apartment is so comfortable. We thank God for the blessing of such a nice place. We have been learning to adjust to the “Tico” time. (Tico is a term used to refer to anything or anyone Costa Rican.) We continue to wait for internet hook up and to get our refrigerator fixed. In the meantime, we daily look for ways to thank God for the great blessings He gives. Thank you for your prayers! - Dan, Jen & Eliana

How You Can Pray For Us:

ü language classes

ü cultural adaptation to Costa Rica

ü a good church to worship and serve in

ü Internet hook up

ü to get our refrigerator fixed

ü remaining support to come in (12%)

ü Eliana’s health & development

ü Ultimately - that we would graciously accept God’s perfect will for each of these requests

Praises:

ü We arrived safely in Costa Rica!

ü We found a doctor and hospital for delivering Eliana!

God's Cause (From Valley of Vision)

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:13:00 -0700

Sovereign God,
Your cause, not my own, engages my heart,
and I appeal to you with greatest freedom
to set up your kingdom in every place where Satan reigns;

Glorify yourself and I shall rejoice,
for to bring honor to your name is my sole desire.
I adore you that you are God
and long that others should know it, feel it and rejoice in it.
O that all people might love and praise you;
that you might have all glory from the intelligent world!
Let sinners be brought to you for your dear name’s sake!
To the eye of reason everything concerning the conversion of others is as dark as midnight,
But you can accomplish great things;
the cause is yours and it is to your glory that people should be saved.

Lord, use me as you will, do with me what you will;
but, O, promote your cause,
let your kingdom come,
let your blessed interest be advanced in this world!

O do bring in great numbers to Jesus!
Let me see that glorious day and give me to grasp for multitudes of souls;
let me be willing to die to that end;
and while I live let me labor for you to the utmost of my strength,
spending time profitably in this work, both in health and in weakness.
It is your cause and kingdom I live for, not my own.

O, answer my request!

March 2010

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:10:00 -0700

MARCH NEWS!

Our “deputation” travels are now complete! We had two scheduled meetings for this month along with the two weeks at the ABWE Field Prep Seminar. Our first meeting was a week-long missions conference held at Calvary Baptist in Dayton, TN. The church and its people were so kind and hospitable to us, providing us meals at the church for every lunch and supper! We enjoyed meeting these dear people and seeing their burden for missions. We experienced a bit of a scare on Thursday night of the conference when I suddenly had very sharp stomach pains. I was in such pain, Daniel rushed me to the ER. There we discovered, much to our relief, it was only a kidney stone! And when they told me the kidney stone can be as bad or worse than labor & delivery, I was very encouraged!

March 2010 PDF

Next on our schedule was to attend the two-week Field Prep Seminar in Harrisburg, PA. We received much helpful information and instructions about many relevant topics such as: Departure Readiness, Adjustments to Overseas Ministry, Spiritual Warfare, Missionary Finance, Security Issues, Teamwork, and Culture Encounter, as well as a crash course in phonetics and language acquisition. We thank God for ABWE!

Our second meeting for this month was at Grace Baptist Church in Pepperell, MA. We enjoyed fellowship with the Pastor Saturday and Sunday. The church family was very warm and friendly, showing their enthusiasm for missions!

Perhaps the biggest praise of all this month is that we were able to buy plane tickets for language school and officially set a date of departure. We marvel at what God has done through churches and individuals in so many ways to bring us to this point. God laid it on the heart of an individual to temporarily financially support us for whatever we lack at the end of April. This support will continue until other churches and individuals take us on for regular support or until the end of our first term, whichever comes first. So, while we are still praying for the rest of our support to come in, we are at the same time able to make plans to leave for the field. We cannot tell you how excited we are to so soon be a part of what God is doing in Colombia. What a privilege to serve our God together with you all!

Partnering Together

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:24:00 -0700

We are so grateful to the many churches and individuals who through their prayers and financial support have partnered with us to help reach Colombia. If you would like to partner with us through financial giving please visit: www.abwe.org/give/commit-to-support-a-missionary/

September 2009

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:54:00 -0700

Click here to download the September Newsletter.

August 2009

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:32:00 -0700

Click here to download the August Newsletter

July 2009

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:06:00 -0700

Click here to download the July Newsletter

Our new website

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:55:00 -0700

Today we are excited to unveil our new website and hope that it will provide a valuable means of communicating with all those interested in our ministry. Through this site we hope to share with you our burden for Colombia. While it has just been unveiled today, we are still familiarizing ourselves with the new software and have much work yet to completely populate the site. Please continue to check back for more information about our ministry and burden for Colombia.