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~ Ten Year Cycles~

usSometimes life is all about cycles, isn’t it?  Well, for us, one cycle that continues throughout our married life is the fact that we seem to move from place to place in 10-year cycles.  Between 1975 & 1985, we were based out of the Bivin’s Ranch in Texas.  Then we were based out of Miami, (with YWAM), from 1985 until 1995.  We moved to Stonewall, Colorado in 1995 and left there in 2005 for the YWAM work here in Heredia, Costa Rica.  We have been in Costa Rica since then, in the same house, and were just talking about our 10-year stints, and what that would mean?  Is another move coming up?  We felt no word from God that we are to leave Costa Rica.

A few weeks before we left for Christmas in the States, the owner of our cabin told us that we had to move out by the end of January. The landlady recently divided her property between her kids and now our cabin belongs to one of her daughters. (They were both very emotional about telling us we had to leave, as they said we are like family, ~like grandparents, and they didn’t want to see us go).  It was a little hard for us to go to the states knowing we had to move when we came back.

Well, it was nice to spend time with our kids and some of our grandkids in both Colorado and Texas, but it was really a cold winter with more snow than we have seen in 10 years. (smile) We are not too sure we want to come back again during these cold seasons, so maybe we can get our kids to come visit us here in Costa Rica for some of our warmer climate!

Ten days after we returned to Costa Rica, we hit the ground running with our 9th Environment and Resource Stewardship School with nine students from five nations. We are already in our fourth week of the school and the students are doing great. They are an awesome team! They are planning on going to Kenya and South Sudan for their outreach. Next week our DTS students will be returning from their outreach in Central America, and after a week of debrief, they will be graduating.

So now, in the middle of all this activity, we have been looking for another house to rent. For the past 10 years, we have only been paying $400 per month for a 4-bedroom cabin. We have been looking for over a month but have not been able to find anything for under $800. Well this weekend we finally found a 3-bedroom, 2-bath house for $650 per month, which we believe will meet our needs. It is only 15 minutes from the YWAM base so we will still be close. The property owner said that we could move in this coming Wednesday. We will have to pay the first month and a deposit so we will need $1300 to get into the house. They are willing to let us move in if we give them $800 now and $500 by the 22 of February. We could do that ~but it would leave us nothing for food, gas, utilities etc., for the rest of the month. Would you please pray about helping us with a special gift so we can make this move? Once we are in the house we will still need an additional $250 more each month to add to the $400 we already have budgeted for rent in order to continue. We are trusting God to meet this present need, just as He miraculously provided us a home for these past 10 years for such a low cost! He hasn’t failed us yet!!

Next month I (Terry) am planning on going to New Zealand to teach at the next RescueNet training. I will be taking one of our staff who works as a Paramedic here in Costa Rica. He will be taking the course so that he can become a part of our RescueNet team here. A friend of his has graciously provided our airfares so all we will need is our ground fees and housing while we are there. I believe this friend has even offered to give tickets for both our wives ~ so Donna and his wife, Sara might be able to come with us. This would be a great opportunity for them to be a part of what we are doing, as they usually do not get a chance like this very often.

We appreciate all your prayers, letters and gifts. Wishing you a wonderful Valentines Day and may God’s blessings be with you!

Yours in Christ,
Terry & Donna Keith

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What’s happening?

Hi Everyone,

We hope you are all enjoying the life that God has granted you.  These days are getting more difficult as time passes and we need God’s presence and guidance continually.

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Visiting team getting a tour of the base

      It’s been quite awhile since we’ve written and things for us have been quite hectic.  We have had many visiting teams that have come to YWAM Heredia and have participated in the various projects and ministries that have been going on.  This has been an exciting time, but also very difficult since we have lost some of our staff – we have been short handed.  Because of this, we also did not make it back to the US this year as we had planned to do in June, but we are still hoping for an opportunity to do this – (we need our break and time to see our family).

     Our children’s ministry under the leadership of our staff, (Edwin & Leo Piedra), has just exploded.  We now have King’s Club or King’s Kids camps every weekend but one of each month.  On the weekend we don’t have the kids here, we have hosted church retreats for local churches, which they have enjoyed.

In the past year, Donna and Leo have also begun a women’s quilting class, which has been a great way to build relationships and involve the community.  The ladies have made various types of quilted projects, stuffed animals and have even learned to bake pies.  Many of these women are unchurched, so they also have a devotional time to begin each class.  They have been talking about starting a little micro business to sell their crafts which would help them financially as well.  This ministry could use donations towards sewing machines, material, etc if anyone would like to help in this project.

Our base also continues to do Bible distribution.  Our national goal is to put a Bible in every home, which is over 1.3 million homes.  We have taken on the challenge to do this in every home in the Heredia province, which is over 100,000 homes, so if you desire to help in this project you can bring your teams, and/or donate towards purchasing the Bibles.

We continue to host short-term teams throughout the year.  There are many ministry opportunities from street evangelism, feeding the homeless, Bible distribution, and children’s ministries, visiting the orphans or the elderly and service projects of all types.  Please let us know what you would do and we can custom design an outreach for your team.  If you want to apply or need more information, just go to our new website at ywamheredia.com .  On our site you will find a team manual and application.  Our contact info is also there if you just want to write us to get more information.

Besides all this we still have our different missionary training schools such as the DTS that is held in September and January each year.  Every January we also run a School of Environment & Resource Stewardship for those interested in doing community development in a sustainable way without harming the environment.  Many of our graduates from these schools are already working in many parts of the world making a difference.  Next year we want to start the School of Intercession, Worship & Spiritual Warfare, but we will let you know when we are ready to launch it.

Well, on a more personal note – we are still searching for more supporters to help cover where we are lacking, – if there is anyone out there who can help supply our need.  Below is a list to report some of the needs that we have:

  • Our water heater quit working a few months back.  We have a small electrical heater to warm water for showers, but its limited power only heats small amounts of water at a time.  We have not had the funds to replace our water heater yet.
  • Our rent was increased by $75 more a month
  • Donna had to get a new cell phone and monthly charges on it are higher than before also.
  • Our car still needs some repairs to function properly (since it was stolen, – missing parts).
  • Health needs:  We would like to get some health insurance here.  We found an insurance company – it would cost us each about $2500/year to be covered for almost everything.
  • Presently, we both need some dental work done that we haven’t been able to do.
  • Recently Donna has suffered from terrible back pain and hip problems, which has debilitated her quite a bit.  She just went to an orthopedic doctor who wants to do tests on her, which we don’t have the money to pay for.  One test, like a CAT scan to check if she has a herniated disk in her back will cost about $600 here.  The other two tests he wants are X-rays, which are about $40 each.  This is more an urgent need right now than the others since the pain she has keeps her from doing much now.  Depending on the findings, we hope she does not require any corrective surgery.

We are so thankful for each one of you who have shown your love to us by your prayers, your financial support, and sending us teams.  All of this has played a part in reaching many with the gospel and continuing this work we do for His Kingdom!  May you receive your reward from the King of kings and Lord of lords!  May you be richly blessed, lacking nothing!

Your servants in Christ,

Terry & Donna Keith