by jimmy | Oct 26, 2013 | buildingaboat, buildingaboat |
John 20:21 – Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” I want to tell you about one of the best Christmas gifts I ever got from my parents. I asked for a remote control car. The one that’s bad to the bone; not like the simple forward and reverse kind. AIR. I want this thing to catch air. Christmas morning comes around and I am so jazzed up and ready. I knew that after presents I was going to be building ramps and jumping stuff by 2 p.m. that afternoon. I got the present I wanted. I knew which one it was. I had scoped them out in Hobby Lobby for months. Even though I knew what was inside, I played it cool anyway. When I unwrapped the box, there it was. Oh, yeah, the Hornet. I double checked the cover. YES. Awesome. I raced to the front room and opened the box. 100 million pieces. The car was not even recognizable. It had no form. There was nothing there, not even a tire to roll around. Everything had to be put together. I burst into tears, devastated. It was not what I wanted. We are pretty good at knowing what we want. For years, we did the Jimmy and Jeannie plan. We worked to get what we wanted. The school we wanted. The house we wanted. The life we believed was for us. But it wasn’t until I got on my knees that I got what I needed. As I sat there crying on...
by Hampton | Oct 10, 2013 | Uncategorized |
I’m not sure I ever realized how vast the learning curve is in life. That no matter how old you get, if you bet everything on the reality of Jesus, you actually are amazed like a child over and over, and in awe of the hearts of the people he draws into your life. As we wander into the unknown waters of fundraising, and preparing to leave the U.S. in 9 months, it’s safe to say the most uncertain of times has been the richest. In this place of humility and surrender, Jesus is carrying us every step, and we see with clearer eyes, and hear his words with different ears. And we fall deeper in love every day. Rarely in my life have I experienced a lack of words, although there have been a few. Sitting in a room in Africa, listening to a girl rescued from sex trafficking do her best to tell her story, experiencing the courage of a special needs kid in Costa Rica, or the moment I embraced a witch doctor after they had just heard about a man named Jesus. These moments when emotions are new, foreign, and full of the Spirit of God, and you know that nothing you say will fully represent the experience. While these happen every day, all around us, I don’t always see it. This season for us, brings us again to places of seeing God work in mighty ways and we are surprised, overwhelmed, and filled with a gratitude that an ocean could not contain. But words are so hard to find. This is true with our...
by jeannie | Oct 10, 2013 | Blog |
I’m not sure I ever realized how vast the learning curve is in life. That no matter how old you get, if you bet everything on the reality of Jesus, you actually are amazed like a child over and over, and in awe of the hearts of the people he draws into your life. As we wander into the unknown waters of fundraising, and preparing to leave the U.S. in 9 months, it’s safe to say the most uncertain of times has been the richest. In this place of humility and surrender, Jesus is carrying us every step, and we see with clearer eyes, and hear his words with different ears. And we fall deeper in love every day. Rarely in my life have I experienced a lack of words, although there have been a few. Sitting in a room in Africa, listening to a girl rescued from sex trafficking do her best to tell her story, experiencing the courage of a special needs kid in Costa Rica, or the moment I embraced a witch doctor after they had just heard about a man named Jesus. These moments when emotions are new, foreign, and full of the Spirit of God, and you know that nothing you say will fully represent the experience. While these happen every day, all around us, I don’t always see it. This season for us, brings us again to places of seeing God work in mighty ways and we are surprised, overwhelmed, and filled with a gratitude that an ocean could not contain. But words are so hard to find. This is true with our...
by Hampton | Oct 4, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Yes, we’re still here! This has been a season of new experiences! We’ve enjoyed laughs, cries, talks and LOTS of coffee with many of you and it’s been one of the richest seasons of our lives. His story is weaving us together, and while our goal is still set to leave June 2014, we are enjoying this season of “lasts” in many things we do. The last first day of American school, the last Mothers day here, the last birthday in America, and really, it’s difficult but meaningful at the same time. Now, as we head into colder weather and the ‘last’ American holiday season it feels closer than ever that the way we know life is all about to change. As we do our best to be connected to our future home in Costa Rica, we get to hear stories from time to time about all God’s doing there now. As we hear the heart of our new friends there, we are filled with an eagerness to join them, stepping into what we feel called to do, now more than ever. Stories like the second mega club in Alajuela, for the West Side, and how almost 350 young people from all different barrios were mixed together and were able to share, play, and hear about Jesus, in spite of all the rain and mud! We are blessed by the emails we get from staff currently there asking us to pray for each unique kid, from different nationalities within the international schools by name. Whether they are Dutch, Irish, Korean, American, Costa Rican, or any other homeland you can...
by Hampton | Aug 28, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Hello Friends & Family, The new school year is here! Those of you with kids, we hope your kids had a wonderful first day, and your family is getting into the new routine. As wonderful as our summer was, there’s so much ahead of us as we spend this next ten (10) months preparing to leave, that we welcome the schedule of school. We’ve been getting questions regarding our timing, our funding, and the specifics of giving. We hope this newsletter clarifies some of your questions. We want you to be part of our sending team, whether it’s financial, prayer and/or visiting and serving alongside us once we arrive! Our time left here is short, and our goal date of June 2014 to leave is quickly approaching. We are stepping out on faith that God provides the means for us to get there, and we’re asking you to pray about joining our team. It’s going to be an incredible journey! We have 32 people that have joined us, and we’re looking for 68 more. Will you consider being one of these people? We are thankful for how God is working and leading many of you to give and be part of His journey for us. It’s overwhelming, really. He is using you to make this happen, and each week we are surprised, moved, and blown away by how He’s working. HOW TO GIVE: You can give an annual one time gift or give monthly. Online: visit the GIVING LINK and give to Area X8196 – Hampton Costa Rica or Mail: Send a check payable to YOUNG LIFE – to...
by jimmy | Aug 3, 2013 | Blog, Videos |
by jimmy | Aug 3, 2013 | Blog, Videos |
by jimmy | Jul 15, 2013 | Blog, push to costarica site |
We are half way into week three here in San Jose. This trip has been very good. We have spent time with Young Life kids, with staff, and we have met new friends. We do miss our friends and family back in Austin and we are excited to get back and see them, but it is nice to know that when we move here there are some great families that are anxious to help us settle in and start to build a life here. Wow. That is hard to type. I think because as I type it I think of all the people we will miss. People like you reading this and especially our family. We went to a church yesterday called Vida Abundante. Abundant Life. I think those are marvelous words because I feel like more and more that is what Jesus is doing in our lives. I think our kids are learning that fear is not real. Maybe ‘worry’ is a better word. They are learning that when you trust Jesus and go to club even though you don’t want to, because you will be one of a few speaking english, Jesus has something to show you. When you get in the car and go, Jesus shows up and you get to laugh till you are just busting at the seams. Vida Abundante. I mean sure, maybe they were laughing because they were still a little timid but the emotion is so powerful and it is all built on Faith in Jesus. Trusting Him. Trust Him with something big. Something you think is impossible. But believe He...
by jeannie | Jul 8, 2013 | Blog, push to costarica site |
Hello Friends! Today is Monday, and after a slower week, resting and working on our Spanish, we had a busier weekend and have many things planned this week. We spent Saturday at camp with Vida Joven & Capernaum kids. And Sunday, we attended a church in Escazu. Escazu Christian Fellowship. (West side) They don’t have an actual building, but meet in the International Baptist building on Sunday nights and the service is in English. We plan to visit another church on Sunday, Viva Abundante on the East side, where they translate from Spanish to English in their earlier service. No English speaking churches on the East side that we can find. The service yesterday was done in a Taize tradition where it’s completely unplugged, no lights, no instruments. Only our voices and candles. They do this a few times a year. Candles lighting the words we sing, candles used to see the scripture readings, and long silences and moments of prayer throughout the night. It was a beautiful time to be still during a service with others to pray, be still, and then we took communion together with them as a family. We were introduced to the small congregation there, and were approached by many afterward with blessings, encouragements, offers to use their homes for YL mtgs, and to help us look for homes as time nears for our move here. We are hosting and cooking dinner for some staff this week; which we’re excited about. Our time has been filled with great moments, and challenging moments, but we’re starting to see and feel more that God is going...
by jeannie | Jul 4, 2013 | Blog, push to costarica site |
Here’s a few pictures from our time here with Capernaum (Special Needs) Young Life. The kids and their leaders put on a talent show in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Jimmy, the kids and I had a beautiful time with these sweet kids, their leaders, and the community. These kids had rehearsed and worked toward this day for a month, and many of their parents were in the audience. It was such a great day. While we were around these kids we were struck by how free, courageous and joyful they were. We learned a lot this day. ...
