We are moving our blog

Due to this site being difficult to use and very limiting on what we can do we are moving to
http://splechters.com/.  Please feel free to sign up for email updates at the bottom of the page.  We will continue to post our blog on Facebook.  But if you would like to keep up with all that is going on, visit our site for updates on our calendar and check out our short videos.

Simple Service

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

The thought of growing up without a place to live and parents is a scary idea.  However, for many children here it is a reality.  There are many children living in the streets of Costa Rica without parents.  These children resort to living however they can.  The need is great and some of there stories are overwhelming.  A man, I call Pastor Steve, was a missionary here at one time.  Now he lives in Birmingham, AL and is a minister there.  While living here in Costa Rica, he had no thought of moving back to the states. However he felt as though God was calling him there and maybe for this very purpose.  Although he moved back he was still broken for the children of Costa Rica and felt real conviction to act.  So God placed certain people in his path and he is now undertaking the construction of a christian orphanage.  

We were privileged to work with a church from the U.S. in constructing an orphanage.  God says when we look after orphans it is considered a pure and faultless act.  This group of men and women were absolutely servants of God.  They dedicated themselves to selfless service that was back breaking as well as physically and mentally tiring.  There were days of non-stop rain coupled with cold weather and long hours.  However, there were no complaints simply service.  God has called us to this type of service.  There is no time for complaint. What is there to complain about?  After all, the wage of sin is death.  This is what we all deserve, but God has granted us grace. Grace enough that we could even partner with him in his ministry.  Serving God is not easy, however we do this out of love for what he has done for us.  Not seeking praise but only for him to be praised.  Things can get rough, but when you can look and see the heavenly vision all things of this world pass and we can see him clearly.  All of our wants fall to the will of him and only then can we be like minded.  These were the qualities I saw in these people. May God bless them for their acts of selfless service.

 These are our prayers at this time that we ask you be in prayerful partnership with us.  First, we have more students for the training school in August! Pray for them and for God to speak to them as they seek him out.  For many of these students this can be a life altering experience.  So be in prayer that they will seek his will in their lives.  Second,  God is opening doors for us to take the Multiply material to many churches here. Pray for guidance and how to partner with these churches so that he is most glorified.  Lastly, God is opening other doors that we are praying about.  Please pray for continued guidance in how we respond to these doors and how we are to partner with these opportunities.  Also pray for us here that we are bold and never fail to show and speak the word boldly.  We want to glorify him in all that we are.  Thank you so much for your partnership with us. We appreciate each one of you that takes the time to read what God is doing in our part of the world.  The phone calls, letters, emails, Facebook messages, Skype calls, and words of encouragement do not go unnoticed!  We appreciate them all!

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers!  We really appreciate all of it.

If you would like to contact us, you may do so by phone: 011-506-2269-7711, email: ksplechter23@gmail.com or splechter1@hotmail.com, Facebook: shaun patrick splechter or kimberly knapp splechter   

If you would like to donate financially, you may visit feedthecrave.org 

Our mailing address in Costa Rica is:

apdo 44-3011

Heredia Barva

40201 Costa Rica

GOD IS GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS

God is good and always faithful!  The first mission training school is coming to a close.  I can’t say enough about how it has been a blessing to watch the Lord grow in Dominique’s life.  Not everything has been perfect.  There have been times of frustration and times of utter amazement of what God is doing in and among us.  As Dominique leaves Costa Rica on the 31st for the States, his stay there will be short.  He will be finishing up his internship in Effingham at Christ’s Church.  At the end of May, he will be headed to Brazil to play football.  However, God has opened doors for him to do ministry there, in the team as well as the church.  So in the coming months, please be praying for Dominique.  Pray  for strength.  Pray that he stays close to the Lord and that football does not become his idol, but God stays first in his life.

Teams are beginning  to come more frequently.  Soon we will be very busy with teams and preparing for teams.  This is a time of year that everyone is stretched with the busy schedule, fatigue, hunger, hot weather, long drives, and close living quarters.  Who said being a disciple of Christ was comfortable?  Through these times we see our savior come to life in many different ways.  Please be praying for the teams that will be coming and for God to show himself to them while on mission here.  

In the midst of all that is happening here, this scripture is on my mind.

Malachi 1: 10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.

God wants our best our very best.  Not only does he want it he demands it.  In this scripture he says if your not going to give me your best, which is  what is due, just close the doors of your temple, because my name is great among the nations.  There are people who get who God is and that he deserves our best.  We should not sing or do anything out of routine.  God has not asked us to practice religion.  He has asked us to live as a living sacrifice for him.  Give to God our best so that God will accept our offerings and be pleased with our worship.  God deserves all of us.  Who are we to think he will be pleased with the scraps that we have left over?

Let’s vow to give God our best in every aspect of our lives.  FOR OUR GOD IS GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS!!

 Its always special when a family member or friend comes with a team, but extra special when your brother comes and has the privilege of sharing the message! 

In LaBarra, trying to catch fish for supper!

Dominique with his college roommate Tim!                                                                        

Laying hands on and praying for Dominique before his college team returns to the States and he remains for the mission training school.

A team from Effingham preparing school supplies for a week of school giveaways!  Just in time for the first day of school!  Thanks to all who sent supplies!  It was greatly appreciated!

This is a 16 year old girl named Stephanie!  No one in her family has made it this far in school.  Please be in prayer for her.  Her mom said she is a fighter and she just wants her to get a good education.

Stephanie’s family members.  They were so excited to get their school supplies!

Feeding the homeless in the park and showing the love of Christ. Praying for God to break the bonds of drugs, alcohol or whatever there needs are. 

Thanks for your continued support and prayers!  We really appreciate all of it.  

If you would like to contact us, you may do so by phone: 011-506-2269-7711, email: ksplechter23@gmail.com or splechter1@hotmail.com, Facebook: shaun patrick splechter or kimberly knapp splechter   

If you would like to donate financially, you may visit feedthecrave.org 

Our mailing address in Costa Rica is:

apdo 44-3011

Heredia Barva

40201 Costa Rica

The New Year

The New Year

 

 

               It is hard to believe that we have started a new year here in Costa Rica.  I want to look over some of the past year and give thanks to God for what he has accomplished.  Although my family and I are here, you must know that it is not us doing the work but God acomplishing his mission through us.  This past year has been hard for us to adjust and find our place in this culture.  We are far from our family and many times far from our comfort zones.  However, we rest in the fact that we are following the call.  God has not called us to live in comfort or stability, but to wrecklessly abandone ourselves to him.  He states in Luke 14:26 says "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life such a person cannot be my disciple.  It does not literally mean to hate but we must love Christ more.  So as we follow this truth we rest in the fact that God is with us and will provide our every need.

               First I want to thank our supporters for over the last year you have made this ministry possible.  I am so glad that we have the supporters we do.  When we were able to come home for Christmas, our fellowship with you was a true blessing from God.  Being overseas is not a glamorous life and it has its ups and downs.  Our trip home was refreshing and encouraging.  Thank you for your support!! As we work here we keep your ministries in our prayers as well.  May God continue to bless you though our partnership like he has blessed us. 

               Before we came home we were able to partner with two churches in Siquirres.  We were able to provide a leadership ministry through Multiply. It is a discipleship training book by Francis Chan and David Platt.  It was such a blessing to work together in these churches and partner with what God was already doing there.  We drove 3 hours one way twice a week to be with the churches in Siquirres for 3 months.  What joy we had watching them grow in knowledge and how they thirsted for the gospel.  When the time came for graduation everyone was excited including us.  We were so proud of our brothers and sisters and how much work they had put into this program.  And when they received there certificate of completion words will never express the gratitude they had.  If this was a mere program I would not have enjoyed it near as much.  What we need to understand is this was life changing events and revelation of what God has called them to be.  The opportunity we had in partnering with them was a pleasure.  We were able to build relationships with people that grew real loving God centered relationships.

               We now have our first student for the mission training school.  His name is Dominique. What a joy he is to have.  He has an infectious laugh and an attitude of in awe! He is already talking about what he feels God is calling him to do and where.  I hope you will pray with us for this young man and the up and coming decisions to be made.  We are only a few short weeks into the internship, but I can see God working in his life as well as ours.  Continue to pray for this school that God is glorified through it and that his will is done in it.

 

               We ask that you pray with us over our family and any struggles that come upon us.  Pray that we stay strong and live in the vision of God and not the consequence of this world.  Please keep Nicole Sanchez in your prayers as well and the Sanchez family.  Nicole has traveled to be a missionary in Jordan, and this as most know is not the safest place.  The Sanchez’s are missionaries that we are partnered very closely with. Pray for strength to overcome all obstacles in the name of Jesus Christ.  we apologize that we are not able to post pictures right now we hope to have this resolved soon.


GOD Bless you all,  The Splechter Family

GOD IS GOOD

I am having a whirlwind of feelings right now. God is good all the time.  I am excited to come home in 5 weeks for a short visit, but a little sad to leave my new found friends.  This has been a time in which we have made relationships with some people around us that will always be dear to our hearts.  God has put people around us that I could not imagine not meeting.  Besides all of our wonderful missionary friends, we also have made good friends with the pastor and his family in Siquirres.  We go there 2 times a week, and it is always a joy to see them and fellowship after.  This family’s love for the Lord and work ethic make me feel incompetent sometimes.  Also my dear friend Luis, a man that I have been working with on a goat farm.  It started as just a conviction from God to work with them, and I thought that it would help my Spanish.  So the next day, I went and began working with him every day that I was able from about 7- 1 in the afternoon.  Not only does this man love the Lord but is an extraordinary example of appreciating the beauty of God’s creation.  I can’t count the times we are out in a field, and he is chopping pasture with a machete and I am carrying the pasture and stacking it in the wagon.  We are sweaty, hot, the pasture has cut our arms and hands, and a butterfly will fly out of a bush.  He will stop and say mida, mida que lindo.  Which means look, look how beautiful, or he will see some flower and stop to appreciate God's creation and stand in awe of it.  Things as simple as a rock that he thinks looks nice and takes the time to clean it and stand and appreciate it.  And I stand in wonder what is the big deal. It's a rock, flower, or butterfly.  They are everywhere.  But it is his reverence of God and what he created, and it never grows old to him.  I realize I need more of that attitude to stand in awe of the things God created that I so often take for granted.  We live in a place that is full of beauty and God created it for us to enjoy.  He created it so that we could look and see him everywhere in his creation.

The man on the left is Luis and the man on the right is Carlos, the pastor from Siquirres.

   We appreciate all of your support and look forward to seeing you all soon. Thanks for the phone calls, Skype messages, emails, facebook messages and letters sent to us.  They are very uplifting and always put a smile on our faces. 

Email addresses: ksplechter23@gmail.com  splechter1@hotmail.com

phone number: 011-506-2269-7711

mailing Address:

Apdo 44-3011 

Heredia, Barva

40201 Costa Rica 

God Bless,

The Splechters

Alot of moving parts

The month of August is coming to an end.  It has flown by so fast. I can not believe we are now beginning to plan our return for Christmas.  We are excited to touch base with all of you who are supporting us in this mission.  Very shortly we will have been in Costa Rica for an entire year.  God has been faithful, and we have been blessed by all of you in the States with your faithful giving as well as the experience here. 


It has been awhile since our last blog.  First of all, glory to God, because we sold our house in the States.  It was a two year venture that has finally came to pass. It was definitely a bittersweet moment! As I sit writing this, the rest of my family is busy cleaning the house that we were blessed to move into when we arrived.  We made friends with those around us, and we were very comfortable here.  But as God would have it, the owners are coming back from the U.S.,  and we must move to another house.  It was quite a troubling thought of leaving when we were so comfortable and happy in the glass house as we call it.  So a search for a house began, and it turned out to be rather short only because of God's timing. We looked at one house before God's plan was put into action.  We were going to a birthday party and thought we would get the word out to all the missionaries that we were looking. There is a missionary by the name of Bob Wilmarth. He is a vet and has a mission here.  So I was telling him that we were looking and he offered his old farm house to us.  So the next day we went and looked at it .  It was all that we were looking for; a big yard, enough room plus an extra room for a school room, close to where we were already located and it is much cooler than the glass house which acted as a sauna during the day.  We have now moved in and are loving our new house.  We have fires in the evening where we gather for our family devotions and play games before heading to bed.  It is placed high on the side of a mountain and off of the road and high traffic areas.  For me it took a little getting used to the extreme quiet.  I haven't heard quiet like this since hunting deer in Kaskaskia river bottom.  This house has replace the old with no problem and we are very happy there thanks to God's plan.  He is always faithful.  This may seem like a simple thing, but when you are in a different country not sure of your living situation, stress can begin to build.  However rest assured God is in control and will always restore your peace. Because of this move we do not yet have internet so it makes writing a bit of a chore. 


We have the pleasure of taking part in some leadership training in Siquirres.  This is a Spanish only church, so it does have challenges still, but it is such a blessing.  We are working through the Multiply material, and it is going very well.  There are two churches in Siquirres that are going through this material. We started on Aug. 1 and this will run on a weekly basis until Nov. 9.  So on Tuesdays and Fridays we pack the car and head about 2hr and 45 min to spend about two hours fellowshipping with these people.  Carlos, the pastor at Siquirres, the evangelism pastor , Alex, and I are taking turns leading the sessions.  When I speak I still have to use a translator, because I still struggle to get my whole point across.  I see these people enjoying these meetings very much.  Please continue to pray for those leading and for the people attending.  We are building strong relationships here in these churches, and it is such a blessing to be loved on by them.  Watching our girls play with their children and their desire to know us better is a great feeling.  Kim is helping with the little kids so they are not distracting during the sessions.  They have enjoyed what she has brought for them and she is trying to learn a little Spanish from them! Pray for these meetings that they are ran and blessed by God. 


I will post pictures soon, but I forgot to bring my IPAD which had the pictures on it.  Sorry about the pictures and blog posts the last few months. With the move and trying to get used to this program things have not gone as planned.  Please continue to pray for our Spanish and for God to use us and that we are open to see the opportunities.  I will soon be posting dates of when we will be returning so that we can begin to set up visits.  Thank you all so much. God bless and see you soon God willing.


Love,
The Splechters-Shaun, Kim, Madison, and Makaylee

A busy July full of Gods love

Wow, I can’t believe it’s July!  Wait the second week of July!  Where has the last month gone?!  June was an extremely busy month for us.  We were able to participate and be a part of all the teams that came to the Sanchez’s.  I believe we had teams here all but maybe 4 days in June!  Can you say emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausting?  But an AMAZING exhaustion!  It was awesome to see God working in a lot of people in a lot of different ways!  You might think that coming on a mission trip, you will get to go and be a blessing to so many, which you do.  However, it is much more that the people of Costa Rica are the ones that are really being a blessing to all of us!  Their attitudes, gratitudes, and simplicity of life is a pure joy to watch and be a part of.  We did a lot of VBS activities the past few weeks!  It definitely puts a whole lot of perspective on the big productions we do back home in the states!  A few songs, fingernail painting, face painting, bubble blowing, skits, snacks, games, crafts, etc. and you have a bunch of children and their parents who have heard a little word about God and leave with a smile on their face.    

anxiously waiting the arrival of Nana

One of our highlights for our family this month was getting to have our first family visitor….NanaSplechter!

 getting ready to get on the boat to LaBarra 

We were able to travel to LaBarra for the first time with the girls and her.  We walked to different families homes taking food, visiting, and praying with them.  One particular family was one I had gotten to visit the very first time I came to Costa Rica two years ago.  It was one of those families you don’t really forget meeting.   The oldest daughter was 13 at the time and had a newborn baby.  I just thought of how her life as a child had quickly turned into a life as a mother and thinking how she had been robbed of her childhood.  For her, she knew no different.  This particular visit, two years later I was now looking at a 15 year old with another new baby.  I could not even imagine being in her shoes, but the love between this family is evident when you see them.  I pray that they continue to seek God and to build a strong relationship with him.

 She was a baby 2 years ago.

 Pearl is about 4 years old.

All the kids.  The three bigger children are brothers and sisters.  And the two smaller children belong to the 15 year old.  

 Mission Team from Illinois at the beach in Labarra.  It isn’t safe to swim in the water due to sharks and rip tides, but they got their feet wet!

 painting fingernails in Labarra 

 facepainting in Labarra

a bag full of candy to hand out! VBS in Labarra

 giving away clothes

This man was hoping for a whole church service in his home!  We did the best we could by praying with him, singing songs, talking with him, and giving him food.  He is raising his two girls by himself.

 VBS, women’s group in Labarra. 

 Our first sleep over in Costa Rica with Sasha!

Papa and Nana Knapp sent me a whole bag of my favorite oatmeal!

 

Our baby chicks we got to raise and eat!  They were so cute and cuddly here but in six weeks they will not be!  

 

Ephesians 4:1-7

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  But to each of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

We have had several ask about sending mail to us.  WE HAVE A PO BOX!!!!  Our new address in Costa Rica is:

Apdo 44-3011

Heredia Barva

40201 Costa Rica

(that is exactly how the lady at post office gave address to us!) We have been told that anything big sent will probably get sent to San Jose.  But most likely things in a manila envelope like the size of 9x12 or smaller will fit in the box and should be fine!

We want to thank all of you who are supporting us by keeping us in your prayers or financially.  We can definitely feel the love!  Dios te Bendiga, (Spanish for God Bless you!  Someone who knows more Spanish than I could correct me on the wrong spellingJ )

The Splechter family