We’re Moving…
Well, we have been busy. We are purchasing a home on Isla Bastimentos – can you believe it? We are in the middle of packing and will be moving all of our stuff by boat tomorrow. We will have help, Alvaro our groundskeeper here, we will miss him, Gene, the Ngobe pastor, his brother and our new groundskeeper Tboo. We are excited and are hoping this is our last move for a while, although we are getting quite good at it.
This move is bittersweet, we are excited we are going where God has specifically called us. But I am really going to miss Ernie, he owns the local “tienda” (store) near us on the water, I go and visit Ernie quite often, we’ve had some awesome God-inspired talks, today I stopped by his place to give him the news, during our three hour conversation he said he was sad I was leaving, I told him I felt the same. And Mario, the guy that helped fix our boat when we first arrived, I’ve hung out quite a bit with Mario and consider him a friend, I just finally started to be able to understand his Afro-caribbean English. And Falco, a Ngobe man next to us also stopped by to say goodbye, I saw him the day before in the evening, I was snorkeling under the dock looking for a necklace Bella dropped when he came over in his cayuco, we talked in my very broken Spanish, I’m gonna miss Falco. All of these men I have bonded with, I will keep in touch with them and pray for them often.
We also already have house guests, we are blessed to have Terry and Liz living there, they are volunteering to do whatever needs to be done, wonderful believers that I met on the scouting trip in January. There is also Kathrin, from Germany, teaching English to the Ngobe, teaching in the preschool and soon to be teaching this gringo some Spanish. There are also some other short term guests. We are super thankful for their willingness to work side by side with us to build the Kingdom, however God calls us.
By the way, just to refresh you on this property, this was the first YWAM base to respond to my email, this is also the place I stayed during my scouting trip, the place we thought we were going to temporarily stay but ended up here at Danny’s and now the place where God has directed us to purchase. Kim and Dale left today for the states to see their family and attend to family matters, its bittersweet for them but hopefully they will be back for a long visit.
Quick stats on the property:
8 acres on Isla Bastimentos, a former YWAM base, has a large, quality concrete and steel house that is probably around 4,000 sq ft. Three separate living areas, two large kitchens and fully furnished with tons of beds. There is also another building we call the treehouse on the property located next to a really cool waterfall coming out of the jungle, the waterfall is solid rock behind the water at an angle where it looks like it could be used as a water slide – we’ll try it. That building has an unfinished upstairs and the ground floor is currently a classroom used as a preschool for the indigenous.
We feel so blessed to have a place that is ready to go, ready to host people and filled with all of the tools needed to live far from Home Depot, and we can now host people. Also, did I mention we can host people?
Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like, in random order.
Ngobe village next door.
Wilbur the Ngobe pig.
Someone feed me.
Stream on the property.
Ngobe school next door.
Local “Tienda” run by a paralyzed Ngobe man who loves the Lord.
Some of our neighbors.
Downstairs in the main house where the English lessons are held.
Living space area three, three rooms ready for you, yes you reading this text right now.
Living room in living space three, maybe we should come up with a better name.
Ngobe school next door.
The entry dock and Bella.
The water slide waterfall.
Classroom in the treehouse.
Bobby, Odie and Dale (The guy we are buying the place from)
Pathway to the buildings.
My Spanish lessons.
Local laundromat / water slide waterfall. Arms go up.
Arms go down.
Little dance.
Front deck with a view of Bastimentos and Solarte and off in the distance Bocas.
Pathway to the dock, its quite a hike.
Find the people in the picture. (Ok there are none, stop looking) Just plants.
Upstairs in the house, big bedroom.
Upstairs in the house, the front door off of the deck.
Upstairs in the house, the dining and kitchen area.
Upstairs in the house, another bedroom.
Downstairs in the main house, living space three with some weirdo in the picture.
View from the house.
Upstairs in the house, kitchen.
Upstairs in the house, looking in from the front door.
Chicken coop. Ya baby!
Living area two, kitchen / place to put stuff when you don’t know where to put it.
Landscaping, Balsa trees.
These are our windows, just screens and shutters on rope and pulley systems (this one is broken but the others work)
Pathway to the dock.
Two paths down to the dock, the quick steep one or the scenic one.
Downstairs in the house, living space two.
Halfway down the path to the dock.
Halfway up the path to the house.
The “treehouse” building with the classroom downstairs and really cool unfinished room upstairs.
Treehouse classroom.
We love the bamboo.
Ready to buy a pina colada?
Treehouse.
Outdoor shower.
Outdoor toilet / dog waterer.
Outdoor showers.
Green stuff growing all over.
Water slide waterfall, did I mention this one?
Photographer. 😉
These are the preschool kids and this is also one of the boats that came with the house.
The dock.
Entry path looking at the dock.
Treehouse / pina colada stand / preschool – no we are not serving alcohol to the kids.
Tboo – our new groundskeeper.
Tboo’s daughter in law, kind of, its complicated… just got done at the wash water slide water fall.
Mango tree. Shirlene can’t wait for fruit!
Treehouse wrap around deck.
Treehouse unfinished upstairs.
More treehouse upstairs.
More Bella. Gotta love Bella. 😉
I’m excited for you guys! Praying for a safe easy move! Love and miss each of you so much!
Your place is awsome! Thanks for all the pictures, it is fun to see your new home. Super excited for you, praying for a smooth transition
So, does this mean you’re hosting classes, or is it just ready-made space for, oh, I don’t know, a Meeting and Sunday School area?
Also, do you have Lat-Long coordinates, say if someone wanted to spy on you from Google Earth?
We are so excited for you all. Here are some thoughts I had, you could live just in the big bedroom and it would be about as much space as you’ve been used to over the past 8 months! Electricity?!?! What a treat 🙂 and that fridge and stove they are HUGE!!!! I can’t wait to read about Shirlene’s cooking adventures in her new kitchen! oh yes, and fresh eggs everyday, yummy!!! and.. did you mention that you can have guests? just wondering? Really, we are rejoicing in all that our Father has provided for you, in material ways, but we are even more thankful for the relationships that he has given to you all. Thanks for sharing, we’ll look forward to hearing how you all adjust to your new home and pray for a safe and easy move. Love to each of you from all of us. xoxoxox
Really excited for you guys! Looks awesome. Can’t wait to hear how God will use you there. Lots of love.
WOOOOOHHHHHHOOOOO!!!!!!
We are so excited for you guys. Sure looks tempting to visit. Love and prayers. S. & A. Mathis
Wow!! I’m so excited for you guys!! The property looks amazing, and you have room for us when we come down…wohoo!! 🙂 We love and miss you all. Praying for you often.
Yay! Excited and thanking the Lord with you for answered prayer and His good plans… sounds and looks like wonderful place! Will be praying His will for community, relationships and peeps He sends to continue the work along side you. Thank you for the update -Love all the pics! Yay for treehouses, mango trees, and chickens!! 😉 I wanna come see you… plz tell Bella Auntie Bonnie MISSES her Bella Boo & sends Hi 5’s, knuckles & kisses for her to catch! 🙂
Life’s not allowed much personal indulgence on your blogs as of late, yet your constantly on my heart and Praying Love you guys for you! oxo
What an amazing next step in this Holy Spirit led adventure! You are in our prayers – both asking prayers and our praise to God! When the dust settles from the move, let us know more about your hopes, dreams and how we might help. Arden
WOW!! Looks amazing and like you have your work cut out for you! We are super excited for you all and will continue to pray for you and what God might have in mind for you with this amazing new place! So many possibilities….
Incredible!
We’re so happy for you guys and excited that you are formally able to make a place your own personal commune (ha!). I’m really liking the bamboo structure & Mango tree! We are always SO inspired by both of you for your creativity, humility and willingness to boldly go forward towards yet another affirmation of what God’s calling you to. What a beautiful place and a beautiful journey it’s already been to see you guys get there.
We miss you ALL immensely… what a privilege it is for us to get to see this new world through your eyes, your perspective and great sense of humor. 🙂 ALMOST good enough.
We hope you know we love you all and are just so proud of seeing each of you discover more and more how what God wants from us and how He’s willing to get us there.
Love: Teresa, Yodi, Payten, Cole, Kaiden, & Nolan
We’re just rejoicing right along with all these other people who have commented. Your “new” place looks like a mission compound and a perfect gift from the Lord. It is so exciting to see these new doors opening for you and your faithfulness to walk right thru them! I wouldn’t be surprised to see lots of different people coming to see you..:):) We sure miss you but are sooo excited about your future.
Oh My Gosh!!!! Such an amazing house!! It’s huge!! Can I pick my bedroom 😉 lol…. I think I saw a set of Cutco knives on the kitchen counter!! I am soooo happy for you !!! God is truly amazing 😉 I miss you !! I can’t wait to see what God going to do with you guys using the house!!! I know that something great is about to happen!! God Bless you all 🙂 Been praying!!! Love and Miss you!
OK, i officially missed the whole “pray for our move part” but… yeah, baby! I like it! Seems like the whole extended family could fit there… just saying!
Love you guys.
Loving tracking with you and seeing all the photos. So wish we could come and visit soon! Sending lots of love to you all.