A new virtual meeting room

I guess it's been a few weeks (or, er, months) since I last commented on our blog. But, getting our prayer letter out yesterday reminded me that it has been a while since I've written anything here.  But, if you'd like a copy of our prayer letter, here is a link where it can be found (Most recent prayer letter).

We are getting excited as ProMETA's virtual meeting room gets close to being completed.  Three different churches, each donating for a unique piece of the project (construction, technology, equipping).  I'm excited because once this room is complete, we will be able to use if for many different purposes.  We've already used it for our very first virtual team meeting with team members from as far away as Spain, Minnesota, and Peru participating with us in Costa Rica.  It really was a wonderful experience.  We envision this room being used for recording training DVDs, training webinars, face-to-face training classes, meals, and fellowship.  It really can be a multi-purpose room.  Thanks to those churches who helped make this possible.

Summer 2011

Summer 2011 will go down in our K & J Anderson history as one of the most up and down summers of all time!  Beginning with ProMETA leadership team meetings in Colorado (notice the serene and peaceful picture of Bear Lake) Judy and I flew to Boston and went on a 1,550 mile trip down I-95 from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale in a 16 foot rental towing a Dodge Caravan (notice that we had to work on it because the wheel straps came off!) followed by the "white coat" ceremony of Hanjo, our daughter-in-law at Nova Southeastern University, a very special and meaningful event. The summer also included a 10-day trip back to Costa Rica where I needed to give a workshop to 35 leaders of the Costa Rican Christian Missionary Alliance denomination.  We also added activities

such as a trip up to Rockford for a missions conference.  And as if that weren't enough, the "virtualness" of ProMETA does not allow one to ever get away from the office!  But, these are not complaints - I'm just reporting on how things went this summer.  Oh, I forgot to mention that there is one more trip to Tennessee for a week of ReachGlobal meetings as we map out ReachGlobal's strategy for the next 10 years in Latin America (lots of prayer needed here!)  So, the summer has turned out to be a very "active" one for us!  But, overall, it has been so good to see family, even if briefly at times.  Judy has been able to spend significant time helping Kris and Hanjo take care of                                                                                      the girls as they have needed to focus on their transition from living in Boston to Hanjo beginning  med school at Nova Southeastern University.  We head back to Costa Rica within the next two weeks, Judy will leave a week before I leave.

So, how would we evaluate how our summer has been?  It has been one of our most difficult summers logistically, but certainly one we will look back on in the future with grateful hearts, thanking God for all He did protecting us, providing for our needs, and watching over each one of our adult children these past months. God is good!

Great time with family over Christmas

As you can tell, it's NOT Costa Rica!  Actually, the picture was taken at Chicago's Daley Center just after Christmas. Judy is the one on the far right. On the far left is Alexandra, our daughter-in-law and between Alex and Gregory (right behind Judy) are Alex's two brothers.  It was their first time to be in cold, really cold, weather and see snow for the first time. 

We had a great time in Chicago from the 20th until we returned to Costa Rica on the 30th.  Being with both Judy's and my side of the family was the best Chrstmas present we could have ever wanted!  We were able to be with all members of our immediate families except Kris, Hanjo, and the girls as well as Judy's youngest sister and her family. We were able to stay with Jonathan and Karen, so that made our time even more special.  Thaks for your prayers. 

December events

December has been a great month in many ways.  ProMETA is going to finish the month in the black (financially), Judy finished the fall term successfully with only one second grader not returning next month, and, on the 14th we will be leaving for the States for two weeks with family in Chicago and Ft. Lauderdale.  Unfortunately we won't be able to see Kris, Hanjo, Kyla and Kiara so that visit will need to wait.  But God is good and we look forward to our time with family. 

We've had a few inquiries regarding personal support.  Honestly, we're more concerned about ProMETA's financial status, but I did notice that December has not been a good month for either ProMETA or our personal support. Because our support figures are based on 12 month averages, this month looks rather meager as we have dropped to a little over $1,000 per month in support lacking. We'll see how the month finishes, but it looks like we will probably end the year around $600 a month lacking. It's been an interesting year support-wise since we'veactually been totally supported for one month (September) and never more than $292 per month lacking until December.We pray that 2011 will be a great year for both the ministry and personal support as we press on with equipping Latin America's leaders.

Although I've not been able to confirm the report yet, I was told that we've had over 70 applications for the January term. Although most of those applications will not materialize for this next term we are always encouraged by the many leaders who do begin the application process because some of those applications are kept on file and eventually materialize as ProMETA students.

Busy November

November is setting up to be quite a busy month, as if last month wasn't busy enough.  In October we invested a great amount of time working on budgets for ProMETA, hosting a faculty rep from BIOLA University, gearing up for some promotional initiatives for the coming months, and four days of ProMETA strategic planning meetings as we look toward the next five years. And of course, Judy keeps busy with her passion: teaching missionary children at the MK school. On top of those activities, as a member of the ReachGlobal team, I have virtual meetings twice a month with the area leadership team with the concommitant responsibilities produces by those meetings, frequent meetings with various team members, etc., etc.  In November, we'll be spending nearly three full days in a team spiritual retreat with ReachGlobal veteran missionaries, George and Donna Warren.  Also, we're gearing up for presenting ProMETA to nearly 1,000 leaders at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, Nov 19-20.  And, the office here in Costa Rica is getting ready for the next quarter that begins in January.

Back in Costa Rica - Sabbatical was wonderful!

We returned to Costa Rica a little over three weeks ago after having been blessed with an extraordinarily great sabbatical. Even though we did not accomplish all our sabbatical goals, we certainly accomplished the ones that were "musts" for us (re-energize, re-focus, and establish a sustainable "rhythm of life") that will help us do ministry and life in a more balanced way.

What did we learn while on sabbatical? Well, much more than we would be able to put in this blog, but certainly one of the main areas to which we gave focus was understanding how to balance our responsibilities with other needs such as rest, renewal, and similar priorities that have not been priorities. So, during these first three weeks back, we've been sensitive to what a good balance should be.  We may not be there yet, but we do sense that we have been able to do better in this area.  That has been good.

So, in the spirit of taking some meaningful time off, about two weeks ago, Dr. Enrique Fernandez and I took advantage of a national holiday and drove into the Costa Rican cloud forest, and with the help of a guide (whom we met "by chance") were able to walk into the mountainous area and take pictures of the elusive Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. Dr. Fernandez (Quique), himself a Guatemalan, commented that he had never seen a Quetzal in his own country. It truly is a beautiful bird. 

Sabbatical and family

These past six weeks of the sabbatical have been focused on family. We've spent the month of June as well as the first part of July with family in the Chicago area. The picture of our granddaughters, Kyla (right) and Kiara (left) was taken on the banks of the Mississippi river in Dubuque, IA about two weeks ago. Kris, our oldest son, and the two girls came over from Boston to spend two weeks with us along with my (Keith's) parents and siblings in Dubuque. Hanjo remained in Boston during that time to prepare for a major exam she will be taking at the end of this month (we will be going to Boston on the 16th of July for nearly three weeks, so we look forward to spending time with the whole family). Although we would love to spend more time with family, it has been so good to have some time with all members of our immediate family (parents and siblings) during the past six weeks. This afternoon we travel to Ohio to see Judy's youngest sister, her husband, and another one of Judy's sisters and her husband who are traveling back from their family vacation. It's been so good to reconnect with family members these days!