Family Update
   Greetings from the Halberts. I know that it has been too long since we last updated you on how things are going in Costa Rica. I apologize for the lack of communication! As you can imagine, the last year has been as different and challenging for us as it has been for all of you.
   Things have begun to return to pre-pandemic norms in Costa Rica, at least in some senses. Churches were allowed to resume in-person worship services in August of last year, our driving restrictions are much more lenient and we were able to return to the offices at ESEPA, though we have not returned to in-person classes yet.
   Our family was faced with the tough decision to bring the kids home for schooling instead of leaving them in the school they were attending. You probably remember our prayers for our school books to arrive last summer (they did) in order to get an "on-time" start to our homeschooling year. We will continue to homeschool the kids for the forseeable future because we feel that they are doing much better academically than they were at Monterrey.
   As you know, we have struggled to get our residency since our return to Costa Rica at the end of 2018. Last year we had almost everything lined up and were getting ready to schedule our appointment with immigration when COVID shut down the country. Costa Rica made provision for people in our situation to remain in the country despite not having residency. Once things opened up enough to continue the process, we were unable to schedule a visit with immigration before our visas expired on March 2. In addition to that, three of our passports were set to expire in the coming months and appointments with the US embassy were booked beyond the expiration date of one of our passports. We made the difficult decision to return to the US, renew our passports, collect our documents (again) and trust that God will make the way clear to re-establish our residency.
   As things currently stand, we have our renewed passports, we have the majority of our documents (some are still in process) and we returned to Costa Rica at the end of April. While we don't fully understand God's purpose in these delays and difficulties, we are glad that were were able to visit with family and a couple of churches who we had not had the privilege of visiting with before.

Adjustments at ESEPA
   If I had to describe the months since I took over leadership responsibilities at ESEPA in one word, it would be overwhelming. As you know, the board appointed me as the director in August. I was, at the time, wrapping up Old Testament Survey 1 and I was planning for Old Testament Survey 2 in the fall semester. I had also been assigned to teach a masters level exegesis course on Exodus, both of these courses were new to me.
   At Columbia Biblical Seminary, where I am pursing my PhD, I was trying to complete my last entry requirement for the Biblical Studies program, a Hebrew proficiency exam, which I had failed twice before. Somewhere between being offered the position of director and accepting it, I failed that exam and had to switch to the Theological Studies program which required another course...in the fall. So, when I took over as director I was scheduled to teach two courses and I was taking a course.
   However, the excitement had only just begun. Within two weeks of taking over, the part-time administrator gave notice that he would be leaving. The Lord was gracious and provided a fantastic replacement, Federico, who I will highlight in a future update. At the time, this change meant a new person entering into a position that had been understaffed (or unstaffed) for the last three years. In addition to a new administrator trying to learn the ropes and a new director trying to figure out my job, I also faced the reality that I was unable to hand off my duties as academic dean because we simply didn't have the staff and we didn't have the funds available to hire someone.
   Finally, I had the very unpleasant task of having to let two longtime employees go. To make matters worse, these employees were married and had been living on the seminary property for the last 14 years. After letting them go, I received notice that they had filed a lawsuit against the seminary with the Ministry of Work claiming unpaid overtime hours - two hours per day, five days a week for the last 14 years. So, in addition to all that was going on, I was tasked by the board with working out a settlement agreement (using a lawyer, of course) which only came to a close last week.
   Overwhelming seems like the right word. However, not everything was bad. The semester came to a successful close, Federico adjusted to his new role quickly and has proven to be an excellent administrator, I got through my course at Columbia Biblical Seminary and I am adjusting to my role as director. In January I was able to hire an academic coordinator, but I will tell you more about him in future updates.

Prayer
   Thank you for your continued prayers for us, even through our lack of communication. We are doing much better and there are some exciting developments that we are looking forward to sharing with you. For now, please continue to pray for ESEPA as we strive to move forward and grow. Our second trimester begins on Monday, April 10, so pray for the students, the faculty and the staff as we continue to advance through the year. Pray that God would continue to bring the right people to ESEPA to build our team, especially as we pursue accreditation. I would also ask that you specifically pray that God would give me and our board wisdom as we wrestle with pricing structures, program performance, faculty and staff development, and guidance of the seminary.
   You can keep our family in your prayers as well. The kids are finishing up their grades and getting ready to start the next year. We feel like we have found a rhythm but it has taken a long time. Julie's REFIT classes continue to go well, but she has not been able to attend recently due to the government shutting down a variety of businesses due to the increase of COVID infections. Please continue to pray for our residency process, especially that God would go before us in the remainder of the process.
   We appreciate your prayers and we are looking forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks and months.

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PRAYER REQUESTS
-Pray for our continued efforts to establish residency.
-Pray for wisdom for ESEPA's Board of Directors as they lead the institution.
-Pray for Ana and Bryan as they finish up their school year and get ready to start another.
-Pray for the ladies in Juile's Refit classes, specifically that God would soften hearts to the gospel.
-Pray for Andrew has he will be writing his dissertation proposal this summer, this is the final step before the research and writing process begins.

Praise and Thanksgiving this month...
-Praise God that we were able to get all our documents (some are on their way, but all have been ordered) to submit for residency.
-Praise God that we had no issues returning to Costa Rica and we got re-settled quickly.

Thank you for your continued prayers, we so grateful for each of you!
Love,
Andrew, Julie, Ana and Bryan Halbert
United World Mission - Costa Rica