Dear Family & Friends,
Sorry for the delay in catching you up with our lives. We have had a very full Winter/Spring (well, in Costa Rica it has been one season this whole time – dry season). So, grab a coffee/tea and we’ll give you a brief run down.
After Mitch & Lauren left here in mid January we received another house guest. Our “niece” (Murray’s cousin’s daughter) came to live with us for 3 months. She had multiple roles: caregiver for our girls when we traveled, student teacher (in English) at the girls’ international school, student teacher (in Spanish) at a public school close to our house. Charmayne was a blessing wherever she went and it was a joy to have her in our home.
One of our trips this spring took us to Penang, Malaysia where many key leaders of the CMA in Canada met to talk about the future environment of our organization. It was a great time and we sensed a whole new level of commitment and unity. We are excited about the path our organization is taking and we are privileged to be a part of it.
Every winter we need at least 10 days of snow and cold – just to remind us that we are Canadians. We have our our global team meetings in March each year in Toronto. This year took us once again to a cottage, for retreat time, that was picturesque in setting (and content).
Another trip took Murray to Mexico City to have a follow up meeting with a steering committee whose desire is to see an international school started in the south central part of that city. We are excited about this project for many reasons: it will provide a place for our coworkers’ children to receive excellent education, and it opens the door to many new relationships.
Yet another trip took Murray to Lima to meet with CMA leaders from Canada, US, Latin America as well as global partners. It was our yearly CMA Americas meeting and was a great time of networking to see how we can continue to work together.
One of our weekly highlights is the house church that meets in our home on Sunday mornings. We love this group of people and have some amazing spiritual discussions. We celebrated 2 years as a “family” on Easter Sunday.
Finally, one of Mikaela’s passions is horseback riding. She has advanced quite a bit in these last few months. As parents we are nervous when there are spills and bucks and crashes – but this seems to energize Miki which just confirms that she is thriving in this environment.
Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us. We will try and update more often so that you don’t feel like you are drinking from a fire hose 🙂
Murray & Michelle
The Derksens 
Hi Murray & Michelle: So good to hear from you……. and a little bit about your life in CR – – busy-ness is prevalent in every corner of your life & ours, I think!!!! Hugs & love, marlalee
Heh That was good -thanks for the update.
Mikaela you look good on a horse.
You guys don’t know how much we miss you guys. BUT there is only 2 month left till we see you in KELOWNA.
Bonnie came with us to see the Oncologist, it was so good because she has good ears and she understands medical terms. She’s been a great help to us.
Well I won’t keep you up. So goodnight and sleep tight.
Love MOM
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Greetings from Kelowna. Thank you so much for this very interesting update along with the pictures. My goodness, the girls change with every photo we see!. I, Myrtle, am very fond of horses so love the 2 pics of Miki on the horse. The second one is a bit scary as it looks as if she’s going to hit her head to on roof!! We continue to follow you in prayer both at home and at PrayerLine so we are always pleased to have updates. Will we be seeing you in Kelowna this summer? How quickly the years go by! With our love and prayers and God’s blessings, Myrtle and Bernard.
Thanks for the interesting up-dates. Wow, you really travel
the globe, Murray! May the Lord watch over you all and
protect you.
Peter spends most of his time in bed. So much pain. He
has spinal headaches, and the procedures only seem to
make it worse. But we still praise God for all the blessings
He gives.
May you experience His abundant blessings, too.
Peter & Mary Derksen
LOVE you guys SOOOOOO much!!! Thanks for the amazing update!! 🙂 Today Ethan is 13!
My baby!! Yikes! Love and hugs to you all……….Shirley
Thanks for keeping us posted with your busy lives. Harry and I attended our monthly Seniors supper last evening. Ross and Bonita attended as well. It was a good evening.
Thanks so much for the catch up visit. So good to have an inside peek into your lives. Love you all so much. See you in a month or so.
Bonnie Derksen Sent from my iPhone
Hola Murray and Michelle,
Thanks for the updates. We were sipping Red Rose tea while enjoying your pictures and updates. Once again, thanks so much for the time we spent at the retreat in Tambor. We felt so blessed spiritually and physically.
Blessings to you and your family.
Victor and Betty
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Thank you for the update! Love seeing what you guys are doing!
Bless you all, mary
On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 10:50 PM, M&M Derksen