ABQ Connect with the Aspen Project

We had the privilege of sharing some time on ABQ Connect with our dear friends Clay and Michelle Schroff from the Aspen Project. The link below is an archive of the interview starting around 29:30 minutes into the show.

 Thank you Peter Benson and Clay and Michelle Schroff for the opportunity to share what the Lord is doing here in Costa Rica.

http://www.knkt.com/abqconnect_player.asp?id=1343

Aspen Project Team - Friday @ the Beach

Today the team headed to Jaco beach for a day of fun and relaxation. We stayed back to prepare for  weekend services, but will post pictures as soon as the team returns.

Aspen Project Team - Roller Skate Outreach

Thursday we hosted another skate outreach…200+ attended. The team performed two skits, Geiner presented a gospel message, and 12 young ones made professions of faith and received bibles and invitations to Ven y Ve, our youth group. Yet another good day! Thank you Lord.

Keeping them fed and hydrated too!

Aspen Project Team - Mothers' Day in Costa Rica

Wednesday we spent the day loving on 12 kiddos in a group home who are removed from their families. Wednesday was Mothers' Day in Costa Rica, and we were also able to love on the "tias" who care for these children day in and day out.

Then Wednesday evening we continued the lovefest, having Dinner and a Movie for the Mom's. We invited the tias and the children from earlier in the day, and everyone enjoyed a meal together followed by "One Night With the King" - the movie about the book of Esther.

Aspen Project Team - Clean-up at Vargas Calvo High School

We are in awe of this team. Tuesday we cleaned-up at the local high school, showing an amazing example of selfless service.

...and healthy competition!!

Aspen Project Team - Painting the Church

In our last post we announced the move to a new location. Well we have the joy of sharing with you pictures of the "improved" building! Yes, our friends from the Aspen Project from Calvary Albuquerque are here with a team. Team members, along with some friends from Calvary San Pedro joined forces today and painted the building. We would like to share with you the amazing job they did...and we are so grateful. We can't wait for the congregation to see it!!

Melissa will forever have her mark on this church :-)

How many missionaries does it take to paint a wall?? ;-)

The close-to-finished product...thank you team for a job well-done. You will be prayed for every time we admire the new look. You are an incredible blessing to the congregations of Calvary Chapel San Pedro and San Pedro Christian Fellowship, and we thank God for you.

Welcome Aspen Project Team

Ready to welcome the Aspen Project team from Albuquerque. They arrive this evening and we are so blessed to serve alongside such an amazing group of servants. Looking forward to what the Lord has in store!

 Estamos listos para dar la bienvenida al equipo del Aspen Project de Albuquerque Nuevo Mexico. Llegan esta tarde y estamos muy bendecidos para servir juntos con un grupo increíble de siervos. Mirando hacia adelante a lo que el Señor tiene preparado!

Calvary Chapel San Pedro is moving this weekend. Our new location is:

Across from Muñoz y Nanne
50 mts south from Restaurant Yokohama, and 25 mts west
San Pedro de Montes de Oca, San Jose

Diagonal a Muñoz y Nanne
50 mts Sur del Restaurante Yokohama y 25 mts Oeste
en San Pedro de Montes de Oca, San Jose

Our first service will be Sunday July 1st, along with our friends from San Pedro Christian Fellowship. We are having a bilingual service at 10:00 a.m. Our regular Sunday service will resume on July 8th @ 11:00 a.m. (note the time change). We welcome all our friends and family.

Nuestro primer servicio será el domingo 1 de julio, junto con nuestros amigos de San Pedro Christian Fellowship. Vamos a tener un servicio bilingüe a las 10:00 am. El servicio regular se reanudará el domingo 8 de julio a las 11:00 am (nótese el cambio de hora). Damos la bienvenida a todos nuestros amigos y familiares.

Birthday Wishes To My Wonderful Husband

God has blessed me with a most amazing husband, and I want to shout out from the rooftops how much I love him. How wonderful it is to serve the Lord alongside this man. He is such a testimony of God’s saving grace, and a surrendered life that is TOTALLY committed to the Lord and His plan.

My love, you are such an inspiration, such a source of strength…you shine the light of Jesus, and I am eternally grateful to Our Heavenly Father for redeeming our marriage, and allowing us to serve Him together, as we share this life He has provided for us. On this, your birthday, I pray for a renewed filling of the Holy Spirit upon you, and a sweet time of fellowship with our Savior as you spend time in His Word. I am privileged to be by your side, as we walk this journey together, knowing that you are following His guidance and direction, and leading us according to His will.

I love you Geiner, and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you. God bless you, my sweet love.

LET THE NEW YEAR BEGIN

December 28, 2011 marked our 2nd anniversary in Costa Rica. And as we look back we can’t help but be awestruck in the presences of our amazing, big God. His faithfulness has consistently confirmed His plan for our lives, and we continue to walk by faith, and not by sight….and when we do get caught up in the whole “sight” thing, He is quick to remind us Who is in charge!

2011 brought some growing experiences, and some new adventures. Just a quick review of some things you might already know through an earlier blog post, facebook, or other source, but we thought they were worth mentioning again.

Hosting two teams from Albuquerque, we were able to begin our youth group Ven y Ve (translated "Come and See"). We launched with the help of the Vertical high school team, and an outreach at a roller skating rink. We continue to minister to the high schoolers in the "colegio" located right behind the church, and now that the new school year has started, we plan to start visiting them again, and planning some outreaches especially with them in mind.

In October we hosted a team of folks who were also able to minister with some manual labor in the humble homes of two single ladies in the congregation, and a rehab center for woman…all within the span of four days. (More pictures available in a previous update).

We were so blessed by these visits, and extended the invitation to all of them to return ANY TIME!

2011 also brought some new collaborations in ministry. In November we had the opportunity to work alongside a team from Ride Nature and Calvary Chapel Melbourne Florida, for a skateboard outreach.

We were also blessed with a visit from brothers from Calvary Chapel Lynchburgh VA, and we will continue to stay in touch to see what the Lord has planned.

We took a step of faith and added a bible study in English on Sunday afternoons, covering the same verses as the morning services, which are at 9:00 in Spanish, and 11:00 in English for San Pedro Christian Fellowhship. Our prayer is that the Lord will grow this bible study into a service for the bilingual population who want to learn more English. We also began teaching the Foundations class in English on Wednesday afternoons. Wednesday evenings are set aside for a bilingual prayer time at 5:00, followed by our mid-week Spanish bible study where we are going through the bible verse-be-verse, from Genesis to Revelation. (Still in Genesis, so this might take a while!!)

With these ventures we are moving closer to our desire to have the church active every day…not just Sundays.

Our plan for 2012 involves growing and maturing the flock. Our current need is committed and responsible servants who, with sufficient discipleship, can assume leadership in many of these areas, and can extend the ministry beyond San Pedro. Our first and foremost objective is to reach out and spread the Word…we need to get out and evangelize, and we need the people to do so. We are beginning with Ven y Ve, by teaching the youth how to share the gospel, and the importance of evangelism.

We also want to encourage them to invite their friends. Two weeks ago we brought them together for a mini-retreat, where they had a chance to spend some time in the Word, along with swimming, playing soccer, and enjoying a cook-out.

We were so blessed to have 5 new young ones join us, who were invited by one of our Ven y Ve "regulars", Maria Jose, with an invitation to join us weekly on Saturdays.

We will also be encouraging them to get the word out to their friends about another skate outreach, since school resumes this month, where they can share with them the importance of Christ in their lives, and the need for everyone to know Him and His saving power. Prayers would be appreciated for these young ones…for boldness to communicate this to their friends, and take it beyond the walls of their school, and to live it in such a way that their friends will know that they are different, and become curious about why.

We have other plans for 2012 in line…but the Lord has shown us thus far that His timing is perfect, and if we faithfully work on the things that He has prioritized for us, the rest will fall into place. So 2012 brings nothing short of continuing to labor in such a way that pleases Him most. We look forward to what is in store, and to sharing with you the wonders of His mercy and grace upon this little church in Costa Rica. May His will be done in our lives and yours.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” Jude 1:24-25 ...and Amen!