Back in Action!

Beloved of God and ours,

In the past several weeks we have not had an opportunity to update our blog…Sorry.

For those who don’t know, Denise’s father was rushed to the hospital on February 25th and we left Costa Rica immediately to be there with family. He could not breathe because his lungs were filled with fluid and his kidneys failed. He was on a ventilator and we honestly thought that we might not make it there in time. By God’s grace and prayers from many of you around the world, he is improving. He was in the hospital for almost a month, and as of this Tuesday has been moved to rehabilitation to regain his strength. Please continue to pray for him and mom, as they face some adjustments that will need to be made upon his release from the rehab center.

With dad improving we felt comfortable returning to our God-given ministry, and we arrived back in Costa Rica last Tuesday at midday. We hit the ground running, and proceeded to go home, clean up, and returned to the airport that same evening to pick up Julie, our dear friend from our care team in Albuquerque, who arrived at 7:20P.M. Julie came on her own personal mission trip and her timing could not have been better...she was such a big help. She will be sharing some thoughts in a blog post soon.


The following day, Wednesday, we went to the church and began planning for an outreach to a neighborhood called Los Guizaros de Patarra, which is about 35 minutes from the church. By 9:00 A.M.Saturday morning ten of us were at the church ready, praying, and waiting for a van that would transport us. We had originally set aside about 3 weeks to plan this event, but because of circumstances we only had 3 days…and more room for the Lord to work His wonders.

We visited the children of this neighborhood…we played with them, served them a lunch of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and showed them a movie about Samson.

...and they even washed their own plates!

Then, about 12:30 we asked them to return to their homes and invite the adults back at 2:00 for coffee, pastry, and a movie. In the meantime, some of us visited the neighborhood inviting others to come.

(This grandmom is raising this young man after his parents abandoned him...he asked for this bible so that he could read to her, since she cannot read...and you should hear him recite scripture!)

The afternoon turn-out was not as good as the morning, but the Lord was glorified…in fact He blessed our socks off, Pura Vida! We got to meet Luis, Jose, Elian, and many more! Faces were painted, people were blessed, we were blessed, and we shared our hope in Christ and began new relationships.





Two boys gave their lives to Christ. But sometimes I wonder, “did they?” so I asked them a question to see if they understood what they were doing…and you know, they did! They both gave me answers that you just have to say “yes, they know what they are doing!” Now do you? Please pause for a moment today and ask yourself this question. There is a reason for Ephesians 6:17a, and why Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, advises us about the helmet of salvation.

Lord bless you. Please continue praying for us and for the people of Costa Rica. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Two Languages…Two Cultures…One Church!

Back in November we posted with some pictures of our first bilingual service. The intent was to give the Spanish and English-speaking groups an opportunity to come together for fellowship and breaking of bread (lunch). It was a huge success and the congregation has been asking for more services like that.

Our usual Sunday schedule has service in Spanish at 9:00 a.m. followed by a short time of refreshments and fellowship, followed by the service in English at 11:00. The short time of refreshments in-between services is an encouragement for the two groups to spend some time in fellowship.

With growth comes change, and thus a name-change has been proposed for the church to reflect the two groups. Calvary Chapel Pura Vida and San Pedro Christian Fellowship will be known as Calvary Chapel Comunidad Cristiana San Pedro when the time comes. The proposed sign incorporates both languages and both churches.

The logo is based on Acts 2:42:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
As we move to develop unity we are planning outreaches that will involve the entire congregation, and our most recent will be coming up in March…stay tuned.

New Year, New Experiences

These past two weeks of the new year have started off with some amazing plans. But in the midst of it all, the Lord also presented us with a new experience. Our first funeral service took place last Tuesday. One of ladies that attends our Spanish service asked Geiner if he could perform the funeral for her nephew, and of course he obliged.

Baby Ian was stillborn, so needless to say it was an incredibly sad situation. Please keep Priscilla and her family in prayer…for the Lord’s peace and comfort to overwhelm her, as she deals with this terrible loss. And please also pray that in some way the Lord will use this to mend this family. During the service Geiner was able to present the gospel, and there are believing members of the family to come alongside Priscilla during this emotional time. Please pray that the gospel presentation fell on fertile soil, and that the Lord will be glorified in the midst of this tragedy.

"There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season.
There is a time to be born and a time to die.
There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants.
There is a time to kill and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy and a time to build." Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 (NCV)

Reflections of 2010

On December 28th we celebrated our 1 year anniversary here in Costa Rica…and today we celebrate the start of a new year. The cliché “time flies when you are having fun” couldn’t be more appropriate for what we are feeling these days. We brought in the New Year with prayers of praise and thanksgiving, and for guidance and direction for this ministry. We also began our plan to read the bible through chronologically together. What an amazing way to start a new year! We are so grateful to our heavenly Father for allowing us to be a part of His work here in Costa Rica, and for continuing to bless and provide for His plan.

In the coming year we have decided as a couple, and as a church to read the bible through chronologically. We invite you to do so with us. We just think it is a neat way to be connected spiritually, even if we are not so close physically. Here is a link with the plan, if you so choose to follow along:

http://www.bibleplan.org/ch/nkjv

Looking back on this last year here, we want to give glory to our precious Lord by reflecting back briefly on what He has done here. Let’s take a quick look:

January
• Settled in with all the details of relocation…phones, internet, licenses, and car registration.
• Began Foundations class in La Aurora.

February
• Continued details of getting established
• Boxes arrived!!! Unpacking process
• Continued Foundations in La Aurora

March
• Began bible study in Perez Zeledon (Geiner’s home town, about 3 hrs away) every two weeks
• Continued Foundations
• Evangelizing in park in central Heredia

April
• Continued study in Perez Zeledon every other weekend
• Continued Foundations in La Aurora
• Ezra arrived for two week visit – blessed us with worship for the studies, evangelizing, and fellowship
• Continuing to seek the Lord’s direction

May
• Marriage Retreat with fellow missionaries here in Costa Rica
• Continued study in Perez Zeledon
• Continued Foundations class
• Denise feels first earthquake!

June
• Pitman family arrived for visit for a week – enjoyed our time with them, what a blessing they are to us
• Continued study in Perez Zeledon
• Continued Foundations in La Aurora
• Seeking the Lord’s direction, and why He has us here in Heredia

July
• Foundations ends in La Aurora
• Lord opens door for Calvary Chapel Pura Vida to start services in San Pedro
• San Pedro Christian Fellowship invites Geiner to teach in English service
• Doors close to continue study in Perez Zeledon

August
• Geiner teaches through the book of Haggai in English service
• CCPV (Calvary Chapel Pura Vida) begins Spanish services in SPCF (San Pedro Christian Fellowship) building
• Geiner begins book of Ephesians with both congregations
• Ventures in Faith and Calvary Distinctives offered to SPCF congregation because of interest expressed in becoming part of CCPV

September
• Started weekly meeting with SPCF to investigate possibility of them joining CCPV
• Started counseling appointments at CCPV on Wednesdays
• Started Foundations class at CCPV on Wednesday evenings
• Denise received temporary residency while paperwork is processed
• Heather arrived in Costa Rica for TESOL certification training

October
• Spanish and English services continued through Ephesians
• Foundation classes continue
• Meetings toward merger continue
• Started home study in the neighborhood on Thursdays
• Meetings with different ministries to investigate outreach possibilities for congregation

November
• Meetings toward merger include meeting with attorney
• Spanish and English services continue through Ephesians
• Continued home study in neighborhood
• Continued Foundations class on Wednesdays
• First bilingual service followed by lunch – Spanish and English congregations enjoyed fellowship
• Traditional Thanksgiving dinner with our missionary friends Victor and Nichol, and Brian and Tracy

December
• Meetings continue toward merger
• SPCF congregation approves becoming Calvary Chapel
• CCPV and SPCF decide on new name for combined church (Calvary Chapel Comunidad Cristiana), signifying the combining of two languages and two congregations into one church, under the Calvary banner
• One year anniversary for Geiner and Denise’s arrival in Costa Rica (Dec 28th)
• Sign on church location now reads
“Calvary Chapel Comunidad Cristiana”
• First Children’s Christmas outreach event held

Our prayer for 2011 is that the Lord will refresh you through His Word, as we all draw closer and closer to Him day-by-day. Happy and blessed New Year to all…and we look forward to sharing what the Lord will be doing here in Costa Rica throughout the coming year. God bless you.

Our First Children's Christmas Event

If you read the previous post you would know how quickly the Lord allowed us to put this all together. We would not have been able to do it without the help of our faithful servants...we so appreciate them.

We would like to share some of the photos with you by clicking on this link. It will bring you to the Calvary Chapel Pura Vida Facebook page that has the "album" of photos from the event. You do not need to be a Facebook member to view the pictures, and hope you will enjoy seeing them. The program included a show presented by an "evangelistic" group of clowns. What an interesting way to present the gospel!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35962&id=136273933060341&l=417a952cc8

Our first Christmas service will be Christmas evening at 5:00 P.M. We are so excited about what the new year may hold for CCPV, and look forward to the hand of God working mightily on behalf of Costa Rica.

Let's Get Ready

Here are some of our faithful Foundations class members wrapping presents and preparing for an event we will be holding December 19th. The Lord put this all together for sure.

A couple of weeks ago a young man named Luis from the Spanish congregation came to Geiner and told him he wanted to buy a couple of presents for children who might not have anything for Christmas. Geiner was so encouraged by him, and said that he would be able to find some families who do not have the means to buy presents for their children. It has been such a blessing to watch Luis grow in his walk with the Lord over the past three months. Geiner expected him to buy two or three presents…he showed up with 17!!!

In the meantime, Dora, one of the students in the Foundations class, asked Geiner if we knew of any needy families that could be blessed with some toys for their children. Her son is a member of an organization that provides toys for families in need each year, and Dora thought about us immediately.

So here we are with promises of over 40 toys…we felt the Lord was directing us to have a small Christmas event to bless some children who might not be getting Christmas presents because of economic hardship.
Sunday, December 19th Calvary Chapel Pura Vida will be hosting about 40 children and their parents for a Christmas program, complete with face painting, and goodies. And to top it off, there will be a show presented by two “evangelical” clowns that present the gospel in such a way that it is relevant for children and adults. We can’t wait to see how the Lord will use all of this!

Two Languages…Two Cultures…One Church

On November 14th the Spanish and English congregations came together for a bilingual service, followed by a “pot luck” luncheon. The message was in our continuing series through Ephesians, with Geiner alternating between the two languages.
We had an interesting morning because we arrived at the church and found that there was no power. They were working in the neighborhood, and power would be off until 4:00 p.m., well after our service and luncheon were over.
This presented an interesting set of circumstances…no projector for worship, no MP3 player for music, and only the battery left on the laptop for Geiner to refer to for the message. So we went into “creative” mode, and would not give ground to the enemy. We always back-up the message on our memory stick, so Geiner and a brother from church found a place that has a generator to print out the bulletins and the message. With that taken care of, the music would have to suffice with the piano player and hymnals…however; we only had one hymnal in Spanish. But God…don’t you just love that phrase “But God”…He is so faithful, and Edwin, who leads the hymns for the English service, just happened to be familiar with a Spanish hymn that everyone would know, and also a song, which he was able to play on the piano, that everyone knew as well. So worship was covered.
Now we just needed a plan to cook the hot dogs….yes hot dogs! We had decided that hot dogs would be the easiest since we could boil a big pot, and have the congregants bring chips, salads, drinks, and desserts. But having an electric range/oven at the church did not help the cooking process! So other members sprung into action, and the restaurant two doors down from the church operates with gas, and was glad to boil the pots of hot dogs for us. So needless to say…the Lord was glorified in the praises and fellowship of His people.
We would like to share some pictures from that day, as we praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His never-ending care for His church.

READY FOR WORSHIP

EDWIN LEADING A HYMN

REMEMBERING A SONG AT THE PIANO

THE CONGREGATION FOLLOWS ALONG

GEINER SHARING THE MESSAGE

READY TO EAT

SERVING EACH OTHER

BREAKING BREAD TOGETHER

SWEET FELLOWSHIP

FYI…the laptop battery did run out mid-service, but Geiner was able to refer to his paper notes, and not skip a beat!

Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord...And sing praises to Your name. Psalm 18:49