When Jesus saw the people coming to Him for healing, he felt compassion for them because "they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd". After this, the Lord said that "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few". Then He asked His disciples to "beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His field". The church in Jerusalem did this and "they began to speak the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). The church in Antioch did it too (Acts 13), and the Lord actually sent workers into His field.
Today many people are still coming to the Lord for healing, and they are still "dispirited and distressed, like sheep without shepherd" because their marriages are failing, their homes are breaking, their children are going the wrong way, and many feel lonely and unloved. People truly need the Shepherd Jesus.
We at Heredia understand this, and we have beseeched the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field. We are beginning to see His answer to our prayer. Some of us are truly experiencing His healing touch in our marriages, families and personal lives. Jesus has truly become our Shepherd. In the process we have learned to feel compassion and have gotten excited to the point of wanting to learn how to help others receive the same healing. Some of the people we are working with are already expressing their concern for others and want to become the Lord's workers to help others in their personal growth.
Now, how do you help them become the Lord's workers? The answer is in many places in the Bible, but we focus in Ephesians 4.11-16. Church leaders are to equip "the saints for the work of service, until we all attain the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." The tricky part is this equipping. How do you actually equip the saints? Do you sit them in classrooms and hammer the principles into them? Well, classroom teaching is necessary but it doesn't seem to be enough. According to verses 15 and 16, it is accomplished by "the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies." The "proper working of each individual part" is essential.
We have tried to put these principles from Ephesians 4 into practice. When you and another Christian get together to pray for one another on a regular basis, it really "causes the growth of the body." It takes personal involvement of those who are more mature in the lives of those who are in the process. It takes being "devoted to one another in brotherly love" (Romans 12.10). Growth occurs when members are encouraged by the transformation they see in each other's lives. This transformation is a testimony of God's power.
The results are not really visible at the beginning. We hope that there will be more visible growth in the months to come. Thanks to all of you at Bammel for being so supportive of our work in Costa Rica.
November 2011
It has been very encouraging to see people respond to God´s love. I have been working with men during the last two years, and the Lord has been very gracious to bless us with significant results. There are men who I met before they were baptized. They were hurting a lot because of the wrong path they had chosen regarding relationships, and the pain they had caused others. But then, a few months of sharing God´s Word with them, and sticking to them with a sincere friendship in private and group sessions were God's ways to help them find healing and wholeness. It is really encouraging to see them today full of joy and hope, and being able to lead others in prayer and presenting God's message with humility and the conviction that it can help others just as much as it is helping them. I have been able to devote time to this endeavors because of the support that I receive from you at Bammel. May the Lord continue to bless you and prosper you.
My part time position at Universidad Nacional has allowed me to keep ties with professors and students with whom I share these thoughts, and very soon they are asking questions about who we are, what we believe in, etc. Most of my colleagues seem to lead very satisfying lives, but there have been occasions in which a professor or a student who is hurting because of divorce or loneliness, has accepted my counseling and praying with them in a private session, in a classroom.
Universidad Nacional is headquartered in Heredia, and it has Campuses in other provinces of Costa Rica. There are students from all over the country. We need to penetrate the Heredia Campus to be able to attract students who will eventually go back to their provinces with God's Word in their hearts. This is a plan that can be easily be implemented next school cycle beginning at the end of January 2012. Please pray for us to receive more strength from the Lord to do this deserving work. The fields are truly ripe for harvest, but the workers are few.
My part time position at Universidad Nacional has allowed me to keep ties with professors and students with whom I share these thoughts, and very soon they are asking questions about who we are, what we believe in, etc. Most of my colleagues seem to lead very satisfying lives, but there have been occasions in which a professor or a student who is hurting because of divorce or loneliness, has accepted my counseling and praying with them in a private session, in a classroom.
Universidad Nacional is headquartered in Heredia, and it has Campuses in other provinces of Costa Rica. There are students from all over the country. We need to penetrate the Heredia Campus to be able to attract students who will eventually go back to their provinces with God's Word in their hearts. This is a plan that can be easily be implemented next school cycle beginning at the end of January 2012. Please pray for us to receive more strength from the Lord to do this deserving work. The fields are truly ripe for harvest, but the workers are few.
October 2011
This month was significant in many ways.
First, on October 17, because of an act of God (see below), we had to move to San Rafael, a town just 5 minutes North of Heredia. This may mean that our plan to start new works around Heredia has received a blessing from the Lord. He is for it. San Rafael is one of the towns around Heredia where there is no New Testament church. There is the Catholic church of course, and a large protestant congregation. As soon as we have men who are able to preach and take my place in Heredia, we will be able to start having Sunday morning services in San Rafael. There are three families who are members in Heredia who could become members here.
Second, Insurance companies call "acts of God" those events that are caused by the effect of nature or natural causes. Well, it rained in Central America for almost two weeks in a row, during the first and second week of the month. So, the creek that used to run about 60 yards away from the back of our home, and 50 feet below, got too strong and the waters washed up the left bank and the foundations of 7 out of 9 homes were damaged beyond repair. Our home was one of those damaged, and we were ordered to evacuate. On October 17th we had to look for a home to rent somewhere else. Thankfully no one was injured. However, it was very sad to see ourselves having to move out of a home we had occupied for almost 20 years. Tears were shed. Thankfully the church in Heredia helped with the moving. The Bammel church helped us with the first three months of rent. We are truly thankful for this support, and praise God for you.
One girl was baptized. She was evangelized previously by the church in Barva. She is part of a family that had placed membership in Heredia. This family is from San Rafael so she may become a member of the future church in San Rafael in the future.
I continue to work with people on a personal basis. I continue to focus on the men. It is truly a blessing to be able to help others grow spiritually to the point of being able to have a personal relationship with the Lord. We also need them to grow to the point of being able to help others do the same. In a typical encounter we get together for coffee. The conversation flows naturally to the needs we may be experiencing. After listening to each other, we turn to the Bible for answers from the Lord. Then we look for a place where we can pray for one another.
In the Support Group for Men, we are focusing on praying for the things God wants us to pray for. We look at Paul's requests for prayers, the Lord's prayer, the experience of the Lord in Gethsemane, the prayers for those in authority, etc. Then we organize the prayers so that they reflect what is taught in these passages. The group has become meaningful and instrumental for the growth of those who attend. We wonder where we would be spiritually if it wasn't for this activity the Lord recommends in His Word.
The Pan-american Lectures where held in Costa Rica this year. There were more than 100 Christians from the States. I was asked to preach for the Sunday morning service, where Heredia and two other Costa Rican churches met with these North Americans. I am sure there were more than 200 people attending. More information later.
First, on October 17, because of an act of God (see below), we had to move to San Rafael, a town just 5 minutes North of Heredia. This may mean that our plan to start new works around Heredia has received a blessing from the Lord. He is for it. San Rafael is one of the towns around Heredia where there is no New Testament church. There is the Catholic church of course, and a large protestant congregation. As soon as we have men who are able to preach and take my place in Heredia, we will be able to start having Sunday morning services in San Rafael. There are three families who are members in Heredia who could become members here.
Second, Insurance companies call "acts of God" those events that are caused by the effect of nature or natural causes. Well, it rained in Central America for almost two weeks in a row, during the first and second week of the month. So, the creek that used to run about 60 yards away from the back of our home, and 50 feet below, got too strong and the waters washed up the left bank and the foundations of 7 out of 9 homes were damaged beyond repair. Our home was one of those damaged, and we were ordered to evacuate. On October 17th we had to look for a home to rent somewhere else. Thankfully no one was injured. However, it was very sad to see ourselves having to move out of a home we had occupied for almost 20 years. Tears were shed. Thankfully the church in Heredia helped with the moving. The Bammel church helped us with the first three months of rent. We are truly thankful for this support, and praise God for you.
One girl was baptized. She was evangelized previously by the church in Barva. She is part of a family that had placed membership in Heredia. This family is from San Rafael so she may become a member of the future church in San Rafael in the future.
I continue to work with people on a personal basis. I continue to focus on the men. It is truly a blessing to be able to help others grow spiritually to the point of being able to have a personal relationship with the Lord. We also need them to grow to the point of being able to help others do the same. In a typical encounter we get together for coffee. The conversation flows naturally to the needs we may be experiencing. After listening to each other, we turn to the Bible for answers from the Lord. Then we look for a place where we can pray for one another.
In the Support Group for Men, we are focusing on praying for the things God wants us to pray for. We look at Paul's requests for prayers, the Lord's prayer, the experience of the Lord in Gethsemane, the prayers for those in authority, etc. Then we organize the prayers so that they reflect what is taught in these passages. The group has become meaningful and instrumental for the growth of those who attend. We wonder where we would be spiritually if it wasn't for this activity the Lord recommends in His Word.
The Pan-american Lectures where held in Costa Rica this year. There were more than 100 Christians from the States. I was asked to preach for the Sunday morning service, where Heredia and two other Costa Rican churches met with these North Americans. I am sure there were more than 200 people attending. More information later.
September 2011
It was a fruitful month. A single adult was baptized. I continue to teach him through personal Bible studies on Thursday mornings. He and his mother run a seafood restaurant in nearby town Santa Barbara. He just graduated from Universidad Nacional. Silvia Ulate, Roberto's daughter from a previous marriage, has returned to the fellowship. She asked for Bible studies to learn how to help other people find the Lord. So, we already had our first session, at my mother's home, where she lives. Roberto rejoices in the Lord, because we have been praying for Silvia to return since two years ago. And now she is back with us! Silvia has English as her second language, and has a lot of training in customer service. So she is never without a job, because there is always a call center wanting her.
Norberto and I continue to reach out to his friends. The Support Group for men continues to meet every Thursday at 8 pm. The two Breneses and the two Ulates, plus Norberto, Alvaro, Daniel, and Guillermo continue to encourage one another through prayer and fellowship. The Lord has truly blessed us with the growth promised in Ephesians 4.16. All of us are going through trials and tribulations. We have learned to appreciate the Lord's "I will be with you's" in those moments when we most hurt. We understand that God is to be praised, He wants to boast about us being faithful even when things aren't going well. We have been blessed for the praise of His glory. The men I am working with are hanging in there. They keep being faithful and excited about the Lord, in spite of experiencing, like Paul, a thorn in the flesh.
Norberto and I continue to reach out to his friends. The Support Group for men continues to meet every Thursday at 8 pm. The two Breneses and the two Ulates, plus Norberto, Alvaro, Daniel, and Guillermo continue to encourage one another through prayer and fellowship. The Lord has truly blessed us with the growth promised in Ephesians 4.16. All of us are going through trials and tribulations. We have learned to appreciate the Lord's "I will be with you's" in those moments when we most hurt. We understand that God is to be praised, He wants to boast about us being faithful even when things aren't going well. We have been blessed for the praise of His glory. The men I am working with are hanging in there. They keep being faithful and excited about the Lord, in spite of experiencing, like Paul, a thorn in the flesh.
August, 2011
The following link will take you to a video of the men who lead singing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyUMoBGWUh0
Norberto Ross, born in Cuba, and now a Costa Rican citizen, is a musician by profession. He teaches music at a local school. He is meeting with those men who are interested in song leading and is teaching them new songs. They in turn teach the new songs to the church.
Most of the men who were elected as leaders five years ago had gotten too busy with work and ended up not being able to attend business meetings. So, a new group was elected that includes those who can attend: Roberto Ulate, Norberto Ross, Daniel Delgado, Kenneth Matarrita, Daniel Montero, and me. Ignacio Soto, the Brenes brothers and Andrés continue to be involved in helping in their respective areas, which don't involve attending business meetings. The new group made a commitment before the church that they will be fulfilling their responsibilities as leaders. Namely, they will be helping with organizing the different areas of work.
Freddy Ramírez, the husband of one of the ladies, was baptized! Freddy had been a visitor for four years. Bob and Geoff were present when he married Jessica Soto in January, 2010. Well, he has finally made the decision. Freddy and Jessica just celebrated the arrival of their second child. Sebastian was born on August 22. We rejoiced recently with Freddy's entire family as the newborn was presented to the church.
We have been reaching out to quite a few people and putting long hours into counseling and personal Bible studies. The results are difficult to see. We keep focused on glorifying God so that we don't get tired. In other words, we do the work because God deserves it; not because we expect results to be motivated. Norberto has been a tireless worker with me. He is so excited about the Lord and the healing he has received, that he can't help but reach out to relatives and co-workers. I have spent a few hours helping him minister to his brother and his brother's spouse. One of his co-workers is attending the Men's Support Group and we have spent time with him too.
On a more reflective note… we have been using what I call a relational approach to the work. People receive influence through relationships. The Word is shared with people who listen to you because they see a transformation in your life. Authentic transformation occurs as a result of a personal relationship with God. The importance of personal relationships cannot be overemphasized, as the Scriptures reveal all too clearly the need for each member to be vitally connected to the body. The connection is organic not organizational.
This is why I devote so many hours to personal work and to developing a personal friendship with some of the men. And the effort has paid off. A few have been influenced who are in turn influencing others. There is no formula; there will never be one. I have heard of movements who thought that they discovered the right formula, and tried to franchise it. This resulted in a lot of growth initially. However, a lot of control had to be exerted to make sure that the right formula was being applied and the whole thing collapsed.
I am aware that the organizational aspect of the work needs to be improved, though. There is a need for more efforts in this area. There is a need for the church to reach out to those who are not covered by the "relational umbrella." This is why an "organizational umbrella" will be implemented in the near future, so that those members who are not regular in their attendance will be reached out to and encouraged. The good thing is that the "relational umbrella" created the conditions, namely, willing workers, who are already prepared and motivated to organize themselves to do this work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyUMoBGWUh0
Norberto Ross, born in Cuba, and now a Costa Rican citizen, is a musician by profession. He teaches music at a local school. He is meeting with those men who are interested in song leading and is teaching them new songs. They in turn teach the new songs to the church.
Most of the men who were elected as leaders five years ago had gotten too busy with work and ended up not being able to attend business meetings. So, a new group was elected that includes those who can attend: Roberto Ulate, Norberto Ross, Daniel Delgado, Kenneth Matarrita, Daniel Montero, and me. Ignacio Soto, the Brenes brothers and Andrés continue to be involved in helping in their respective areas, which don't involve attending business meetings. The new group made a commitment before the church that they will be fulfilling their responsibilities as leaders. Namely, they will be helping with organizing the different areas of work.
Freddy Ramírez, the husband of one of the ladies, was baptized! Freddy had been a visitor for four years. Bob and Geoff were present when he married Jessica Soto in January, 2010. Well, he has finally made the decision. Freddy and Jessica just celebrated the arrival of their second child. Sebastian was born on August 22. We rejoiced recently with Freddy's entire family as the newborn was presented to the church.
We have been reaching out to quite a few people and putting long hours into counseling and personal Bible studies. The results are difficult to see. We keep focused on glorifying God so that we don't get tired. In other words, we do the work because God deserves it; not because we expect results to be motivated. Norberto has been a tireless worker with me. He is so excited about the Lord and the healing he has received, that he can't help but reach out to relatives and co-workers. I have spent a few hours helping him minister to his brother and his brother's spouse. One of his co-workers is attending the Men's Support Group and we have spent time with him too.
On a more reflective note… we have been using what I call a relational approach to the work. People receive influence through relationships. The Word is shared with people who listen to you because they see a transformation in your life. Authentic transformation occurs as a result of a personal relationship with God. The importance of personal relationships cannot be overemphasized, as the Scriptures reveal all too clearly the need for each member to be vitally connected to the body. The connection is organic not organizational.
This is why I devote so many hours to personal work and to developing a personal friendship with some of the men. And the effort has paid off. A few have been influenced who are in turn influencing others. There is no formula; there will never be one. I have heard of movements who thought that they discovered the right formula, and tried to franchise it. This resulted in a lot of growth initially. However, a lot of control had to be exerted to make sure that the right formula was being applied and the whole thing collapsed.
I am aware that the organizational aspect of the work needs to be improved, though. There is a need for more efforts in this area. There is a need for the church to reach out to those who are not covered by the "relational umbrella." This is why an "organizational umbrella" will be implemented in the near future, so that those members who are not regular in their attendance will be reached out to and encouraged. The good thing is that the "relational umbrella" created the conditions, namely, willing workers, who are already prepared and motivated to organize themselves to do this work.
July 2011
The church in Heredia continues to fulfill its God given purpose.
See assembly figures for July at: http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
There is a school break during the first and second week of July. Many people were gone out of town on the second Sunday of July. This explains the low attendance on that Sunday.
The work is difficult. It involves helping others in their healing process. Still others are not yet aware of their need to heal. Many who allow us to draw closer to them, are truly growing, and helping others do the same. The teaching and the preaching are focussed on learning to see God as a Father who is truly present in the good and in the bad times. A lot of effort is devoted to the development of a personal relationship with God, so that all of us may feel truly loved by Him. Those members who learn to see the Lord as the only source of true and perfect love, are the ones who grow spiritually and become effective in their influence of others. They keep me busy with contacts. The transition from influencing a member and then influencing others through him or her has been successfully implemented. This work doesn't provide dramatic numeric growth, but it provides the foundations for leadership and future church planting.
A group from the Cedar Hill Church, Texas, was here for ten days. They were led by former missionary Ron McClung, and one of the elders, Rob Frankee. Their presence generated quite a flow of visitors to the church building. Anticipating this, the local leaders had planned a series of gospel meetings to be held during four nights. I preached two of the nights and Ron preached the other two. There were attendances of 80 and 100 people. 10 members came forward asking for prayers to be restored, and two teenagers were baptized.
The ones baptized were Adonis, son of Roberto and Noris Ulate, and Brenda, daughter of Alexis and Frida Mora. They are 17. Since they have been in the list of teenagers, their baptisms can not be interpreted as an addition of members.
See assembly figures for July at: http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
There is a school break during the first and second week of July. Many people were gone out of town on the second Sunday of July. This explains the low attendance on that Sunday.
The work is difficult. It involves helping others in their healing process. Still others are not yet aware of their need to heal. Many who allow us to draw closer to them, are truly growing, and helping others do the same. The teaching and the preaching are focussed on learning to see God as a Father who is truly present in the good and in the bad times. A lot of effort is devoted to the development of a personal relationship with God, so that all of us may feel truly loved by Him. Those members who learn to see the Lord as the only source of true and perfect love, are the ones who grow spiritually and become effective in their influence of others. They keep me busy with contacts. The transition from influencing a member and then influencing others through him or her has been successfully implemented. This work doesn't provide dramatic numeric growth, but it provides the foundations for leadership and future church planting.
A group from the Cedar Hill Church, Texas, was here for ten days. They were led by former missionary Ron McClung, and one of the elders, Rob Frankee. Their presence generated quite a flow of visitors to the church building. Anticipating this, the local leaders had planned a series of gospel meetings to be held during four nights. I preached two of the nights and Ron preached the other two. There were attendances of 80 and 100 people. 10 members came forward asking for prayers to be restored, and two teenagers were baptized.
The ones baptized were Adonis, son of Roberto and Noris Ulate, and Brenda, daughter of Alexis and Frida Mora. They are 17. Since they have been in the list of teenagers, their baptisms can not be interpreted as an addition of members.
May and June 2011
As usual, see assembly figures at:
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
Sorry for the lack of data in some of the weeks.
Enlargement and remodeling of the auditorium were completed. The church has enough room for Sunday morning services. It really makes a difference in comfort. Two new Sunday School classrooms were set up and finished in the area where the resident family used to live (This family moved back to Nicaragua). I will be posting pictures of the auditorium very soon.
Here I am sharing a picture of Rebeca Ulate in the Babies Sunday School room.
Responsibilities are being fulfilled by the different people in charge —Roberto Ulate coordinates the worship services, Norberto Ross coordinates the song leaders, Daniel Delgado is the treasurer, Luis Montero is in charge of facilities, Andrés Delgado leads the Youth Group, Damaris García leads the Ladies on Thursday morning, Roxana Ulate is the Sunday School director. I am still in charge of coordinating the preaching, and the Support Group for Men. Andrés Hernández is now the chairman of the Business Meetings (technically I am now under their direction).
Now, I am sharing a cute picture of Jéssica and Fátima, when they where showered by the ladies. In the picture they are pointing at the name of the baby they are expecting. Those are boy's names. Hopefully no surprise with them being girls.
By the way, Fátima's husband is Ismael Álvarez, a 34 year old Nicaraguan immigrant. He has developed to become someone who can do the preaching on Sunday morning. God has blessed him with public speaking talents. He is also very faithful and attends all activities. He is part of the group of men the church can count on for leadership and teaching.
God has used the Support Group for Men to provide us with men that we can count on. There are 6 men who have become loyal to the group. They are truly growing spiritually, and they are learning to help other men. When they go to other men, to try to restore them, they have the Scriptures and a powerful testimony of their own, about how much the Lord has turned them around.
We have learned to appreciate the fact that many men are hurting because they are losing or have lost their families. The reason for this loss is common —somewhere they lost their leadership or never developed leadership as a result of not having been faithful to the Lord. Somehow, they hadn't learned to see God as the Father He truly is. If one is not convinced deep in his heart that he is truly a child of God, he needs to find ways to keep his self-esteem high. Usually these ways of keeping his self-esteem high end up hurting others, especially his wife and children, by neglecting them and not learning to love them in a way that meet their needs, or by becoming abusive and difficult to bear with. The wife and the children get tired of such a husband or father, and then he doesn't know what to do to recover their love and respect. This reaction from the family usually worsen his behaviour and attitudes, and then they are bound to become a broken home. In some of the cases we have worked with, the man is already starting a new home with another woman with children, and the pattern is about to be repeated. This is where the Lord is using us to be His instruments to bring hope and healing to men who then can be used to help other men. The Lord has led us to experience the blessings of growing in our sonship, and appreciating His Fatherhood. This is what the Gospel is supposed to produce. This is what salvation is supposed to be. We usually tell men that the Lord wants to save us from ourselves.
What about the women? Well, most of the women in the Thursday morning group have lost their husbands or live with husbands who are not members of the church. So they help one another with prayer and Bible study to be able to cope with their circumstances. They have been doing this longer than the men, so they are ahead of us in their growth and have healed from their wounds. Little by little they have brought other women around. Eunice, Griselda, and Lucy are names I can remember.
May the Lord continue to help us with this ministry. The people at Bammel who are supporting this work can rest assured that the Lord is using them to bring blessings to the lives of many people in Costa Rica.
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
Sorry for the lack of data in some of the weeks.
Enlargement and remodeling of the auditorium were completed. The church has enough room for Sunday morning services. It really makes a difference in comfort. Two new Sunday School classrooms were set up and finished in the area where the resident family used to live (This family moved back to Nicaragua). I will be posting pictures of the auditorium very soon.
 |
| Rebeca Ulate in the Babies Class |
Responsibilities are being fulfilled by the different people in charge —Roberto Ulate coordinates the worship services, Norberto Ross coordinates the song leaders, Daniel Delgado is the treasurer, Luis Montero is in charge of facilities, Andrés Delgado leads the Youth Group, Damaris García leads the Ladies on Thursday morning, Roxana Ulate is the Sunday School director. I am still in charge of coordinating the preaching, and the Support Group for Men. Andrés Hernández is now the chairman of the Business Meetings (technically I am now under their direction).
 |
| Jéssica and Fátima |
By the way, Fátima's husband is Ismael Álvarez, a 34 year old Nicaraguan immigrant. He has developed to become someone who can do the preaching on Sunday morning. God has blessed him with public speaking talents. He is also very faithful and attends all activities. He is part of the group of men the church can count on for leadership and teaching.
God has used the Support Group for Men to provide us with men that we can count on. There are 6 men who have become loyal to the group. They are truly growing spiritually, and they are learning to help other men. When they go to other men, to try to restore them, they have the Scriptures and a powerful testimony of their own, about how much the Lord has turned them around.
We have learned to appreciate the fact that many men are hurting because they are losing or have lost their families. The reason for this loss is common —somewhere they lost their leadership or never developed leadership as a result of not having been faithful to the Lord. Somehow, they hadn't learned to see God as the Father He truly is. If one is not convinced deep in his heart that he is truly a child of God, he needs to find ways to keep his self-esteem high. Usually these ways of keeping his self-esteem high end up hurting others, especially his wife and children, by neglecting them and not learning to love them in a way that meet their needs, or by becoming abusive and difficult to bear with. The wife and the children get tired of such a husband or father, and then he doesn't know what to do to recover their love and respect. This reaction from the family usually worsen his behaviour and attitudes, and then they are bound to become a broken home. In some of the cases we have worked with, the man is already starting a new home with another woman with children, and the pattern is about to be repeated. This is where the Lord is using us to be His instruments to bring hope and healing to men who then can be used to help other men. The Lord has led us to experience the blessings of growing in our sonship, and appreciating His Fatherhood. This is what the Gospel is supposed to produce. This is what salvation is supposed to be. We usually tell men that the Lord wants to save us from ourselves.
What about the women? Well, most of the women in the Thursday morning group have lost their husbands or live with husbands who are not members of the church. So they help one another with prayer and Bible study to be able to cope with their circumstances. They have been doing this longer than the men, so they are ahead of us in their growth and have healed from their wounds. Little by little they have brought other women around. Eunice, Griselda, and Lucy are names I can remember.
May the Lord continue to help us with this ministry. The people at Bammel who are supporting this work can rest assured that the Lord is using them to bring blessings to the lives of many people in Costa Rica.
March and April 2011
Assembly measures for these months are available at:
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
There is a video on Youtube you might want to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b45VNSpbVDs
Two people were added through baptism —a young lady, and a single mother. They are attending faithfully. Many people continue to visit.
The church is little by little becoming autonomous, in other words, they already carry out activities and make decisions in which I don't have to be involved anymore. Hopefully, there will be a time when they will be able to function as an indigenous church —self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. "Indigenous" means that it has elders, it supports its own preacher, and it is able to plant other churches.
Example of an activity in which I was not involved: Daniel Delgado, Raquel Urquilla, Milady Masís, and Noris Milanés formed a committee to carry out what they called a Romantic Dinner. 24 married couples attended. The youth group helped as waiters. They even dressed as waiters. Luis Montero (the young man wearing a bow tie) not only wore the most complete waiter's attire, he also did a great job at serving. A lesson on marriage was taught by Herman Chandler, the preacher in Cañas, province of Guanacaste. Roxana and I wered invited and were delighted to be there as guests.
Example of a decision in which I was not involved: A wall was torn down in order to enlarge the auditorium. Roofing of that section has been completed, and finishing is underway. We are finally having Sunday morning services where nobody has to sit outside. The atmosphere is cooler (actually not as hot), and there is room for up to 120 people sitting comfortably (actually less uncomfortably). The money spent was little more than one third of what the remodeling committee had originally thought. The budget went down from 8.000 to 3.000 because the Facilities Committee postponed the remodeling of the restrooms, and found another contractor. The 3.000 dollars being spent this time had already been collected in a period of three months. The two children classes, whose rooms were taken for this enlargement of the auditorium, are now meeting in the rooms left by the Nicaraguan family that was living there as guardians of the building (this family just moved back to Nicaragua). Everyone was invited by the Facilities Committee to participate in the tearing down of the wall. So, I was there, one Saturday mornig under the Committee's orders.
Wednesday nights are something these days. Attendance has slowly risen to 50 (The last report was between 30 and 40 in January). The only explanation for this is that people are hungrier for the Word of God. What we have is just a normal Bible class, with participation, of course, from those who want to make comments.
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
There is a video on Youtube you might want to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b45VNSpbVDs
Two people were added through baptism —a young lady, and a single mother. They are attending faithfully. Many people continue to visit.
The church is little by little becoming autonomous, in other words, they already carry out activities and make decisions in which I don't have to be involved anymore. Hopefully, there will be a time when they will be able to function as an indigenous church —self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. "Indigenous" means that it has elders, it supports its own preacher, and it is able to plant other churches.
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| Raquel, Rebeca and waiters |
Example of a decision in which I was not involved: A wall was torn down in order to enlarge the auditorium. Roofing of that section has been completed, and finishing is underway. We are finally having Sunday morning services where nobody has to sit outside. The atmosphere is cooler (actually not as hot), and there is room for up to 120 people sitting comfortably (actually less uncomfortably). The money spent was little more than one third of what the remodeling committee had originally thought. The budget went down from 8.000 to 3.000 because the Facilities Committee postponed the remodeling of the restrooms, and found another contractor. The 3.000 dollars being spent this time had already been collected in a period of three months. The two children classes, whose rooms were taken for this enlargement of the auditorium, are now meeting in the rooms left by the Nicaraguan family that was living there as guardians of the building (this family just moved back to Nicaragua). Everyone was invited by the Facilities Committee to participate in the tearing down of the wall. So, I was there, one Saturday mornig under the Committee's orders.
Wednesday nights are something these days. Attendance has slowly risen to 50 (The last report was between 30 and 40 in January). The only explanation for this is that people are hungrier for the Word of God. What we have is just a normal Bible class, with participation, of course, from those who want to make comments.
February 2011
February was a key month. We tried the two service arrangement. The church was told to choose between two services, one at 9:00, and a second one, at 11:30, with Sunday School in between, from 10:30 to 11:15. Well, we didn't pass the test. The second service ended up being attended by 5 or 10 people. Besides, there was no significant increase in the attendance. The low critical mass factor during the second service scared us, so we decided to go back to the previous arrangement.
The church is still making a special collection for the expansion of the auditorium, and some needed remodeling. This remodeling is enforced by the new law. There is a need for a new bathroom for the handicapped. The treasurer tells me, there is already an amount of 2000 dollars. We need 8,000 dollars, so we have 6,000 dollars to go. God willing, we will reach the goal in two or three months.
I have been devoting many nights to personal Bible Study and counseling with men. During these nights, I have had Roberto Ulate, Norberto Ross, Guillermo Arroyo, and Carlos Brenes assisting me at different times. The Lord blessed us in February with two additions that resulted from this work. The first addition is a 42 year old man who was baptized on the first Sunday of the month. He is Supervisor of small contracts for ICE, our public Telecom and Power company. We have continued to study and counsel with him, for three more weeks after his baptism. A second addition is a physician, whose wife has been a member. He grew up in an evangelical church, was baptized as a young man, so we received him as a convert who has needed restoration, which continues to this date. We have found out that the best time for this work is between 9 and 12 pm. There are no traffic jams, and all of us are off from work.
Roxana has been doing her part, with assistance from Noris Ulate. The wife of one of the men was added to the membership. She is also someone who had been converted as an evangelical. So, we had three additions during the month of February. Damaris Astorga continues to reach out to the ladies on Thursdays, in the morning. Milady Masís continues to lead the prayer meeting on Monday evening. Another woman who has grown a lot is Cecilia. She has been teaching the ladies, along with Damaris.
We are very excited about this growth. We believe it is the result of the relational approach we are using. We evangelize trying to meet people's personal needs. We go to two by two. We try to develop a strong bond of friendship with the one being evangelized. Going two by two means that another member learns from the more mature worker (2 Timothy 2:2). Also, there is moral support given to one another, and the workers end up being encouraged and reinforced in their faith. We emphasize developing a personal relationship with God. This relationship must be real, a true source of love, joy, and peace for the worker. When people see this in our lives, they will want to have it too.
The church is still making a special collection for the expansion of the auditorium, and some needed remodeling. This remodeling is enforced by the new law. There is a need for a new bathroom for the handicapped. The treasurer tells me, there is already an amount of 2000 dollars. We need 8,000 dollars, so we have 6,000 dollars to go. God willing, we will reach the goal in two or three months.
I have been devoting many nights to personal Bible Study and counseling with men. During these nights, I have had Roberto Ulate, Norberto Ross, Guillermo Arroyo, and Carlos Brenes assisting me at different times. The Lord blessed us in February with two additions that resulted from this work. The first addition is a 42 year old man who was baptized on the first Sunday of the month. He is Supervisor of small contracts for ICE, our public Telecom and Power company. We have continued to study and counsel with him, for three more weeks after his baptism. A second addition is a physician, whose wife has been a member. He grew up in an evangelical church, was baptized as a young man, so we received him as a convert who has needed restoration, which continues to this date. We have found out that the best time for this work is between 9 and 12 pm. There are no traffic jams, and all of us are off from work.
Roxana has been doing her part, with assistance from Noris Ulate. The wife of one of the men was added to the membership. She is also someone who had been converted as an evangelical. So, we had three additions during the month of February. Damaris Astorga continues to reach out to the ladies on Thursdays, in the morning. Milady Masís continues to lead the prayer meeting on Monday evening. Another woman who has grown a lot is Cecilia. She has been teaching the ladies, along with Damaris.
We are very excited about this growth. We believe it is the result of the relational approach we are using. We evangelize trying to meet people's personal needs. We go to two by two. We try to develop a strong bond of friendship with the one being evangelized. Going two by two means that another member learns from the more mature worker (2 Timothy 2:2). Also, there is moral support given to one another, and the workers end up being encouraged and reinforced in their faith. We emphasize developing a personal relationship with God. This relationship must be real, a true source of love, joy, and peace for the worker. When people see this in our lives, they will want to have it too.
January 2011
Click on the link below to see the January 2011 figures:
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
Our treasurer is a very busy man. So it is very difficult to get hold of the financial data. I guess I will publish these in combined form at the end of the first quarter of 2011.
After the Christmas break between school cycles, attendance has returned to normal levels. There was one baptism during this month —a 16 year old girl. Her family is also attending as visitors. Ten people placed membership over the last six months—a family of five, a family of three, and two adults. There are also two newborns. We had some losses too –three who moved out of town, and six whom we haven't seen in quite a while.
Crowding continues to be a problem. A fund for expansion is being collected. The idea of having two services on Sunday morning is being considered. There was no more Sunday evening service after the fourth Sunday of this month.
Attendance to Wednesday to Bible Study was between 30 and 40. The Youth Group has had attendance levels between 30 and 45. The ladies have two prayer sessions during the week, one on Monday evening, and another one on Thursday morning. They pray for one another and many answers to these prayers are now visible in the spiritual growth that some of the ladies exhibit.
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
Our treasurer is a very busy man. So it is very difficult to get hold of the financial data. I guess I will publish these in combined form at the end of the first quarter of 2011.
After the Christmas break between school cycles, attendance has returned to normal levels. There was one baptism during this month —a 16 year old girl. Her family is also attending as visitors. Ten people placed membership over the last six months—a family of five, a family of three, and two adults. There are also two newborns. We had some losses too –three who moved out of town, and six whom we haven't seen in quite a while.
Crowding continues to be a problem. A fund for expansion is being collected. The idea of having two services on Sunday morning is being considered. There was no more Sunday evening service after the fourth Sunday of this month.
Attendance to Wednesday to Bible Study was between 30 and 40. The Youth Group has had attendance levels between 30 and 45. The ladies have two prayer sessions during the week, one on Monday evening, and another one on Thursday morning. They pray for one another and many answers to these prayers are now visible in the spiritual growth that some of the ladies exhibit.
December 2010
See December 2010 figures at:
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
There is no school during most of December and January. Many families and individuals spend this time in their hometown of home country. Many Nicaraguans are in their country these days. This explains the low attendance figures in the last two weeks of the month.
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
There is no school during most of December and January. Many families and individuals spend this time in their hometown of home country. Many Nicaraguans are in their country these days. This explains the low attendance figures in the last two weeks of the month.
November 2010
See the November 2010 figures at: http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
Now I quote Psalms 127:1: “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.”
The Lord continues to build the house here in Heredia. The support coming from the Bammel church for this missionary has been helpful. Your involvement with this work allows me to experience the beautiful experience of serving Him through serving others. God’s healing grace is being shared with members and visitors. Many members are learning to grow spiritually. They want to be able to bear the fruit that will convince others of their authenticity and will also draw them to Christ.
The changes I have observed in the lives of some members here has motivated them to serve as leaders of the church. I am not alone in this work. They are truly sharing my vision of a self-sufficient church. The Facilities Committee presented a budget and a decision was made about enlarging the auditorium so that more people can be accommodated. There is a possibility of making it big enough for 130 people sitting comfortably. This will cost us $8,000. The monthly contribution will have to be doubled to be able to reach this goal in the next four months. Remodeling will begin as soon as half the amount has been raised. God willing, it will start in two months.
Why not make it big enough for 200, or 300? Well, they need to go one step at a time. The present building has some design limitations that obligate them to go from the present capacity of 90 to that of 130.
The idea of having two services to be able to accommodate more people didn’t prove helpful enough for real growth. If you compare assembly figures for November 2010, with those of November 2009, there is no significant difference in growth that could be attributed to the idea of two services. The assembly figures for the PM services continue to be the same, in spite of having room for growth during this service. People seem to prefer to attend the AM service. There is a psychological impact in the morning that cannot be used for an increased attendance, due to space limitations.
The problem of irregular members that need to be restored continues to be an issue. A shepherding effort needs to be implemented. Thankfully, a few men have been meeting with me every Saturday at 5 pm for more than one year. I call this group Support for Men. In Spanish is “Hombres con Problemas” (Men with Problems). These are the ones I see as having potential for becoming elders in a not so far future. Hopefully the Lord is seeing the same. They are praying with me and growing spiritually. Little by little they are becoming aware of the need for shepherd’s work. They are learning to grow spiritually, so that they can help others do the same. They are praying for the members in the list that need to be restored. I still don’t see them doing active visitation. The Lord said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” We are in the praying stage of this process. I trust the Lord that He will be the One doing the sending. Attendance to this group went up to 12 during one of the weekends. The lowest number attending was 6.
Ester is already a Licensed Psychologist. She continues to do course work for a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology. She was asked to teach a group of 200 ladies from the churches around Costa Rica. She spoke about how to deal with depression. After the talk, many ladies were in line to be counseled by her.
October 2010
See the October figures at: http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
The church in Heredia is a healthy congregation. It is a church with a great potential for growth. There are two limiting factors though —the inadequate facilities and the lack of shepherds. The inadequate facilities affect the quality of the services. If the facilities were larger and more comfortable, people would profit a lot more from the worship and the teaching, which in turn would provide numerical growth. The lack of shepherds affect in the sense that many people don’t get the counseling and the encouraging they need to grow spiritually.
The first problem is being addressed by a group of members who are organizing themselves to provide leadership. A decision was made in order to reactivate the Facilities Committee. This Committee did a great job in the past, however, when the pressure for larger facilities was relieved because a temporary solution was found in having two services, the committee ceased acting. The good thing is that the local leadership is doing something about this. Once the committee is back in place, it will present plans for enlarging the auditorium, and improving the conditions of other rooms (the new laws require that we build bathrooms for the handicapped population). Once the budget for this project is known, it will be presented to the church. The financing with a local bank is being considered. The local members themselves are undertaking this task. They understand it is their responsibility to see to it that the church has adequate facilities. In other words, I am not the one doing it for them, which is consistent with my philosophy of missions.
The second problem is of a long-term nature. It takes time to have men and women who are mature enough to feel responsible for the spiritual well being of other members. Most of my teaching and preaching is geared towards this goal. Other members are getting the opportunity to preach and teach. There are four men who can do this. Also, among the women, there are four women who are actively engaged in the teaching of other women. This is the difficult part of mission work. We are talking about the spiritual building. As a missionary, I have to make sure that the people I teach will in turn be able to teach others (2 Timothy 2.2).
Heredia has a brand new public hospital. It is only two blocks away from the church building. The hospital is great. The equipment is modern. I can not say the same about the services. It is difficult to change public corporate culture. The new hospital has changed the landscape around the church building. It has made the church property more expensive. The church could get a better price if they wanted to sell it. The conditions of the streets are great. There is more traffic. Parking space has been reduced to a bare minimum. The property across street continues to look bad though. Thankfully there is a private project underway to develop this property.
Heredia has a brand new public hospital. It is only two blocks away from the church building. The hospital is great. The equipment is modern. I can not say the same about the services. It is difficult to change public corporate culture. The new hospital has changed the landscape around the church building. It has made the church property more expensive. The church could get a better price if they wanted to sell it. The conditions of the streets are great. There is more traffic. Parking space has been reduced to a bare minimum. The property across street continues to look bad though. Thankfully there is a private project underway to develop this property.
We continue to have people who are studying with us. Three husbands of sisters are attending faithfully. Two of them have been doing it for the last two years. One started attending three months ago. This tells a lot about the great witness these sisters are to their husbands.
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| A group of ladies being taught by Damaris García |
September 2010
The assembly measures have been updated up to October 10, 2010. Click on the following link
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
You may notice that attendance has increased significantly. Monthly average went up to 116 for the month of September. We are at full capacity in the AM service. We can not grow anymore due to limitations imposed by the current facilities. The pm service has relieved only a little bit the crowding on Sunday morning.
There were additions to the fellowship during this month. Olga, Guiselle, and Camila, placed membership. They are grandmother, mother, and daughter. Camila is in the children age group. They used to be members in Barva. Esteban, from the church in Guápiles moved to Heredia and placed membership with us too, and found a job at one of the stores of the Hernández-Brenes family. He is in the teenagers group. Also added to the fellowship was Alicia, a young woman from Nicaragua. Her younger brother Bismarck, and her baby were also added to the children list. Jesús, Javier, and Daniela were also added to the children list. They are part of a family from the South that just completed their move to Heredia. So this is a total of ten additions.
The mid-week service continues to attract an average of 25 people.
The most mature members are organizing themselves to tackle the problem of the facilities. They had a meeting in which they decided to create a special account to save money for a project that will include a budget to be presented to the church.
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
You may notice that attendance has increased significantly. Monthly average went up to 116 for the month of September. We are at full capacity in the AM service. We can not grow anymore due to limitations imposed by the current facilities. The pm service has relieved only a little bit the crowding on Sunday morning.
There were additions to the fellowship during this month. Olga, Guiselle, and Camila, placed membership. They are grandmother, mother, and daughter. Camila is in the children age group. They used to be members in Barva. Esteban, from the church in Guápiles moved to Heredia and placed membership with us too, and found a job at one of the stores of the Hernández-Brenes family. He is in the teenagers group. Also added to the fellowship was Alicia, a young woman from Nicaragua. Her younger brother Bismarck, and her baby were also added to the children list. Jesús, Javier, and Daniela were also added to the children list. They are part of a family from the South that just completed their move to Heredia. So this is a total of ten additions.
The mid-week service continues to attract an average of 25 people.
The most mature members are organizing themselves to tackle the problem of the facilities. They had a meeting in which they decided to create a special account to save money for a project that will include a budget to be presented to the church.
June-July-August 2010
If you want to see the raw numbers, please click on the following link:
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
Please put up with the configuration of the tables. It is difficult for me to create tables in HTML language. Also, you may notice the contribution figures are not posted yet. The treasurer hasn't been able to give the file with the figures, because he was in El Salvador for more than two weeks in August. His name is Daniel Delgado. By the way, there are news regarding this dear brother. He had been dating a girl from a church in San Salvador, and he just married her. That was the reason for his trip to El Salvador. Daniel works for a local bank, and goes to college on the weekends.
The last three months have been a period of growth. Some people were added to the fellowship. Two ladies were baptized: Lizeth and Ofelia. This is the result of the work of committed ladies who are evangelizing because it is just natural for them to do so. Two new men have become members. We have studied with them and decided that they were scripturally baptized. They consider it a blessing to have found a New Testament church. They are Claudio and Guillermo. They are also the result of the natural outreach done by committed men. One more lady immigrated from Nicaragua and she is a faithful member. We need to count Raquel, Daniel's new wife from el Salvador. Claudio is a stable family man. He just retired from teaching in the Public School System at 52 years of age. We just hope that his wife and children will follow him, because this could help him become a leader in the church. Guillermo is a retired college professor, very committed and mature spiritually. He reaches out to me personally, and he has a lot of respect for what we are doing.
I have a list of 95 adults, 13 teens, and 27 children, a total of 135 members. To this we must add a steady attendance of at least 15 visitors. However, there are about 25 adult members who are very irregular in their attendance. Actually, some visitors are more committed than these adults. Also, some families struggle to be able to make it to services. This is due to them living a little bit too far and not having a vehicle. So, we don't see them at the services all the time, but they are relatively faithful. Some members have been falling in the habit of not worshipping at the AM service, because they think it is possible to do it at the PM service. However, when it is time for them to start leaving home to be at church at 5 pm, it is raining so heavily that they just miss services altogether (So they tell me).
The NE Bible Study Group merged with the Midweek service in the church building. So, attendance to the Midweek service rose from an average of 13 to an average of 22. The leaders of the NE Group explained that they did not have time to prepare the lessons due to personal situations with work and family.
The Support Group for men continues to attract an average of 6 men. This group includes Roberto, Norberto, and Carlos Brenes. These three men are being built up and they are really maturing spiritually. This is the result of their involvenment in a group where the truth is spoken in love and growth is received from the Head through the joints as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:15, 16).
The Youth Group has an attendance of 18. Roxana and I have had to get involved, because it has been difficult for the young leaders to carry such a responsibility. They are young adults who are working and going to college at the same time. So, we are helping with the teaching, and it has been very rewardint to see some young ones turning around from the world to Jesus.
The Singing Lessons group did not continue to meet. Too much rain in the afternoons discouraged some. For other it was too long to be there from 3 pm for the Youth Group, and then stay two more hours for the singing lessons. Norberto appreciates the relief because it was too heavy on him too. He attends all Bible studies during the week, and is helping with the Youth Group, but he Sunday PM service.
Our oldest daughter, Raquel, got married to her highschool sweetheart, Michael, after 7 years of going steady and having graduated from higschool. Michael happens to be one of our song leaders. The nest in begining to get empty. You may see the pictures in our Facebook wall.
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
Please put up with the configuration of the tables. It is difficult for me to create tables in HTML language. Also, you may notice the contribution figures are not posted yet. The treasurer hasn't been able to give the file with the figures, because he was in El Salvador for more than two weeks in August. His name is Daniel Delgado. By the way, there are news regarding this dear brother. He had been dating a girl from a church in San Salvador, and he just married her. That was the reason for his trip to El Salvador. Daniel works for a local bank, and goes to college on the weekends.
The last three months have been a period of growth. Some people were added to the fellowship. Two ladies were baptized: Lizeth and Ofelia. This is the result of the work of committed ladies who are evangelizing because it is just natural for them to do so. Two new men have become members. We have studied with them and decided that they were scripturally baptized. They consider it a blessing to have found a New Testament church. They are Claudio and Guillermo. They are also the result of the natural outreach done by committed men. One more lady immigrated from Nicaragua and she is a faithful member. We need to count Raquel, Daniel's new wife from el Salvador. Claudio is a stable family man. He just retired from teaching in the Public School System at 52 years of age. We just hope that his wife and children will follow him, because this could help him become a leader in the church. Guillermo is a retired college professor, very committed and mature spiritually. He reaches out to me personally, and he has a lot of respect for what we are doing.
I have a list of 95 adults, 13 teens, and 27 children, a total of 135 members. To this we must add a steady attendance of at least 15 visitors. However, there are about 25 adult members who are very irregular in their attendance. Actually, some visitors are more committed than these adults. Also, some families struggle to be able to make it to services. This is due to them living a little bit too far and not having a vehicle. So, we don't see them at the services all the time, but they are relatively faithful. Some members have been falling in the habit of not worshipping at the AM service, because they think it is possible to do it at the PM service. However, when it is time for them to start leaving home to be at church at 5 pm, it is raining so heavily that they just miss services altogether (So they tell me).
The NE Bible Study Group merged with the Midweek service in the church building. So, attendance to the Midweek service rose from an average of 13 to an average of 22. The leaders of the NE Group explained that they did not have time to prepare the lessons due to personal situations with work and family.
The Support Group for men continues to attract an average of 6 men. This group includes Roberto, Norberto, and Carlos Brenes. These three men are being built up and they are really maturing spiritually. This is the result of their involvenment in a group where the truth is spoken in love and growth is received from the Head through the joints as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:15, 16).
The Youth Group has an attendance of 18. Roxana and I have had to get involved, because it has been difficult for the young leaders to carry such a responsibility. They are young adults who are working and going to college at the same time. So, we are helping with the teaching, and it has been very rewardint to see some young ones turning around from the world to Jesus.
The Singing Lessons group did not continue to meet. Too much rain in the afternoons discouraged some. For other it was too long to be there from 3 pm for the Youth Group, and then stay two more hours for the singing lessons. Norberto appreciates the relief because it was too heavy on him too. He attends all Bible studies during the week, and is helping with the Youth Group, but he Sunday PM service.
Our oldest daughter, Raquel, got married to her highschool sweetheart, Michael, after 7 years of going steady and having graduated from higschool. Michael happens to be one of our song leaders. The nest in begining to get empty. You may see the pictures in our Facebook wall.
Life between the AM and the PM service
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| Norberto Ross taking a break between the AM and PM services |
While pizza was being baked
Miriam Brenes, a member you can count on
Roxana and Ester Ulate in the Sunday School babies room
Roxana helps with organizing the Sunday School teachers. Ester loves babies, she is special with them. The babies are Lindsay, daughter of Fabián and member Vanessa, and Benjamin, son of members Jorge and María Eugenia. They were born within the last 365 days. Other babies born this year are Omar Gabriel and Sergio Andrés. They were already added to the list of members. The babies classroom just got painted and decorated. William Polio painted it, and the girls did the decoration. The Sunday School hour goes from 9 to 9:45 am.
Three meaningful activities
Norberto Ross, our musical director, was moved by the response from the group of singers to his rehearsal instructions. Then, in the Support Group for men (formerly known as "Men with Problems") there were eight of us, sharing about the great things God has done in our lives. A man who had heard about this group, through Roberto Ulate, came to the meeting and was encouraged. He worshipped with us the next day.
April 2010 (Narrative)
The Northeast group didn’t meet during the month of April. They tell me most of the participants had problems attending because of increased load of work. This group, however has one man coming to church every Sunday. Two of the participants are busy studying two teenagers who are children of members.
The Northwest group continues to meet at Roberto’s home. One visitor from my neighborhood continues to attend with me. These days that I don’t have a vehicle, he gives me a ride to that event every Friday at 8:30 pm. He is very gifted and has very mature views of the Bible message. However, he hasn’t considered attending to services yet.
The support group for men continues to meet. During this month we had a great time as we were able to pray for one another to learn to be used by God in ministry. Most of the men who meet are in charge of either teaching or leading in some way or another. The fact that a brother prays for another to be able to lead or teach God’s people is a quite a boost to his confidence in presenting a lesson, as we learn to trust on Him for the results.
We are experiencing a great deal of fellowship, and through this ministry other men are being influenced, and studied with. We now have single men in the group, and a couple of divorcees who are struggling with loneliness. So the group is very important for them, and they appreciate very much the encouragement they receive from others.
The group we call “Singing Lessons” continues to meet with Norberto Ross, our music professor. Norberto says that he studied a capella choral music in college and never used it until he became a Christian. Now he is seeing the purpose God had for him studying this type of music.
The leadership training group that met on Saturdays to study the qualifications of elders is no longer meeting as we were able to finish this study.
The Northwest group continues to meet at Roberto’s home. One visitor from my neighborhood continues to attend with me. These days that I don’t have a vehicle, he gives me a ride to that event every Friday at 8:30 pm. He is very gifted and has very mature views of the Bible message. However, he hasn’t considered attending to services yet.
The support group for men continues to meet. During this month we had a great time as we were able to pray for one another to learn to be used by God in ministry. Most of the men who meet are in charge of either teaching or leading in some way or another. The fact that a brother prays for another to be able to lead or teach God’s people is a quite a boost to his confidence in presenting a lesson, as we learn to trust on Him for the results.
We are experiencing a great deal of fellowship, and through this ministry other men are being influenced, and studied with. We now have single men in the group, and a couple of divorcees who are struggling with loneliness. So the group is very important for them, and they appreciate very much the encouragement they receive from others.
The group we call “Singing Lessons” continues to meet with Norberto Ross, our music professor. Norberto says that he studied a capella choral music in college and never used it until he became a Christian. Now he is seeing the purpose God had for him studying this type of music.
The leadership training group that met on Saturdays to study the qualifications of elders is no longer meeting as we were able to finish this study.
March 2010 (Narrative)
The last Sunday of the month is the beginning of what they call Holy Week. Most activities in Costa Rica come to a halt during that week, especially school. Many people take a week out and go out of town. So, this explains the low attendance of members on the last Sunday.
The high attendance of visitors on the last Sunday of the month is due to the visit paid by the Tejarcillos church as commented on the Miscellaneous section of this report.
Attendance on the first Sunday of the month is quite a record. I was gone to preach somewhere else, though. Those who were present tell me that the brethren who took my place did a great job. Carlos Brenes preached and Roberto Ulate taught Adults Sunday School. Someone even mentioned that I could be left out of the job.
Total expenses went up to $1069,58 during the month of March.
The high attendance of visitors on the last Sunday of the month is due to the visit paid by the Tejarcillos church as commented on the Miscellaneous section of this report.
Attendance on the first Sunday of the month is quite a record. I was gone to preach somewhere else, though. Those who were present tell me that the brethren who took my place did a great job. Carlos Brenes preached and Roberto Ulate taught Adults Sunday School. Someone even mentioned that I could be left out of the job.
Total expenses went up to $1069,58 during the month of March.
March 2010 (Miscellaneous)
As I had mentioned, I was invited to preach at another church on the first Sunday of the month. There 34 attending, including 23 adults and 11 children. The brethren from Tejarcillos invited me to share with them. Tejarcillos happens to have a very high rate of crime. The church there is made up by people who were members at Hatillo. So, a few of them remember me because I was their preacher in Hatillo. Then the members of the Tejarcillo church decided to pay us a visit in Heredia. So, they rented a bus and 40 of them came to the Sunday evening service on March, 28.
February 2010
Visitors include a family of four who are members of the church in Nicaragua. They also include a family of four that is being reached out to, and four men who are coming consistently. A couple from a nearby church is considering placing membership with us.
School resumed during the second week of the month. This usually affects attendance.
Combined contribution (AM + PM) for the month was $1430,99. Expenses went up to $1160,80.
A 14-year-old girl was baptized on February 2nd. She is the result of God’s work through the Northwest Bible Study. She is a young girl who emigrated last year with her mother from Cuba. Her mother is also studying with us. Instrumental in this conversion was my daughter Ester who reached out in a significant way to this girl and helped her feel at home with the rest of the members.
A 47-year-old man was baptized on February 21st. He is also from Cuba, but he has lived in Costa Rica during the last 15 years. This man happens to be a music professor in a Heredia high school. We are looking forward to his contribution to improve our singing. Even before he was baptized we had asked him to teach us music lessons to improve our singing (see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSHmQS0haeM) We continue to do this on Saturday at 5:00 pm, before the Leadership Training session. This baptism is also a result of God’s work through the Northwest Bible Study.
A 50-year-old Costa Rican woman was baptized on February 28th. She is the result of God’s work through the efforts on three ladies led by Damaris García (widow of Freddy Astorga). It is great to see members of the church learning to do evangelistic work.
The three people baptized are now being grounded in the faith by the same people who brought them to the Lord. We continue to reach out to them so that their needs continue to be met.
The group “Men with Problems” continues to meet every week. There was an average of 6 men present. We created a support net by means of our cell phones. We keep in touch during the week to ask for prayer during times of need. Prayers are answered as we see the Lord’s peace that transcends all understanding guarding our hearts and thoughts in such times, when otherwise we might have lost our sobriety. Now we are working on ways to implement the following teaching:
“… speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4.15, 16)
We are learning to work as individual parts that are joined and held together. The goal for this growth is stated in verse 13 as “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” So, when we get together we speak the truth in love, and truly help one another towards that goal. Only people who truly attain "the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" or are truly making progress towards that goal, can actually inspire others to want to listen to the gospel and become members of His church.
During the days of Walter’s departure, Michael Montalvo, Bammel’s Connecting minister, has been here, and it was exciting to find out that we are essentially doing the same things as ministers (we are essentially obeying the same Master). It was great to get to share a little bit about the work and how we felt.
We also had the visit of David Jones, the youngest of Walter's sons. His participation in the funeral services was moving, everybody was touched by his remarks regarding how much Walter had influenced him to give him direction in his life. David made a significant contribution to this work out of his appreciation for this ministry in which Walter was involved so highly. He also helped Myrna get her vehicle situation solved and took care of her online banking.
January 2010
I. Assembly Measures
Total attendance to the Sunday PM service is actually higher because we count only those who didn’t come in the morning.
Due to recent additions of Christians moving their membership to the Heredia church, the total number now includes 102 adults, 17 teenagers, and 23 children (142 members). The difference between the average attendance and the total in the list is due to the irregular attendance of some (142-107=35). Some of them haven’t come for quite a while, and others skip a lot. Sometimes we are tempted to strike their names out, but then we hesitate, because eventually they would show up. We are working on a database to be able to distribute names and phone numbers to those members who would be interested in restoring this difficult sector of the membership.
Combined contribution (AM + PM) for the month was $1943,24. Expenses went up to $1104,61.
II. Study Measures
Visitors in the Northwest Bible study include three men who have become regular. Only one of them attends church though. Work with these men includes long hours of counseling and dealing with marriage and family problems. Other visitors include the non-baptized children of the host family. Roxana and I are presently working with one of the daughters in this family, helping her struggle with personal issues (she is a child from a previous marriage). On top of this she had to quit college and take a job. Then she was fired after the three months trial period, and just recently another company hired her. We are having special sessions with her to help her feel loved and appreciated. We also encourage her to accept responsibility for her own life and help her understand that life doesn’t have to be easy.
Visitors in the Northeast Bible study include two men who have become regular attendants to the Sunday pm service. Their wives are members of the church. The fact that their husbands are attending tells a lot about their testimony. There are about three families involved in this Bible Study group.
III. Miscellaneous Narrative
We continued to have meetings on Wednesdays from 6:00 am to 7:00 am. There were between 5 and 7 men. During this month we were able to get two more men involved. We decided to call this group Men with Problems. We are praying for one another and helping one another with personal, marriage, and family problems. I am excited about being able to help these men; we need them to be doing really well spiritually, if we are ever going to have leaders in the church.
Part of December and the whole of January is when students have their “Summer School Break.” This congregation devotes one day to celebrate with the children. So Roxana and two of the girls gave of themselves to prepare a party for the children. 22 children and 22 adults attended. It was the day for their “piñata.” It was quite a bit of work. I am sure the children appreciated it.
Bob and Marion Marlow, and Geoff Casella were here four days and three nights. It was a great opportunity for the local church, my family, and I to renew our friendship with our sponsoring congregation. Without their support and oversight we would be seriously limited to continue with this work. It was encouraging to have them come and see for themselves the work they are sponsoring. We had the opportunity to exchange our points of view about mission work. Bob taught the Northwest Bible Study. Geoff was able to teach eight of the men who meet on Saturday evening. Thank you Bob, Marion and Geoff for coming to Costa Rica to see how we were doing. Your visit was very important for us here. Support without oversight would not be as meaningful.
Total attendance to the Sunday PM service is actually higher because we count only those who didn’t come in the morning.
Due to recent additions of Christians moving their membership to the Heredia church, the total number now includes 102 adults, 17 teenagers, and 23 children (142 members). The difference between the average attendance and the total in the list is due to the irregular attendance of some (142-107=35). Some of them haven’t come for quite a while, and others skip a lot. Sometimes we are tempted to strike their names out, but then we hesitate, because eventually they would show up. We are working on a database to be able to distribute names and phone numbers to those members who would be interested in restoring this difficult sector of the membership.
Combined contribution (AM + PM) for the month was $1943,24. Expenses went up to $1104,61.
II. Study Measures
Visitors in the Northwest Bible study include three men who have become regular. Only one of them attends church though. Work with these men includes long hours of counseling and dealing with marriage and family problems. Other visitors include the non-baptized children of the host family. Roxana and I are presently working with one of the daughters in this family, helping her struggle with personal issues (she is a child from a previous marriage). On top of this she had to quit college and take a job. Then she was fired after the three months trial period, and just recently another company hired her. We are having special sessions with her to help her feel loved and appreciated. We also encourage her to accept responsibility for her own life and help her understand that life doesn’t have to be easy.
Visitors in the Northeast Bible study include two men who have become regular attendants to the Sunday pm service. Their wives are members of the church. The fact that their husbands are attending tells a lot about their testimony. There are about three families involved in this Bible Study group.
III. Miscellaneous Narrative
We continued to have meetings on Wednesdays from 6:00 am to 7:00 am. There were between 5 and 7 men. During this month we were able to get two more men involved. We decided to call this group Men with Problems. We are praying for one another and helping one another with personal, marriage, and family problems. I am excited about being able to help these men; we need them to be doing really well spiritually, if we are ever going to have leaders in the church.
Part of December and the whole of January is when students have their “Summer School Break.” This congregation devotes one day to celebrate with the children. So Roxana and two of the girls gave of themselves to prepare a party for the children. 22 children and 22 adults attended. It was the day for their “piñata.” It was quite a bit of work. I am sure the children appreciated it.
Bob and Marion Marlow, and Geoff Casella were here four days and three nights. It was a great opportunity for the local church, my family, and I to renew our friendship with our sponsoring congregation. Without their support and oversight we would be seriously limited to continue with this work. It was encouraging to have them come and see for themselves the work they are sponsoring. We had the opportunity to exchange our points of view about mission work. Bob taught the Northwest Bible Study. Geoff was able to teach eight of the men who meet on Saturday evening. Thank you Bob, Marion and Geoff for coming to Costa Rica to see how we were doing. Your visit was very important for us here. Support without oversight would not be as meaningful.
December 2009 Report
December 2009
I. Assembly Measures
The numbers are actually higher than expected. In previous years, total attendance would go down to 75 in December, due to many families taking school vacation.
I shared the preaching responsibilities with three brothers during the month. One of them is Andrés Hernánez, 24, an engineer. After his message, seven people came forward asking for prayers, and Andrés was able to minister to them without my assistance. Andrés is one of the leaders of the Youth Group.
Contribution for the month was $1433,76. Expenses went up to $2.287,73.
Auxiliadora, already mentioned in previous reports, passed way on December 30th. When her name was first brought up to our attention, we were told that this could happen anytime. Her sister, a member of the church in Managua, Nicaragua, called Damaris Astorga to let her know about Auxiliadora living in Heredia, and needing Bible studies. Her sister was afraid that she would die without having met the Lord. Damaris in turn called me, and soon she was studying with us and attending the Sunday evening worship services. Before she was baptized she was instrumental in the baptism of three ladies, two of which are still faithful (see more about Auxiliadora in the August, 2009 report).
III. Miscellaneous Narrative
We continue to have meetings on Wednesdays at 6:00 a.m. The last time we had this meeting, there were 4 men. During these meetings we are now praying for our spiritual needs (Hebrew 3:12, 13). These meetings are very effective to help us stay focused on our spiritual growth.
The meetings on Saturdays at 5 p.m. when we study “The Measure of a Man” (the 20 biblical requirements for elders), have been attracting up to 15 men. During the last month we paid special attention to assuming responsibilities like visiting the sick (James 5:14, 15). So, a special effort was made to coordinate these visits, and many blessings were enjoyed as the people visited were encouraged and responded with thanksgiving and faithfulness.
The Youth Group had a Camp activity of three days in La Fortuna, near the Arenal Volcano. 22 members from Heredia and 6 from La Fortuna attended. Raquel Ulate coordinated the activity, and carried it out with Andrés Hernández, Rebeca Ulate, and Julio Torrentes, the other Youth Group leaders.
I. Assembly Measures
The numbers are actually higher than expected. In previous years, total attendance would go down to 75 in December, due to many families taking school vacation.
I shared the preaching responsibilities with three brothers during the month. One of them is Andrés Hernánez, 24, an engineer. After his message, seven people came forward asking for prayers, and Andrés was able to minister to them without my assistance. Andrés is one of the leaders of the Youth Group.
Contribution for the month was $1433,76. Expenses went up to $2.287,73.
Auxiliadora, already mentioned in previous reports, passed way on December 30th. When her name was first brought up to our attention, we were told that this could happen anytime. Her sister, a member of the church in Managua, Nicaragua, called Damaris Astorga to let her know about Auxiliadora living in Heredia, and needing Bible studies. Her sister was afraid that she would die without having met the Lord. Damaris in turn called me, and soon she was studying with us and attending the Sunday evening worship services. Before she was baptized she was instrumental in the baptism of three ladies, two of which are still faithful (see more about Auxiliadora in the August, 2009 report).
III. Miscellaneous Narrative
We continue to have meetings on Wednesdays at 6:00 a.m. The last time we had this meeting, there were 4 men. During these meetings we are now praying for our spiritual needs (Hebrew 3:12, 13). These meetings are very effective to help us stay focused on our spiritual growth.
The meetings on Saturdays at 5 p.m. when we study “The Measure of a Man” (the 20 biblical requirements for elders), have been attracting up to 15 men. During the last month we paid special attention to assuming responsibilities like visiting the sick (James 5:14, 15). So, a special effort was made to coordinate these visits, and many blessings were enjoyed as the people visited were encouraged and responded with thanksgiving and faithfulness.
The Youth Group had a Camp activity of three days in La Fortuna, near the Arenal Volcano. 22 members from Heredia and 6 from La Fortuna attended. Raquel Ulate coordinated the activity, and carried it out with Andrés Hernández, Rebeca Ulate, and Julio Torrentes, the other Youth Group leaders.
November 2009
I. Assembly Measures
A new record of total attendance was reached on November 8. The unusual number of 37 visitors includes two families from other congregations that have placed membership with us. Other visitors are members from other congregations who wanted to worship with us on that day.
The attendance on Sunday evening continues to be significant. The lowest number was 15 members on November 29. These were members who did not attend in the morning. If they had done so, it would have been very difficult to handle such a crowd. So the decision of having two services continues to be a good idea.
The low number on November 22 is unusual. I don’t have an explanation. It happens now and then.
Total contribution: $2017,58. Total expenses: $1862,98.
II. Study Measures
November 2009
Cell Group Members Visitors
Northeast 20 3
Northwest 12 2
Heredia Church of Christ 15 2
The downtown group didn’t meet during this month. Some of the participants had problems with immigration, and moved to another location. Their attendance to church has suffered too. One of the ladies separated from her unbelieving husband. They have two children and it hurts to see them hurting.
The Northwest group has met for a year and a half already. Some family members continue to need more Bible study to be able to make a decision. Two men who are friends of Roberto Ulate continue to participate with interest. One of my neighbors is becoming regular in the attendance to this Bible Study.
III. Miscellaneous Narrative
There was one baptism on November 15. A young Nicaraguan immigrant was in a bus on his way to Costa Rica. Next to him sat Hamlet, a brother from a church in Managua, who was coming to attend the 25th Iberian American Lectures (see next paragraph). This brother preached the gospel to the young immigrant, who happened to be a resident in Heredia. So, when the lectures were over, this brother came to worship with us, and we let him baptize the immigrant. The Youth Group has reached out to the young convert. The brother from Nicaragua has called us to make sure we are taking care of him.
I was invited to speak at the Iberian American Lectures. The church in Sabanilla hosted them. More than 100 brethren from different parts of the Spanish-speaking world attended. They were here for one week. I was able to fellowship with Carlos Ingles, Bammel missionary in Colombia, who was here for the Lectures. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the work we are involved in.
Bruno Valle, preacher in Managua, Nicaragua, a close friend of mine, was in Heredia for three days. He preached for us on November 15th. Bruno is a great speaker and lecturer. His presentations both at the Iberian American Lectures and at the church in Heredia were outstanding. He really knows how to present lessons about the love and the power of God. We spent lots of time together, and were able to influence one another in the Lord. He really challenged me to pray more and have more faith in the power of God. Bruno and I are close friends because back in the 90’s he and I were self-supported preachers at the Hatillo congregation for about 4 years.
Walter Jones was diagnosed with leukemia on November 1st. Walter just turned 84 this year. The doctor saw the blood tests and said that due to his age, he only had three months to live, if no treatment was given. The following day he had to be given a transfusion because his hemoglobin count was too low. Other numbers were too high. So, the doctor prescribed a moderate dose of chemo pills. He was due for new tests two weeks later, and the numbers turned out more favorable. We are really excited about Walter, and about the way he feels. He is improving little by little. This recovery has really impacted the church, and we are all excited because the Lord has been listening to our prayers.
A new record of total attendance was reached on November 8. The unusual number of 37 visitors includes two families from other congregations that have placed membership with us. Other visitors are members from other congregations who wanted to worship with us on that day.
The attendance on Sunday evening continues to be significant. The lowest number was 15 members on November 29. These were members who did not attend in the morning. If they had done so, it would have been very difficult to handle such a crowd. So the decision of having two services continues to be a good idea.
The low number on November 22 is unusual. I don’t have an explanation. It happens now and then.
Total contribution: $2017,58. Total expenses: $1862,98.
II. Study Measures
November 2009
Cell Group Members Visitors
Northeast 20 3
Northwest 12 2
Heredia Church of Christ 15 2
The downtown group didn’t meet during this month. Some of the participants had problems with immigration, and moved to another location. Their attendance to church has suffered too. One of the ladies separated from her unbelieving husband. They have two children and it hurts to see them hurting.
The Northwest group has met for a year and a half already. Some family members continue to need more Bible study to be able to make a decision. Two men who are friends of Roberto Ulate continue to participate with interest. One of my neighbors is becoming regular in the attendance to this Bible Study.
III. Miscellaneous Narrative
There was one baptism on November 15. A young Nicaraguan immigrant was in a bus on his way to Costa Rica. Next to him sat Hamlet, a brother from a church in Managua, who was coming to attend the 25th Iberian American Lectures (see next paragraph). This brother preached the gospel to the young immigrant, who happened to be a resident in Heredia. So, when the lectures were over, this brother came to worship with us, and we let him baptize the immigrant. The Youth Group has reached out to the young convert. The brother from Nicaragua has called us to make sure we are taking care of him.
I was invited to speak at the Iberian American Lectures. The church in Sabanilla hosted them. More than 100 brethren from different parts of the Spanish-speaking world attended. They were here for one week. I was able to fellowship with Carlos Ingles, Bammel missionary in Colombia, who was here for the Lectures. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the work we are involved in.
Bruno Valle, preacher in Managua, Nicaragua, a close friend of mine, was in Heredia for three days. He preached for us on November 15th. Bruno is a great speaker and lecturer. His presentations both at the Iberian American Lectures and at the church in Heredia were outstanding. He really knows how to present lessons about the love and the power of God. We spent lots of time together, and were able to influence one another in the Lord. He really challenged me to pray more and have more faith in the power of God. Bruno and I are close friends because back in the 90’s he and I were self-supported preachers at the Hatillo congregation for about 4 years.
Walter Jones was diagnosed with leukemia on November 1st. Walter just turned 84 this year. The doctor saw the blood tests and said that due to his age, he only had three months to live, if no treatment was given. The following day he had to be given a transfusion because his hemoglobin count was too low. Other numbers were too high. So, the doctor prescribed a moderate dose of chemo pills. He was due for new tests two weeks later, and the numbers turned out more favorable. We are really excited about Walter, and about the way he feels. He is improving little by little. This recovery has really impacted the church, and we are all excited because the Lord has been listening to our prayers.
September and October 2009
I Assembly Measures
Total attendance to Sunday worship services continues to be a key record to analyze growth. The Sunday totals from the first Sunday of February to the last Sunday of October, are shown in the graphic below. The high numbers in weeks 26 and 27 include 23 visitors from Cedar Hill, Texas. It is very evident that when we had only one service on Sunday, it was difficult to have more than 100 people. Now that we have two services, we are consistently above this mark. The low number in week 24 is due to a school break, when many members were out of town.
There is always a high number of visitors. We don’t seem to have enough workers to reach out to all of them. This seems to be a problem with most congregations. Congregations that succeed reaching out to the lost are those where a large number of members grow spiritually to take on this responsibility
There are 133 names in the list of members (including children). However, only 97 of them could be considered “regular.” 5 members have said their present job on Sunday keeps them from attending. 16 are “irregular.” 5 are “occasional.” They rarely come to church. 10 seem to have quit altogether. So there are 36 people who could use some shepherding. Again, we don’t seem to have enough workers for such a task. Elders are sorely needed.
Regarding elders, we continue to have the Saturday afternoon classes for men. There is an average of 16 men attending. We are studying the requirements for elders. We still have 10 more requirements to study.
II Study Measures
The Downtown Bible Study produced one baptism. This is Auxiliadora, a lady who has been very effective leading others to Christ, even before she was baptized. The Northeast Bible Study produced another baptism. This is a 15 year old girl, the daughter of one of the leaders of the church. This is the only Bible study where I am not involved.
Total attendance to Sunday worship services continues to be a key record to analyze growth. The Sunday totals from the first Sunday of February to the last Sunday of October, are shown in the graphic below. The high numbers in weeks 26 and 27 include 23 visitors from Cedar Hill, Texas. It is very evident that when we had only one service on Sunday, it was difficult to have more than 100 people. Now that we have two services, we are consistently above this mark. The low number in week 24 is due to a school break, when many members were out of town.
There is always a high number of visitors. We don’t seem to have enough workers to reach out to all of them. This seems to be a problem with most congregations. Congregations that succeed reaching out to the lost are those where a large number of members grow spiritually to take on this responsibility
There are 133 names in the list of members (including children). However, only 97 of them could be considered “regular.” 5 members have said their present job on Sunday keeps them from attending. 16 are “irregular.” 5 are “occasional.” They rarely come to church. 10 seem to have quit altogether. So there are 36 people who could use some shepherding. Again, we don’t seem to have enough workers for such a task. Elders are sorely needed.
Regarding elders, we continue to have the Saturday afternoon classes for men. There is an average of 16 men attending. We are studying the requirements for elders. We still have 10 more requirements to study.
II Study Measures
The Downtown Bible Study produced one baptism. This is Auxiliadora, a lady who has been very effective leading others to Christ, even before she was baptized. The Northeast Bible Study produced another baptism. This is a 15 year old girl, the daughter of one of the leaders of the church. This is the only Bible study where I am not involved.
August 2009 Monthly Report
Assembly Measures
The attendance numbers for the first two Sundays of August include the 23 visitors from the Cedar Hill church (see report below). I have to credit Roberto Ulate for collecting this data on a list of members I give him every Sunday.
Fig. 1 Sunday afternoon service (August 30th, 2009)
In the last Sunday afternoon service of the month, on August 30th, there were 23 people attending. 19 of these were people who didn’t come in the morning. In other words, this is how many seats were released in the morning. Now we don’t see so many people seating outside, on the sidewalk in the morning. However, the greatest benefit is a higher overall attendance. The highest attendance reached when services were not divided into two services was 115 on May 10, 2009. Now that we have two services, our attendance is steadily rising and the highest so far is 119 on August 30th. This is overall attendance to at least one Sunday service. In other words we are not adding 23 to the morning attendance, we are adding 19 to the morning attendance, because 4 people who came to the second service, had come to the morning service. I guess the decision of having two services is beginning to pay off —it is not so crowded in the morning, and we are reaching out to more people.
Total collection of offering was $2.313,49. Total expenses during the same period went up to $2.219,50. This figure includes extra remodeling expenses, first payment of the video beam, and attention given to group from Cedar Hill. The balance at the end of August is $1.727,00.
Fig. 2. Part of group from Cedar Hill preparing to go campaigning
As I had mentioned in the July report, a group of 23 members of the Cedar Hill church, Texas, were welcomed in our homes and church during the first 10 days of August. Ron McClung, former missionary to Costa Rica, led them. Ron had contacted me with the idea of bringing a group to give us a hand with evangelism and marriage counseling. Within our philosophy of mission (theirs and ours) it is contemplated that missionaries stay in the homes of members of the local church, and not in hotels. So, the homes of Roberto Ulate, Walter Jones, Damaris Astorga, Miriam Brenes, and mine, were blessed by having them most of those 10 days (they made a two day trip to La Fortuna).
The group handed out fliers in Heredia and the Campus of Universidad Nacional. The fliers offered an invitation to have a personal Bible study in English or Spanish. More than 20 new contacts were made as people called in response to the invitation, and came to the church building during most of the days that the group was in town. They came for Bible study and fellowship. The names and phone numbers of these contacts were assigned to local members, and we are hoping that some of them will continue to accept Bible studies.
Also, a movie called “Fireproof” was shown on Sunday night after the evening service on August 2nd. This movie tells the story of a marriage that was saved by the Lord. More than 100 people, mostly visitors, attended that night. Then, on the following three nights, Ron presented a series of lessons for couples. Close to 100 people attended each night. Ron’s Spanish was perfect for the presentations, as he knows most of the Costa Rican idioms. As a result of this series, several of the husbands who are not members, did come and now materials are being provided with the hope of raising their interest in the Lord’s help for their marriages.
Matt Helm, the Youth minister of the Cedar Hill church, preached on that Sunday afternoon, and several people came forward. Later in the month, Roberto and I studied with three of the ladies who came forward that night and they have already been baptized. Auxiliadora, a lady about whom I reported in July, had contacted these ladies. Roberto and I are now studying with two of the husbands in the new downtown group (see narrative on study measures).
I have to credit Roxana Ulate for handling all the logistics related to the visiting group from Cedar Hill. Roxana was my assistant. She did a great job, making all the phone calls, writing emails, arranging for meals, organizing transportation, etc. I don’t think I would have been able to handle so many loose ends. She kept me updated with stuff and continually reminded me of things.
Study Measures
The people contacted by Auxiliadora became a group Bible study that meets on Sunday night after the evening service in downtown Heredia. We have had three sessions. There have been 3 baptisms. Auxiliadora herself is still struggling with the decision. It is ironic that the people she invited have already become members, and she hasn’t. She is struggling with serious heart disease and diabetes. Robin Worsham, a medical doctor, and Garrin Elwell, a girl, from the Cedar Hill group, visited Auxiliadora and encouraged her a lot.
Damaris Astorga is reaching out to one wife who is not a member. She has had several Bible studies with her. This is the wife of Eduardo, someone Walter had reached out to along with Freddy Astorga. Walter tells me this was the last person Freddy baptized. Also, Andrés Hernández and Mindy are reaching out to Adonis, Roberto and Noris’s son. Andrés and Mindy are leaders of the Youth Group, and have taken the initiative of bringing Bible studies to this teenager.
A Leadership Training Series was started. We are studying Gene Getz' The Measure of a Man. This book was a gift given to Walter Jones by Mike Montalvo. The sessions meet on Saturday at 5:30 pm. We had the attendance of 17 men to the first session and 16 men to the second session. Gene Getz’ book is great for Christian men. Each chapter is devoted to one of the requirements for elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We are covering a different requirement in each session. There is interest. At least 16 of the men are participating. Roberto and I now have the opportunity to influence more directly this group of men.
The recently baptized man whom I had reported in July as having fallen away made it back! We hope he has done so for good. Roberto and I continue to meet every Wednesday morning for an hour and sometimes for more than an hour for prayer and encouragement.
The attendance numbers for the first two Sundays of August include the 23 visitors from the Cedar Hill church (see report below). I have to credit Roberto Ulate for collecting this data on a list of members I give him every Sunday.
Fig. 1 Sunday afternoon service (August 30th, 2009)In the last Sunday afternoon service of the month, on August 30th, there were 23 people attending. 19 of these were people who didn’t come in the morning. In other words, this is how many seats were released in the morning. Now we don’t see so many people seating outside, on the sidewalk in the morning. However, the greatest benefit is a higher overall attendance. The highest attendance reached when services were not divided into two services was 115 on May 10, 2009. Now that we have two services, our attendance is steadily rising and the highest so far is 119 on August 30th. This is overall attendance to at least one Sunday service. In other words we are not adding 23 to the morning attendance, we are adding 19 to the morning attendance, because 4 people who came to the second service, had come to the morning service. I guess the decision of having two services is beginning to pay off —it is not so crowded in the morning, and we are reaching out to more people.
Total collection of offering was $2.313,49. Total expenses during the same period went up to $2.219,50. This figure includes extra remodeling expenses, first payment of the video beam, and attention given to group from Cedar Hill. The balance at the end of August is $1.727,00.
Fig. 2. Part of group from Cedar Hill preparing to go campaigningAs I had mentioned in the July report, a group of 23 members of the Cedar Hill church, Texas, were welcomed in our homes and church during the first 10 days of August. Ron McClung, former missionary to Costa Rica, led them. Ron had contacted me with the idea of bringing a group to give us a hand with evangelism and marriage counseling. Within our philosophy of mission (theirs and ours) it is contemplated that missionaries stay in the homes of members of the local church, and not in hotels. So, the homes of Roberto Ulate, Walter Jones, Damaris Astorga, Miriam Brenes, and mine, were blessed by having them most of those 10 days (they made a two day trip to La Fortuna).
The group handed out fliers in Heredia and the Campus of Universidad Nacional. The fliers offered an invitation to have a personal Bible study in English or Spanish. More than 20 new contacts were made as people called in response to the invitation, and came to the church building during most of the days that the group was in town. They came for Bible study and fellowship. The names and phone numbers of these contacts were assigned to local members, and we are hoping that some of them will continue to accept Bible studies.
Also, a movie called “Fireproof” was shown on Sunday night after the evening service on August 2nd. This movie tells the story of a marriage that was saved by the Lord. More than 100 people, mostly visitors, attended that night. Then, on the following three nights, Ron presented a series of lessons for couples. Close to 100 people attended each night. Ron’s Spanish was perfect for the presentations, as he knows most of the Costa Rican idioms. As a result of this series, several of the husbands who are not members, did come and now materials are being provided with the hope of raising their interest in the Lord’s help for their marriages.
Matt Helm, the Youth minister of the Cedar Hill church, preached on that Sunday afternoon, and several people came forward. Later in the month, Roberto and I studied with three of the ladies who came forward that night and they have already been baptized. Auxiliadora, a lady about whom I reported in July, had contacted these ladies. Roberto and I are now studying with two of the husbands in the new downtown group (see narrative on study measures).
I have to credit Roxana Ulate for handling all the logistics related to the visiting group from Cedar Hill. Roxana was my assistant. She did a great job, making all the phone calls, writing emails, arranging for meals, organizing transportation, etc. I don’t think I would have been able to handle so many loose ends. She kept me updated with stuff and continually reminded me of things.Study Measures
The people contacted by Auxiliadora became a group Bible study that meets on Sunday night after the evening service in downtown Heredia. We have had three sessions. There have been 3 baptisms. Auxiliadora herself is still struggling with the decision. It is ironic that the people she invited have already become members, and she hasn’t. She is struggling with serious heart disease and diabetes. Robin Worsham, a medical doctor, and Garrin Elwell, a girl, from the Cedar Hill group, visited Auxiliadora and encouraged her a lot.
Damaris Astorga is reaching out to one wife who is not a member. She has had several Bible studies with her. This is the wife of Eduardo, someone Walter had reached out to along with Freddy Astorga. Walter tells me this was the last person Freddy baptized. Also, Andrés Hernández and Mindy are reaching out to Adonis, Roberto and Noris’s son. Andrés and Mindy are leaders of the Youth Group, and have taken the initiative of bringing Bible studies to this teenager.
A Leadership Training Series was started. We are studying Gene Getz' The Measure of a Man. This book was a gift given to Walter Jones by Mike Montalvo. The sessions meet on Saturday at 5:30 pm. We had the attendance of 17 men to the first session and 16 men to the second session. Gene Getz’ book is great for Christian men. Each chapter is devoted to one of the requirements for elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We are covering a different requirement in each session. There is interest. At least 16 of the men are participating. Roberto and I now have the opportunity to influence more directly this group of men.
The recently baptized man whom I had reported in July as having fallen away made it back! We hope he has done so for good. Roberto and I continue to meet every Wednesday morning for an hour and sometimes for more than an hour for prayer and encouragement.
July 2009 Report
Assembly measures:
The month of July is atypical. It is the month when the public school system has a break of two weeks between semesters. This year, however, was extended to three weeks due to the swine flu scare. Many members use this time to take a family vacation. Many families were gone out of town. So, this explains the decrease in attendance with respect to June 09.
My brother Roberto and I went on with the “elder training program.” We continued to have our weekly prayer for ourselves, for members who requested prayers for specific needs, for analysis of the membership, etc. It has been a great time for growth, reflection, and development of sensitivity to the members’ needs. Roberto and I draw strength from one another as we pray for our own needs, and build up one another spiritually.
The “Facilities Committee” carried out their remodeling project. It cost close to 1.500 dollars. They remodeled the kitchen, the restrooms, and repaired the auditorium. A day of work was called and more than 10 responded with great energy. A lot of overdue cleaning was carried out and many minor repairs were done. I wish I had a “before” and an “after” picture to show you the difference!
The amount of people coming to Sunday evening services fluctuates between 7 and 10. This are members who don’t come in the morning, so we are talking about that number of spaces being released for the morning services.
Study Measures:
The Southeast group hasn’t gone on due to lack of leadership. The brother in charge has been slacking in attendance himself, due to personal problems. We are helping him recover spiritually. There is hope for his full restoration. The brothers and sisters who used to meet are interested in continuing to have this meeting, but the workers are few.
Another group we didn’t continue is the Southwest group. This is a family we had been meeting with. They are attending normally. The visitors, however, did not show interest, so we decided to move on to study with other people. Another group Bible study could be started somewhere else. Again, the workers continue to be few, and this is a situation we will continue to have until enough workers are trained.
Some people didn’t continue to study with us. The ex-congressman lost interest because he got back with the woman he was divorcing. So, his emotional needs are being met that way, and his friendship with us is not that important to him now. A man who was baptized recently has not come back due to the same reason! I can’t believe how easily a young Christian gives up his salvation for a relationship that hurts him.
The Lord is giving us more people to study with. There is a group of 5 Nicaraguans we started studying with, and soon we will hear about baptisms from that group. This group was contacted by Auxiliadora, a lady from Nicaragua, whose Christian sister wrote to us asking us to reach out to her. Auxiliadora is suffering from a serious heart condition (physically), she continues to study with us.
On July 31st a group of 23 members of the Cedar Hills church was welcomed in our homes and church. They would be working for 10 days in our midst, trying to make contacts and do evangelistic work. More about this in the August, 2009 report.
The month of July is atypical. It is the month when the public school system has a break of two weeks between semesters. This year, however, was extended to three weeks due to the swine flu scare. Many members use this time to take a family vacation. Many families were gone out of town. So, this explains the decrease in attendance with respect to June 09.
My brother Roberto and I went on with the “elder training program.” We continued to have our weekly prayer for ourselves, for members who requested prayers for specific needs, for analysis of the membership, etc. It has been a great time for growth, reflection, and development of sensitivity to the members’ needs. Roberto and I draw strength from one another as we pray for our own needs, and build up one another spiritually.
The “Facilities Committee” carried out their remodeling project. It cost close to 1.500 dollars. They remodeled the kitchen, the restrooms, and repaired the auditorium. A day of work was called and more than 10 responded with great energy. A lot of overdue cleaning was carried out and many minor repairs were done. I wish I had a “before” and an “after” picture to show you the difference!
The amount of people coming to Sunday evening services fluctuates between 7 and 10. This are members who don’t come in the morning, so we are talking about that number of spaces being released for the morning services.
Study Measures:
The Southeast group hasn’t gone on due to lack of leadership. The brother in charge has been slacking in attendance himself, due to personal problems. We are helping him recover spiritually. There is hope for his full restoration. The brothers and sisters who used to meet are interested in continuing to have this meeting, but the workers are few.
Another group we didn’t continue is the Southwest group. This is a family we had been meeting with. They are attending normally. The visitors, however, did not show interest, so we decided to move on to study with other people. Another group Bible study could be started somewhere else. Again, the workers continue to be few, and this is a situation we will continue to have until enough workers are trained.
Some people didn’t continue to study with us. The ex-congressman lost interest because he got back with the woman he was divorcing. So, his emotional needs are being met that way, and his friendship with us is not that important to him now. A man who was baptized recently has not come back due to the same reason! I can’t believe how easily a young Christian gives up his salvation for a relationship that hurts him.
The Lord is giving us more people to study with. There is a group of 5 Nicaraguans we started studying with, and soon we will hear about baptisms from that group. This group was contacted by Auxiliadora, a lady from Nicaragua, whose Christian sister wrote to us asking us to reach out to her. Auxiliadora is suffering from a serious heart condition (physically), she continues to study with us.
On July 31st a group of 23 members of the Cedar Hills church was welcomed in our homes and church. They would be working for 10 days in our midst, trying to make contacts and do evangelistic work. More about this in the August, 2009 report.
Sunday morning and Sunday evening (July 12th, 2009)
Today was the first Sunday when were able to implement the two services plan. 82 people attended in the morning, and 18 attended at night. There were 10 members who did not attend the morning services and were part of the 18 people who attended at night. So there were 8 of us repeating at night. This means that there was more room in the morning.
Overal attendance went down to 92 people (we were having well above 100 people attending every Sunday morning). This is due to a school break between semesters, and half of the absentees are gone out of town for vacation. We hope that by having more room in the morning services, this will encourage growth in the morning.
With 82 attending, the morning service still presented overcrowded conditions. It was still kind of hot, and some babies were crying.
Some people who came in the morning were concerned that we now have a divided church. They said they were going to miss the people who were coming only at night. So I asked them to write a note to those who would come at night. 5 members wrote beautiful notes to those coming at night. There were expressions like this: "We miss you, we hope that meeting at different times will not divide us, we thank you for leaving room in the morning services to accomodate more visitors, etc." The people at night were moved when I read the notes written to them.
Overal attendance went down to 92 people (we were having well above 100 people attending every Sunday morning). This is due to a school break between semesters, and half of the absentees are gone out of town for vacation. We hope that by having more room in the morning services, this will encourage growth in the morning.
With 82 attending, the morning service still presented overcrowded conditions. It was still kind of hot, and some babies were crying.
Some people who came in the morning were concerned that we now have a divided church. They said they were going to miss the people who were coming only at night. So I asked them to write a note to those who would come at night. 5 members wrote beautiful notes to those coming at night. There were expressions like this: "We miss you, we hope that meeting at different times will not divide us, we thank you for leaving room in the morning services to accomodate more visitors, etc." The people at night were moved when I read the notes written to them.
"Eldering our way to the eldership"
Roberto my brother and I got together for prayer on Wednesday morning from 6 am to 7:30 am. It was very meaningful to go over the whole list of 126 members and 12 people who are being contacted. 30 people didn't come. Some of these do not come regularly. 18 people had submitted requests for prayers on their behalf. We kept remembering Matthew 9:36-38:
Roberto and I handed the prayer request slips back to them who had submitted, along with a note of encouragement, a Scripture, and reassurance that their request had been presented to the Lord, and asking them to let us know of changes of their situation. For some of them this was very encouraging, and really lifted their spirits up. For us, it was a privilege, and we felt greatly encouraged by the fact that we are doing this pastoring work. When I was commenting to one of the US people visiting Barva about this, I told him that "we are eldering our way to the eldership."
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."The workers are really few. The task is greater than us. We truly need to depend on the Lord.
Roberto and I handed the prayer request slips back to them who had submitted, along with a note of encouragement, a Scripture, and reassurance that their request had been presented to the Lord, and asking them to let us know of changes of their situation. For some of them this was very encouraging, and really lifted their spirits up. For us, it was a privilege, and we felt greatly encouraged by the fact that we are doing this pastoring work. When I was commenting to one of the US people visiting Barva about this, I told him that "we are eldering our way to the eldership."
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