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.
