First Conversion in San Rafael

Vanessa Torrentes, wife and mother, was baptized recently by her  brother in law Carlos Brenes. Vanessa is the sister of Mery, the wife of Carlos. We praise God for Carlos and Mery, who have been fruitful in the Lord's work. They have been active evangelizing their own relatives. Carlos is one of the brothers who take turns at the pulpit in Heredia. He and I get together to pray for one another. We have learned to help one another spiritually. He delves into the Scriptures on his own, and this shows in the deep insights he has developed. Mery, on the other hand, is a very mature sister who has excelled in helping the women at the church in Heredia. She counsels with a few of them a lot. She has learned to influence the women to help them become responsible of their own spiritual growth.

Vanessa will be part of the church in San Rafael de Heredia, because this is where she lives. Vanessa has a teenage daughter and a 5 year old boy who has special issues. Her husband is a guard at Universidad Nacional. Please, pray for this family, asking God to continue to spread the blessing of the Good News to the rest of the family.

A lesson from the field

Roxana and I just started studying the Bible with a new couple in San Rafael de Heredia. They are Guillermo and Susy. He is a waiter in Heredia, and she has a part time job at a supermarket. They have three college age children and struggling to get these children through college. They used to be neighbors of Carlos and Mery Brenes, who are leaders of the Heredia church. So they knew Carlos, his wife, mother and children, who are all faithful members too.  Guillermo tells me that he had not been interested in Christianity because of the bad testimony he has always seen in co-workers and other associates who claimed to be Christians. But, when he began to know Carlos and Mery and their testimony, he became receptive to God's word! Eventually Carlos referred Guillermo to me, and after a few days of exchanging phone calls with Guillermo, trying to set up a place and time, we were finally able to go to his home and start formal Bible studies. This is an answered prayer, because, as you know, Costa Rican people are a lot like people in developed countries. They feel so self-sufficient that they end up not feeling a need for God. We are excited about this new development, and we beg your prayers for us, so that we will be faithful to God's charge as He has sent us to this home.

So, what's the lesson? People may not be receptive, but this is not an unchangeable condition. People actually change when we, as true Christians, reach out to them and allow them to get to know us so that they can get convinced about how real the Lord is, and what a blessing it really is to become a member of the body of Christ. Let us not give up on reaching out to the lost. We will eventually reap a plentiful harvest for God's glory. People do need the Good News. They really need salvation, because family, marriage and personal lives are under attack.

Update on the Costa Rica Mission Work

The church in Heredia is rapidly becoming what missiologists call an indigenous church. It is already self-governing. The decisions are made by a local group o leaders. It is already self-supporting. All the funds for ministry are provided by the local church. They even help this missionary with funds for gasoline and transportation. It is already self-propagating. The members at Heredia who live in San Rafael de Heredia, became the seeds for a new church.  A total of 7 families from the Heredia church have started the church in San Rafael, a town five miles towards the North East (see map below). This development has been possible thanks to God giving us a vision for church planting that focus on developing local leadership rather than on facilities (see article: Our Philosophy of Missions). May the glory be given to God for all of you at Bammel who have helped this missionary family to make it possible. The citizens of San Rafael will now be reached out as there will be God's workers in place for their spiritual needs. Please pray for this development to take place very soon. We are meeting in the homes of the members themselves, so we still don't enjoy the convenience of a building. This is an issue that the Lord himself will resolve throught the local memebership.

There are other towns around Heredia that we hope the Lord will give us the opportunity to reach out to. Some of them are San Pablo, Santo Domingo, San Joaquín, San Antonio. They are all populated centers that need the gospel very much as you can tell by the names (names of saints).

Ver From Heredia to San Rafael de Heredia en un mapa más grande

Church in San Rafael de Heredia