A mission of a church in Costa Rica which is in turn a mission of the Bammel Church in Houston

The church in San Rafael de Heredia continues to meet every Sunday at 6:00. This is a church that sprouted out of the church that meets in the city of Heredia. It's a mission of a church in Costa Rica which in turn is a mission of the Bammel Church in Houston.

According to our philosophy of missions we are putting into practice the concept of "germinal churches," that is, churches that have been planted in such a way that they do not depend on a continued flow of funds being channeled to them for further growth. These churches depend solely on the power of the Word of God being taught by evangelists who focus more on the building up of the body of Christ, and less on the "practicalities" that the work involves (Ephesians 4.10-16). The "practicalities" are soon being taken care by the locals (Acts 6.2-4). This way the evangelist never becomes "indispensable."

The work the Lord is doing in San Rafael has been blessed by the presence of my brother Rodrigo Ulate, a graduate from Harding University, translator of Truth for Today, who is in charge of the teaching every Sunday. His continued translating of Bible commentaries from English into Spanish, has made of him a Bible scholar, so I get out of the way for him to grow in the area of teaching, which allows me to concentrate more on the shepherding of the members. Rodrigo is a bachelor, he has been a faithful member of the church of Christ for the last 30 years.

To God be the glory for all of you at Bammel who support me to be one of God's evangelists in the province of Heredia, Costa Rica.

¡Great News!

The church in Heredia continues to grow stronger. ¡To God be the glory! Kimberly, a Heredia lady, was baptised into Christ this evening. She was reached out by Walter and Sendry who in turn had been reached out by Mario. This is quite a story. It deserves to be told from the begining.

Mario is the husband of Cecilia, a lady who has been a member for years. It took Mario many years to seek the Lord his wife had known for a while. He decided to put on Christ a year and a half ago after Cecilia had learned to win her husband by observing a chaste and respectful behaviour (1 Peter 3.2).

A few months after Mario's conversion, his friends Walter and Sendry Castrillo showed up one Sunday morning with their three children, Walter Jr., Lafitte, and Adriel. I had the chance to welcome them as they were making their way from the parking area to the church building. When I asked them who had invited them these were their actual words: "Our friend Mario did, and we came because he is not the same man we always knew. We want to know what made him the joyous and peaceful man he is today."  ¡This is what evangelising is all about! People need to see God's power in the changes He makes in our character. We are to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth. We are to proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Walter and Sendry immediately drew our attention. They had been evangelical all their lives, but for some reason had quit going to church. So, Roberto and I offered them a weekly Bible study in their home. They really liked the idea. They live about ten blocks from the church building. This activity has been going on for the last ten months. They keep inviting their friends and relatives to the Bible study. So, there are always other people present in the Bible study. About six months ago, Walter Jr., was baptised into Christ, and he is today very active within the Youth Group. Walter and Sendry decided that their former baptism is Scriptural.

Three weeks ago, José and Kimberly, a young married couple, began to attend the weekly Bible Study. and two weeks ago they began attending church. Last night, after the Bible Study activity, Kimberly would not allow me to go home until she knew the answers to so many questions she had. Finally, she asked, "When can I be baptised? Do I need a course?" I gave her Scriptural answers to the questions, prayed for her and she said she needed that night to make a decision. This morning she called saying she was ready for baptism and the rest is history.