Latest Developments in Costa Rica

"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
 and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2.42)

The Lord has blessed us with several conversions in the last five months. All of them have been the result of the work done by members of this congregation (not the evangelist). Didier and Ericka worked with Abismael and Jimena, resulting in the baptism of this young couple. Carlos and Mery worked with Alberto and Mileidy, resulting in their baptism too. And Kenneth and Darling worked with Gerald who was baptized recently. These workers are now in the process of grounding in the faith their recent converts.

Alberto being baptized
by Didier Rojas

Other members are busy working with others to lead them to the Lord. Roberto and Noris are working with a family of five to bring them to the Lord too (Ademar, Roxan, Raquel, Mariela and Christofer). Victor and Aura are working with Eugenio and Alberto. Mery and Mileidy hold a weekly meeting with girls who are not members of the church. Roxana and I are working with two families too. I am sure there are others I don't know of who are doing their work to bring people to the Lord. God willing, very soon we will see more conversions.

It's exciting to see couples and individual members of the church assuming the challenge of making disciples on their own. We are convinced that this is the result of the Lord working in their individual lives. They have learned to become what Jesus calls true disciples. They are motivated by the Lord who lives in their hearts. Their work is not the result of pressure from a "church program" with goals set by humans who seek satisfaction in such goals. Satisfaction is already in their hearts as a result of treasuring up their condition as children of God.

Youth Group Leaders

During the year 2016 the teaching was focused on helping members develop a rich prayer life, become true disciples, and understand the transformation expected in our lives as a result of Jesus' influence. We have experienced growth in numbers that we can not accommodate. I am afraid some losses we have had are due to the lack of conditions for meeting. Hopefully, this year the facilities committee will come up with a viable solution.

The church in San Rafael de Heredia continues to meet on Sunday at 6 pm. This church lost three dear families during the year 2016. One family of five moved to another city. Two families of three each left us in spite of our efforts reaching out to them. We are a little bit at a loss trying to understand what happened. We do not lose heart and please continue to pray to the Lord that he will want to make it happen in San Rafael.

Ericka, Ximena (new convert), and Juana