Church in Heredia completely indigenous
The church in the city of Heredia, Costa Rica, is completely indigenous today, and this is a remarkable result of the partnering of the Bammel church with missionaries Carlos and Roxana Ulate during the last ten years.
According to Wikipedia, “indigenous churches are churches suited to the local culture and led by local Christians.” Churches that are planted with this goal in mind soon become self-supporting, self-propagating and self-governing. This is exactly what the Heredia church is today. The locals have organized themselves in the different operative areas of the church. There is a fully developed body of “deacons” in charge of the finances, another one in charge of the facilities, and still another one in charge of benevolence. The ones in charge of facilities deserve special recognition. Back in 2015, having committed themselves to the Lord, they designed a plan by which local members were encouraged to contribute with an amount each month to create a fund to rebuild the facilities. Also, one of them, who is an architect, drew up the plans for the new building that includes an auditorium for 150 people. With the projected design in hand, they made a special effort to obtain the necessary permissions from different public offices. Regulations for church buildings are very strict in Costa Rica. The Lord has blessed their plans because during the last three years they have raised the amount of 28 thousand dollars, which is roughly a fifth of the total cost of the project. They are now in the position to borrow the rest of the necessary funds from local banks, a loan for which the local church has enough income to pay back. These and other exciting developments within the church in Heredia give us the confidence to state that this is a completely indigenous church.
The fact that the Heredia church is completely indigenous is remarkable because in most churches in Latin America where a US supported worker is supposed to be an evangelist, he usually ends up assuming a mixture of roles that include the functions of a shepherd, a pulpit minister, and a deacon. This worker and his family usually exhibit a paternalistic attitude that lead the locals to depend on their presence and their support, which stifles the development of local leaders. This approach to mission work produces what missiologists call “terminal” churches, in other words, churches that are not self-propagating. We are excited about the fact that the church in Heredia does not depend on the presence of missionaries Carlos and Roxana Ulate, to the point that they are now into their fifth year of the planting process of a second church in San Rafael de Heredia (see pictures below). The churches in Heredia and San Rafael have been planted in such a way that they now exhibit the traits of what missiologists call “germinal” churches, in other words, they have the potential to propagate themselves, and this is a remarkable result that the Lord has made possible throuh this partnering with Carlos and Roxana.
The Lord's support through your generous giving during the last nine years has been valuable for these missionaries to be able to finish the planting of the church in Heredia and a the same time carry on with the planting process of the church in San Rafael. Because of the Spirit guiding the Bammel church in partnering with Carlos and Roxana, these missionaries have been able to provide the type of leadership and teaching that these two congregations need to become strong in the Lord, and at the same time avoid becoming paternal figures. The Bammel church has been providing financial support and spiritual oversight to Carlos and Roxana during the last ten years. This support has been complemented with spiritual oversight through the annual visits of Geoff and Sherry Casella, who usually take an elder couple with them. In the last three years, this elder couple have been Marty and Terry Davis.
Let us praise the Lord God for the church in Heredia, Costa Rica, being completely indigenous. Let us praise Him for having allowed us to partner with Carlos and Roxana to achieve this remarkable result. Let us encourage ourselves with the fact that through us the Lord has blessed others in Costa Rica and Central America, with salvation in Jesus and with the blessings of love, peace, and joy in the personal lives and in the families of many in that country.
San Rafael attendance to worship services during the months of August and September 2018
Our Female Leaders in Heredia
The above picture presents the ladies that keep this church moving with their leadership, faithfulness, evangelism, and creativity. They all have different gifts, which they exploit for the Lord's glory.
