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

Update on Costa Rica

Luis in baptismal clothes

The Lord is adding to the church in the city of Heredia those who are being saved. Just last Sunday, Luis Vargas put on Christ in baptism. Our association with him starts about two years ago. The church doesn't have a parking lot, so he would be the one those homeless men who watched vehicles while we worshiped. He would do this for a small tip. While this was going on we learned to love Luis, and most members who have vehicles would reach out to him with the love of Christ. One day, about two months ago, Luis was the victim of a hit and run vehicle. As a result his lungs were punctured, and he was taken to the hospital across street. Church members ran to assist him. He survived, however, with some trouble breathing. As another result of this, the church decided to rent a parking lot nearby. Since he can't be outside watching vehicles, Luis began to worship with us and last Sunday the Word of God moved him to make a decision! He is back with his wife and no longer needing to be on the streets.

Church in Heredia about two weeks ago

Attendance to church is larger than the capacity of the auditorium. The Facilities Committee is working hard to find a solution. They have already raised 20,000 dollars among the local members. Meanwhile, the maximum attendance we can accommodate, somewhat comfortably, is 110. The attendance, however, has reached peaks of 145 people. When this happens, we are in trouble, because some who arrive late and see the crowded conditions decide to go somewhere else. We give the glory to God for this a good problem to have. It is evident that this growth is due to the good others see in the lives of those who persevere in God's ways.

Roxana teaching the girls in San Rafael

The church in San Rafael continues to meet every Sunday evening. Last Sunday was special because we had the meeting at the home of one of the families in the town itself. The family head is Freddy Leon, a man we have been reaching out in the last two years. This time he was very receptive to the Word. His wife and two little girls are members. He, however, had been reluctant to open his heart to the Gospel. On Sunday, the meeting at his home was significant because he was so excited about what was done that he wants us to continue meeting there!

The church in San Rafael is an outgrowth of the church in Heredia. Little by little it will become independent, just as it has happened with the church in Heredia, according to the philosophy of missions we sucribe to. We concentrate on helping local Christians become what we call a showcase for the Lord in the eyes of their friends, so that their friends can be reached out to.

The church at a critical threshold

This church is at a critical threshold these days. It is experiencing significant growth. However, it doesn’t have enough room for the new members that are added every week. It is quite remarkable what’s going on. This is what has happened in the last thirty days.

A young man from Heredia, who was baptized by Church of Christ missionaries in Switzerland, while visiting there last year for three months, showed up last Sunday morning and wanted to place membership. Last week, two families from a nearby neighborhood who used to attend a church in another town, decided to place membership with us (these two families make up a total of four adults and three children).  A family of four who used to be members of the Costa Rican congregation of the International Church of Christ, tired of authoritative leadership there, decided to become members in Heredia last Sunday morning. Just three weeks before, three adults (Victor, Aura, and Mauricio) from that same fellowship had become members too.

The church met at a rented facility North of Heredia on January 10, 2016

Most of the members we already had, and the new additions reported below are highly active in inviting others. Victor and Aura invited a Russian lady who is a Costa Rican resident and she came with her child to the worship service yesterday morning. A family of four who had to seek refuge in Costa Rica because of gang violence in El Salvador, decided that they will be members of the newly started congregation in San Rafael de Heredia, which meets every Sunday evening at my home. They met with us last night at the San Rafael church. So, the church is growing rapidly and there is potential for further growth in the near future, for both, the church in downtown Heredia, and the church in San Rafael of Heredia. By the way, the church in San Rafael of Heredia is an outgrowth of the church in Heredia.

The church in San Rafael de Heredia, January 17th, 2016

The midweek service in Heredia is devoted to those members who live nearby or have their own transportation to make it to church at night. There are other activities during the rest of the week. There is a prayer service on Fridays from 7 to 8:30 pm. The ladies meet on Thursday in the morning. The Youth Group is led by Kenneth and Darling who are very mature in Christ and are self-supported.

Growth is phenomenal, but we have not been able to retain many of the new arrivals because the facilities are not comfortable, and there is no room for the whole church to meet at once and develop deeper bonds of fellowship. This is why we are hesitant about the idea of splitting the crowd into two services on Sunday morning.

The present meeting place is located a block away from the city hospital named San Vicente de Paul, at the corner of Calle 16 and Avenida 16. The facility is a one story building of 1,900 square feet, of which the auditorium takes 1,300 square feet and the classroom area takes 600 square feet. The present sitting area for the worship service has capacity for 110 people in uncomfortable conditions (too hot and crowded).

Sunday School for adults, January 10, 2016 at the present location

Our facilities committee has been working hard on finding solutions and they came up with a project of a two story building. According to this project, the first floor will be enlarged to have a sitting capacity for 160 people in improved conditions. This will give us room for 50 extra people. The second floor will be devoted to classrooms and will have an area of 2,000 square feet. The estimated cost of this project is 100,000 dollars.

Project proposed by the facilities committee

The facilities committee not only produced the project, they also devised and started the execution of a plan to raise the funds among the local members. They asked that each member or family decide on a specific amount to give each month. In a matter of 22 months the amount raised is 14,000 dollars. Thankfully the weekly contribution has continued to be enough to meet the regular budget (about 500 dollars a week). However, in almost two years we have been able to raise only about 14 percent of what is needed for the remodeling project.

To sum it up, the church is at a critical threshold because a lot of people are arriving to place membership and many others come as visitors and need to be evangelized but we don’t have the conditions to make it attractive for them to want to stay. Please pray for us so that we will be able to meet the conditions for more people to be reached out in a meaningful way.

Bammel's mission work in Costa Rica (September, 2105)

Roxana loves to help with Sunday School children

Roxana and I continue to serve the Lord in Costa Rica because of the gracious support from all of you at the Bammel church. This support has allowed us to serve in the local church in the city of Heredia, during the last 7 years. During this time, because of God's grace, we have been able to minister to a church of more than 120 people, and start a new church in the nearby city of San Rafael. Our previous experience as missionaries in San José, Costa Rica, and Catacamas, Honduras enabled us to use an approach to mission work that has produced great results in the form of churches that are not dependent on our permanent presence.

Carlos and Roxana Ulate

By God's grace, we have learned to be the type of missionaries who empower locals to become the leaders of the church. This has enabled to serve other congregations in the country, where we are called on a regular basis to help them with workshops and special classes. Just last week, we spent two days with the church in La Fortuna, where Roxana and I facilitated a married couples workshop. The title of the workshop was "The way things were from the beginning," from Matthew 19:4. The local leaders in La Fortuna include Rolando Castro and Leonicio Arguedas, and they are completely self-supported. They were generous enough to provide abundantly for our stay there and our transportation to and from.

La Fortuna, San Carlos

La Fortuna, San Carlos

La Fortuna, San Carlos

Two months earlier, Roxana and I were invited to lead another workshop for couples, this time in the city of Cañas, province of Guanacaste. There were 16 couples present in this one. Herman Chandler, the local preacher, under US support, graciously invited us to teach at this workshop. They also provided for our transportation.

Cañas, Guanacaste

Cañas, Guanacaste

Cañas, Guanacaste

The church in Heredia is under the leadership of Roberto Ulate, Mateo Martínez, Didier Rojas, Daniel Delgado, Kenneth Matarrita, Andrés Hernández, and others who assist them. They are already holding their business meetings without me being present. They are actively engaged in what God's Word tells them to give attention to, namely, prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).

There is also a Facilities Committee in charge of a project that seeks to create the conditions for seating 250 people and provide a higher measure of comfort to those who attend. In March 2014, they called brothers and sisters to start a savings program for the church and after collecting a certain amount the church will ask for a loan. The process has been slow and the church keeps on growing in its membership, thank God. Therefore, there is pressure on them to make it a more comfortable and appropriate place, and they are actively engaged in the raising of the necessary funds.

It has been a great joy to work with the church in Heredia. The locals have a very high level of maturity that allows them to work peacefully as a team and with the complete absence of strife. To God be the glory for you at Bammel who have been so generous to support us.

Victorious Week

The Lord blessed us with the baptism of Jose, husband of Kim who was baptized just recently. Also Wanda, Ronny, and Christopher, children of Olman Brenes, long time member of this church, were baptized during the same week. Jose is another result of the Bible Study Group at the home of Walter and Sendry Castrillo. The church attendance went up to 122 people the following Sunday. The auditorium is no longer suitable for the size of the congregation. We manage with extra chairs.

The children of the church had their annual celebration on the Saturday of that week. It was a time of great fellowship for the adults too.

During the same week, the amount saved for the New Building Project hit the 3 million colones mark! (the equivalent of 6 thousand dollars) This project is totally local initiative. The Facilities Committee came up with a project for a two story building, and designed a plan to commit the members to give a monthly amount in order to have the startup money for such a project. The goal is to save 20 million colones (around 40 K) which the hope to reach by the end of 2016.

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.

Jesus rose so that we can rise

The resurrection of Jesus two thousand years ago is the foundation of our faith. The cause we live for rests or falls on the truthfulness of this event. The people I am helping bring to faith need to realize how powerful is God the Father, who was able to raise His son from the grave. The fact of the resurrection helps us in our rising to life in the Spirit. We are revived in our bodies and in our spirits. We keep burning like incense in prayer and fasting so that we get filled by the Spirit. Thanks to all of you at Bammel for giving Roxana and I the privilege of being your missionaries in Heredia, Costa Rica.

The church that meets in San Rafael de Heredia

Part of the group that attended the Nov. 2 service, being led in singing by Andrés Hernandez (outside the photo)

The  Lord has been gracious to us allowing us to reach out to the community of San Rafael de Heredia. There were 18 attending to the regular service on Sunday, November 2, 2014. Didier Rojas taught the Bible lesson. Andrés Hernández led the singing. The church in San Rafael is an outshoot of the church in downtown Heredia. It meets every Sunday at 6 pm. We still minister to the church in downtown Heredia on Sunday mornings. Roxana and I have moved back to San Rafael de Heredia after having lived for one year in San Pablo. We are using the house we rent in San Rafael for the church to meet here. As soon as we have enough membership, we will move to downtown San Rafael. Thanks to the Bammel church in Houston for supporting us in this work and the work in Heredia. The Bammel church has been faithful in providing this support. We deeply appreciate it.

God keeps adding to the fellowship

Diddier Rojas, wife Ericka, and two children were added to this fellowship. Before this, they had been faithful members for 15 years at another fellowship —the Internationan Church of Christ, in downtown San José. We have been aboundantly blessed by their decision. I had met Diddier in the Campus of Universidad Nacional where we are both professors of English. My involvenment with this University allowed me to spend several times with him in which I shared with him about the exciting developments God has been doing in the Heredia church. The friendship we developed allowed us to discover the many interests in Christ we have in common. So, he eventually came with his family, checked us out, and decided the congregation was good for them.

Diddier and Ericka have been with us for the last six months. Their committment is outstanding. We really appreciate the leadership they provide. Diddier and I are working together in restoring others back to the Lord. Ericka is helping with the ladies. God is using Diddier as a Bible teacher in Heredia and in San Rafael. It's just great to count on him.

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