Saved Couples

The Lord has blessed us with the salvation of both spouses in many cases. Just recently, Yaneth, Alvaro Lorías´s fiancé was baptized into Christ. We are excited to share with you the pictures of other couples that we have been working with.

Gerardo Hernández is baptized!

Gerardo Hernández happens to be the father of Andrés Hernández, who married my daughter Rebeca on January 20th. Gerardo is also the husband of Miriam Brenes, one of the members who helped start the church fourteen years ago. Gerardo has been attending faithfully since 2007. We are excited about him making this decision. This family is very supportive. Two more of their children are also members (Carlos and Zianny). Miriam owns two clothing stores in town. Zianny owns another one in San Rafael de Heredia. Gerardo has a store within the Central Market in Heredia. Andrés and Carlos are engineers who work for local companies. May God be glorified for the whole family being now in the Lord!

Jesus rose so 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.

June-July 2012

The month of July is atypical because of the school break. It is a two week break when many families leave town to go to other places. This shows in the attendance for that month.

During the month of July we had the baptism of Héctor, a cousin of us who lives near Jaco Beach, two hours away from Heredia. Hector has been attending an evangelical church accross street from where he lives. However, they hadn't baptized him, so, one Sunday he was in Heredia, Roberto Ulate shared with him the gospel after the services, and baptized him two hours later. Héctor keeps in touch with us and wants to learn more about non denominational christianity. We would love to visit him very regularly so that we can help him grow and mature and start a church in Jaco Beach.

Fellowship in Heredia is everyday more meaningful. More and more members are learning to help one another. Norberto, one of the men we have been working with, is in charge of a group in Belen, one of the towns around Heredia. He has matured to the point of being able to lead a group, where he has up to 10 people involved. They meet for Bible study and prayer every Friday night.

Roxana Ulate did the same thing with a group of ladies in San Rafael de Heredia. There are up to 8 ladies coming to a Bible study and prayer group that meets on Monday night.

Mery and Milady started another group of ladies in downtown Heredia. They meet for Bible study and prayer. There have been up to seven ladies in this group.

Kenneth Matarrita is publishing a monthly newsletter with articles written by members of the church.

The Lord has led us to this kind of work that consists in equipping His people for works of service instead of this missionary being like "the pastor of the church."

We have learned to get off the Lord´s path, so that it is He who builds the house (Psalms 127).

April and May 2012

And the Lord added to their number... (Acts 2.47)

One of the Monteros is back! This is Luis. We thought we had lost him. It is just that he was   obligated to work on Sundays, and at night during the week. He was moved to another position in the company, with a more convenient schedule. Luis is a great young man with a very sensitive heart.

We had one more baptism in April, a lady who lived in the States for several years. She moved back to Heredia and lives with one of her adult children. She has been very faithful. A young lady we baptized back in March has also stayed faithful. I mention this because it is the result of the Lord working through Milady, one of the most mature young ladies here. As soon as I baptized her, I asked Milady to take care of the new convert, to make sure that she continued to study the Scriptures. This shows that we still care for the person after he or she is baptized. Milady has been faithful to the request and keeps going once a week with her sister Andrea to see the new convert. Sometimes transportation was an issue, so my brother Roberto got involved when this was needed. Roxana and I keep doing this with people who are already members because we understand that grounding others in the faith is a process that takes time and patience.

The most important result is the transformation occurring in people's lives. A lot of people are being blessed with more meaningful lives. People are learning to develop relationships where they help one another according to the "one another passages" of the New Testament. Working with people can also be a source of much disappointment and heartache, but we keep our eyes on the Lord, remembering that we haven't resisted to the point of shedding our blood (Hebrews 12.4).

A goal in view

The goal of planting a new church in a nearby town is still in view. For this goal to be accomplished a local leadership has to be in place. This local leadership has to be able to function in my absence. Ideally, there will be no need for my presence in Heredia. This goal is being accomplished little by little as the local members grow and mature and take on responsibilities.

As of today, the treasury is the responsibility of a committee under the direction of Daniel Delgado. The facilities are being kept by another committee under the direction of Randall Sanchez. The benevolence is under a duo of ladies: Damaris García and Noris Milanes. The organization of the worship services is the responsibility of Roberto Ulate. Norberto Ross is a musician by profession, so he is in charge of those who lead the singing. Damaris leads the ladies meeting on Thursday morning. The children ministry is still under the leadership of Roxana, but she is sharing this with Raquel Urquilla.

The Lord is sending workers into His harvest field!

A brother from Dominican Republic is in the process of moving his family to Costa Rica. His name is Mateo Martínez. He has been with us since the end of last year. Heredia is home to many outsourcing companies that provide services to powerful transnationals, and Mateo was brought from his country to serve as a senior engineer in charge of production of certain parts for the IPad and the IPhone. Mateo grew up in the church. His father is an elder in one of the largest churches of Christ in Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic. His wife and one daughter already came to check out the country. We are praying that they will make a decision soon. If they get to stay, we would love to consider him to be one of the elders here. Mateo has won the hearts of the members here. He has given us a testimony of good fruits. His love for the Lord and for people is evident. Plus, he is very talented and very well trained in teaching, so we asked him to be in charge of the Sunday School teaching for adults. He has been doing this in the last two months. He has training in counseling for couples and keeps a web page with articles for couples. Isn't the Lord great? He blesses us with able servants and workers for His harvest. We realize now that this is an answer to our prayers asking Him to send workers into His harvest field.

HCP still active

We still have the group called HCP (Men with Purpose in Spanish). There are five of us who hardly ever miss a meeting. We meet on Mondays from 8 pm through 10 or 10:30. This group has become a source of support and growth for me. Roberto, Norberto, Álvaro, Luis and I get together and talk and pray about the things we are struggling with as husbands, as parents, as individuals (character flaws), etc. First, we sit in a circle, then we comment on a key passage, after this we share personal stuff, and finally each one of us prays for the one next to our right, and go around doing this until the circle is completed. This really keeps us from spiritual danger and it actually helps us grow and develop our character as Christian men (the promise of Ephesians 4.16). This is not the only source of support. We have also developed close friendships during the week as we call one another and get together in pairs for a cup of coffee. We make sure that we have at least one of these personal encounters a week.

January-March 2012

Dear brothers and sisters at Bammel:

Your continued support has helped this missionary make a difference in the lives of many. May the Lord continue to be glorified through you. Our work with individuals, families and groups is very intense. I am involved in the teaching and the training of workers. There is potential for a new congregation to start being planted out of Heredia very soon. About 15 of the people who may be members of this new congregation are already members in Heredia. The Lord keeps adding to the Heredia church. Things are falling into place so that the Heredia church will be able to continue functioning as strongly as it is doing in the present. For example, there are members who are learning to care for other members. There are women taking care of other women, men taking care of other men, and young people taking care of young people.

What we need to make a move to starting a new congregation is a leadership in place in Heredia. We need especially a preacher who could do part time work. We also need more members being able to do evangelistic work. The teaching and the personal training is geared towards helping locals become true witnesses of God's power in their lives. People who are experiencing transformation get motivated to help others in finding the Lord.

During the last three months, new members have been added on to the fellowship. A couple, a family of three, a family of four, and an individual were added. This makes a total of 10 people added. Three adults from these groups were baptized. The rest are children or adults who had already been baptized at another church. There is the loss of one family, though. These are the Monteros. They are no longer worshiping with us due to their own internal problems (three orphan children, under the care of three adult brothers). We have reached out to them. They are not mad at us. It is just that they were out of touch due to difficult work schedules, and were not receiving very much needed encouragement. Bottom line,we gained ten, but lost six, with a net gain of four members.

December 2011

When Jesus saw the people coming to Him for healing, he felt compassion for them because "they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd". After this, the Lord said that "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few". Then He asked His disciples to "beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His field". The church in Jerusalem did this and "they began to speak the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). The church in Antioch did it too (Acts 13), and the Lord actually sent workers into His field.

Today many people are still coming to the Lord for healing, and they are still "dispirited and distressed, like sheep without shepherd" because their marriages are failing, their homes are breaking, their children are going the wrong way, and many feel lonely and unloved. People truly need the Shepherd Jesus.

We at Heredia understand this, and we have beseeched the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field. We are beginning to see His answer to our prayer. Some of us are truly experiencing His healing touch in our marriages, families and personal lives. Jesus has truly become our Shepherd. In the process we have learned to feel compassion and have gotten excited to the point of wanting to learn how to help others receive the same healing. Some of the people we are working with are already expressing their concern for others and want to become the Lord's workers to help others in their personal growth.

Now, how do you help them become the Lord's workers? The answer is in many places in the Bible, but we focus in Ephesians 4.11-16. Church leaders are to equip "the saints for the work of service, until we all attain the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." The tricky part is this equipping. How do you actually equip the saints? Do you sit them in classrooms and hammer the principles into them? Well, classroom teaching is necessary but it doesn't seem to be enough. According to verses 15 and 16, it is accomplished by "the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies." The "proper working of each individual part" is essential.

We have tried to put these principles from Ephesians 4 into practice. When you and another Christian get together to pray for one another on a regular basis, it really "causes the growth of the body." It takes personal involvement of those who are more mature in the lives of those who are in the process. It takes being "devoted to one another in brotherly love" (Romans 12.10). Growth occurs when members are encouraged by the transformation they see in each other's lives. This transformation is a testimony of God's power.

The results are not really visible at the beginning. We hope that there will be more visible growth in the months to come. Thanks to all of you at Bammel for being so supportive of our work in Costa Rica.

November 2011

It has been very encouraging to see people respond to God´s love. I have been working with men during the last two years, and the Lord has been very gracious to bless us with significant results. There are men who I met before they were baptized. They were hurting a lot because of the wrong path they had chosen regarding relationships, and the pain they had caused others. But then, a few months of sharing God´s Word with them, and sticking to them with a sincere friendship in private and group sessions were God's ways to help them find healing and wholeness. It is really encouraging to see them today full of joy and hope, and being able to lead others in prayer and presenting God's message with humility and the conviction that it can help others just as much as it is helping them. I have been able to devote time to this endeavors because of the support that I receive from you at Bammel. May the Lord continue to bless you and prosper you.

My part time position at Universidad Nacional has allowed me to keep ties with professors and students with whom I share these thoughts, and very soon they are asking questions about who we are, what we believe in, etc. Most of my colleagues seem to lead very satisfying lives, but there have been occasions in which a professor or a student who is hurting because of divorce or loneliness, has accepted my counseling and praying with them in a private session, in a classroom.

Universidad Nacional is headquartered in Heredia, and it has Campuses in other provinces of Costa Rica. There are students from all over the country. We need to penetrate the Heredia Campus to be able to attract students who will eventually go back to their provinces with God's Word in their hearts. This is a plan that can be easily be implemented next school cycle beginning at the end of January 2012. Please pray for us to receive more strength from the Lord to do this deserving work. The fields are truly ripe for harvest, but the workers are few.

October 2011

This month was significant in many ways.

First, on October 17, because of an act of God (see below), we had to move to San Rafael, a town just 5 minutes North of Heredia. This may mean that our plan to start new works around Heredia has received a blessing from the Lord. He is for it. San Rafael is one of the towns around Heredia where there is no New Testament church. There is the Catholic church of course, and a large protestant congregation. As soon as we have men who are able to preach and take my place in Heredia, we will be able to start having Sunday morning services in San Rafael. There are three families who are members in Heredia who could become members here.

Second, Insurance companies call "acts of God" those events that are caused by the effect of nature or natural causes. Well, it rained in Central America for almost two weeks in a row, during the first and second week of the month. So, the creek that used to run about 60 yards away from the back of our home, and 50 feet below, got too strong and the waters washed up the left bank and the foundations of 7 out of 9 homes were damaged beyond repair. Our home was one of those damaged, and we were ordered to evacuate. On October 17th we had to look for a home to rent somewhere else. Thankfully no one was injured. However, it was very sad to see ourselves having to move out of a home we had occupied for almost 20 years. Tears were shed. Thankfully the church in Heredia helped with the moving. The Bammel church helped us with the first three months of rent. We are truly thankful for this support, and praise God for you.

One girl was baptized. She was evangelized previously by the church in Barva. She is part of a family that had placed membership in Heredia. This family is from San Rafael so she may become a member of the future church in San Rafael in the future.

I continue to work with people on a personal basis. I continue to focus on the men. It is truly a blessing to be able to help others grow spiritually to the point of being able to have a personal relationship with the Lord. We also need them to grow to the point of being able to help others do the same. In a typical encounter we get together for coffee. The conversation flows naturally to the needs we may be experiencing. After listening to each other, we turn to the Bible for answers from the Lord. Then we look for a place where we can pray for one another.

In the Support Group for Men, we are focusing on praying for the things God wants us to pray for. We look at Paul's requests for prayers, the Lord's prayer, the experience of the Lord in Gethsemane, the prayers for those in authority, etc. Then we organize the prayers so that they reflect what is taught in these passages. The group has become meaningful and instrumental for the growth of those who attend. We wonder where we would be spiritually if it wasn't for this activity the Lord recommends in His Word.

The Pan-american Lectures where held in Costa Rica this year. There were more than 100 Christians from the States. I was asked to preach for the Sunday morning service, where Heredia and two other Costa Rican churches met with these North Americans. I am sure there were more than 200 people attending. More information later.

September 2011

It was a fruitful month. A single adult was baptized. I continue to teach him through personal Bible studies on Thursday mornings. He and his mother run a seafood restaurant in nearby town Santa Barbara. He just graduated from Universidad Nacional. Silvia Ulate, Roberto's daughter from a previous marriage, has returned to the fellowship. She asked for Bible studies to learn how to help other people find the Lord. So, we already had our first session, at my mother's home, where she lives. Roberto rejoices in the Lord, because we have been praying for Silvia to return since two years ago. And now she is back with us! Silvia has English as her second language, and has a lot of training in customer service. So she is never without a job, because there is always a call center wanting her.

Norberto and I continue to reach out to his friends. The Support Group for men continues to meet every Thursday at 8 pm. The two Breneses and the two Ulates, plus Norberto, Alvaro, Daniel, and Guillermo continue to encourage one another through prayer and fellowship. The Lord has truly blessed us with the growth promised in Ephesians 4.16. All of us are going through trials and tribulations. We have learned to appreciate the Lord's "I will be with you's" in those moments when we most hurt. We understand that God is to be praised, He wants to boast about us being faithful even when things aren't going well. We have been blessed for the praise of His glory. The men I am working with are hanging in there. They keep being faithful and excited about the Lord, in spite of experiencing, like Paul, a thorn in the flesh.

August, 2011

 The following link will take you to a video of the men who lead singing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyUMoBGWUh0

Norberto Ross, born in Cuba, and now a Costa Rican citizen, is a musician by profession. He teaches music at a local school. He is meeting with those men who are interested in song leading and is teaching them new songs. They in turn teach the new songs to the church.

Most of the men who were elected as leaders five years ago had gotten too busy with work and ended up not being able to attend business meetings. So, a new group was elected that includes those who can attend: Roberto Ulate, Norberto Ross, Daniel Delgado, Kenneth Matarrita, Daniel Montero, and me. Ignacio Soto, the Brenes brothers and Andrés continue to be involved in helping in their respective areas, which don't involve attending business meetings. The new group made a commitment before the church that they will be fulfilling their responsibilities as leaders. Namely, they will be helping with organizing the different areas of work.

Freddy Ramírez, the husband of one of the ladies, was baptized! Freddy had been a visitor for four years. Bob and Geoff were present when he married Jessica Soto in January, 2010. Well, he has finally made the decision. Freddy and Jessica just celebrated the arrival of their second child. Sebastian was born on August 22. We rejoiced recently with Freddy's entire family as the newborn was presented to the church.

We have been reaching out to quite a few people and putting long hours into counseling and personal Bible studies. The results are difficult to see. We keep focused on glorifying God so that we don't get tired. In other words, we do the work because God deserves it; not because we expect results to be motivated. Norberto has been a tireless worker with me. He is so excited about the Lord and the healing he has received, that he can't help but reach out to relatives and co-workers. I have spent a few hours helping him minister to his brother and his brother's spouse. One of his co-workers is attending the Men's Support Group and we have spent time with him too.

On a more reflective note… we have been using what I call a relational approach to the work. People receive influence through relationships. The Word is shared with people who listen to you because they see a transformation in your life. Authentic transformation occurs as a result of a personal relationship with God. The importance of personal relationships cannot be overemphasized, as the Scriptures reveal all too clearly the need for each member to be vitally connected to the body. The connection is organic not organizational.

This is why I devote so many hours to personal work and to developing a personal friendship with some of the men. And the effort has paid off. A few have been influenced who are in turn influencing others. There is no formula; there will never be one. I have heard of movements who thought that they discovered the right formula, and tried to franchise it. This resulted in a lot of growth initially. However, a lot of control had to be exerted to make sure that the right formula was being applied and the whole thing collapsed.

I am aware that the organizational aspect of the work needs to be improved, though. There is a need for more efforts in this area. There is a need for the church to reach out to those who are not covered by the "relational umbrella." This is why an "organizational umbrella" will be implemented in the near future, so that those members who are not regular in their attendance will be reached out to and encouraged. The good thing is that the "relational umbrella" created the conditions, namely, willing workers, who are already prepared and motivated to organize themselves to do this work.

July 2011

The church in Heredia continues to fulfill its God given purpose.

See assembly figures for July at: http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html
There is a school break during the first and second week of July. Many people were gone out of town on the second Sunday of July. This explains the low attendance on that Sunday.

The work is difficult. It involves helping others in their healing process. Still others are not yet aware of their need to heal. Many who allow us to draw closer to them, are truly growing, and helping others do the same. The teaching and the preaching are focussed on learning to see God as a Father who is truly present in the good and in the bad times. A lot of effort is devoted to the development of a personal relationship with God, so that all of us may feel truly loved by Him. Those members who learn to see the Lord as the only source of true and perfect love, are the ones who grow spiritually and become effective in their influence of others. They keep me busy with contacts. The transition from influencing a member and then influencing others through him or her has been successfully implemented. This work doesn't provide dramatic numeric growth, but it provides the foundations for leadership and future church planting.

A group from the Cedar Hill Church, Texas, was here for ten days. They were led by former missionary Ron McClung, and one of the elders, Rob Frankee. Their presence generated quite a flow of visitors to the church building. Anticipating this, the local leaders had planned a series of gospel meetings to be held during four nights. I preached two of the nights and Ron preached the other two. There were attendances of 80 and 100 people. 10 members came forward asking for prayers to be restored, and two teenagers were baptized.


The ones baptized were Adonis, son of Roberto and Noris Ulate, and Brenda, daughter of Alexis and Frida Mora. They are 17. Since they have been in the list of teenagers, their baptisms can not be interpreted as an addition of members.

May and June 2011

 As usual, see assembly figures at:
http://carlosulatecostarica.blogspot.com/p/statistics.html

Sorry for the lack of data in some of the weeks.

Enlargement and remodeling of the auditorium were completed. The church has enough room for Sunday morning services. It really makes a difference in comfort. Two new Sunday School classrooms were set up and finished in the area where the resident family used to live (This family moved back to Nicaragua). I will be posting pictures of the auditorium very soon.

Rebeca Ulate in the Babies Class

Here I am sharing a picture of Rebeca Ulate in the Babies Sunday School room.


Responsibilities are being fulfilled by the different people in charge —Roberto Ulate coordinates the worship services, Norberto Ross coordinates the song leaders, Daniel Delgado is the treasurer, Luis Montero is in charge of facilities, Andrés Delgado leads the Youth Group, Damaris García leads the Ladies on Thursday morning, Roxana Ulate is the Sunday School director. I am still in charge of coordinating the preaching, and the Support Group for Men.  Andrés Hernández is now the chairman of the Business Meetings (technically I am now under their direction).

Jéssica and Fátima

Now, I am sharing a cute picture of Jéssica and Fátima, when they where showered by the ladies. In the picture they are pointing at the name of the baby they are expecting. Those are boy's names. Hopefully no surprise with them being girls.

By the way, Fátima's husband is Ismael Álvarez, a 34 year old Nicaraguan immigrant. He has developed to become someone who can do the preaching on Sunday morning. God has blessed him with public speaking talents. He is also very faithful and attends all activities. He is part of the group of men the church can count on for leadership and teaching.

God has used the Support Group for Men to provide us with men that we can count on.  There are 6 men who have become loyal to the group. They are truly growing spiritually, and they are learning to help other men. When they go to other men, to try to restore them, they have the Scriptures and a powerful testimony of their own, about how much the Lord has turned them around.

We have learned to appreciate the fact that many men are hurting because they are losing or have lost their families. The reason for this loss is common —somewhere they lost their leadership or never developed leadership as a result of not having been faithful to the Lord. Somehow, they hadn't learned to see God as the Father He truly is. If one is not convinced deep in his heart that he is truly a child of God, he needs to find ways to keep his self-esteem high. Usually these ways of keeping his self-esteem high end up hurting others, especially his wife and children, by neglecting them and not learning to love them in a way that meet their needs, or by becoming abusive and difficult to bear with. The wife and the children get tired of such a husband or father, and then he doesn't know what to do to recover their love and respect. This reaction from the family usually worsen his behaviour and attitudes, and then they are bound to become a broken home. In some of the cases we have worked with, the man is already starting a new home with another woman with children, and the pattern is about to be repeated. This is where the Lord is using us to be His instruments to bring hope and healing to men who then can be used to help other men. The Lord has led us to experience the blessings of growing in our sonship, and appreciating His Fatherhood. This is what the Gospel is supposed to produce. This is what salvation is supposed to be. We usually tell men that the Lord wants to save us from ourselves.

What about the women? Well, most of the women in the Thursday morning group have lost their husbands or live with husbands who are not members of the church. So they help one another with prayer and Bible study to be able to cope with their circumstances. They have been doing this longer than the men, so they are ahead of us in their growth and have healed from their wounds. Little by little they have brought other women around. Eunice, Griselda, and Lucy are names I can remember.

May the Lord continue to help us with this ministry. The people at Bammel who are supporting this work can rest assured that the Lord is using them to bring blessings to the lives of many people in Costa Rica.