This is a mini documentary of the places, faces, and ways Jesus is working in the towns of Los Guido, Tejarcillos, and La Carpio through Iglesia Nueva Vida. A nine minute montage telling the 10 day story of 19 individuals who answered the call to GO in 2009.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
A Letter From Mark
The following is an email we received from Mark Kuzdas (CLF Costa Rica Missionary). We thought we'd share it with you...
Just a quick note to thank you and the team! Because of your obedience to the call of the Lord, our CLFCR team was blessed, the New Life Churches of Los Guido and Tejarcillos were blessed, a young leadership team was wonderfully blessed, and many were eternally blessed as they put their trust in the Lord for the first time.
Our prayer is that God blesses you and the CBC church family many times more, in amazing and tangible ways, because of your love and sacrifice for the people of Costa Rica so far away.
As your team pulled away, I said "mission accomplished!"
Already looking forward to the next time...
Mark
Christian Light Foundation Costa Rica
Just a quick note to thank you and the team! Because of your obedience to the call of the Lord, our CLFCR team was blessed, the New Life Churches of Los Guido and Tejarcillos were blessed, a young leadership team was wonderfully blessed, and many were eternally blessed as they put their trust in the Lord for the first time.
Our prayer is that God blesses you and the CBC church family many times more, in amazing and tangible ways, because of your love and sacrifice for the people of Costa Rica so far away.
As your team pulled away, I said "mission accomplished!"
Already looking forward to the next time...
Mark
Christian Light Foundation Costa Rica
Friday, January 8, 2010
Home Safe
We arrived at LAX at 11 P.M. last night and made it through customs in less time than expected. Our bus picked us up and delivered us to CBC at around 2 A.M. Everyone is home AND safe! Thank you for your prayers and support.
Join us NEXT SUNDAY (JANUARY 17th) as we share all about our trip. You don't want to miss the stories, videos, and pictures!!!
Community Bible Church
324 West 40th Street
San Bernardino, CA 92407
http://www.VisitCBC.com
Our Last Day
by Jen Hinkle and Naomi Martinez
Wow! What an eventful trip. It is Thursday, January 7th at 1pm and we have already had such a rewarding day. We had the pleasure of taking the kids from the leadership team to shop for clothes. This was such a blessing for us to watch the joy in their faces as the picked out the shirt they wanted. There is one memory that will stick with us forever. One of the little girls brought us a shirt she had chosen. It was beautiful and she was glowing. She had asked one of the group leaders something in Spanish, and the leader answered “no it’s ok.” I (Naomi) asked what she had said; the little girl had asked if the shirt was too expensive, that shirt was priced at $8! What a humbling situation. God has blessed us to the point that we don’t even realize how blessed we are sometimes. Our prayer is that we would be a grateful people!
Later on we took them to McDonalds (something they never get!). After lunch the kids had such a fun time in the play place! They might have gone down slides for over an hour. They had a blast. However, it quickly came time for our tearful goodbyes. Our hearts were heavy as we hugged the kids. We will miss them but they will always be close to our hearts.
We had such an amazing time here in Costa Rica. God has done and incredible work in all of our hearts. He has stretched us and molded us into new people. As this trip comes to a close we are honored that the God of this universe chose us to be a part of his story in such a magnificent way. What a good God we serve; A God that loves his people so much that he would take a group of sloppy Americans into forgotten Costa Rican communities to share his Gospel of Love. We truly believe that the mission we set out to accomplish was a success. That mission was to grow in Christ, encourage the church, and expand the kingdom. WHAT A GOOD GOD WE SERVE!!!
We will soon be on a plane home and we can’t wait to share more of our experiences with you. Again, we thank everybody for their support financially and in prayer.
Wow! What an eventful trip. It is Thursday, January 7th at 1pm and we have already had such a rewarding day. We had the pleasure of taking the kids from the leadership team to shop for clothes. This was such a blessing for us to watch the joy in their faces as the picked out the shirt they wanted. There is one memory that will stick with us forever. One of the little girls brought us a shirt she had chosen. It was beautiful and she was glowing. She had asked one of the group leaders something in Spanish, and the leader answered “no it’s ok.” I (Naomi) asked what she had said; the little girl had asked if the shirt was too expensive, that shirt was priced at $8! What a humbling situation. God has blessed us to the point that we don’t even realize how blessed we are sometimes. Our prayer is that we would be a grateful people!
Later on we took them to McDonalds (something they never get!). After lunch the kids had such a fun time in the play place! They might have gone down slides for over an hour. They had a blast. However, it quickly came time for our tearful goodbyes. Our hearts were heavy as we hugged the kids. We will miss them but they will always be close to our hearts.
We had such an amazing time here in Costa Rica. God has done and incredible work in all of our hearts. He has stretched us and molded us into new people. As this trip comes to a close we are honored that the God of this universe chose us to be a part of his story in such a magnificent way. What a good God we serve; A God that loves his people so much that he would take a group of sloppy Americans into forgotten Costa Rican communities to share his Gospel of Love. We truly believe that the mission we set out to accomplish was a success. That mission was to grow in Christ, encourage the church, and expand the kingdom. WHAT A GOOD GOD WE SERVE!!!
We will soon be on a plane home and we can’t wait to share more of our experiences with you. Again, we thank everybody for their support financially and in prayer.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Turrialba Volcano
Yesterday a local volcano began to erupt sending clouds of ash into the sky and causing some small mountain communities to be evacuated. Today San Jose and all surrounding cities (which includes us) were put on alert out of fear that a larger eruption may be coming. Basically, we just have to keep the windows closed (because of the ash) and be prepared for "small" earthquakes...lucky for us, we live in California and are accustomed to "small" earthquakes. Anyways, everything is fine. We are updating you just in case you see something on the news...please know that we are SAFE!
Finishing Strong, No Matter Our Struggles
by Spenser Carnes
We had a lot to finish today and this being our last full day we had to get an early start. We met at 6:45 A.M. but even then we made sure to start the day off worshipping the Lord and focusing our attention on Him. After a short breakfast we were off to La Finca for a day of work projects and playing with the kids. We had the majority of the benches to finish staining and then we put a final coat of lacquer on each of them. It was an amazing sight looking out over the grass and watching both Americans (Gringos) and Costa Ricans (Ticos) working together.
After lunch we still had some benches to finish and later the team was split up to start on other projects. One group was to make cement and repair a low wall that leaked sewage onto the grounds. Another was to dig a trench to lead it away from the buildings. After we had completed our projects It was a quick run back to the mission house to clean up and prepare for the trip out to Tejarcillos.
We have focused on Los Guido the majority of our time here and today was our first visit to the people of Tejarcillos. Scott and Naomi led us in bilingual worship and afterward a group from the church put on a short skit depicting the story of Jesus raising a girl to life. We had seen this skit many times in VBS but it still gave me chills to watch it; not knowing Spanish it still made clear to me the awesome power of Christ. Pastor Rogelio (the Pastor of New Life Church of Tejarcillos) spoke from Colossians 2:1&2 which talks about being encouraged and knit together in love. He focused on our struggles and that even though our lives are full of them we should be encouraged by them. We must seek God to be in our lives more than ever. It is God who gets us through our struggles and we need to live lives that please Him no matter what. It was a short sermon in a small rented out room but the power of God shown through to touch us all.
We had dinner with the Tejarcillos church and visited with the community before heading back to the mission house. Though it was a short night for us in Tejarcillos, we were able to see the many struggles that they face. Yet they are being called to rise above all that stands against living for Jesus just as we are called to back home.
Last year Jenna Grotewold ate a GIANT worm for $50. Kelsi got the same offer...did she do it??? Hmmm. You'll have to come to CBC on January 17th to find out. Yes, she looks as though she would never eat a worm BUT those of you who know her also know that she is incredibly CHEAP and would do almost anything for money...
Hebrews 10:39 "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed but of those who believe and are saved."
We had a lot to finish today and this being our last full day we had to get an early start. We met at 6:45 A.M. but even then we made sure to start the day off worshipping the Lord and focusing our attention on Him. After a short breakfast we were off to La Finca for a day of work projects and playing with the kids. We had the majority of the benches to finish staining and then we put a final coat of lacquer on each of them. It was an amazing sight looking out over the grass and watching both Americans (Gringos) and Costa Ricans (Ticos) working together.
After lunch we still had some benches to finish and later the team was split up to start on other projects. One group was to make cement and repair a low wall that leaked sewage onto the grounds. Another was to dig a trench to lead it away from the buildings. After we had completed our projects It was a quick run back to the mission house to clean up and prepare for the trip out to Tejarcillos.
We have focused on Los Guido the majority of our time here and today was our first visit to the people of Tejarcillos. Scott and Naomi led us in bilingual worship and afterward a group from the church put on a short skit depicting the story of Jesus raising a girl to life. We had seen this skit many times in VBS but it still gave me chills to watch it; not knowing Spanish it still made clear to me the awesome power of Christ. Pastor Rogelio (the Pastor of New Life Church of Tejarcillos) spoke from Colossians 2:1&2 which talks about being encouraged and knit together in love. He focused on our struggles and that even though our lives are full of them we should be encouraged by them. We must seek God to be in our lives more than ever. It is God who gets us through our struggles and we need to live lives that please Him no matter what. It was a short sermon in a small rented out room but the power of God shown through to touch us all.
We had dinner with the Tejarcillos church and visited with the community before heading back to the mission house. Though it was a short night for us in Tejarcillos, we were able to see the many struggles that they face. Yet they are being called to rise above all that stands against living for Jesus just as we are called to back home.
Last year Jenna Grotewold ate a GIANT worm for $50. Kelsi got the same offer...did she do it??? Hmmm. You'll have to come to CBC on January 17th to find out. Yes, she looks as though she would never eat a worm BUT those of you who know her also know that she is incredibly CHEAP and would do almost anything for money...
Hebrews 10:39 "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed but of those who believe and are saved."
Our Sabbath
By Megan Wylie and Andréa Johnson
For our day of rest, we got up before the sun and headed out to Manuel Antonio. Although it was hard to leave the kids, it was nice to be able to take a day to relax. The drive out was long but full of God's beautiful jungle! Once we reached Manuel Antonio, we all went down to the beach-which was breathtaking! You literally walk out of the jungle onto the soft, sandy beach. We all hit the waves and the water was perfect! A little salty and warm, but amazing. After that, we parted ways. Some of us continued to lounge on the beach (Andréa), some of us went kayaking (Megan), some of us went and explored the mysterious jungle (where we saw monkeys and sloths), and some of us walked around the town. We all met up for a spectacular dinner at El Avion, where we ate delicious food while the sun was setting over the vast ocean and jungle. It was truly an amazing experience for us all to witness God's beautiful creation at work.
Even though it was our day of rest, we were able to talk and minister to lots of people from all over the world who were also visiting Manuel Antonio. Our adventures did not stop at the beach...on our way home, we got a flat tire...luckily Cori (our bus-driver) and Conway were able to change it out quickly while Noemy (a local and friend of the missionaries) cautioned other cars. We were sad to leave, but it was a day of relaxation that was much needed, and a fun day of hanging out as a team and enjoying God's beauty. We are excited to get back to the kids and back to work at La Finca tomorrow!
These pictures were all taken by Kayla Romero during her hike through the National Forest. Enjoy!!!
For our day of rest, we got up before the sun and headed out to Manuel Antonio. Although it was hard to leave the kids, it was nice to be able to take a day to relax. The drive out was long but full of God's beautiful jungle! Once we reached Manuel Antonio, we all went down to the beach-which was breathtaking! You literally walk out of the jungle onto the soft, sandy beach. We all hit the waves and the water was perfect! A little salty and warm, but amazing. After that, we parted ways. Some of us continued to lounge on the beach (Andréa), some of us went kayaking (Megan), some of us went and explored the mysterious jungle (where we saw monkeys and sloths), and some of us walked around the town. We all met up for a spectacular dinner at El Avion, where we ate delicious food while the sun was setting over the vast ocean and jungle. It was truly an amazing experience for us all to witness God's beautiful creation at work.
Even though it was our day of rest, we were able to talk and minister to lots of people from all over the world who were also visiting Manuel Antonio. Our adventures did not stop at the beach...on our way home, we got a flat tire...luckily Cori (our bus-driver) and Conway were able to change it out quickly while Noemy (a local and friend of the missionaries) cautioned other cars. We were sad to leave, but it was a day of relaxation that was much needed, and a fun day of hanging out as a team and enjoying God's beauty. We are excited to get back to the kids and back to work at La Finca tomorrow!
These pictures were all taken by Kayla Romero during her hike through the National Forest. Enjoy!!!
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