A child on the way, moving again, blessed with a car, another family visit - life on the field continues with wonderful and difficult moments! Although we titled the last blog post “What A Month,” it would be a fitting title for this month as well!
Last month, we had the opportunity to do a coordinated youth service with a local church in La Carpio, led mainly by young adults. It was encouraging and refreshing to see locals, especially people around our age, reaching the community for Christ. The time was edifying, and many of our youth showed up. We hope to continue partnering with them to foster an ecumenical spirit, reach the youth of La Carpio, and even the community as a whole.
At our local church, Hannah was asked to preach on Mother’s Day weekend, without them knowing that she was actually pregnant! It is funny how God works at times, and she delivered a sermon about Abigail (found in 1 Samuel 25) and announced to the church the blessed news. It was a special Sunday, to say the least.
In addition to our role of ministering to the youth, young adults, and families, we also strive to help bring clarity, organization, and development to the ministry. Hannah and I had a meeting with our Director, where we fleshed out and deepened some of the essentials of our ministry: What is our vision? What is our mission? What are our values? Along with those, we have helped create a Code of Conduct for leaders that will be a great tool going forward as the ministry grows and new leaders join. There are other things, specifically within the Youth and Young Adults ministry, we have implemented and are continuing to develop with the goal of strengthening the ministry. We find ourselves continuously asking God for wisdom so that we may lead well.
One important piece of leadership counsel we received from one of our pastors, is that leadership does not imply resolving all tension, rather managing it in a godly manner. Being in a new culture and with situations always occurring that test us in one way or another, we find ourselves constantly as students, learning and adapting so that we can respond with wisdom.
For the 2nd time ever, we had an All-Leaders meeting with the missionaries and locals from each of the ministries within the alliance. It was a fruitful time, as our team’s intimacy grew in the moments of food, fellowship, and discussing crucial topics together.
One of the undeniable highlights of this past month was when we had one of our young adults over for her birthday weekend, and we got to celebrate with her. She is one of Hannah’s disciples, and it was a sweet and moving time as she had never celebrated her birthday even though she is already in her mid-20s. This was a time where we saw an answered prayer, that this young adult would feel the love, rest, and security of Christ being in the presence of the family of God. While many of these kids have a conflictive family life, we pray they come to know and see family through our team and ministry, for the glory of God.
Lastly, Hannah’s parents visited us for about 10 days, and we are grateful for their visit and the time with them. They got to see and participate in the ministry for a day, and together the four of us got to enjoy the beauties of Costa Rica.
While there were many great things that happened this month, there have been difficult and not as pleasant moments as well. Personally, we had to move again (the 4th time in 5+ months) due to a variety of reasons, yet we are hoping to find stability and permanence in this new house. As for the ministry, from abuse cases, unresolved conflicts among people, and backsliding, ministry can be hard at times, harder than what we expect. But just because it is hard does not mean it is not good. We are thankful to our partners who have supported us and given us wisdom in times of need, as well as other godly people in Costa Rica who have been here for us.
Preparing for the birth of our child, we are excited and also missing our family. It is challenging at times thinking about raising a child without our family around us, as we find comfort, peace, familiarity, and assurance with those we have known our whole lives. Nonetheless, that is the question I (Christopher) have found God challenging me with: if the presence of family comforts me, how much more should I be comforted knowing that God is truly with us? And that His presence, the Holy Spirit, is living in our Christ family, our brothers and sisters in faith? I must recognize our Father has not left us without His presence nor family, and that is the truth I find myself struggling with to accept.
PRAISE REPORTS:
- Continued fruit in a few of the disciples, as we continue to teach on the Holy Spirit and do 1-1 discipleship.
- One of the boys with whom we do English tutoring, has been receiving As and Bs on his exams, improving drastically.
- One of the couples who we have discipled concerning marriage is growing in their intimacy, and our 1-1 times with each spouse continues to be fruitful.
Prayer Requests:
- The health of our child
- Hannah’s pregnancy and her health
- That our faith, love, and unity as a team would remain as God continues to shape the ministry
THANK YOU:
A CAR! After our last vehicle’s transmission went out, we had been praying to receive a more reliable car. Between Access, Fellowship, Arise, and other individuals, we were blessed and gifted with a car, covering its costs and repairs! To all those who blessed us with our Suzuki, we can never say thank-you enough.