...a new church!
Tomorrow is not a grand opening. But it's the first official meeting -- a community announcement, if you will -- of a new church opening at El Jardin soon! A Costa Rican pastor of a church in Cartago, Pastor Jose Gonzalez, has felt led by God to partner with us to plant a church here in La Alegria de Orosi. He will also be the lead teaching pastor of the new church -- pulling double duty on Sundays here and in Cartago. We will fill leadership/coaching/support roles. Nathan and Amber, our teammates, will also be involved in the planning, marketing, and ground work at the yet to be named church.
Since we arrived in Costa Rica we've been praying that the Lord would provide a tico partner to help us establish a church in Orosi. This valley desperately needs a Bible-based, Christ-centered church focused on the needs of "unchurched people" in this community. We're amazed at how quickly God has answered our prayers!
We're excited and can't wait to see what God is going to do. We'd like to ask you -- the readers of the blog -- to catch our excitement. Please pray for the service tomorrow. And pray that God will build momentum in the community over the next few months.
Finally, there's one more way you can get involved: help us pick out a name for the church! We're in an area filled with "spiritual themes" -- mountains, rivers, valleys, gardens, and bridges (in a town named "La Alegria" which means "Happiness"). So it shouldn't be too hard to come up with something! If you have any suggestions, please post your comment here.
As always, thank you for reading and thanks for your prayers. Que Dios le bendiga.
NEWS FLASH: The next day..........
Yesterday we wrote this regarding the soon-to-be church in La Alegria:
Tomorrow is not a grand opening. But it’s the first official meeting — a community announcement, if you will — of a new church opening at El Jardin soon!We'd like to retract that statement. Today was the church's grand opening! We had 57 people in attendance. Fifty-seven. Maybe it was the size of the crowd, the spirit and excitement in the air, or God moving in Pastor Jose's heart, but when the service ended with "See you next Sunday!" we all knew that the church was officially off the ground.
Not only did 57 people attend today, but a man gave his heart to the Lord during the alter call at the end of the sermon. Unbelievable. We woke up today thinking that this morning would be a meeting -- an announcement of a future church. And then God showed up. What a joyous day. Here are a few highlights of the service this morning...We still need a name for the new church -- especially since we'll be doing publicity this week for next Sunday! So if you have any ideas, please post them here. We're leaning towards La Iglesia de La Alegria right now, but we're open to suggestions.
Thank you all for your prayers. God is answering them in a big way. What a great God we serve!
