Church Under Construction

Big changes are happening at El Jardin Sagrado. One, we're making great progress on the "Celebration Center" -- the heart of our ministry home base. As you can see from the picture, we're well on our way to finishing the roof this month. But the new thing that we're even more excited about kicks off tomorrow...

...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!

The two faces of Costa Rica

The article that follows was written by our teammate Nathan Babcock and illuminates the two faces of Costa Rica: it's incomparable beauty and its dark underside.

The Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: República de Costa Rica [re'puβlika ðe 'kosta 'rika]) is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south-southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army. Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong constitution. It is seen as one of the most stable countries in Latin America. Costa Rica has avoided the violence that has plagued Central America; it is seen as an example of political stability in the region, and is referred to as the "Switzerland of the Americas".

In 2005, Costa Rica had an estimated population of 4,016,173 persons. The majority of people in Costa Rica are mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian) to various degrees, though the Spanish element often predominates and most simply consider themselves white. There is also a large unmixed European minority (primarily Spanish). Together, mestizos and whites account for a combined 94% of the population. Some 3% of the population is of African descent, and are mostly English-speaking descendants of 19th-century Jamaican immigrant workers. Another 1% is composed of ethnic Chinese. The indigenous population today numbers less than 1%, or around 29,000 individuals. In Guanacaste Province, a significant portion of the population descends from a mix of local Amerindians, Africans and Spaniards. There is also a small expat community of American and Canadian retirees.

The locals refer to themselves as "tico." Tico comes from the locally popular usage of "tico" diminutive suffixes (eg. 'momentico' instead of 'momentito'). The tico ideal is that of a very friendly, helpful, laid back, unhurried, educated and environmentally aware people, with little worry for deadlines or the "normal" stresses of United States life. Visitors from the United States are often referred to as gringos, which is virtually always congenial in nature. The phrase "Pura Vida" (literally pure life) is a motto ubiquitous in Costa Rica. It encapsulates the pervading ideology of living in peace in a calm, unflustered manner, appreciating a life surrounded by nature and family and friends.

Costa Rican traditions and culture tend to retain a strong degree of Spanish influence. Their spoken accent is rather closer to certain areas of Colombia than its Central American counterparts. Costa Rica boasts a varied history. Costa Rica was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. More than the 90% of the Costa Ricans are Catholic (and Catholicism is the official state religion as mandated by the Constitution of 1949), but almost no one gets riled about his or her religion and faith, as religious freedom is granted by the constitution and upheld by the tolerant nature of the Ticos. Holy Week (the week before Easter) is a national holiday, and its supposed to be a time of prayers and good behavior, but people in almost every place of Costa Rica take it as an excuse for vacations and secular binge. Here the passing of the parish priest inspires no reverential gestures. And almost all Costa Ricans respond to the sound of the church’s bells only on special events, like baptism, marriage, and maybe the Easter morning or during mourning masses.

The Catholic clergy has fiercely defended its turf against Protestant missionaries, and the Protestant evangelism so prevalent in other parts of Central America has yet to make a dent in Costa Rica. Many kinds of sects also can be found in many places of Costa Rica but they never tend to be any kind of majority, although they are certainly on the rise and quite uproarious compared to the traditional religions.The first reaction when we tell people that we're missionaries in Costa Rica is usually, "Why do they need missionaries in paradise?" or "That's a tough assignment [wink, wink]!" Of course, Costa Rica is a paradise and one of the most popular tourist destinations for surfers, mountain bikers, water sports enthusiasts, nature lovers, beach bums, sun worshipers, white water rafters, and just about anyone with a passport and a sense of adventure. However, there is another side to Costa Rica. For one, there is great spiritual need in Costa Rica (as I alluded to above in regards to the dichotomy of Catholicism and secularism). I'd like to share with you the "other Costa Rica," its real and critical needs.

The "other Costa Rica" - the one that doesn't appear in most travel guides - includes a growing cocaine and heroin trade from South America, increasing domestic drug consumption (particularly crack cocaine), the highest alcohol dependency in all of Latin America, legalized prostitution, and one of the biggest and fastest growing child sex trades in the world.The government-run healthcare system is woefully inefficient and inadequate for most Ticos. A trip to a public hospital or doctor involves waiting for hours - if not days - for care. Often times critical medical procedures must be scheduled a year or more in advance (as if you can schedule when you will need a critical medical procedure!).

Private healthcare is too expensive for average Ticos. Poverty is a major problem when you venture out of the resort beaches and posh San Jose hot spots. Over a million Nicaraguan and Cuban refugees live in "precarios" (squatter villages) like this one near Tres Rios called "Cristo Rey" (Christ King). Costa Rica is a wonderful place, and a great place to consider when you're planning that next vacation. But it's also a place of need. Thousands of people need medicine, drinkable water, and adequate shelter. Thousands and thousands more thirst to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, his grace, love, and the strength He gives in times of hardship.

El Jardin Sagrado -- the Sacred Gardin

The sun poured golden across the hillside like warm butterscotch and the sky was a robin's egg blue and I remember thinking, "I could be happy here." "Here" was Costa Rica. It was our last full day of a two-week trip to meet our newest granddaughter Zoe. Rick and I were travelling with my mother and stepdad and another elderly couple to their internationnal church for Sunday service. Stella, my mother's friend began to tell of a woman from their church named Esther. She had suffered a stroke and was no longer able to operate her ministry at El Jardin Sagrado (the Sacred Garden) . She had been offering counseling to missionaries and local families, and doing outreach through kids camps, English classes and computer lessons for children and youth in the Orosi Valley, but the stroke had left her unable to continue. Esther's one desire was that the 5-acre retreat/community center would remain in the Lord's service.

It's hard to explain the feeling I had in my spirit when Stella told her story. I had such a strong sense that this "sacred garden" had special significance for Rick and me. When I expressed aloud how I wished we had heard of this sooner, our elderly companions offered to drive up winding mountain roads to meet Esther that very afternoon.

What happened next could only have been a divine appointment.

Esther's husband took us all for a walk around the beautiful gounds -- all except my stepdad who stayed behind with Esther. Skip had been going to church with Mom for years but had never crossed over that line to faith. While we were gone, Esther led my stepdad to the Lord! God had recently brought Skip to Esther's mind and told her it was "his time" and she had been wondering how on earth she was going to get the chance to talk with him when God brought him right to her door! It was so clear that the Lord's annointing was on this place and we sensed that God was calling us to be part of it. Two weeks later Global Outreach Mission bought El Jardin Sagrado. Esther told them about us and the next thing we knew we were talking to them about moving to Costa Rica!

And the rest, as they say, is HisStory!

When God called us to Amsterdam two decades ago, we had never even set foot in the country before we landed there with all our possessions and our kids! We consider ourselves blessed to have spent about two hours actually onsite at El Jardin Sagrado before actually moving here! The property lies on a river in the Orosi Valley in the mountains of central Costa Rica, about an hour outside of San Jose, the capital city. To see pictures of the center go to the El Jardin Sagrado link in this blog. Cabins, a house and a community kichen are in place already. GOM is in the process of building a multipurpose building on the property and will hold medical missions and other outreach events at the center.

This is where we come in!

We are the longterm church planters who will follow-up with those who come into the Kingdom through these short-term projects and ongoing ministries to the community. We will build bridges in the community for evangelism, meeting needs by offering counseling for individuals, couples and families, by teaching English, by holding Bible studies, by providing children and youth camps and activities, and other practical outreach events. In short, we will do whatever it takes to earn the right to speak into the lives of the people in this community with the message of grace and hope that only comes from Jesus Christ.

Pura vida! means pure life...

... and it's a favorite tico phrase to describe the beauty and tranquility that abound in Costa Rica, but true "pura vida" is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. With your help we hope to bring His pura vida to everyone whom our ministry here touches.

Oops! We're operating on "tico time" now!

Thanks so much for your prayers for God to help us adapt to the rhythm of life down here in Costa Rica. It looks like we have officially adapted to what is called “tico time” – referring to that cultural inclination to put off until “manana” what you probably should have done yesterday! That is our excuse for this belated Christmas letter… but you probably didn’t have time to read this back in December anyway, right?

We sure hope you had a wonderful holiday season! After a rough start to the holidays involving a serious car accident on Christmas Eve (no serious injuries in either car, thank God!), we spent Christmas week with our son Jesse and his family who live about six hours from where we live, down at the beach on the Nicoye Peninsula. Justice had a wonderful time playing with his cousin Zoe and swimming in the sea and we enjoyed the break from Spanish lessons and the busyness of getting a whole new ministry started.

The last couple of months have been very exciting for us. We have been getting to know our recently arrived Global Outreach Mission teammates, Nathan and Amber Babcock and Ken LaBelle, and have been blessed by their partnership with us in ministry and by our opportunities to help pastor and encourage them. All three are first-term missionaries. Nathan is El Jardin Sagrado’s administrator/camp director. Amber, a registered nurse, is here to head up our medical missions projects and Ken is an electrician and all-around handyman and is overseeing the center’s maintenance. All three have big hearts for evangelism, better Spanish skills than we do (not difficult to have!) and great gathering skills and they will be helping us get a new church established here. In addition, Gary and Debbie Gray, American ex-pats we met at our language school have turned out to be seminary-educated and on fire for God. We believe they are going to be key players as we move forward to plant a church.

While we remain “linguistically-challenged” the Lord has opened many doors for us in terms of significant relationships among both nationals and the surprisingly numerous English-speaking people here in our community. We have been holding bi-lingual Potluck and Praise nights a couple of times a month at our house. These have been attended by both believers and non-believers, locals and ex-pats. A young tico couple, Adrian and Marjorie, believers who have been hurt and discouraged by negative experiences in past churches, have been attending these gatherings and Adrian has agreed to help play guitar and lead worship.

An American woman named Roni who professes to be Hindu but seems to be searching spiritually has also been playing guitar for us. Teaching her the worship songs and having spiritual conversations with her has blessed Judith. Please pray that her exposure to Christian life and community will open her eyes to the One True God and release her from her bondage to the thousands of “gods” that must be appeased within the Hindu tradition.

Since our last letter we have gotten hooked up to the internet at home and we now have the ability to call the USA and Europe virtually for free so if you would like to hear our voices, send us your phone number or give us a call and we’ll call you right back! Our home number is country code 506-533-1471. We also have a post office box now and mail has been arriving with no problems to Apartado 141-7100, Paraiso, Costa Rica.

Most importantly, we have started this BLOG where we will be posting updates, prayer needs, photos and videos. If you come here regularly you can see, up close and personal, a medical mission that Judith recently participated in serving poor Nicaraguan refugees in a local “precario” (the Costa Rican name for ramshackle, often dangerous, shantytowns made of tin and cardboard that seem to take over the hillsides on the edges of towns here). Other stuff will be added regularly here at bridge-builders.blogspot.com and don’t forget to let us know what you think and any suggestions you might have! For starters, here is a short video of the medical outreach Judith was a part of in Tres Rios...



Coming up: a combination medical/construction team will be here at El Jardin Sagrado shortly. Pray for lives to be touched with the love of Jesus as practical needs are met and for successful completion of numerous construction projects at the center including work on a multipurpose building which we hope to use for significant outreach to the local community.

On a personal note, please pray for God’s protection and guidance for Spree who had a tough year in 2006. She is walking close to the Lord, grieving her losses and trying to start again.

It’s tough to be so far from her at this moment but we are hoping to make a trip to Europe in February or March when we need to take care of some legal matters regarding our guardianship of Justice and our residency. We have an urgent need right now and maybe you can help. We already have return trip tickets to Belgium but we need tickets to get back to Costa Rica! If you can help with some frequent flyer miles or tickets, please contact us by email right away at judithgrossman@hotmail.com or call us so we can begin to organize things.

We are so grateful for your faithful friendship, prayers and support. God is at work in Costa Rica and together we can join with Him and make an eternal difference! Dios le bendiga! With love from Rick and Judith

Costa Rica? But God….!

Back in the early 1980’s while we were investing ourselves in planting the Crossroads Community Church in Camarillo , California, we committed to the Lord that we would go anywhere He called us to do evangelism and church planting. We assumed that meant anywhere in Southern California (little did we know!) -- and we embarked on our reasonable and appropriate 10-year plan to prepare for fulltime ministry. In July of 1986 we went on a short term mission to Europe and God surprised us with a different 10-year plan! On the last day of our stay there, God called us to return to Europe fulltime. He spoke to our hearts and called us out of our comfort zone.

We responded, “But God….!” as humans so often do. “We don’t know the language, we don’t know the people, we’re not prepared, we’re not eloquent!” But God said, “You’re available and I will glorify myself.” So we waited for six months for the calling to “go away” but it didn’t and finally we said, “Okay, God.” It didn’t seem reasonable, some said it wasn’t “appropriate”, but it was God’s idea, so we obeyed.

In our first ten years, we helped establish the Crossroads in Amsterdam, Holland, now a thriving church of more than 1000 in attendance, and we trained, equipped and coached teams and leaders that established several other churches in Europe. And always we reached out personally to touch individual lives with the message of hope and grace that had been entrusted to us – doing both evangelism and church planting.

Just when we were getting comfortable the Lord began to shake things up for us again! It was almost ten years to the day from our original call to missions that He landed us in Brussels, Belgium. In July of 1996, we began planting and leading the Cornerstone International Church, and it has become a beautiful community composed of 30 different nationalities – people from all over the world, worshipping together, loving one another and reaching out in the name of Jesus. We made a ten year commitment to the work and that commitment came to a close in the summer of 2006. The church gradually became able to sustain itself as an independent entity. We were enjoying life in the comfort zone at last when God began to shake things up for us once again!

In the summer of 2005 we travelled to Costa Rica and it was once again on the last day of our stay that God called us to return there fulltime! Here we were thinking we would just stay in Brussels for the next ten years! Rick would expand his coaching role, Judith would expand her counseling role and we would just live out the next ten years in our comfort zone… But once again, God had another 10-year plan! Did we say, “Okay, God”? No. We said, “But, God…” and told Him all the reasons why His idea didn’t seem “reasonable and appropriate.” We went back to Belgium and waited six months for the calling to “go away” but God said, “You’re available and I will glorify myself.” And finally we said, “Okay, God.” It seemed unreasonable, but it was God’s idea, so we obeyed.

Last year we had the privilege of hearing Max Lucado speak from his book “Cure for the Common Life”. He talked about finding your “sweet spot” – that place where it all comes together for you – “a zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made by God to dwell… and life makes sweet sense when you find your spot.”

We have been so blessed throughout the last quarter of a century to be continually living in our “sweet spot.” God made us for evangelism and church planting – He designed us to be reaching out to those who don’t yet know Him. Reaching out with His grace, with His Word, with His hope, and in so doing, forming communities that do the same. What a joyful adventure it has been so far. We have worked hard but it has never felt like hard work! We have been in our sweet spot and when you stay in your sweet spot you can move out of your comfort zone and, from time-to-time, you need to! If it’s God’s idea, ya gotta obey, right?

So here we are – we landed in Costa Rica on September 1, 2006. It’s a new language, a new culture, a new life! Out of our comfort zone? Yes! But not out of our sweet spot! We are doing evangelism and church planting in the Orosi Valley, 45 minutes outside of the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. There’s so much to tell about how we got here and all that has happened since landed. Watch for our next blog entry to hear more! In the meantime, in order for us to follow this calling from the Lord, we need your continued prayers and support more than ever before. As we move forward together in this mission, our prayer for you is that you will stay in your sweet spot and be willing to move out of your comfort zone as we serve our surprising and glorious God together!

Prayer points for this week:

1. Pray for our residency to be approved.
2. Pray for Flor and Rodolfo, Roni, Frank and Tiffany, Gabriella, Margarita, Sondra and Greivin, Rosa Elena, Doug and Inez, Marcella, Ariana and Sandra – all people we are reaching out to in the name of Jesus.
3. Pray for the bi-lingual Friday night gatherings we are having in our home for Potluck and Praise to be fruitful for the Kingdom.
4. Pray for our language learning to accelerate miraculously.
5. Pray for our grandson Justice (5) as he learns the language and culture.

Muchas gracias! Dios le bendiga!

Welcome to our blog!

We are Rick and Judith Grossman and we live, along with our grandson Justice (5 years), in the Orosi Valley of Costa Rica. Having planted several churches in Europe over the past 20 years, we were surprised when god called us to this valley. We are once again learning a new language and culture. Yet, this direction was clear, so we could do nothing else but be obedient to His call.

We landed here on September 1, 2006 and have been truly amazed at the doors He has opened before us for evangelism and church planting in this community 45 minutes from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.

This blog will be updated on a regular basis so that you can participate with us in the ministry God has for us here. Our September and October 2006 prayer letters, The Bridge, are archived here and will help you understand how we got here and what's happened so far. And future issues of The Bridge, news flashes, photos and videos will provide you with up-to-the-minute information and prayer points.

Thank you for visiting our blog and for being a part of our ministry here in Costa Rica!