Work & Witness Costa Rica

What a great 12 days here in Costa Rica as we were blessed to receive a team of 20 from Pittsburg Church of the Nazarene, Pittsburg CA. They worked hard and their presence and ministry was a well received blessing for the Los Angeles Church here in Costa Rica and their warm and enthusiastic reception of the team was a blessing in return.

A heart full of grace, gratitude, love and joy.

Excellent days, beautiful memories. Let it stay in our memory every second of these days.

Pittsburg Church of the Nazarene

The Liberia Projects starts up. Linda and I spent 10 days up at church site. During that time with the help of church folks and a small group from Poás church. We got a shipping container and turned it into nice bathrooms, showers and storage for construction materials. Here is a short video of it. https://www.dropbox.com/s/pnm0hfkmcof1k2f/filidelfia%20container%20buildout.mp4?dl=0

Filidelfia container buildout.mp4 Shared with Dropbox

The newest organized church on the Costa Rica North District is Iglesia del Nazareno Filadelfia. We have a great project starting with them this year through an open participation partnership with the South Florida District and with leadership by Anthem Church in Ft Myers, FL. along with several other key churches. We hope to have the property paid off by year end a miracle in that with the North District in CR we were only 3 months into a 12 month purchase contract! What a miracle and blessing for the folks in Filadelfia. This means we can move ahead quicker with construction of a multiuse center and worship place along with meeting rooms and a parsonage. We are working on property improvements now in anticipation of construction beginning as early as June if plans and permits are approved.
In the meantime the church is being active! It was my high honor this last Sunday to worship with them down by a river. I got to share my baptism experience which was a family affair with my wife Linda and our daughters being baptized in a similar service at a Kankakee First Church service held on the banks of the Kankakee and Iriquois River. After sharing I was honored to be in the water with Pastor Jimmy Flores and help as he baptized 16 of his congregation. We had teens, we had ladies, the pastors daughter and a father and his son. Amazing service with lunch and fellowship till 4pm.

Equipping Missionaries with Cultural Humility For Emily Brown, being a missionary takes resiliency, adaptability, grit, and grace. But the most important characteristic is cultural humility.

The Property purchase closing for Filadelfia has been completed. We now have 12 months to pay off the balance of $47,000. If you as an individual or church would like to participate the special missions link is here.
https://nazarene.org/projects/temp-project?id=3334

Tomorrow starts the virtual W&W conference. Hope to touch base with you there. If you are looking for a trip and project to serve on then lets chat at the conference. Be sure and check out our video and lets talk about Costa Rica W&W missions trips!

A few more photos from Filadelfia Church Property project. If you haven't watched the video on post just before this please do so. This is the newest organized church on the Costa Rica Norte District.