Update on New Small Group

Thank you for praying for the list of people that I posted last Tuesday.  I am excited to tell you that the first meeting went very well.  Edgar and Milena expected five people to show up, but there were actually 10 people! As we went around the room introducing ourselves and then talking throughout the night, it was great to be surrounded by people at different spiritual levels.
There was a woman from another religion who is amazed at her Christian friend's peace (during times of unemployment) and wants that tranquility for herself.  That providential relationship baffled the lawyer seated next to Enrique who couldn't believe that someone can have peace at such a time.  She is a control freak and would love to know how to have that peace as well.
 Someone else shared that six years ago, her baby niece drowned in a pool.  Once they got her to a hospital, she was revived after not having taken a breath for 35 minutes.  What a miracle!  That moment was a pivotal circumstance that really grew her faith.
Since last Tuesday was a night of introductions, tomorrow night will be the first night of the study, "Five Things God Uses to Grow Your Faith".  We appreciate your continued prayers for the people in this small group as they learn how to grow closer to God in different ways.

Our church is having problems.

What kinds of problems could a brand new church possibly be having?

• The church bus is leaking oil?  Nope, no church bus here.
• People are complaining about the youth ministry?  Actually, the real comment is that parents would love for there to BE a youth ministry.  We have a nursery (Waumba Land) and program for elementary school kids (UpStreet) on Sunday during the service, but nothing yet for middle and high schoolers.
• Parents don't like the nursery?  Well, it's not that they don't like it.  It's just that in Catholic churches, the kids accompany their parents to the service.  In this culture, parents aren't used to dropping their kids off and then going somewhere else.  Oftentimes, a dad, mom, or nanny will stay with the child in the nursery for the first couple of Sundays until their child feels comfortable leaving mommy and daddy (or vice versa).
• The choir needs new robes?  Not quite.  We don’t have a choir or anything remotely close to one. 
• We don’t have enough hymnals?  Since the majority of the people that we aim to reach either come from a Catholic or non-church background, singing songs in a corporate setting is quite odd.  Even though the words to the songs are on a screen behind the worship band, most folks just sit in their seats and observe.

So, what kinds of problems am I talking about?  The good ones!  The ones that indicate growth and life change! 

• The auditorium of the office building where we meet seats 220.  On September 11, we had about 240 attend which means that several people had to stand the whole time.  Should we start offering two services on the Sundays that we meet or look for a larger auditorium?
• Lots of people have never been part of a small group and crave the type of community that it offers.  There are more people wanting small groups than there are available leaders!The small groups that are up and running want more and more material.  When Enrique meets with the leaders, they are always begging for more studies.  Enrique is wearing a lot of hats lately, but really wants to dedicate time to translating, and ultimately writing original, material for small groups.

• In order to meet in a larger auditorium or rent the current one for more time on Sundays, provide crafts and Goldfish crackers for the preschoolers, T-shirts and snacks for the volunteers, and print bulletins and invitations, we need more percentage givers.  In addition to the founding members of our church, Openhouse Project, we need committed family and friends to give to this new mission.  If you are interested in learning more, please go to http://newcostaricachurch.org/give/vmember/.  
• People are putting their faith in Jesus for the first time and they want to tell the world by being baptized!  Since we don't meet in a traditional church, we don't have a baptistry and must think about what to do.  We could go to a lake, meet in another Christian church one day and have baptisms there, or rent a baptistry for the day.

Yes, these are good problems to have!   

A new small group starts tomorrow!

At North Point, groups are either married or single, and closed once they form.  While our desire is for small groups here to emulate small groups at North Point, we’re not at that point yet.  These groups form by friends asking friends to get together.  A group could consist of two couples, a single man, and two single women, for example.  The group may have been meeting for two months and then someone else joins.

Edgar and Milena are a couple who are excited about starting a new group tomorrow.  They have invited several friends and acquaintances to form a group with them.  I am writing to you to ask you to pray that many people will go to the first meeting at their home tomorrow.  There may not be room for all of the following people in one group, but it’d be great to see so much interest and have to find more leaders to lead.   Please ask God to soften the hearts of the following people and to fill them with a desire to know Him more intimately and to be in community with other people regardless of where they are spiritually:

•  Ana Lilia
• Federico
• Fiorella
• Gerardo
• Grace
• Irene
• Jaime
• Lucia
• Maritza
• Nela
• Norma
• Veronica
• Sergio

I'm glad that I can write to you to ask you to pray for people on their journey of growing closer to God.

San José and Atlanta - a comparison

What's Different

• The weather.  It's basically the same everyday - highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s with rain in the afternoon.
• The language.  Even though Spanish is Enrique's first language and I am bilingual, Costa Rican Spanish is different than what we learned so sometimes we don't know what people are talking about.  For example, for croissant, we use the French word or crescent roll.  Mexican Spanish says "cuernitos" (little horns), but here they say "cangrejos" (lobsters). 
• Security.  There are security guards everywhere - at the bank, in the KFC parking lot, at the entrance to our street.
• Holidays.  August 15th was Mother's Day and Labor Day was on May 1st.  This Friday, September 9 is Día del Niño (Children's Day).  The schools have big parties and parents give their children presents.  September 15 is Independence Day so there'll be more partying then too.
• Cost of living.  While many Americans choose to retire in Costa Rica, it is expensive to live here when compared to other Latin American countries.  Coffee, produce, and the water bill are cheap, for example, but most everything else is imported so packaged food, clothing, and furniture are expensive.
• Religion.  The official religion of Costa Rica is Roman Catholicism.  "Every village, no matter how small it is,  has a church facing east, on the west side of the central plaza, and its own saint’s day, which is usually celebrated with secular fervor. Every home, taxi, office and bus has its token religious icons. The Catholic marriage ceremony is the only church marriage with state recognition, and so, Catholicism is the official state religion as mandated by the Constitution of 1949." (http://www.infocostarica.com/culture/religion.html)

What's Similar

• The language.  Our "target audience" is highly educated and, therefore bilingual, since many of them graduated from colleges in the US or Europe.  When I can't remember how to say "yucky", "monkey wrench", or "entertainment center", I can say it in English.  Our church even shows one of Andy Stanley's sermons in English every Monday night at a theater.
• The restaurants.  Costa Rica has lots of their own restaurants, but there are plenty of American restaurants that you can go to to get your fix.  Within a half mile of our home are Wendy's, Taco Bell, Quizno's, Applebee's, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's (We live off of a main avenue.).  There's also Tony Roma's, Outback Steakhouse (my favorite!), and others nearby.
• Technology.  Many places have wi-fi and everyone has a cell phone.
• Skin color.  My grandmother recently asked me what Costa Ricans looked like, if they all have dark skin.  There are people of all colors here and it's hard to know who is American and who is Costa Rican.  Not that there are that many Americans here, but many Costa Ricans could easily pass for Americans.  I am tempted to speak to them in English, and then I hear them speak and am surprised that they are Hispanic.  Costa Ricans can have blond hair and blue or hazel eyes, red hair, fair skin, be tall or short, thin, very athletic cycling or running down the street, wear shorts and T-shirts and tennis shoes, or be darker skinned and look African American.
• The human condition.  "The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us.  And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him.  For there is no difference between us [Jews] and them [non-Jews] in this.  Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us.  Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself.  A pure gift.  He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be.  And he did it by means of Jesus Christ."  -Romans 3:21-24

August Newsletter

Click here for the newsletter that our friends wrote for August.