Our First Service

Yesterday was the church's second official service, but me and Enrique's first.  He went to the service and I volunteered in the nursery (Waumba Land).  The church and the children's area are actually in two separate buildings so the parents have to drop off their kids and then drive to the church.  When I told Enrique that that seemed odd, he reminded me that North Point is so big that it's practically the same distance between some of the environments and the sanctuaries!

The building that we meet in is a strip plaza in the shape of a train with stores for kids; it's great!  Inside, kids play and have fun until everyone arrives (To get an idea, please visit www.smilesandgames.com and click on "Entretenimiento Activo" on the right). We had 23 children ages newborn to 5 years old and eight volunteers (including me and Ashley and her mother and mother-in-law who are visiting).  The Bible story was about Jonah and the whale and that we need to obey God because He knows what is best for us.

Two of the volunteers are teenagers who speak English perfectly because they grew up going to English schools.  I asked one of them an innocent question, "When did you become a Christian?" and she said, "I'm not".  I was surprised and asked for more details.  She said that she's Catholic because she was baptized, had her first communion, and her confirmation.  A close friend of hers invited her to Openhouse (http://www.openhouse.cr/).  She loved it so much that she decided to volunteer with the kids.  She said that in her Catholic church, the Bible and God's truths are not explained in a way that is easy to understand; there are rules and rituals, but not a relationship.  Please pray for her as she continues to hear Biblical truths and apply them in her life.

When the parents came to pick up the children afterward, I was surprised at how many couples were either mixed like us - American and Latino - or bilingual for one reason or another.  I was overcome with joy to play a small part in the spiritual formation of these children and the volunteers because they represent families who, for the majority, are seekers who are going to a church for the first time where they "get it".

Prayer requests for this Sunday, the church's second service

Today marks a week that we have been in Costa Rica.  We have enjoyed it thoroughly and are grateful for the privilege of being down here.

Enrique and I attended our first staff meeting yesterday and were grateful to observe how each person has unique talents, interests, and abilities that are assets when used together as a team.  They were discussing issues that I had not even thought of which means that they are the right people for their particular positions.  Please allow me to introduce you to (some of) the team (that was present yesterday) and samples of some of their comments/concerns:

• Michelle - Host Team Director (in charge of parking lot volunteers and greeters) - What is the minimum age for a volunteer to work in the parking lot?  (There was a teenager there and concern was raised over liability.) In the event of a tremor, how do we calmly and securely evacuate the building?  Is there money in the budget to purchase 10 umbrellas for the volunteers who are outside (since it rains everyday)?
• Chris - Communications - How can we record Sunday's service so that the nursery volunteers can either watch or listen to it later so that they can be spiritually fed as well (since we only have one service/every two Sundays)?  Is it a possibility to have a screen outside so that the parking lot volunteers can watch/hear the sermon?
• Tizi - UpStreet (elementary school-aged children) Director and everything else! - We need to provide snacks and bottled water for the volunteers.
• Ashley - Waumba Land (nursery) Director - We need to have labels to put on the children's backs to identify them, but they need to be stickier.  The ones we used two weeks ago kept coming off.  We need music that coincides with the monthly truth that we are teaching the children.  I need more volunteers!
• Julio - Pastor - He began teaching a Starting Point class (10-week Bible study for seekers, returners, and new believers) this week and has gained a new perspective on how seekers view God adn religion.  As a result, he reminded us that we must keep the focus on our visitors by creating a warm, attractive, relevant environment where people feel welcome and want to hear more about how to have a deeper relationship with God and start living the abundant life that He offers all of us.
• Enrique - Small Groups (Bible study) Director and I.T. guy - We are going to start leading our first married small group next week.  Enrique has been busy helping out with the design of promotional materials and fielding any questions that the other small group leaders have.
• Me - I do not have a defined role yet besides supporting Enrique in what he does and taking care of David.  I'm just learning the ropes so I'll help in any way I can.  This Sunday, I will be a nursery volunteer.

I asked these and other staff members for prayer requests and they listed the following two:

• That God will guide us in every decision that we make concerning Openhouse (that's the name of the church).
• May God use all of the children's volunteers to transform their little hearts.

Thank you for lifting up our staff and their concerns.

First Service

We dropped David off at school today for the first time and hope that he does well.  It is about 250 meters away (that's how people measure distance here) and he'll go from 8a-noon.  He'll even be able to take weekly swimming lessons!

Now that David's in school, we can get started with some of the behind-the-scenes work which includes getting the bulletins and promotional pieces (including video) ready for September.  We'll be showing the "Destinations/Boulevard of Broken Dreams" series that North Point did a few years ago.

Since we were not here for the church's official launch on August 7, I'm going to share with you an update that our friends sent out on August 16:

Last week was the launch of our church, Openhouse Project, and it was a great success!  We are so humbled by and grateful for your friendship and support.  Here are some of the highlights:

• 250 adults in attendance
• 50 children attended our kids program
• The service was executed very well.
• Our volunteers served at the highest level of excellence.
• Our guests had a great first impression.
• Thanks to your help, we were able to cover all of our expenses related to the launch!

Most importantly, we are starting to see some stories of life-change that remind us of the bottom line and the "why" behind what we are doing:

• A volunteer sent me an e-mail saying:  "Our family's story has a 'before and after' effect since we started coming to Openhouse.  We are serving and growing together as a family and we are so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this."
• A young couple sent me a note saying:  "Thanks to our new church, we have for the first time understood that we don't have to carry guilt because we are loved, accepted and forgiven by our Heavenly Father."
• A father of three met with me this week.  He came to the meeting with his children.  Each one of them had a envelope with a donation for our children's ministry.  He said to me:  "I am trying to teach my sons the biblical value of giving to God's work."

Real stories.  Real life-change.  God is bringing restoration to this community.  Our church is simply partnering with God to help as a bridge.  And YOU are a key element in that partnership.

We made it!

We woke up at 3am this morning to finish packing and weighed and reweighed our luggage in order to not go over the 50 pound limit for each piece.  Towards the end of packing, we realized that we couldn't take everything that we wanted so we had to make some hard decisions as to what to take and what to bring later.  At the airport, each suitcase weighed around 49 pounds or so. 
The flight was on time and went well.  We all slept a little on the plane and David also occupied himself with a care package full of activities that my sister-in-law, Kathleen, made.  As we were landing, we saw lots of beautiful, green mountains.
Our friends, Julio and Ashley, and one of their sons, Lucas, met us at the airport and took us home.  We don't know why, but the traffic was pretty bad.  The way people drive here is very aggressive and I don't see myself getting behind the wheel anytime soon! 
Julio and Ashley treated us to Wendy's which happens to be within walking distance from our home.  We unpacked our stuff from their car and a taxi van and had lunch at home.  I was simply amazed with our new home; it's the most beautiful home that we've ever had.  There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms; one even has a jacuzzi tub which is very rare in other countries.  The kitchen has a brand new refrigerator, electric stove, and pretty cabinets with contemporary handles.  We have a washer and dryer too.
The "wow factor" is when you walk in the front door into the living room and see an open area with greenery behind a sliding glass door.  It lets in a lot of natural light.  I'll send a picture later so that you can see what I mean.
The windows have curtains and there is plenty of closet space in each room.  We have a garage that has a tile floor, as does the rest of the house, so David can go out there and play by himself.  There is no air conditioning so we leave the windows and front door open to cool off.  Even though the front door is open, the garage door is closed and so is the gate door entrance so David cannot get into the street and no one can come inside without us letting them.
We are the first house in the neighborhood (Residencia Julieta) after the security guard so we feel very safe.  The neighborhood has a playground that we can see from the kitchen window; I know that we'll be going there often.  At the security guard's post is where you take your recyclables - yea!  I'm glad that Costa Rica is so "green" and I can walk a few yards to drop off glass, aluminum cans, cardboard, mixed paper, and plastic. 
Today, we took a small walk and discovered that there are many businesses closeby - a pharmacy, a locksmith, a pizzeria, a tire repair guy, a fruit stand, a convenience store, and a deli shop.  That was just when we turned left at the stop sign.  Later, we're going to turn right and see what there is.
The security guard's name is Eliazar and the deli shop owner's name is Elsa.  We hope to meet all of our neighbors, residential and business owners, in order to form relationships so that we may invite them to our church.  If you would start praying for God to open Eliazar's and Elsa's hearts, that would be great!
When we went to the deli shop, Elsa's daughter was watching "Martha Speaks"...in Spanish!  When we went home, I turned on the TV and found Discovery Kids with all of David's favorite shows in Spanish - "Super Why", "Curious George", "The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot About That", etc.  My eyes started to mist and David asked if I was sad.  I told him that I am very happy that he can watch his shows because it makes the adjustment for him a little easier.  He unpacked his toy box and is having fun playing with toys that he hasn't seen in over a month.
Our first day here has been very nice for which we are thankful.