It is so awesome to know that God is so personal with us. He knows each and every one of us as individuals. Read the rest of Psalm 139 to see how personal He is with us. The question God has been challenging me with is whether I have the same desire to know Him like He knows me. Now it is a given that God is all knowing and I could never come to the point of completely knowing God the way He knows me. However, the challenge is more about the desire; where is my heart. I have found it very easy to pay God lip service by talking about how great He is, but only so that others might think I am closer to Him than I really am. As of late I have been challenged to know Him by experiencing Him. As many of you know this is a huge challenge, because it means that He takes you to places that are very uncomfortable, places that you have to fully rely on Him. Needless to say, in the in the end it is a wonderful result. I am now able to say, “God is truly Merciful” with the intent to worship, and not to make men think that I am spiritual. I thank God for what He is doing in us here, and I will continue to pray for your growth in the things He has set before you.
It has been such a great time these last 2 months with all the work God has accomplished. First of all I was invited, by my friend Wil, to go on a long hike in the mountains. Wil has a friend named Honorio who is a part of the Cabecar Tribe here in Costa Rica.
He serves his people as a pastor to 3 different church locations. So Wil asked if I would like to go with him to see what Honorio was doing and if there was a need for some sort of help. It took us about 7 1/2 hours to get to his house. The trail was wide, narrow, rocky, muddy, wet, steep and everything else in between. Anyways, I made it and it was a blast! I had the privilege of baptizing 6 people, 2 of which were Honorio’s children in a beautiful, cold river.
Later that night we shared in communion with the church, and listened as they sang praises " to God in their native tongue.
Needless to say, it was a time in my life that I will never forget, thanks again Wil. (If you want to read more about our trip in great detail check out my friend’s blog www.costaricamissionprojects.com/blog/)
A few days after our trip to the Cabecar tribe we had 5 guys come down from Grace Church of Durango, CO, to pour the floor in the church.
These guys were such hard workers finishing the work in a total of 9 hours! It was so good to catch up with the pastor, Justin Ross, and talk to him about what the church was doing in Durango. He is such a great guy and it was really neat to see how the Lord has been using him. They definitely blessed us while they were here and are continuing to do so. Thanks guys!
Real quick I want to thank all of you that helped us with our car. We had some of you that responded to the last update and we were so blessed by your selflessness. We are now praying for what the Lord would have us do. We have the choice of selling this car and getting a micro bus, or keeping this car and renting a micro bus when needed. If we get rid of our Montero we will be limited on the places we will be able to go, but with the micro bus we will be able to take more people with us to the places we can access. Anyways, be praying for what the Lord would have us do and that He would make it clear to us.
If you remember in the last update I talked about Darwin and Gabe’s idea to have a soccer tournament. Well last weekend the church, with the help of the church in the States, put on a tournament for kids from 14-24 years old. It was awesome! We had such a great time with only a few problems; one broken arm and a fight. Gabe and Darwin shared messages about having a relationship with Christ. In the end we had over 10 kids respond to Jesus! This Saturday we are going to have a video slideshow for them at the church here. We hope that they will all come so that we might keep a relationship going with them. We hope to start a youth group so please be praying for these kids/young adults.
Again thank you so much for investing your lives in the ministry here. Please, if you would like, send messages to us. It is so nice to hear about your lives and to here encouraging words from you. We are praying for you, but it would be great if we knew exactly what you need us to pray for. We ask that you pray for this Saturday (the youth), for the women’s study also this Saturday, our children’s safety in school, and please continue to pray for the people’s hearts here. Many thank yous from us and the church here in CR.
In our Savior,
Curtis, Chelly, and girls
