Expanding our horizons

Before I tell you about how amazing these last two months have been we want to praise God that for the first time in 7 years as missionaries, Free Methodist World Missions projects that we will be fully funded by the end of the year!  What does this mean?  It means, that thanks to your faithfulness to this ministry all our basic financial needs will be met.  This is wonderful news  because it has lifted a huge burden off our shoulders and feel we can now concentrate on expanding the ministry, which is where God is leading us now……

It is not uncommon for us to encounter a fisherman launching his boat from the beach here in Esterillos.  This is a difficult task when done alone, but with help, can be done easily.  The thing is though, as soon as that boat is floating it is best to step back and let the fisherman take it from there.  This same concept is something we have seen happen in ministry.  We have seen people who have been called to ministry or have been leading a group that has grown to be more than a small group.  They get to the point where it is difficult for them to maintain the ministry.  This is why the “Shoreline Mission District” was formed, to help people put their boat in the water.  Which means we want to empower leaders to plant sustainable and reproducible churches.

 

Three years ago a small bible study that had started with four friends gathering weekly to study and pray had grown to a “small group” of about 40 people.  The leaders came to us and we were able to help them get their boat in the water.  That group is Pura Vida Church Alajuela, which has doubled in size and has reproduced itself in a neighboring town.

We all know the last words of Jesus, “The Great Commission” which ends with Him telling the disciples to …….”go and make disciples ………to the ends of the earth.”  Well the end of the earth is the “Shoreline” and that is where God has called us specifically, to the worldwide subculture of the beaches.  This last month Dennis was able to attend the Christian Surfers International Conference.  There, he was part of a task force with other church planting leaders from around the world to develop a network that will fuel a church planting movement in the surf subculture.

The church belongs to Christ and He is the only one who can build it, but we feel so honored to have been called to be a part of this process, and He is preparing us.  Dennis went to a weeklong training with other leaders from Central and South America to lean about community church planting.  This training has helped lay the bases of the “Shoreline Mission District.  If you want to help support the work of church planting give here.

God has been so faithful, and we have never been in want, but it is such a relief to know that we do not have to scramble to make make ends meet this year because of your support of this ministry!  We do have a need that we would like to fund this year, a new car for our family.  Well, not a new car, but a used car that comfortably fits all of us and our groceries;)  Our church is very involved in social ministry and it takes a toll on our car, and now that we are a family of 6, it is not any car that seats us all.  Unfortunately vehicles in Costa Rica are very expensive because of a 75% import tax.  We need to raise an extra $15,000 to buy an older model, full size 4wheel drive vehicle that seats 7.  Click here to help us get a new car, just add a note indicating that this is a special gift for a car.

Next month we will be traveling to Western New York and Pennsylvania, a part of the world we have never been to before, to share about what God is doing in Costa Rica.  We are excited and nervous, pray for God’s protection, blessing and kids that sleep on the plane and in the car.

Pray for the church here in Esterillos, they miss us when we are gone, and we miss them.

Thank God for provision, for Dennis safe travels, for the ways He is growing His church.

Pura Vida, Leon family