Family Life Church

Your staff for the week is ready for an amazing time of ministry with you!  We have been praying for you all!

After over 24 hours of traveling, we have made it to our home for the week!

As soon as we got off the bus we were greeted with a very warm welcome from Pastor Alvaro!  Did we mention that there is no snow here?  Hallelujah!

This morning we worshipped with our brothers and sisters in Spanish.  It was great seeing the joy of the Lord fill the house of God!

We were able to share the Word with the children from the church. We taught about how God knew us even before we were born and how He longs to have a relationship with each one of us!

We were all made different and unique!  To help illustrate this point, we made tie dye butterflies with baby wipes and markers. 

This afternoon we went shopping to purchase enough food to bless 40 families with.  This week we will pass out the bags door-to-door and pray over each family!

This afternoon we went door-to-door inviting everyone to our children’s ministry events and movie night. We also were able pray with some!

We had the opportunity to hear from Pastor Alvaro and Pastora Victoria. We love their hearts so much!  We finished by praying over them and blessing them!

This morning we started painting the inside of the church a nice “cielo” blue color. 

Today we went to deliver the first 14 bags of groceries. We each took a turn leading in conversation and prayer as we presented the food and prayed for the family’s needs. Pastor Alvaro and Pastora Victoria were alongside of us as we assisted in connecting the community to the local church!

After a we prayed with this lady regarding pain from a car crash, Pastora Victoria knelt down and shared with the lady how God had spared her because of His great love for her!

We had about 35 kids join us at VBS this afternoon.  We sang, played games, made crafts, and ate snacks!  There were so many smiles!

At VBS we taught about friendship, and how God is our best friend.   We made these friendship bracelets so they can remember God is always with them!

About 75 children and adults gathered to watch “The Secret Life of Pets.”  It was great to see the church filled!  We even ran out of chairs.  We pray that many would now return to this local church to grow in their faith!

After passing out popcorn and iced tea, Josh shared his testimony about how God forgives us and will always love us!

We are putting the last coat of paint on the inside of the church! How do you like our scaffolding?

We are now moving outside to prepare the walls to be painted!

The outside of the church is coming along!

This neighborhood (Jerusalem/Chorotega) is right behind Pastor Alvaro’s church.  The place is filled with drug addicts, alcoholism, prostitution, and a lot of crime...what a perfect place for a church!

13 more families were blessed with a bag of groceries as we spread the love of Jesus Christ today!

We have had a blast getting to know this 11 year old boy at the church.  He comes to church all by himself and today we blessed his family with food and prayer. 

Today we taught the kids about how we carry the light of Jesus to shine His love!

No VBS in Costa Rica is complete without soccer!

Check out who showed up today!

There is nothing like seeing pastors from different cultures connect!

It’s our last full day of work and ministry!  We are busy trying to get all of the details done as we paint. 

We are working hard to finish the painting job!

It’s our last day of Food Distribution as we tangibly show God’s love by giving bags of groceries to people that Pastor Alvaro is reaching out to. 

For our final day of VBS we had a fiesta and shared about the love of God in our lives. 

While distributing food, we had the opportunity to pray for this woman who had fallen and has a lot of pain in her knees.  We believe in the power of prayer!

Brittany made a new friend this week!

Tonight there was so much joy in the house of the Lord!  (Sorry the picture is blurry, there was a lot of dancing going on)

We had a full house tonight at our "See You Later Service."  Kayla shared with everyone tonight about how this trip has caused her to be more grateful and how she hopes to bring this trip home to Warsaw, NY.

Leo had the opportunity to thank the amazing cooks that served us with great love all week.  We are all coming home heavier because of the great food we were fed!

Tonight Pastor Chris led the church in showing honor to Pastor Alvaro and Pastora Victoria.  

We have had an incredible week serving in Santa Cruz, Costa Rica!  Part of our hearts will forever be with these incredible people!