Our Newsletter Archive

Here you will find PDF copies of all our past and present newsletters. We have also added a link to our newsletters in the right side bar for quick access. As we write future newsletters we will add them to this page. I hope you enjoy them. If you would like to join our mailing list, then visit our web page at www.ccfjaco.org

2009
1. December 08 – March 09
2. March – May 09

2008
1. January – March 08
2. May – August 08
3. September – November 08

2007
1. Summer (1) 07
2. Summer (2) 07
3. September 07
4. October – November 07

2006
1. Spring 06
2. Summer 06

2005
1. January 05
2. June – August 05
3. September 05
4. October – November 05

In His Grace,
Mike

The crazy ride of life.

Have you ever experienced a season in life where things were so crazy and happening so fast that you could hardly keep up with all the change? A season that turned things in life so upside down that when the dust finally settled, you felt almost entirely unfamiliar with your own “life”? The past 6 months have been that way for us.

To be clear, I’m not referring to negative things here. In fact, it has been good things that have happened to us during this season. Nonetheless, life has been one crazy ride lately. There have been external changes, internal challenges, and a healthy refocusing of priorities to name just a few. Since it has been a while since we have communicated with you, I thought I would take the time to get you “caught up to speed” with all the changes that have happened. I will actually be doing a more in depth series of post in which I will highlight some of the reasons for these changes in more detail, but this is to just serve as a quick overview.

After having many trials with our neighbor over our dogs, we decided in May that we needed to look for a new place to live. This is where the Lord began to really stir things up in our lives. In early June, we found a nice little home to rent that would suite our needs (if we were willing to make some sacrifices, which we were). So, we began the process of moving our family into the new home. It was also in June that I was scheduled to fly to Georgia to perform my brothers wedding. The problem was that I had not yet received the funds to do so. About 1 week before the wedding, while just moving into a new home and not even having begun to unpack yet, we received a call from someone stating that they felt lead to donate the funds we would need to fly to Georgia. We immediately put the unpacking on hold and arrived in the States 2 days later.

While we were in the States, we performed the wedding and then returned to CR 8 days later. Why the rush back? We had a team of 50 people arriving in Jaco for a 2 week mission trip.They were scheduled to arrive just 3 days after we returned. The team arrived and we went into full mission team mode for the next 2 weeks. The team was great and the Lord really used them in the community. After the team left, we resumed the unpacking of our home. It was also during this time that we realized the Lord was leading us to move out of our building at the church. So, we began the process of closing the cafe and giving away or selling all the things in the church building that we did not need. This process lasted about 6 weeks. Since we were no longer going to be meeting in the building, we needed to find a new place to have service. The Lord lead us to a covered soccer field in the community. This meant needing to have a way to transport all of the equipment for a church service. Soon, the Lord provided a trailer. Before we knew it, we were meeting on the soccer field each Sunday.

During this time, Gabe, Daniel & Sarah moved to Jaco full time to work along side of us, we had Jen come for 1 month to work as an intern with us, we moved into a new home, we moved services to the soccer field, we closed the cafe, and we refocused our priorities as a family & a church (more on that in a later post). Today, when I look back on the past 6 months I see a life that in many ways is very different than I thought it would be. But it is different in a good way. Not only different on the outside, but the Lord has been making some positive changes in my heart as well. I’ll post more on that later.

How about you? Have you ever been through a crazy, sanity stretching season similar to that? Has the Lord been making big changes in your life recently? Often, we see change coming and maybe fear it a little bit. I sure did. But as always, the Lord uses ALL THINGS FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE THAT LOVE HIM! May He give us the grace to follow Him no matter where He leads us, to His glory!

In His Grace,
Mike

BWO Mission Team: 2009

See photos from the trip

This summer we were blessed to once again host the “Believer’s World Outreach” (BWO) mission team. The team was relatively small this year compared to years past, there were only about 50 people. Though they were smaller, they were just as helpful and effective. The team was made up of people from churches across the United States and Puerto Rico. We enjoy the diversity of the BWO team because it gives us the opportunity to meet people from all different walks of life.

The BWO team is made up of smaller teams that all focus on a particular “mission”. Some participate in drama, medical clinics, cosmetology, vacation bible school, soccer clinics and construction. The Lord always does awesome things through the BWO team. It is amazing how He uses them to bless the community and yet blesses and challenges them as individuals in the process.

One day while the team was out witnessing, they meet a Nicaraguan guy named Jorge. As they began to share with him, they learned that he was homeless and like many Nicaraguans, he had come to Jaco hoping to find work. Since he did not have a work permit he was unable to get a job and was feeling hopeless. After talking with Jorge for a while, the team shared the gospel with him and Jorge gladly surrendered his life to Jesus. He attended our team bible study that evening and asked if he could speak to the group during the testimony time. The man who stood up on that stage that evening looked like a new man. He had a smile from ear to ear and shared that his plan for coming to Jaco was to find work but that he now realized God had a bigger plan, He brought him to Jaco to find Jesus! Proverbs 16:9 says

“A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”

This is exactly what we saw happen in Jorge’s life. The Lord wanted Jorge to be in Jaco when the team would be here because He had a far better plan for him than he could ever imagine. Jorge is just one of many that the Lord used the BWO team to reach this past summer in Jaco. Pray for the fruit of their trip to be evident in this community for years to come!
In His Grace,
Mike

Our New Home

Our small, but lovely home.

It’s good to be back! We apologize for the long delay in communications. We have been very busy with moving and hosting our BIG summer missions team from “Believer’s World Outreach”. The dust is finally starting to settle! We have a ton of stuff to get everyone caught up on, so be looking for more updates over the days to come. For now however, we wanted to let you know that we found a house to live in. It is much smaller than our previous house but it is much more affordable and it feels like “home”. It is 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom with a nice size front patio and a large back yard (the kids and dogs LOVE the yard!) We did some painting on the inside and had to seriously downsize our “stuff” in order to fit but that was really a blessing in disguise! We were able to bless other people with the things that we really weren’t using all that often, if at all. Giving truly does cure selfishness. This has taught us a lot about “loving your neighbor as yourself”. It has brought us new joy to simplify our lives and bless others. It’s amazing how we can accumulate stuff “just in case we need it one day” when there is someone out there who actually does need it today! The Lord has really been opening our eyes about stuff like this and we are trying to become more generous as a family and as a church (we certainly weren’t stingy before,we were just unaware of how we could be a greater blessing to others and also be content with less for ourselves). Of course, I’m sure the Lord still has a lot to teach us on these matters, but now He has our attention and we are listening! Our God truly is a generous God and He wants us to be generous people.

Please pray about our housing situation because the owner called us today and said she is bringing someone by that is interested in buying it (yes, it is for sale). We love this house and it would be a bummer if we had to repack everything and move again.

In His Grace,

Mike

Welcome to our new, new blog. (Yep, we moved it again.)

About 2 months ago we moved our blog to “Blogger”. Well, we have moved again (we’ll stay put this time we promise). We decided to move to “WordPress” because it offers much more customization. It also allows me to post more easily from my phone which is great for times that we are not at a computer. So, I hope that you don’t mind the move. For your convenience, I have imported all our “Blogger” post from the last 2 months into this new blog. Please bookmark this new blog address for future reference. Look for some updates to be posted very soon and thanks for your support.

In His Grace,

Mike