2010 Summary

We pray that our greetings find you filled to overflowing with His peace, joy and faith as you continue to further His kingdom around the world and in your communities. We thank the Lord for knitting us together as you all belong in our serving those in need in Costa Rica throughout these past three years. We pray for you incessantly, anticipating God´s answer to all your requests as you seek to be obedient to His beckoning.
As for us, we wish to fill you in on a summary of what the Lord is doing in the communities where He has called us, as well as in our family. 2010 proved a broadcast of His faithfulness and diligent way of responding to our needs and petitions for guidance. Our hearts are eternally grateful for the healthy birth and growth of our first born, Joseph Abraham, who came into this world August 28th here in San José, Costa Rica. God perfectly knit together the details as well as the emotional support we needed to stand up on our two feet as parents. There is no greater calling in the kingdom of God than to witness God´s gift of life and the responsibility to direct these little ones to Him. Amidst the adjustments and surprises of a four-month-old, our lives have been enriched with the privilege of parenthood, both Luis Diego and myself are speechless in how God touches our hearts through His son, little Joseph Abraham.
This blessing of becoming parents has challenged us as a marriage to dig deeper into our hearts to love one another, to care for one another and to communicate. Most parents will relate when I mention that this is a challenge when sleep deprivation, hunger, and unknowns are thrown into the mix. Like this morning: how did something so little get poop all over his clothes and activity chair in milliseconds of time? It took two capable adults to clean up the mess. Only God knows.
This past year has proceeded to unfold as a transitory period in our serving the Lord. Kristina was serving alongside an incarnation missionary with a group of single mothers whose goal was to grow in the Word and simultaneously be trained through a sowing workshop and possibly become business women who could sell their products to support their families. Many miracles and life changes happened through the hand of the Lord leading in the group. One family composed of the mother and two daughters were attending the women´s Bible study on a regular basis. God touched their family and the youngest daughter was healed of an issue of rejectment and pain from the past family affairs. They locked together in forgiveness and were freed to worship God in those areas of past hurts. Another woman has struggled due to her immigrant status saw her daughter through the process of receiving her legal documents to be here in Costa Rica. One 17-year-old mother who had participated in cultish-like activities and wore only black before surrendered her heart and life to Christ this year and has shown change in her face and even way of dressing as she also expresses how God´s Word is moving in her heart throughout the weeks.
Also, Kristina co-facilitated Kids´ club with the local church which holds the vision of reaching out the children at risk so that they may come to Christ and bring their families to Christ. This particular church had worked together with the leaders who participated for 2 ½ years, and have seen great fruit of the children´s behavior bettering as they matured and their families that out of sheer curiosity came to the Lord because they wanted to know why their children where different. Dozens of children have received Bible training as well as Christian values through the games and activities, and we praise God for the 20 plus families that have received Christ and become members of the church congregation through this outreach. There is one boy who since he began attending the outreach activities and Sunday school has completed a 180° change in his behavior. This 9-year-old boy was rejected in every way by his father and appears to have abused his mother visibly before him on occasion. He was full of uncontrollable anger and negative emotions. As the pastor´s wife involved him little by little in the preparation of class, he has discovered his love for Jesus Christ and for the stories that flow from His Word. He participated in the Christmas play and has been a Sunday school helper for many months. His mother is floored at the change in him and how he has matured through his contact with others in the club activities.
Luis Diego for the first six months of this year served as a volunteer in FHICR distributing donations and collaborating in marketing activities. Also, he has been active throughout 2010 as a Sunday School teacher at the local church where we belong. Due to lack of teachers, he has willingly taken on all the children ranging between 4 to 11 years old. It is a small group of about 15 children, but it has been the challenge to teach on some many age levels at once. Luis Diego has been flexible and faithful to his responsibilities and the kids appreciate him being their only male mentor currently. When we are faithful in the little, God delivers in great. A new Pastoral family has arrived and is revamping the Children´s ministry. We are very pleased that the Lord has answered our need to have a stable family guiding the congregation´s spiritual health.
At the beginning of the year, Luis Diego helped out with a church plant in Cartago with the former pastor, Pastor William Zapata. He assisted in the discipleship and Bible Studies that were held among those families. Many families, parents, children and youth are coming to Christ and are starting to learn about the basic principles of His Word. There are many immigrants in the communities nearby and there has been a great need to work with the marriages so that God can transfer their homes and hence generations. Many children and youth are at risk in the conditions they live to fall into drugs, fornication and dysfunctional lifestyles. Our prayer is with Pastor William and his teams of missionaries as they weekly take God´s Word to those who are hungry to learn.
Also, he continued with the group of disciples in Los Guido community and did house visits throughout the first half of the year. We thank the Lord for the opportunity to see God moving in these families’ lives as they overcome poverty and focus their lives on Christ. He has phased out of this family fellowship as they are now participating in the local church and growing in their jobs and their children´s education. As a way to follow-up, Luis Diego will go in the next month to bless them with the paint and paint with them their front gate.
So, all of these testimonies are for the glory of God in the different areas God was using both of them, but Luis Diego and Kristina´s heart was always to serve alongside one another. Their desire to serve together for the kingdom was not far away from being fulfilled, as God has foreseen from the very beginning.
To paraphrase this upcoming testimony of how we are serving as of June 2010, allow us to mention that Kristina had been lead to participate in Hunger Corps training through KFHI in Ocean shore, Seattle, WA during March 2009. This training allowed her to build up her understanding about the principles behind Child Development Programs: an outlet to empower families, churches and leaders in communities to concern themselves with the holistic development of their children and youth and hence overcome all types of poverty. It is a way to equip these three community pillars to advance children´s development in the kingdom of God and every other aspect of their lives.
KFHI was the initial contact through this training and the prospects of opening up a center in our home country were on the horizon. As time went on, the diagnostic and international communications slowly but surely ceased to flow. By the end of 2009. Kristina said, God has timing and a reason for everything. He is telling us to wait.
In May of 2010, FHICR offered Luis Diego a position as facilitator for this ministry, and through much prayer, he accepted, Kristina was getting ready to have the baby, but the former national director assisted Luis Diego as he begin initial training with the community leaders, setting up program centers and initiating the tedious process of child profiling. Luis Diego became a full time missionary staff with FHICR in June 2010.
Now that the baby is a little bit older, Kristina will assist Luis Diego as an assistant (he calls her his personal secretary) and her focus as she works with Joseph as her first priority is to keep up international communications, database, and other tasks oriented more through the computer. Luis Diego will be coordinating more logistics and training in the communities as well as empowering the leaders and community coordinators. They are both working on their yearly plan and praying hard for this year´s challenges.
We briefly inform you that due to lack of resources, FHICR has let go of three key staff, including the former national director, and we are let a small group of missionaries and one paid staff. God is in control and we ask your prayers for a new couple to take over the administration in this time of need.
Once again, your partnership with this missionary family has meant support and motivation even in moments of trial. We incessantly pray for you. And we are excited to hear what you are in store for in this upcoming year 2011. We pray His every spiritual blessing over you in Christ Jesus, our living King. May we continue serving together for the glory of His Name.