Kids' Fire

Have you ever staretd something out of obedience later to find out the real reason God called you to it in the first place? What a sovern God we serve! He knows exactly what to share with us and what to linger in revealing so that our faith may grow and evolve.

As we saw an urgent need for the families to be invited to learn together, we began a series of weekly activities centered around Christian education through games outdoors. With one PE teacher and a few soccer balls, we started Saturday mornings to invite the kids to learn through recreation and having fun together. This was an opportunity for them to grow in their love for physical activity and learning important Christian values like self-discipline, team work, obedience, etc.

As we plunged into the months ahead, getting up early on a Saturday morning ground on our motivation, including the small turn out as we prepared the activities week after week.

God, if you told us this was a need, and that this activity was Your plan, where is Your confirmation that You are satified with us?

God had already anticipated our weaknesses, and He revealed Himself as our strength in this moment of encounter. He brought out of the woodwork a couple passionate to grow in their walk with Christ, hungry to reach out to their community and eager to be pushed to look a little harder for God´s guidance in their leadership.

A diamond in the rough.

This is where in the last few months of 2009, we saw God´s back up cultivate a valuable friendship with Luis Diego and Cindy, a precious couple who seek to help in counselling and Christian testimony other couples in need in their community and their families.

So the Sports´activity became Kids' Fire, based on the true testing of our faith as gold through fire, we also desire for the families and their children to become more pure and stronger through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Training by Luis Diego

Training with YWAM

The conference that I participated in was focused on returning back to the roots of evangelism. We were encouraged to share our personal testimonies of what God was doing in our lives and families. God spoke to us through Acts 1:8, of how we are called to evangelize first in Samaria, which means that we must start in the place we are located. We are gifted in different skills to express the message of Jesus Christ: drama, sports, arts, signs, education, health, business, etc. This is what we are praying and seeking to do: from now on.

Training with Samartians´ Purse

Kristina was also gifted with a training based in precautions concerning the growing need to educate and reach out to the world´s population suffering the consecuences of HIV/AIDS. Samaritan's purse and a prescription for Hope joined together and sponsered three people from FHICR´s office to participate in a week training that opened the eyes and hearts of those involved to assist in the prevention of the harmful results of this mortal virus.

Molded through ESEPA

Kristina was challenged through a year of Bible courses such as: Theology Panorama II, How to work with people with special needs, Fundamentals to Christian Education, beginnings of teaching, foundations of Christian Leadership development, Panorama of Old Tesatament, etc. She was stretched through a lot a different experiences, but most of all God guided her to grow in knowledge, in her faith and in relationships through networking with different teachers, classmates, etc. God has provided for her to continue classes the next Trimester in January 2010.

Children's rights training

This six-week course helped orient Christian leaders and facilitadors on society´s perspective of Children's rights and discipline in upbringing in the family. We discussed topics such as anger management, discipline, abuse, legal rights, and other topics related to these future generations. We were later challenged through the materials provided and the orientation to find creative ways on how to incoorporate these teachings in the families who are members of the communities.

Future Computer skills

I am going to start computer classes to be able to handle the computer more efficiently and participate more in missions through more knowledge of this tool. So I am seeking to broaden my possibilities to specialize in skills that will assist both our communication and interaction with others. I am in the phase of setting up the details to sign-up for classes this week.

Iniciating the Project by Luis Diego

In this community, there is a property that was used for drug dealing and prostitution. The owner lost the property due to bankrupcy, and the bank took over the rights and sold the property to the church Amistad International. The church leader, William Zapata, began to invest in envisioning the potential use for this property. Others who came together with him, began to clean up the property, construct the protective fence around the property. The vision is to provide a safe place to work in social development and outreach with the local families and their neighbors. The property will house a multi-purpose building that can offer ministries and churches a place to come together to offer different outlets and activities directed towards multiple age bracets such as computer lessons, sowing workshop, youth activities, and more.

This year, we were able to clean up the property and construct a small building to facilitate storage and adecuate ministry area with the children this year.

Every Saturday morning we worked with the children of the local families, playing games and teaching Bible Studies with emphasis in Christian values such as obedience to God and His Word. During 2009, we are projecting our efforts to invite other Christian organizations and minsitries to unite with us in the Lord´s work in 2010.

Ministry partners in the shape of friends

The Beatitudes refelcted in 2009
Matthew 5

"1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Every one of us has been called to become peacemakers following the footprints of Jesus, because like teacher, like pupil, it is an incarnated characteristic in the children fo God to be makers of peace.

And we have identified His mighty hand uniting us with peacemakers throughout 2009.

We prayed intensively at the end of 2008 as we were "left alone" in ministry without volunteers and with little human support that God would open up His doors of provision to bring those servent leaders He was preparing to come alongside and serve together. Well, God answered prayer, and to our joy, brought these partners in the shape of true friends.

We served with missionaries and gifted volunteers from the Reformed Church, Students International, Amistad International, Latin Link, and community leaders among other divine contacts that only God could have orquestrated.

Through unity in the Spirit, we witnessed together a supernatural strength that embedded in many hearts the miracle of opening up to a Christan worldvision and a life that reflects significant change.

So we give glory to God for the treasure of serving alongside friends and reaping the first fruits of the power of One Spirit.

Time capsule 2009

Greetings to you all in the hope and peace of the name of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ.

As God says in His Word, there is a time for everything. Thanks to the wits of a God-sent angel, our contact with the outside world is finally up and running in the form of a blog.

This is a God-inspired plan to link you with the doings and nature of Our Almighty God in the Kingdom building He is raising in Costa Rican communities. And of course, we also desire to be instruments of His joy and glory as we share from our hearts what He was, is and will be in our lives as a family.

As we meditated on His acts of faithfulness and grace throughout 2009, I shall present a time capsule alphabet of His doings that He has brought to our attention:

a. One completed year of Semenary school for Kristina, God´s provision in all aspects

b. Missionary training in Seattle through FHI

c. Provision of a new and usable laptop, communication with loved ones

d. Progress in our marriage, growing together

e. Annointed ministry tools and God-sent volunteers

f. Sister's visit in March, brought encouragement and motivation to service

g. Maturing both emotionally and spiritually during the year

h. Spiritual retreats as a family, delighting in God´s nature together

i. Financial provision in miraculous timing and growth in self-discipline

j. Home stability, able to rent in the same apartment throughout the year

k. A blessed visit with Clearview Baptist Church in August

l. Rekindled communication with Kristina´s sister Heather

m. God´s soveren guidance in the steps and future of Elizabeth, Kristina´s sister

n. God´s growing and challenging in Kristina´s sister Melinda´s spiritual giftings

o. Divine appointments and conversations with Luis Diego´s family members

p. Luis Diego working side-by-side with Pastor in the community

q. Evangelism and building reltionaships in the community

r. Children´s rights training for Luis Diego

s. Kristina playing the flute in worship service again

t. God-directed short-term teams

u. Kingdom Lifestyle training with FHICR and be able to host the event

v. His grace in Kristina´s Spanish learning and language development

w. Advancement in Kristina´s citizenship papers

x. Encouragement and support recieved through love packages and letters

y. Mutual support in ministry for one another, growing in contacts and alliances

z. Faithful ministry partners, supporters, true friends and life-changing mentors

Our vision and mission

OUR VISION:
Our vision is to evangelize, mentor and teach God’s message of salvation and His eternal principles to the nations in Costa Rica and elsewhere.



OUR MISSION:
We seek for our lifestyle to center itself more every day on the rock of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We serve to train children, youth and families in a Biblical worldvision. Our focus is for them to gain an understanding and apply God’s living Word in their lives.
We are submitted to the Trinity’s authority to guide us to bring His Word of hope to the imprisoned, the broken hearted, the hopeless, those in need.
We strive to iniciate and support programs and projects that expand God’s kingdom through pouring God’s love and revelation in the lives of those around us.

2009

As a living testimony of God´s sufficient grace and unconditional love towards us and those He has placed in our paths, we wish to share a time capsule of 2009 through the incarnated beauty of His work in our family, ministry and the local church. We invite you to take a gander, and to respond to the same thought, what are the experiences that have lead you to grow and enhance your horizons throughout 2009?