God is here in Los Anonos

I am watching the Escazu mountains being slowly covered with extremely black clouds. Each time I see this, I think of Mt. Sinai.......”On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.“ Exodus 19:16-19
I always look at those mountains, covered with clouds and think, “God is up there.” But, I know better. Yes, He is there, but He is here as well. He is here in Los Anonos. He is here in each and every poor shanty that is existing down in the barrio below our house. He is walking down the washed out path from Sandra’s house. He is living in the house of Rubin and Ruth; the house that many of us would not put our goats in. My goodness, He was born in a place like that......why wouldn’t He live there? Oh, but if only Rubin and Ruth would know that He is living there!
Moses led the people to meet with God and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Los Anonos is at the foot of these mountains. And when there is a thunderstorm, the whole valley shakes. And the lightening and rain fall heavily on us all. We want these people to meet with God. We want them to experience God’s grace and love and mercy.
Our addict friend Martin experienced this. I’m not going to put his story here. It’s the same one that I put in our blog. So if you would like to read his story, you can read it on our blog at....... harvesthands.blogspot.com
Our last team was a group of 20 from Vermont. The pastor and his wife are long time friends of ours. Even though the house was filled, or we should say overflowing, it did overflow with generosity and love for the people of the communities that they worked in. It was a wonderful experience for us, as well as for them, to work together doing the Kingdom stuff, for the glory of God. We want all to know that they did an awesome job, laminating tables, painting walls, children’s programs, etc.
It has truly been a joy, yet hard, as we are new at this. We are thankful to God for the church that we are a part of, the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Mechanic Falls, Maine, and for their vision to be a support to other organizations here in Costa Rica that are already at work, such as La Vina Escazu and FundaVida. Thank you all for your support, financially and prayerfully. May the Lord continue to bless you all.
Please pray for stamina for us, especially in learning the language. And please pray for traveling mercies as we return to Maine next week for a visit. And please continue to pray for the transformation of Los Anonos.