Before Christmas of 2008, I awoke early one morning and a question popped into my head, a question asked by many during the Christmas season. “Do you have the Christmas spirit yet?” Or “Are you in the Christmas spirit yet?” As I lay there, the thought came to me that we should all be in the Christmas spirit 365 days a year. So, here it is, February 11, 2009, almost two months after Christmas and I’m still thinking about the Christmas spirit!!
This same spirit of Christ should be carried on daily. We, as Christians, have the Spirit if the living God dwelling within us every day of the year. He is here and we can give of His unselfish love year round. We can hug those who never have hugs. We can give a bag of rice to a hungry person. We can give a coat to a cold person. We can give a smile to a sad person. We can build houses for the ones in need. THIS IS A YEAR ROUND THING!
We have had three teams come during January and February, two from Mountain View Community Church in Culpepper, Virginia and one from New Life Church, Gahanna, Ohio (currently here), who have passed on the love of the Lord to others by building three homes for three families in Jasmin, by loving on the ladies at the rehab center, by serving dinners to the addicted and by serving the children here in Los Anonos.
We have served dinner to the drug addicts of Los Anonos twice and are planning a meal for tomorrow night. It reminds me of the verses, Luke 14:21-23, “'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.” We did exactly that. Three went down the dirt road into the area called “The Quebrada” (the broken) and invited the addicts and some others to join us for arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and a Tico salad, cake, cookies, juice and coffee. These wonderful people came and blessed us. We went home with such a wonderful feeling of the peace of Jesus.
The second dinner that was held for the addicts was during the month of January. One of the major drug dealers came and asked for prayer, because he wants to change his life. He hung his head as we prayed and when he lifted his face at the end, his eyes were watery.
And for those of you who heard about the earthquake in Costa Rica, we praise God for his protection. It was very strong. Many people, about an hour from here, lost family members and their homes. Our home sustained no damages. A few things fell off of shelves and our nerves were a little frazzled, especially with all of the aftershocks.
A child that Rodney met before the earthquake told Rodney that he had had a dream about Jesus visiting Costa Rica… Perhaps the earthquake was His footsteps? Who knows? The power of God is even greater than an earthquake! We feel the peace of Christ in this situation. And we know that Jesus is moving here in Costa Rica. People are seeing the Lord in the faces of the teams that come to work. And the teams are seeing the faces of the Lord in the people who they serve. The teams come here to bless. They are blessed and they bring the blessings home to those who sent them.
I have included three photos here. One is of our friend and helper, Luis, with two of the addicts. One is of Maria, a sweet lady who crack has hold of.
And the last is of Johnny, a man from Anonos, who has been clean from drugs for about a year. He is an electrician, who helps wire the yellow houses that are being built in Jasmin.
Thank you all for your financial support and prayers.
In Him,
Rodney and Cindy
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