Hello!  I am going to try to start posting here again.  I haven't posted in over a year, but I see that it would be a benefit to us to do this!!!  The blog layout is new for me, so pardon errors!!! 

We have had a very busy summer (our winter and rainy season here in Los Anonos).  And the busyness has reaped much fruit!  I hope that I can fit all of it into this newsletter!  I am actually going to list what each church accomplished.  The blessings that each church contributed are almost overwhelming.  This is the physical work that was done.  The spiritual results are amazing and already, there is fruit.

Grand Rapids  July 8 to July 16th

*Youth Camp in the Mountains with youth from the Los Anonos Vineyard and the

            Palmares Vineyard. 

*Flower arranging class for the women of Los Anonos.  One lady, Brenda, in the photo, has already been asked to work in a flower shop.  She was able to earn extra money for her family!

 *Moving Rocks to build retaining walls along the river. In the rainy season, some of the homes are in danger of washing away when the river rises.  The municipality has given rocks to the community to build walls.  Our teams have been helping.

Manchester July 20th to July 30th

            *Another mural to beautify the community.

            *Kids program.

            *Minister at youth group/sticks mime.

            *Princess Club

            *Afternoon in the park

*Glasses Clinic in Linda Vista.  250 people received eyeglasses and prayer!!

*Church photo shoot.  Beautiful portraits and

 family photos were taken of our church

members.

*Rocks, rocks and more rocks!!!!

Summit August 4th to August 14th

            *Youth camp in Heredia

*Work with children in the Mangoes..This was the first time that we have gone to that area of Anonos and there were about 25 children.  Another part of the community has been reached.

            *Moving Rocks

*Eyeglasses in Talamanca.  Each person who had their eyes tested, also received prayer.

 New Life  August 18th to August 27th

*Moving Rocks and built walls! And there is still    more to do!!

*Men’s Retreat…Not enough can be said about what God did and the

relationships that were made.

*Garden in front of mural

*Benches for community

*Computer stations for our computer class.  Read our September newsletter to learn about a wonderful program that is starting in the church

*Painting walls in the church

            *New Life also participated in a going away party for our intern, Julie Herrmann.

                 More on that next month!

Mission to Limon  August 17th and 18th

A group of people from our Vina Anonos and other locals went to Limon to  minister to kids and young people.  We have been trying to instill missions into our church. Here is Jessie, one of our new interns, ministering to some children.

We would like to thank all of the people on these teams and the other teams of 2012 that we have told you about in previous newsletters.  These folks sacrifice their time from their  families.  They give up their vacation time to sow into Los Anonos.  The people of Anonos see this.  They look forward to every team that comes, because they see the love of Jesus.  The people of this community are loved on by those who come to serve.  The results are evident.  Our people are growing to know the Lord, to love Him and to love and each other.

Healing is taking place in their lives. Healing from abuse, healing from being fatherless. As these people get loved on, they are realizing who they are in God’s eyes.

Thank you, again, to all of you who support this mission and Viña Anonos. It is amazing to see the changes that have happened during the last six years!

Rodney and Cindy

If you would like to support Harvest Hands financially:  Harvest Hands…. c/o Vineyard Church…  P.O. Box 55…. Mechanic Falls, Maine….  04256

Dear Harvest Hands friends,

How can time possibly go by so fast?  It has been over a month since the last newsletter and we’ve had two teams since then! 

Here are a few excerpts from Dave Jefferson’s newsletter for the Mechanic Falls, Maine team, which consisted of 16 people! Thank you, Dave for writing this!  I’ve added my bit in parentheses (..)

Mixed in between all the construction (and painting projects at our new church building) were trips by all of us down into the streets of Los Anonos, where several healings and at least one salvation took place. (We continue to pray for signs, wonders and the power of God to be poured upon Los Anonos.)  What thrilled us the most was the very active role taken by the young men of the community in these God moments.  The energy of the Ticos, Tito, Jason, Kevin, Pipo, Randal, Nanis, and Chino who prayed along with us was amazing. One afternoon we went into San Jose, and gave out hot dogs and prayed with some of the homeless of the city. (There are many homeless in San Jose, who need food and the love of God.)

One of our big projects was putting some final touches on the Casa Nueva, which is our new church just down the street from the house.  Four inside and two outside benches were made from scratch by Ben Mosher, Sr with various team members assisting his  carpentry.. (Ben came with his son and three of his grandchildren… what a blessing to see three generations of believers serving on the mission field together!) The outside worship area was finished, and a roof for the large donated stove and pizza oven was installed.   Some excellent murals were painted on the walls by the girls under the artistic talents of Julie Herrmann, a talented intern (of Harvest Hands). 

A church service on Saturday night, with Dick preaching was powerful, with several of the young Ticos visibly moved, and at least one deliverance witnessed.   The Church was also used for a wedding that we decorated for and attended.  Rodney married the couple out in the amphitheater type worship area.   Our own Steve Limerick headed the church make over project.   He has earned the respect of the Tico boys.   Half way between the house and the church on the side of the road we made a basurero  (garbage depot) out of cinder block and mortar.

The girls of the team took right to the youngsters of the community and taught a group how to crochet.  Spanish and English words were exchanged continuously.   There was also a skit and a number of lessons put on for the youngsters at the new church in one of the meeting rooms.  (We have a Kid’s Club every Saturday for the children of the community.)  (And thank you, Dave, for writing part of this month’s newsletter!)

Two and a half weeks later, the Portland, Maine team arrived to build another new “yellow house” in the community.  This house was built for Karla, a single mother of 4 children.  Her former house had no plumbing and a dirt floor.  

Some of the members of this team also painted murals on the “Casa Nueva” walls, visited families, loved on kids and taught members of the Harvest Hands house how to minister a Sozo, a type of freedom tool to help people be free of hurts from the past.  Here is a photo of Julie, our intern, and one of the team members, Sarah Bonneson as they are painting.

This past weekend we were blessed to have our son, Josh, visit us with Jeremy Riddle. Jeremy was leading worship and teaching at a worship conference that we were able to attend.  And Josh preached a wonderful encouraging message at our church here in Anonos.  Thank you to both of them for the blessings!

There is so much more that God wants to do in Los Anonos!  Please continue to pray for wisdom and discernment on the next steps to take as far as building the church here.  God is growing it… He’s the only one that grows it!  But we have our part to play and need discernment.  Thank you for your prayers and financial support.  We couldn’t do it without you.  You are a huge part of the Harvest Hands team!

If you would like to support us financially this is our address:

            Harvest Hands

            c/o The Vineyard Church

            P.O. Box 55

           Mechanic Falls, Maine  04256

October 1, 2010

Dear Harvest Hands Friends,

I’m watching the clouds form very quickly over the nearby mountains today. Hopefully, we are back to the regular rainy season weather, rather than the intense rains that have been pouring on Costa Rica for the last week. There are about 60 roads in the country that have been closed, because of swollen rivers and/or mudslides! There are some photos on the Inside Costa Rica website: (http://www.insidecostarica.com/archives/2010/september/10-09-30.htm). We thank God that no one has been killed. I have the same feelings as I do in Maine during the month of March, when spring is just around the corner, but it snows again! We are anxious for the dry season!

We had a wonderful and blessed time preparing a Mother’s Day dinner here at the Harvest Hands house for the women of our fellowship. We were able to give them a lovely dinner, prayer time, roses and a gift (provided by a couple of women from La Viña, Escazu), but I think that we were more blessed than the ladies! What a joy it is to serve these women!







WELCOME JULIE!

➜ ➜ ➜ ➜ ➜ ➜


We would like to welcome Julie Herrmann from Grand Rapids, Michigan as our new “intern”. Julie will be with us for a year. She has been here for three weeks and has “slid” into our house, ministry and hearts with ease! She has started teaching English, giving piano lessons and an exercise class for the women! Julie is also bi-lingual and has already used her language skills to do some translating. She has also done teaching at one of our small groups. She and Steve have started doing puppet shows for the children. Julie has a blog where you can get to know her better: http://mylifeintupperware.blogspot.com

Now that we are in a “non-team” season, we are taking advantage of the time to do some upkeep around the Harvest Hands house. One of the sad, but necessary jobs that we accomplished was the cutting of the big pine tree next to the house. Its roots were starting to destroy the walkway and were heading to the house. It was amazing to watch Marvin (the man who received the first yellow house) climb this tree in his stocking feet, cutting each branch with a machete. When he got to the top, his chain saw was passed to him and he started cutting the big trunk in sections. That was completed in two days and the other pines in the back were also removed.



We will also be doing some work on the interior of the HH house, such as painting, etc.










Remember I told you about the bag gardens which were planted all over Anonos?? They are growing wonderfully and producing much! Here is a photo of ours with a nice Chinese cabbage plant! →→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→



That’s it for now! We will be having a meeting in October with the mission leaders of the churches who work with us here in Los Anonos. So, I’m sure that there will be much to share in our next newsletter.

Please pray for wisdom for us as we continue to minister in the community. The warfare can be intense at times and we need your prayer coverage!
We also need prayer for the next steps to take as a church is growing here in Los Anonos!

Blessings to you!
Rodney and Cindy

PS. If you would like to send financial support, the address is:
Harvest Hands, c/o Vineyard Church of Mechanic Falls
P.O. Box 55
Mechanic Falls, Maine 04256

Nicaragua Trip

I have been pondering for days about how to write about our trip to Nicaragua. It’s very difficult to know where to begin, because of the intensity. How do you write about a trip to the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere, where 85% of the people live below poverty level?

We went with 16 people. Being missional was new to 11 of the 16 and all came back to Los Anonos with a greater under-standing of Nicaraguans and of what it is like to live in poverty. The young men from Anonos, though in need themselves, saw that there are others who live in worse conditions.

The only glitch that we had in the 12 hour travel day was a three hour wait at the “frontera”, the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We had 500 notebooks that we were bringing to a Christian school located in the Managua dump. The border guard was going to charge us $200 to bring the notebooks into the country, but he later changed his mind and charged us $20. Hmmm... That makes you wonder where he was coming from! But this is very typical of the corruption in the government there.

Our first place to visit the next day was “La Chureca”, the dump in Managua. About 1,500 people live here. Please take a look at this video, taken by another ministry. It describes “La Chureca”. http://www.vimeo.com/1054619 Here the people merely exist. They exist by scavenging for garbage to eat. I saw a man who had a bag of bones that looked as if they had been discarded by a butcher or meat shop. Our guide, the vice-principal of the Christian school, said to me, “That’s his dinner.” I saw another man walking on top of a smoldering pile of trash. He had on rubber boots. A man told us that his feet are numb from the heat... not burned, but he was just accustomed to the temperature. This is how he survives. I saw one of the cutest dirtiest little girls that I've ever seen.

We saw trash scattered everywhere, houses of plastic bags, dirty and naked children, and animals looking for food, as well. The air was heavy with smoke to the point that it burned my eyes and I wondered how many had respiratory diseases.
One lady told me she had lived there for eleven years. How can this be? There are some who wouldn’t want to leave... they know nothing else. They wouldn’t know how to live outside of the rubble. They wouldn’t know how to live if they didn’t have to scrounge for every need.

Next, we worked in Tipitapa for 1-1/2 days. Tipitapa is a huge community of shacks. Some of people who live in Tipitapa work in the sweat shops, where they are barely paid enough to buy food. Many homes don’t have refrigerators or stoves. Perhaps just a wood fire to cook the little food that they can buy, perhaps just rice and beans.

We had two focuses in Tipitapa. One was a children’s program and the other was rebuilding an outhouse and a shower for an older couple.

Virginia is 56 years old, but looks 70, because of her hard life. Adam is older and has Parkinson’s disease. He can barely function at this point. Virginia and Adam have a one room wooden house with a dirt floor. Their outhouse had no door and was falling apart. Their outside shower was nothing but a few metal sheets put together with plastic as a curtain and a bucket to fill with water. She has such a look of hopelessness on her face. And he has blank eyes from discouragement because of his disease.
We hope that when they stand under that running water in their new shower that they would be washed and refreshed by the love of Jesus.



The children’s program was held at the local church, a small and humble facility with a tiny enclosed yard. And somehow this small yard was filled with about 300 children!! The group of young people, who went with us, did some activities with the children and then gave them hot dogs, chips, a drink and candy. Many of these children brought their one hot dog home to their family. We were happy to give out hot dogs, but frustrated, because of the endless hunger in this area.

We finished off Saturday with a trip to the Managua Children’s Hospital. We joined with the Vineyard church in Managua, so there were about 30 people who went. It seemed quite strange to me to visit a children’s hospital from 8 to 10 at night. We divided into three groups. One group went to the ward where children were in serious condition, but healing. Another group went to the cancer ward. And the last group went to the waiting room in the general ward and ministered to the parents and some of the children who were out of their rooms. These children were being tested and cared for, but were well enough to visit. What precious children! We can’t say if any healings happened, but we do know that there were tears and blessings on both their part and ours.

This is just an overview of our time in Nicaragua, because of space purposes. We have included here a couple of photos. I will post some photos here and on my Facebook page.

We want you to know that your prayers and your financial support are greatly appreciated. We pray that you will have a wonderful Christmas and a joyfully blessed 2010!

Merry Christmas!
Rodney and Cindy and the Harvest Hands Team


If you would like to see more pictures from the Harverst Hands mission trip to Nicaragua,
please visit Picasa at the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cinrodlaf/NicaraguaTrip2009#

Dear Harvest Hands friends,

Since the beginning of the year, so much has been accomplished! The teams who have come from various churches have been awesome. Yellow houses have been built in Jasmin; work has been accomplished in Anonos and in Veinte Cinco de Julio for FundaVida.

But this month I would like to tell you the story of two women.

These women are from Los Anonos. They are two women with broken lives, two women who MUST come to know the Father.

Theresa is the wife of Rafa, a crack addict. Her husband doesn’t live with her. She, herself, is a crack addict. She has two sons, both of whom are crack addicts. Tony, on two separate occasions, has been shot in the eye and stabbed in his stomach. He also has a punctured lung from a stab wound. His brother is named Luis. Luis is typically in the Quebrada (the road where all of the drug addicts live) with only a pair of shorts on…. no shirt, no shoes. Isn’t it interesting that “quebrada” means broken. These are broken people.

Theresa begs on the corner every day. For the whole day, she stands with her hand outstretched to passing motorists. She will go into the grocery store to buy a little food for her two addicted sons. She feels responsible for her family. Neither of her sons have a job.

She hasn’t wanted to go into rehab, because she is the only one who will care for her sons, but I heard recently that she is considering going. Please pray that she would follow through with this.

While prayer walking on one of the streets of Anonos one day with our friend Luis and another lady, Marianne, who was visiting us from Hawaii, we had the privilege of leading Theresa to Jesus. Jesus is her only hope. She may never be rich by our standards, but she can know the peace and the richness of having a relationship with Christ that God can give her through knowing His Son. Please pray that she would come to know His riches and peace.



The second woman is Sandra, who we have talked about before. Sandra is the mother of 8 children, one of whom was just born this week. She lives in a two room shack with a dirt floor. She is a jolly soul, always laughing at her situation. She had no stove and was cooking on a fire. So the last team that was here from Mechanic Falls, Maine bought her a stove and a gas bottle and installed it for her. She, however, now has no money to buy food. We did send some to her house and hopefully, she will get by for awhile. There were a few who were there with Rodney who had an opportunity to pray for her. At that time she was in a destitute place because her partner had left her. Her relationship with him is not good. We are not sure of her marital status. Most women will not acknowledge if they are not married. They call their boyfriends “husbands”, whether they are married or not.



Recently there have been a few homes that are in a dangerous locations that the government has removed. Theses two families also live in physically dangerous areas, where there could be mudslides. Hopefully, they will be able to be relocated to another place with new homes.

This will certainly be a blessing to Theresa. Perhaps it will get her away from her environment of crack.

And to Sandra, a new home with a dry floor and no holes in her roof … She will no longer have to trudge up a muddy path during rainy season to get to her home. She will no longer have a muddy kitchen floor in the rainy season, peppered with buckets to catch the rain that drips through the holes in her roof.

Please pray that these two women will be on the list for new homes in which to spend their lives.

In the photos: Sandra’s house with one of her sons and a photo of Theresa.

Blessings to all and thank you for your support!
Rodney and Cindy

Dear Harvest Hands Friends,

It’s always good to ask questions. I’m constantly doing so. When I read scripture, I ask questions. For example….. (get out your Bible and look these up)….
Luke 6:35 & 36……. What does this look like?
Acts 20:35……. Do I truly like giving more?
Luke 14:12-14….. Who have I recently invited for dinner?
Mark 14:7…… Any time I want Him?
1 Samuel 2:7…. Why do you send poverty?
Luke 16:19-21 Who is outside my gate?
The one who is addicted.
The one who is rejected.
The one who is afflicted.
The one who is hungry, thirsty, naked and homeless.
The unloved.
The unlovely.
The one who persecutes us.
The crippled.
The blind.
The one in shackles.

Everyday it seems we have to make choices. Often we have people come to the house from the community of Los Anonos asking for money, food, etc., much like we read in Jesus parables and teachings. We often can reason, “Oh, if I give him food, he’ll take it and sell it for another hit of crack.” It is the same as if we were to give money.



We get calls for clothing, school supplies, etc. We see the poverty daily and so need to keep a willing heart to give and to know what and how to give.

Our friend, Luis, recently had an encounter with a man who struggles with alcohol. He was outside of our gate and came to ask for money to buy alcohol to use for cooking. Luis said that he would drink it and not to give him the money.

When I answered, “I’m sorry, I can’t give you money,” the man became angry with Luis. He said, “Luis, you’re poor just like me. You know what it is to be in need.”

Luis responded, “No, no I am not poor like you. I have Jesus in my heart. He is my Savior. I am rich in Jesus.” At this the man turned and left. I wrestled with still wanting to give money to him. However the truth is that this man was poor, but even more so, because he didn’t have Jesus to make him rich.

It is true, as Luis said, that we, who have Christ in the center of our hearts are incredibly rich and have the opportunity to give so much more than just money or food.

So, I end as I opened, with a question that is also a prayer. “Oh, God, is it you who stands knocking at the door? Is it you that comes to our gate? How are we to help those who are in need?”

This is something we must all ask ourselves: Lord, if we have been given so, so much, and we have, then how should we give and when should we give? We hear you say silently, “Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour it into your lap. For by the standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:38 The Message puts it this way: “Give away your life, you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting is the way. Generosity begets generosity.

And a small update on the happenings in Los Anonos:

About 12-15 young men have been meeting every other Friday night with Rodney and some men from La Vina. The last meeting was about prayer and the video “Transformations” was shown. These young men decided that they needed to have a prayer time for Anonos. So, the attached photo shows you what they did. A number of them went to the top of the Anonos Bridge and prayed over the community. They asked for the Lord to come and transform their barrio. The next evening, the police were combing the area for drug sellers. We don’t know the results of that, but we do know that it was the results of the prayer that brought the police in. Los Anonos is in a transformation period!

Blessings and Thanks,
Rodney and Cindy LaFrance
Harvest Hands