Greetings from Los Anonos, Costa Rica!!




As we look out at Los Anonos and it’s makeshift dwellings of tin sitting on the side of a very steep hill, we wonder how they have not been swept away during this heavy rain season. Each morning, as daylight comes, we look to see if everything is still in place. At this point in time, there are one to three homes that have been affected, one completely destroyed. Several others are on the verge of collapsing.

One of the walkways that leads up the hill has also been damaged, making it very difficult for both mothers and their children to go to their homes.

Coming back to wondering how many of these homes have been spared from disaster, the answer is prayer. Gods grace has kept these homes from sliding. As I was sitting this morning looking out at Los Anonos, I could hear in my heart the prayers of the single mom’s living in these tiny tin shacks. I could hear them say, “Por favor, el Dios, nos protege y nos mantiene seguros.” (“Please, God, protect us and keep us safe.”) Simple prayers ---- and once again this morning, God has answered their prayers.

As it is in any place in our world, there are needs. Here in Los Anonos, true conversion, that manifests transformed lives is what we want to see. Our prayer is to see this transformation in our time.

A prayer: Lord, just as you’ve heard the cry of the people for protection from the heavy rains, hear the sigh in their hearts for a better tomorrow, for a hope for a future, so that they too can be involved in you Kingdom here on earth and be a part of your Kingdom for eternity. Set the captives free, bring freedom! Amen!

Here in Los Anonos, it has been good working with La Viña, Escazu, helping with their Wednesday afternoon program. With the help of some donations from generous people, we were able to install lighting for the gym, which is where we meet with about 100 children, 20 young adults and 20 mothers.. Having lights there has been great for the whole community. It will help with the work that we would like to do in the future. The lights have made the gym a safer place to gather, as well. God is on the move and we are looking forward to what He is going to do!

It’s wonderful to have a church here like our own church at home to work with. Some of the ladies from the church have been getting together with the mothers in the gym once a week for a doll-making project. The mothers then stay on to hear the Word. It has been a great opportunity to build friendships.

Marsha just started teaching English 2 days a week at the kindergarten in Los Anonos. We hope to develop more English teaching classes in the future. There are two more long term girls who are coming to stay with us. One of them has training and a lot of experience teaching English as a second language.

Now that the rainy season is coming to an end, we have been doing a lot of cleaning around the house, and getting ready for the next teams. We have the Mechanic Falls team coming at the beginning of December and from that time on, it looks like we will have teams until the end of March. Then we have two more teams in the summer.

Right now, we are looking to fill in a few more weeks with teams. We now have an extra week in February to fill.

Lately, we have been having some problems with our twelve passenger van. Finding a good, honest mechanic has been difficult. Being North Americans, a lot of times they assume that we have lots of money, which isn’t the truth.

We appreciate all of your support, both prayerfully and financially, especially because we are seeing the Kingdom being advanced, here in Los Anonos and other communities.

We love you all!
Rodney and Cindy

Back in Los Anonos

It is the end of October and we have all returned and settled back into the Harvest Hands house here in Los Anonos, Costa Rica. It is a comfortable and welcoming haven. And it's definately time to update our blog!

Our stay in Maine was a busy, but awesome time. We spent our time with family and friends. Our ten year church celebration was a wonderful church family party, which brought back many memories of our church plant and how our church family grew to the blessed body that it is today.

Here in Los Anonos, it has been good working with La Viña, Escazu, helping with their Wednesday afternoon program. With the help of some donations from generous people, we were able to install lighting for the gym, which is where we meet with about 100 children, 20 young adults and 20 mothers.. Having lights there has been great for the whole community. It will help with the work that we would like to do in the future. The lights have made the gym a safer place to gather, as well. God is on the move and we are looking forward to what He is going to do!

October has been an extremely rainy month here. It seems that just about everything is moldy (not quite) and the trees and flowers are flourishing. Because of the amount of rain that has fallen this month, many homes are in danger of mudslides, which is true here in Los Anonos. There is a place across the river that we can see from our house, where there was once a home, which is no longer there because of the rain. Los Anonos has faired well compared to other parts of the country. There are many people who are homeless (over 3,000), or they have homes that they can’t get to, because of water.

One of the things that has been difficult and frustrating is seeing the young people who are addicted to crack, alcohol or other drugs. Sometimes when they go into rehab, they last only two or three days. They then return to Los Anonos, to their old habitat and habits. We know that God doesn’t give up and we thank Him for that!

One of the young men, about 20 years old, that Rodney brought into rehab recently is an orphan. He uses paint thinner to get high. It is so hard to see the young who have no hope and to know that there really is hope for them in Jesus, but they haven’t seen yet. Please pray that God would pour out his love and mercy on Los Anonos.

We're in Maine!

Dear friends,
I can’t believe that it’s time for another newsletter! The time goes by so quickly. Rodney and I are in Maine for a time of reflection and rest, though we haven't had much time to rest. We are enjoying our family and church family and friends. We will return to Los Anonos, Costa Rica by the middle of October.
I am using a letter sent to us from John Brigham, a pastor friend of ours from Vermont, for our newsletter this time. John and his wife Edie brought a team of 20 to Los Anonos. We had a very blessed time with this wonderful group. Here’s John’s letter, along with his report to the two churches that he pastors.


To Rodney, Cindy, Marsha and the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Mechanic Falls, ME;

            Sunday, September 30th, the Costa Rica mission team gave a presentation to the local Vermont towns and churches that supported us with prayers, encouragements, money and many way of supporting our first mission trip. ......... God was all over every part of this trip, every person on the team was hand picked by Him, Harvest Hands was God directed to be the place we would go and even after we have been back in Vermont for a month He was still working with the team.
            In August 2006 we thought it was time for our first mission trip from our churches. We planned to go the Lima , Peru to work in an orphanage but within a month the director of the mission needed a break before he broke down. God reminded me that my childhood friend, Rodney was in Costa Rica working in short term missions and the rest is His-tory. Had we gone to Lima , Peru we would have been there during the earthquake or would have had to cancel at the last minute. God is sovereign.
            Harvest Hands is a chosen place run by chosen people called to the Lord’s work. It was perfect for us as rookies in short term missions..............
I felt like I and the team were living in the book of Acts. In many ways we were and still are.  I’m seeing fruit in the lives of many on the team from our time at Harvest Hands.  Many adults and teens expressed desire to return to Harvest Hands in the future as God leads.

            This is part of my report to the leadership of the two churches that sent us out from Vermont :
 
-Participated in Mission Trip to Costa Rica with 19 folks from Whitingham And Readsboro Churches from August 17th -27th. The Team served the Lord well in two locations . Activities of the team included:
       - Conducting Vacation Bible Schools- 5 times in two locations
        -Working with children
         -Games and Soccer
        -Working in Soup Kitchen with local Christians
         -Did a post card presentation of maple sugaring in Vermont and served maple syrup on ice cream
         -Work Projects that included:
         -Refinishing tables and counter top at Soup Kitchen
         -Replacing a large tile kitchen sink
         -Painting Kindergarden Rooms and Hall in local School
         -Cleaned streets
         -Cleaned a drug hangout, fixed fences, painted a beautiful
mural on a open air wall
         -Worked in a Local Church,  refinishing a Sunday School Room and Pastor’s Study with partitions, sheetrock and
ceiling
        -Working with single mom digging ditches for water drainage and expanding dirt floor.
         -Worked with City of San Jose’, Los Anonos  Municipality in a  Health Care Day. -Set up in morning, worked with
children, clowns, donated new soccer balls, our teens played in a soccer tournament , helped pick up and cleaned streets.
         -Helped a Local Church with a Weds. Night outreach program.
         -Team member share his testimony of past drug addiction
         -Local visitation by team members sharing the love of God with people, prayer with people.
-Lots of little things happened that only God planned and someday we will know how people were blessed and
effected by the things our people did.
 
It was an amazing God ordained mission trip, without a single problem. God was all over this trip. His grace was amazing.  We lived in this verse:
 
    “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Eph 3:20-21 (NIV)
 
God bless the works of Your hands in Maine , Vermont , Costa Rica , all the earth, Amen!
Thanks to my close friends and brother and sisters, Rodney, Cindy, Marcia and the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Mechanic Falls, ME. and to God be the glory, forever!!!!
 
Pastor John Brigham of the Community Church of Whitingham , VT and the First Baptist Church of Readsboro , VT


Thank you, John, for this wonderful letter! We hope to see you again in Costa Rica!

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.

Martin

I thought that I'd add a photo that Rodney just took of Martin and our friend Luis. Martin is on the left. For his story, see the previous blog.

A Mercy Drop on Martin

Mercy Drops are falling. I once heard David Ruis speak at a conference. He spoke about God dropping His mercy like great big raindrops upon the lost and hurting people of this world, not only because we cry out, but because they cry out, “Oh God, help me!”
About two weeks ago, God dropped His mercy upon a man who we know. His name is Martin (pronounced Marteen in Spanish). Here's a photo of Martin (on left) with our friend, Luis. Martin is a crack addict, who lives here in Anonos. Martin often comes by for food. We used to give him food all of the time, but now we don’t, because we found out that he sells it for crack. Instead, we now give it to his mother, with whom he lives.
Rodney, Luis and John, our pastor friend from Vermont were walking down the dirt road in Anonos, when an addict came running to them for help. They had pulled Martin out of the river, where he had been wedged between two rocks for about an hour and a half. Martin had taken 5 hits of crack and had decided to go for a “swim in the pool”, which in reality was the river which runs through Anonos.
When Rodney and the others finally saw him, he was having a convulsion, foaming at the mouth, with his eyes rolling in his head. The other crack addicts were furiously at work, taking his wet clothes off with a large knife. Rodney and the men were praying for Martin, when the ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital.
For three days, he could not be located and we all thought that he had died, but God had mercy. Martin joined us at a festival that was held here in town last Saturday. He said that he’d been clean for a week. Mercy dropped on Martin. He has another chance to allow God’s love to give him strength. Please pray for him!

Yesterday, once again, I walked the muddy dirt road in Los Anonos with our friend Luis and his two children. I went up one of the washed out pathways where the sewerage runs and the rains have taken away the places where there was once sure footing. It is very steep and slippery, because of the abundance of rain. I consider it difficult, and when I think of the mothers carrying their children and their groceries, I wonder how they do it.
My sneakers are caked with mud - not much left to this pair of shoes. As I pass by the homes, most of the doors are open. And I hear the sounds of music and children and even angry voices that come from these homes. I’m also thankful that the doors are open. It think that this says something spiritually.
Many of these little tin shacks have dirt floors. And I know that many of the people are concerned if their house will wash away during this rainy season or if the house above them will slide into theirs.
Also during this rainy season, it seems like the use of drugs, alcohol and violence increases. As I look around, and as we’ve come to know some of the people here in Los Anonos, there are those who are not affected by living in poverty, because of their relationship with Christ. Then there are those who are affected by their poverty. This poverty is the lack of knowing God’s love. Many of these turn to desperation, drugs, prostitution, violence, domestic violence, alcohol, etc., much like in the States, but it seems more extreme here.
We know that God’s love is here. It just seems that they have been blinded and their ears are deafened and their minds have been bent towards hopelessness. It can be so depressing at times.
I’m reminded of several verses; Luke 6:35 & 36, where it says “He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (paraphrased).
So we ask for prayer on how to reach the blind, the deaf and the hopeless that are not able to comprehend the love of God and His ability to transform. We ask for prayer to show God’s mercy just as much as we ourselves need it. We also ask for prayer for endurance and perseverance, because at times, seeing so many hopeless victims, it can be overbearing.
Again, I’m reminded of Romans 5:1-11. Worth the read.
We rest in God’s promises. We want to bring glory to the Father. I know that I can speak for Cindy, as well, and Marsha, who lives with us.
I’m reminded of ten years ago, when the planting of the church in Mechanic Falls, Maine, happened. Isaiah 58 and Isaiah 61 were the two chapters of scripture that were given to us to remind us of the kind of church we would be. We are seeing this unfold, more and more, both in Mechanic Falls and here in Los Anonos, Costa Rica.
We want to see the last part of verse three of Isaiah 61 more and more. It says that “the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.” We know that God is the one who does the planting and in this He is glorified.
I leave my muddy shoes outside by the doorway for another day, for another walk into the community of Anonos, where God has brought us for this time in our lives.