This month’s newsletter is written by Chuck Vincent, better known to all of us as “Carlos Vincente”. Chuck was a member of the last team that came to Costa Rica and a member of our sending church, The Vineyard Church of Mechanic Falls, Maine. Chuck does a great job here giving a detailed account of the very full schedule of a team that comes to build houses. So here is Chuck’s very colorful account of their time.

Monday, 3/16: We arrived at the airport in San Jose. As they were checking our bags, Juan was pulled to the side, so that one of the team’s bags of supplies could be inspected. He was able to go on. It must have been his shifty eyes or that he had 10,000 bandaids and gauze in the suitcase that made the customs people suspicious! We then went to the Harvest Hands house. Before bed we needed to thank the Lord for getting me through with a passport that had less than two months left on it and that we were able to bring all the supplies we needed into country. We watched a short video on building a yellow house and then “nighty-night”.
Tuesday: After an awesome breakfast, we were off to CCA, a church in Alajuelita, to get tooled up to build a big house, but found that everything had changed. Over the years we have learned that the key words on a mission trip is flexibility. The focus changed to building a small house first. So, because we were not expected until Thursday by this sweet lady, many helping hands took down the metal box she lived in. The cement, pre-cast pylons were cemented in place. Not quite as simple as it sounds, digging in polluted ground!!
Wednesday: Floors and walls and prayer walks through Jasmin. Some of our ladies found out what it is like to not have running water and to have to haul it in 5 gal. buckets up the hill. Our Cheryl who intentionally worked out for this trip carried two. I was impressed. The leadership of the church in Jasmin were a huge blessing to us. As we ate with them, they served us. They brought us fruit and drinks throughout the day as we worked. Pastor Carlos, Maximo, and his wife Rebecca were true examples of the Fathers love.
Thursday: Roof, electrical and painting were finished so that the little house was ready to move into. We helped this excited lady, named Alva, move her bed in and her couch. While some did this, others were off serving in other areas - visitations, serving lunches and playing with the children at a small school.
Friday: The big house in the city was still on hold, so instead of taking time off at the end of our trip we left for the Volcano Arenal. We went to the lava fields and worshipped, as we watched this active volcano erupting over and over. Thinking about the fire of God in us, we need to be bubbling over with the message of God. I’ve included a photo of the team at the volcano.

Saturday: Some went to church at La Viña. Many of the team became sick with different ailments. A call went out to our home church for more prayer coverage. Praying for those who are on a mission trip is as important as being there doing the work.
Sunday: Off to CCA church at 8AM. It was a great service, interpreted into English. Then off to make concrete and pour a foundation with our Costa Rican friends from CCA. On Sunday night we visited the Linda Vista church, where our church from Maine first started ministering in Costa Rica. We saw a lot of old friends and worshiped with much vigor.
Monday: The walls went up on the big house. There will need to be much prayer over that house as God sees fit to use it. Pray for the children that need Jesus, because they live in a mixed up situation. We left the job sight tired, but we had another stop on our way back. It was the Men's drug rehab center. The men were so open with their testimonies, as Maximo interpreted for us. The most perplexing thing was that at the end of our time there, they circled us and a elderly man prayed for us. Some of us heard it in Spanish and others in English. We went back to the house and packed first aid kits for Jasmin, 150 of them counted several times over.
Tuesday: The roof, the painting and the window casings were finished on the big house. We went back to Jasmin for the dedication of the small house and the story of how this house was built in memory of a sweet lady in our home church, who had recently gone to be with the Lord. The photo that I have included is of this very emotional dedication. Alba wept and was thankful to God for her new house.
Wednesday: We left Costa Rica with worship to a great God, prayer for those we were honored to work with, Rodney ,Cindy, Rebecca, Joy, and Luis. They are family to all of us. What a wonderful blessing to do a mission trip with people like these. We thank God for a safe trip home.

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

Dear Harvest Hands Friends,

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

This month, Dave Jefferson, one of the team members from the Mechanic Falls Vineyard Church shared with us his experiences as he and the team visited us here in Costa Rica........ Here is his letter.


A team from the Mechanic Falls Vineyard served in Costa Rica from December 3-14.

Our team was: able team leader Laura Vincent , Sonny Morgan, Ron Perrault, David Colby, Courtney Colby, Josh Brown and David Jefferson. Our small group got a lot done and experienced many unexpected “God moments.”

Down in the community of Los Anonos we helped La Vina from Escazu with a birthday party for Jesus at La Planche, (the outdoor gymnasium by the school at the river). It was such a swirl of activity that there was no way of counting kids, but we cooked 300 hot dogs and didn’t take any home. A talented and energetic clown showed up with lots of fun stuff for the kids to participate in. After his performance he gathered the kids around him and we witnessed 51 young decisions for Christ.

The women of our group, along with Rebecca and Joy, (now interning with Rodney and Cindy) put together a number of craft projects and gift bags for the women of the community.
(I, Cindy, am adding the photo of our very own Martha Stewart's to this. Even the men pitched in and helped to assemble the decorations for the wreaths)

Every day saw some activity at the new Casita ( the store front meeting room in Los Anonos) for Moms and kids. There were two visits at the women’s rehab center, where the gratitude for the bags of simple Christmas gifts was overwhelming.

The men of the group were made aware how out of shape we are as we lugged materials up the hill in Jasmin to help build two of the yellow houses. Despite the hard work, we appreciated the genius in the simplicity of design of these houses, which can literally go up in a day.

The men also spent one afternoon at the men’s drug rehab house. We sang happy birthday to 10 men out of 36 who had never experienced a birthday party of their own. The drug centers and the yellow house project in Jasmin were both started by the CCA Church. Our meeting with their pastor, Alberto, and his personal testimony of how he embraced Matthew 25:31-46 was inspiring.

Toward the end of the week we took part in a Christmas party at the kinder school in Los Anonos, and got serenaded with Jingle bells in Spanish and English. For most of us it was our first experience watching kids (and Sonny Morgan) whacking away at a piñata. The mood went from wild and crazy to quiet and reflective we helped the kids make their own nativity scenes.

One day we went with Eladio to Venticinco de Julio to see the new community facility that is almost complete. We had a sweet prayer time and a walk through this section of San Jose that has seen so much darkness. We went to church in Linda Vista and learned from Laura how much of a difference the church has made to that community.

It wasn’t all work. One early morning we went to the open air market, to carry home the fresh fruit and vegetables for Cindy to prepare for us. In mid week we went for a horse back ride at Roberto and Patsy’s outside the town of Pursical. It was fun picking a few coffee beans from the trees and riding through a grove of bamboo plants over 100 feet tall. It’s sobering to see the poverty, alcoholism and drug abuse every day in this country that in its weather and fertility is truly a Garden of Eden. What a privilege to visit, not as tourists, but as Christ’s hands and feet.

FELIZ NAVIDAD

First of all, we want to thank everyone for their prayer support, financial support and service. We also want to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas, celebrating with your family and friends and a blessed New Year.

This will be our third Christmas here and we really miss being with our families and friends. We are thankful that we have a telephone and a computer to communicate.

We had a team here that helped with celebrating Christmas in many ways, both here in Anonos and in Jasmin, where they helped to build a house. There will be more in our next newsletter about this trip.

Your support this past year has definitely made an impact on the local communities, and in helping FundaVida.

In 2008 we had two teams from Mountain View church in Culpepper, Virginia; A team from the Vineyard of Portland, Maine; A Vineyard church from Grand Rapids, Michigan; A Vineyard team from Columbus, Ohio; New Life Church from Columbus, Ohio. Two families and three teams from our own Vineyard Church in Mechanic Falls, Maine. A little over 100 people came to serve this past year.

Luis Sanchez, who lives here and who works with us, recently said this to the last team that was here, “Things are changing. It is much cleaner in the “quebrada”. Oh Boy!” Luis has lived here for 44 years and has seen the change. The “quebrada” is where the drug addicts live and the drug dealers are slowly moving out.

When prayers and blessings are given, it is wonderful to be able to look back at 2008 and to be able to say “Thank You, Lord, for answered prayers and for blessing us.” All of this has been possible, because God is with us.

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, nd shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”, which translated means, “God with us.”

I was working with Luis the other day, when he shared with me his memory of his childhood Christmases. Most of the children here receive their gifts on Christmas Eve, the 24th. And when Luis was a boy, he would go through the streets, the day after on the 25th, looking through the trash, pawing through the gift wrap paper, hoping that just maybe….. just maybe….. their might be something that someone had forgotten. He was one of those children who never received a Christmas gift as a kid.

As he reflects on it at this time, he says with a smile, “The greatest gift I have ever received is Jesus as my savior and my relationship with him.” He says in his words, “I am a blessed man.”



This is a photo of Luis and his son.

Merry Christmas to all of you and we look forward to whatever God wills for 2009.

Resting in His Peace,
Rodney and Cindy

New Connections

Dear Harvest Hands Friends,

Our summer is just around the corner. The air is changing, becoming dryer, but we are still having rain in the afternoons. Soon we won’t have any for six months and when it returns, it will be welcomed once again.

Rodney and I had a busy but wonderful three weeks in Maine. We were able to visit family, clean out Rodney’s dad’s apartment and have many times of sharing about Harvest Hands and planning for the future. We thank you all for the wonderful prayers that we received and the times spent with us!

I would like to share with you a little about one of our exciting future plans.

We have recently had the privilege of getting to know a church in San Filipe (near Alajuelita). CCA (Center of Christian Praise) is only about 15 minutes from the Harvest Hands house. This church is bustling with the life of Jesus. It has a school of about 300 students. It has two drug rehabs, a nursing home, a soup kitchen, a bakery and several other businesses that it has started, in order to help people in the community to have jobs.

Another awesome thing that this church does, that we are going to participate in, is that they build homes for the needy. There are many organizations that do this. However, there is a special manner that this is done here.

There is a small community called Jasmin. Here is a barrio of extremely poor squatters. Most of the homes do not have indoor plumbing and many have to walk a long distance to get their water. Their homes are shacks on the side of a mountain, which overlooks san Jose. It is impossible to even bring a car there at this time of year.

CCA is building homes for the people in this community, starting with those with the most need. These homes are built in panels, at the church, and are trucked to the site. Teams come and construct these homes in a week’s time! And the most wonderful thing is that one home costs only $3,500. And if these homes have to be moved, they can simply be unscrewed, put on flatbeds and moved to a different location. They were designed by a man who was homeless and who now works for the church.

Can you imagine the final moment when there is a celebration? The house is prayed over by all. And the family is then presented a new Bible and the keys to their new home!

We look forward to learning how this is done, so that we can do it here in Los Anonos. We have two, possibly three teams coming in 2009 to construct homes in Jasmin. What a blessing it will be!


I’ve included some photos here of Jasmin and of one of the homes that has already been built.
Blessings to All!
Rodney and Cindy

A "Long Termer's" Perspective

Dear Harvest Hands Friends,
Because we here at Harvest Hands can’t say it enough: Thank you for your support! I have been a part of this ministry since April 14, 2008, and I am now excited to share with all of you who are praying, encouraging, and working alongside our ministry. I truly believe that we are sharing in this work even though the distance separates us.
I am frequently asked, “So how did you hear about Harvest Hands?” In short, Cindy’s newsletter. I now sit on the other side, writing an update for this month. Reflecting now, I have that feeling you may relate to: “Wow, time has passed so quickly!” I attest to the Lord’s faithfulness in serving here and learning Spanish. Rodney and Cindy will be the first to tell you that I am not a risk taker; I tend to move quite slowly, in fact. God certainly has a way of pushing us into action, and I am so glad that I have come. The people of Los Anonos are our friends, not our project. They are people we greet individually, visit in the afternoon, learn from and share our lives with. Rodney and Cindy are an example of service through relationship. All of these experiences constantly direct me back to Jesus.
There are many friends of Los Anonos I would love to share with you. Two in particular who have grown close to my heart are Doña Carmen and Doña Marta. Both of these women open up their homes to me, share stories, and make me feel welcome. Doña Carmen is an elderly, bedridden woman who still has a youthful way about her. She will proudly tell you she is 96. Please be in prayer for Doña Carmen because her regular care- taker has moved to another neighborhood because of a most unfortunate robbery. Doña Marta is a Nicaraguan woman who takes care of at least three grandchildren at a time. She is excited to have me help her grandchildren with their English. Marta has made me feel most comfortable during a time when I was unsure of visiting families the most.
Part of my role has been to assist with an English program. Beginning in April, I resumed Marsha Ames position at the Kinder teaching four short classes a week. Also, I have an English student on Thursday nights. While these opportunities are wonderful, our vision is larger. I spent the past couple of months brainstorming about how I can help more people with their English. Now in October the vision is becoming a reality. With the assistance of our neighbor Luis, I met with two different families who want tutoring. Because I have the cooperation of both the students and the parents I hope for consistent attendance. Please be in prayer that these tutoring sessions will be a platform for the love of Jesus.
While I have pursued a teaching role here, I have also been a student. During September I had a Spanish tutor in downtown San Jose. The tutoring helped me shrug off timidity and now I can speak to people with more confidence. Our Spanish skills are the key to relationship. We want to speak encouragement, vision, and love to those around us. This desire propels us into the challenge of language learning. We hope to have consistent classes in November as well.
Lastly, Harvest Hands has a new member on the team. Joy Snyder joined us on October 1 and will serve through May 1. I pray that the four of us will grow as family, friends and fellow servants. Please pray that we will have wisdom as we make plans for the upcoming teams. I am excited for this preparation time. The rain is heavy this month preparing the ground for brilliant growth. I pray for the same in the Spirit, as well. Come Lord Jesus, grow our capacity to love and hear your voice. Thank you, friends, for walking alongside of us and sharing in this ministry. Blessings, Rebecca