(Mike Benson, Captain of the Conquerors Strength Team, getting the kids at a local school to make some noise!)

Some of you may remember that we hosted The Conquerors Strength Team this time last year. Well, we are excited to say that they are back and we are partnering with them again to reach Jaco for Christ! Last year we spent 3 days going into local schools and then capped off the week with a city wide outreach in downtown Jaco.

This year our focus will be a bit different. We spent the first day (today) going into the schools. We will then spend the next 2 days going through local neighborhoods and doing events in them. Instead of asking the people to come to us, we are going to the people! We will do 3 neighborhoods each day. Another cool thing is that these events have allowed us to include 3 of the other local churches. They will each be represented in the neighborhoods near their church. Our hope is that a good connection will be made between the churches as we work together and between each church and the neighborhoods they minister in most often. Our goal is to make the follow up process as efficient as possible, allowing for people to be discipled and plugged into a church in their area.

As for today, the school events went great! We had around 300 students between the 2 schools and many prayed to receive Christ. We also gave each student a “Book of Hope” in Spanish. Please pray for the events over the next 2 days as well as the follow up efforts over the days, weeks, and months to come. Stay tuned for more updates and photos once the events are completed!

*To learn more about “The Conquerors Strength Team” visit TheConquerors.net

*To learn more about the “Book of Hope” visit OneHope.net

Lawrence Missionary Page

See more pictures from the events

http://ccjaco.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/the-conquerors-strength-team-2010-jaco-outreach-update-1/

December was our annual Christmas Outreach to the poorest children of Jaco. We have held this outreach for the last 4 years in the park where we hold our weekly Kid’s Club. This year we felt led to branch out and bless even more children. We have had the opportunity from time to time to minister in another bario where the people are almost all Nicaraguans who have simply “squatted”. They have no “rights” to the land and have erected make shift homes from salvaged materials one on top of another . This bario has its own set of winding alley ways where we have found hundreds of children. We have built some relationships with a few people from this bario, and we wanted to do more to help build trust in this community. We traveled to a town about an hour away to purchase the gifts. Then, held a wrapping night, and in about 2 hours we had 200 gifts packed and tied and ready to go thanks to our wonderful volunteers! Each child received a Capilla Calvario (Calvary Chapel) T shirt, a toy, a gospel coloring book, crayons, and a bag of candy. We found a Missionary Clown family from San Jose to perform. We started with our first outreach in the morning in the neighborhood we work in weekly (INVU). This is also the bario where we lived for the first 3 1/2 years here in CR. The park is just 2 doors down from our old house where the church began. After the outreach in INVU, we took a break and all had lunch together. In the afternoon, we drove over to our second location (Copey) for the second show. The clowns performed first and then I (Revae) told the Christmas Story with large picture cards. Next, was refreshments and finally the moment they had been waiting for…the Gifts! The volunteers were so touched to be a part of giving a gift to so many children who would have not have otherwise received a gift… and best of all to be sharing with them about Jesus Christ who is our greatest gift of all! We are still praying to see how God wants us to work in this bario in the future. We would love to see a regular Kid’s Club just like the one we host in town each week.
In His Grace,
Revae

Check out more photos from the event.

http://ccjaco.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/blessings-abound/

Lawrence, M. & R. Missionary Page

See photos from the trip

This summer we were blessed to once again host the “Believer’s World Outreach” (BWO) mission team. The team was relatively small this year compared to years past, there were only about 50 people. Though they were smaller, they were just as helpful and effective. The team was made up of people from churches across the United States and Puerto Rico. We enjoy the diversity of the BWO team because it gives us the opportunity to meet people from all different walks of life.

The BWO team is made up of smaller teams that all focus on a particular “mission”. Some participate in drama, medical clinics, cosmetology, vacation bible school, soccer clinics and construction. The Lord always does awesome things through the BWO team. It is amazing how He uses them to bless the community and yet blesses and challenges them as individuals in the process.

One day while the team was out witnessing, they meet a Nicaraguan guy named Jorge. As they began to share with him, they learned that he was homeless and like many Nicaraguans, he had come to Jaco hoping to find work. Since he did not have a work permit he was unable to get a job and was feeling hopeless. After talking with Jorge for a while, the team shared the gospel with him and Jorge gladly surrendered his life to Jesus. He attended our team bible study that evening and asked if he could speak to the group during the testimony time. The man who stood up on that stage that evening looked like a new man. He had a smile from ear to ear and shared that his plan for coming to Jaco was to find work but that he now realized God had a bigger plan, He brought him to Jaco to find Jesus! Proverbs 16:9 says

“A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”

This is exactly what we saw happen in Jorge’s life. The Lord wanted Jorge to be in Jaco when the team would be here because He had a far better plan for him than he could ever imagine. Jorge is just one of many that the Lord used the BWO team to reach this past summer in Jaco. Pray for the fruit of their trip to be evident in this community for years to come!
In His Grace,
Mike

http://ccjaco.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/bwo-mission-team-2009/

Lawrence Mission Page