Monday, November 02, 2009

Tamarindo Ministries

Hello Everyone,

We hope this letter finds you all doing well. It’s been about 4 ½ months since we’ve checked in via our update letters, so let me just jump in with some highlights of what’s been going on in our lives and ministry.


Family

Wolfie and Olivia are both doing well. Olivia turned 3 in June, and Wolfie turned 2 in August. I mentioned in the last letter that Olivia was swimming on her own… and now she has moved on to boogie boarding. Surfing can’t be too far off in the future!! Wolfie, we love that he loves to laugh. I think he may end up being the family comedian….we’ll see??

Stacey and I are doing well also. Stacey… continues to be a stellar mom and wife. In addition she continues to host women’s bible study in our home and mommy group on Thursdays. Juggling all of this and church life has it’s challenging days… but has managed to keep her sanity and faith in tact. As for me, I was kept busy balancing between church, family, café, Marriott gigs and weddings on the side. And by the grace of God I still have my faith and sanity in tact as well! Praise God! =) Fun news is that we were able to take a trip home to the US to visit family in September, and were blessed to get some quality time with our parents.

Café Café Interns-

This past summer, we were super-blessed to have Hannah Matthews and Raquel Rees serving with us at Café Café and with our church. Hannah plugged in with the children’s ministry at church, and Raquel was a regular part of our praise and worship team.

During the time that interns spend with us, I ask them to write a monthly report on how they are doing. One of the questions I ask is… “what relationships in your life have been most rewarding?” In their responses below I think you’ll get a glimpse into some of the ways God moves down here through the Café-Intern program.

Raquel writes…..“One of my favorite times is Discipleship on Mondays. It is such a good mix of intellectual feasting along with some heartfelt share-time. It’s also super encouraging to have Alex and Alvaro there as an example of strong men in their faith. Women’s bible study is also especially rewarding, and really, any time spent with Stacey. I have needed a female mentor for a long time….”

Hannah expresses that, “The community of believers here is unlike anything I’ve experienced in the states. I love getting to be friends with people of all ages. I have gotten to talk to Dave and Tamra a lot. I have enjoyed getting to hear about all of their mission experiences, and Dave has shared with me some really good Bible resources. I have absolutely loved getting to know Stacey. She is such an encouragement to me, and teaches me so much, whether she realizes it or not.…….. It amazes me how people I’ve known for such a short time, can talk about what the Lord is doing in everyday conversations while we hang out. It is a huge encouragement to me to have friendships so centered on Christ, but still able to have so much fun. Monday discipleship is one of my favorite times of the week. I think it’s awesome to get to learn more about God in a deeper level with three Godly men, and I’ve very thankful for Lyle and his spiritual wisdom that he shares with us.”

Did you hear that… I have spiritual wisdom!!! I’ve been praying for that!! =) Haha, Anyway…..It’s encouraging to see what God is up to through and among us through the eyes of visiting interns. Stacey and I are just thankful to be part of it all.

As for Marlen Rivera, she is still with us after about a year now, and continues to be such an awesome servant to our church and Café ministry. She’s a regular at the Café, volunteers with Christian Surfers, is always present to help with church events, and is a regular part of our church’s mission trips. Marlen has a true evangelist’s heart and giftings, and we are blessed to have her on our team.


Discipleship Group

We have been meeting on Monday mornings over the past 6-7 months, and have had some very fruitful dialogue together. The books we have been covering are “Reason for God” by Tim Keller, and we are now finishing up “Spiritual Leadership” by Oswald Sanders. This is one of my favorite parts of the week, and I think the same would be said by our group members.


New Intern

Over the past month or so, Stacey and I have been praying that God might send another intern. So what happens… for a while, nothing. But then just this week, we had a short term visitor to the area express that he would like to intern with us for the next four months!!! How awesome is that. His name is Daniel, and he will be with us at least through April. Thank you Lord!


Church-

Bible Study- I continue to a lead one of the men’s bible studies for our church. We’ve been going through Romans, and always have great discussion and fellowship together.

Prayer and Praise Night- A few months ago, there seemed to be an expressed interest among people in our church for a time outside of Sunday mornings to spend in extended song and prayer together. So, in August, I began facilitating a once a month, mid-week prayer and praise service. All who come are blessed by this time, and attendance is steadily growing with each event. I’m just grateful to see this spiritual hunger in the hearts of our church members.

Preaching

In July, I finished up a sermon series on the “I Am” claims of Jesus in the Gospel of John. As far as I can tell people were blessed by the messages…. I hope so anyway =) The experience was definitely a blessing to me.

Mission Trip Nicaragua

In September, I was part of the leadership team for our church’s mission trip to Nicaragua. The Café had collected a good number of clothes and shoes over the prior months that we were able to bless the poor with in Nicaragua. In addition to that, our group:

-built a cooking station for a church that feeds children who live and work in the city landfill area called La Chureca.

-helped with the La Chureca feeding program and distributed clothes, shoes and dresses to the kids at the dump.

-visited a Christian orphanage bringing infant/toddler clothes and supplies.

-brought food to and shared the gospel with a poor at an impoverished barrio called Manchester.

-built class room dividers and did roof repair for God’s School in Manchester.


Thank you all for your continued prayers and support of our ministry. We are grateful for your encouragement and prayer covering. Please see below for our prayer requests, and be sure to let us know if there is anything we can pray for you on.


Grace and Peace,

Lyle, Stacey, Olivia, Wolfie


Prayer Requests:

· Prayer in thanks to God for sustaining our family in life, faith and ministry.

· Prayer for Lyle and Stacey, that we would continue to grow in deeper in our prayer and devotional life.

· Prayer for open doors for us to share the gospel with people at the Café and with our non-Christian friends in Tamarindo.

· Wisdom and discernment regarding the future of the Cafe/Intern program. Funds are running low… and we praying for a good season this Dec-April.

· Wisdom/Discernment for Stacey and I as we pray about ways to reduce our cost of living.


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