Posts

August 2024

Image
Fun things are happening here in our ministry and in our family, and we are excited to update you all on the work the Lord is doing! We were sharing the story of our family and ministry with a new acquaintance recently, and it is always so humbling and sweet to think back on all the Lord has brought us through in our years here in Costa Rica. His mercy and grace are ever present, His love so powerful, and we are so grateful to be able to be a part of His kingdom work!  The weekly ministry agenda with Semillas de Vida continues to bless our lives and family, and we are thankful to be able to serve the regular attendees of the church. Sunday mornings are always a highlight of our week, as we come together to worship with the body of Christ. As we have mentioned before, children’s ministry is a large part of our Sunday mornings. We have been blessed by the completion of a new Sunday school room for the youngest group of students, ages 2-5. This is a big upgrade from the small “cry room” w

February 2024 Update!

Image
Happy New Year everyone! It is hard to believe we are already a month into 2024, and looking back on this past year, it is amazing to reflect on all the growth that has happened within our lives and ministry! We are encouraged by the amount of regular attenders at Semillas de Vida who have recently taken the steps to become members of the church. This includes an application process, attending a membership course, and being presented to and accepted by the congregation. It is exciting to see more people who are willing to take this step, and then move forward in positions of serving within the church. As membership increases, so does our team of willing workers. This means more people to help with children's Sunday school, food service in the fellowship hour, men to help with scripture reading, and tasks throughout the week like cleaning and preparing the building for worship. We are so grateful for all that God has provided this past year to help grow our church and the service te

End of Summer 2023

Image
Hey everyone, the last two months back here in Costa Rica have flown by, and we are excited to catch you all up on what ministry has looked like. We spent a wonderful month in Pennsylvania with family and friends, and are so thankful for the time we had with many we hadn't seen in over a year. Thank you to everyone who took time out of their schedules to see us and attend our ministry update events! We were happy to be able to attend Thomas and LeAnn's wedding before heading back home to Costa Rica. It was a beautiful day celebrating their love and commitment to one another, and we were honored to be a part of their special day. Soon after returning in June, our church hosted two groups from the States - the youth group from Berean church in Michigan, and the youth group from Keystone church in Lancaster only a few days later. It was a very busy few weeks, and we feel extremely blessed by the work they were both able to accomplish! We were so happy to host our friends Jon and J

Semillas de Vida library information

If you are interested in buying a book for our growing library, check out our  Amazon Wishlist  to see how you can help!  Please send donations to keystone church 

Spring 2023

Image
Happy Spring everyone! It is always a joy to see everyone be able to enjoy the return of warm weather on the East coast, and begin spending more time outside. While the heat and humidity of northern Costa Rica can be overwhelming at times, we know that we are so lucky spend the majority of our days outdoors enjoying the sunshine.   This past month we were so excited to celebrate the inauguration of our new church building! The construction of the new gym/multipurpose room has been going on for a few months now, and we praise God for the opportunity to open the doors two weeks before Easter Sunday. We had a wonderful worship service, followed by a time of fellowship and activities all together with our church family. This new building allows for much more space during services, for more people to be able to come and participate on Sunday mornings. It also has opened up space for our children’s Sunday school upstairs. We are so thankful that God has provided for this opportunity for expa

Baby Girl and Gymnasium Update

Image
There has been a lot that has happened since our last update and we are excited to bring you up to speed! We pray you had a wonderful Christmas season, celebrating the birth of our Savior. It is so easy to become distracted with gifts, family, and the busyness of Christmastime, but we hope you all found the time to reflect on the reason for our celebration. Jesus came to this lost world to provide hope and salvation and that is worth celebrating! We had a wonderful time gathering as a church family on Christmas Day to worship together and honor the birth of Christ. We fellowshipped together after our service with a lunch and some fun activities including a piƱata, cookie decorating, and games in our new gymnasium!  This was our first activity that we were able to utilize our new gym building! The construction at the church is advancing quickly, and we are so excited to see the progress being made as the weeks go by! The roof has been placed and the floor has been poured, and now louver

The Church is Growing and so is Samantha's Belly

Image
Big things are happening in our church and in our lives, and we are so excited to share with all of you! We were sharing with a visiting group recently about how God has been moving in the ministry of Semillas De Vida over the past few years, and I was humbly reminded of just how perfect God’s timing truly is. In 2020, right before the pandemic and everything that came with it, a large donation came in for the expansion of or church building. The sanctuary was feeling smaller and smaller as our congregation grew, and more room was definitely needed. Soon after the money cleared in the bank, the country shut down and we were not allowed to gather as a church. While coming “together” over WhatsApp audio messages on Sunday mornings, the next three months were full of demolition and construction of what is now our new church building! When the doors opened up after the shutdown, members were welcomed to a brand new sanctuary, which is once again starting to feel more crowded each week. Now