youth group excitement

This past week I had a meeting with a guy named Fernando. He is from a wealthy family, he likes to surf and he is very intentional about spiritual growth. I spent some time asking him questions to find out what he perceives to be as the ideal youth group. There is a documentary called "The Merchants of Cool" that talks about how MTV and Sprite and those companies determine what is cool. I essentially used this sort of an interview with him- not doing any talking, just listening to exactly what he likes and perceives as cool. I think this will help me understand a little bit more about the demographics of our target audience.

He has a lot of friends in three of the biggest international schools here, christians and non-christians and i believe that fernando may be a great place to start. we are having a meeting for the potential leaders next week on saturday morning. please pray that god will continue to guide those whom he wants to participate in this work. please pray that god will guide me as i try to communicate the vision and mission of this group. thanks for your prayers.

also, just a quick note to say that the bible study is still going well. this group asks some of the most difficult questions. quite honestly many of them we wouldn't be able to answer without a hebrew scholar present, so its intimidating to take on the responsibility of guiding a discussion with these people. we finished proverbs last night and are due to study job next week.

lots of work

there is a lot of work to do here in costa rica. dylia and i are preaching the sermon tomorrow on practical steps towards having a god-centered dating relationship. we aren´t perfect for sure, but most of the students at theos don´t know anything different from the secular, ungodly relationships they´ve always been in. we will be doing the talk in spanglish... you are more than welcome to listen to the sermon- it will be on the theos website.

finding leaders has been a difficult process. I visited the youth group at the local vineyard church here. There was a husband and wife- the main leaders and one volunteer. The group was about 40-50 kids. Can you imagine that? I heard that churches were protective of their potential leaders, but no wonder. Anyway, the process has been more challenging than I anticipated. Please pray that God will give me wisdom in recruiting a strong group of core leaders who are excited about the youth culture.

a lesson in provision

many of you know that i've felt frustrated and discouraged in the past in regards to my financial debt. today i received an email informing me that a scholarship account for alumni with financial debt is being used to pay off my student loans. this was 1/4 of the financial debt that i had and what an incredible burden is lifted! i am blown away at how the lord has blessed me this past year, one significant chunk at a time. i feel like the remaining loans i have (parent loans) are just a drop in the bucket- dylia and i will be able to pay them off in no time. it is amazing how much i am like thomas. i have such a hard time believing the reality of the lord's provision until i see something tangible and then all doubt is gone. oh how utterly human i am.

enough about me... please... please praise the lord for his ability to provide for all that i need. praise the lord for his never ending and unfailing love for us that so powerfully fuels his generous provisions. praise the lord for he is good.

conference and classes

this past week i began teaching clubs at lighthouse international school. that job will be fun, but will most definately have it's challenges (like the 25 minute ride up some ridiculous hills on the way there).

i am helping manfred learn guitar- we are hoping that theos place might be able to switch over to live music instead of music videos and the best part for me is that worship in english is better for the demographics of this group! i never thought i'd be teaching music lessons to people my age overseas.

also, i met with alvaro williams, the leader of the youth group at unidos por cristo. his insights were very valuable and i'm beginning the process of thinking through how to find leaders. please pray for this process. spiritual depth is rare in costa rica (outside of catholicism). there are many baby christians, but most of them are just in the starting phases of a relationship with jesus. this is not necessarily ideal for leaders of youth. please pray that the lord would open doors and put leaders in the path of this ministry.

lastly, i wanted to mention that yesterday i went to a conference for pastors. benjamin invited me and it was an honor to be among the most influential christian people in costa rica. the speaker was bill hybels from willow creek. i just have to say that going to christian conferences like this in smaller countries is most definitely the way to go. it is so easy to have a personal conversation with the main leader (i did not b/c i had to leave early). i enjoyed the conference- sitting only 5 feet away from the main leader was awesome and his insights were awesome. doing ministry in costa rica has been quite a unique experience. it is far different from anything that i had imagined before hand.

i want to make a brief comment about theos. bill hybels has done a research project surveying over 700 churches throughout the world. when benjamin told him about theos place, hybels made an expression of intrigue and said that he had never heard of anything like it. working under benjamin has been a lot of fun. it is clear that god is using this ministry in powerful ways.