Putting hands together to serve at GSCH

A new ministry has started at the home amongst the many teenagers and grade school kids. They have been making handmade crafts such as bracelets, pottery, jewelery, and many other things to sell. All of these handmade items are then presented to the teams that come to the home to visit before going back to the states. All of the proceeds go to a special fund set up at the home to allow the children to go on organized field trips outside of the home. This also gives a visiting team member the opportunity to bring back something that was made by one of the children at GSCH.

Proudly displaying their talents.

It was great to see the excitement of those who made different items as they eagerily waited for the bus to arrive at the casitas after hearing word that the "abrigada" (team) was about to pull up. Many shouted loud "the abrigada is here" over and over until they were able to grasp the hand of a new or maybe returning visitor or receive a big hug from them as they exited the bus.

It was easy to feel and see the closer unity between the kids as during the week often I would see many of them huddled together working diligently on making more crafts to add to the surplus.

During my visit to GSCH at the end of Januay 2009 I learned that their first field trip with everybody (tias included) going was at the beggining of the year in which they all had a great time having a picnic at a nearby piece of property (about 3 miles away) that had a pretty view and a nice place to play.

So for those of you that will have the opportunity to visit GSCH in the near future, you might want to reserve a little extra dinero to buy one of these crafts that a child put a lot of effort and pride into.

Ministering to devoted peacekeepers of Costa Rica

As you have seen in some of our recent newsletters, I have been given the priviledge to have the opportunity to share my faith in Christ and my experiences with many men and women in blue of the Costa Rican national police force.

Four of these officers in this group recently
accepted Christ as their Savior!

Besides helping provide weekly police training accompanied with bible studies to many officers in need of knowing Christ, I was able to participate in sharing some of my knowledge and experience from my 16 year career in law enforcement to approximately 80 officers who attended a week long seminar last week. This program was put on by Tactica Ministries with Ryan Rought, sole missionary to the police of Costa Rica.

During this week there were 10 police officers from various departments from by home state, Michigan who served relentlously with their talents and abilities God has equipped them with. Most importantly they all had the opportunity to share their personal testimonies at the end of each day. It was awesome to see how God used these humble men to be used as a vessel for his glory!

One testimony in particular left a lasting impression on so many of these officers. Rod Rought an active deputy sheriff, shared how one day while working a special operation God had spared his life. Rod was shot four times with a high powered rifle while attempting to assist in serving a high-risk warrant. "I should of been dead that day" said Rod, " but I soon realized after lying in the hospital recuperating that God revealed to me that he loved me and wanted me to have a personal relationship with Him".


Rod Rought sharing his testimony.

At the end of the week the gospel was presented to all in attendance and 14 officers surrendered their lives to Christ asking Him to save them and forgive them of their sins. Praise God for these decisions. One of these fourteen men is a S.W.A.T. division commander who boldy stood in front of his officers declaring his decision to follow Christ.

Please join us in prayer for these men and for this ministry as God continues to use faithful men to serve. Also pray that this type of ministry will expand and that God will call more workers to serve in other Latin American countries and beyond. In most cases there are very little if not any type of works being done to police officers throughout many parts of the world.

**Check out this really dynamic video presentation that was done on this recent training seminar, click on this site to view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hEl24mC9Qg

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