Jullian and the Prize

His name is Jullian, he lives in a small home in one of the worst areas of Alajuelita, and he is a winner! It all started a couple weeks ago when a mission team brought down a brand new skateboard to give away. This is a huge gift and I knew it would cause all kinds of problems if I just chose someone to give the skateboard to, so I decided to use it as a prize at youth group.

During youth group I held up the skateboard and showed it to the excited crowd. Eyes got big and applause broke out as I explained that the skateboard was a prize to be given away at youth group next week. It was to be a simple contest. Whoever brought the most friends and could recite the most scriptures from memory would win the prize. Plus, to make it easy to invite friends, we were going to have a pizza party as well.

Friday night rolled around and it was time to give away the prize. I walked out onto the stage and asked "how many of you brought a friend tonight". To my surprise I saw one small hand rise into the air out of crowd of about eighty people. It was Jullian, and he was standing next to the friend he brought. That's it?, I thought to myself, Only one person brought a friend? I was amazed especially since we normally have a few visitors each week with no incentive of winning a prize. I asked Jullian to come forward and we presented him with the new skateboard. He was so proud and grinning ear to ear as he received the prize.

After youth group I asked many of the kids why they didn't try to win the skateboard. They said things like "I knew I wouldn't win, so why try", or "I didn't know it would be so easy". Most were disappointed, shocked, and embarrassed for not trying. It seemed like I was inside a living parable, and Jesus was teaching us all.

Life here in Alajuelita is hard. The poverty stretches beyond the lack of physical wealth. It makes it difficult for people to believe that things will ever get any better. It creates an attitude that causes many to just stop trying. This event has caused me to better understand the culture we are up against.

Please pray for us as we hold out the prize of Jesus Christ. He is the hope of the world, and the only one who can really make things better. He is the greatest prize we could ever win, and it's easy...it only requires faith and surrender.

Love in Christ,

Spencer

Ramblings - The Church

I would like to start this "Rambling" with a declaration. I LOVE the local "organized" church and everything it represents. Sadly, I see a negative attitude toward "organized" church is spreading among Christians today.

I must confess that I once too had a negative attitude toward the "organized" church. It was easy to pick apart and attack the weaknesses. I doubted the effectiveness and authenticity of the local church. It was this negative attitude that ultimately drove me to Costa Rica. I felt that I could better live out the gospel of Jesus Christ without being tied down to a local "organized" church. I'm happy to say that I was wrong! Now, more than ever, I believe in the direct connection between the local church and life-giving ministry. I've come to believe that an organized local church is the most effective way to truly live out the great commission and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When we moved to Costa Rica we immediately started to build deep relationships the local people. As we fell in love with these people we naturally wanted to share our faith with them. We wanted to baptize and teach them about Christ. We also wanted our friends to experience the beauty of the being connected to the larger body of Christ. This created an obvious challenge for us. How could we really accomplish this alone? We could show them a glimpse of what could be, but our family alone could not provide a complete picture.

God orchestrated it so that I was soon asked to assist with planting a local church. After much prayer I decided to help. After all, it was a great opportunity for our new friends to be part a live-giving church body. I agreed to help from behind the scenes, but didn't want to become overly involved. Looks like God had a different plan!

As the church started I witnessed radical life transformation. The people I loved were finally being baptized, being taught the Bible, sharing in communion, and growing in their faith. For the first time since our arrival in Costa Rica I felt like we were truly carrying out the great commission! Please don't misunderstand me, before we were trying our best to love people like Jesus, but it was incomplete. There was no corporate worship, no communion, no baptisms, and no offerings. There were not any opportunities for people to learn to give of their resources and find the joy of giving. There was very little preaching or teaching. Mostly, it was gifts of love and acts of service by our family. Looking back it was mostly one-sided and almost a selfish approach to ministry. While we were growing by emulating Chris, it was not very effective form of discipleship for those we were trying to love.

Now there is a church full of our closest friends! We worship God together and celebrate communion and baptism. We all give to the church, and in turn we experience the joy of being used by God to help meet the needs of others. We listen to solid biblical preaching, and study God's word together. It's a beautiful experience, and it has caused me to fall madly in love with the "organized" church.

Recently, 6:8 Ministries decided to run most of the mercy ministries (clothes closet, food closet, and free medicines) through the local church. Now it's the local church meeting needs rather than the rich gringos. We have also started to use the local church to host ministry projects such as free medical clinics, ESL classes, and vacation bible school. Soon we decided to use the local church to host a community feeding center. I was blown away by the response from the church, dozens of people coming to serve. Many of these people physically have nothing, but yet they were excited to serve others who have even less than they do.

Therefore, I LOVE the local church and everything it represents! I'm not naive enough to think that our church is perfect. I recognize that the church is sometimes broken, immoral, and unfair...but weren't most of the churches in the New Testament? The church is full of sinners, always has been, and will be until Christ returns. However, rather than bash the church and discard it like a piece of trash; I say we try to build it up. Let's treat it as a priceless treasure. If it's broken let's work to repair it. If it's ugly and dysfunctional let's work to make it beautiful and functional again.

In closing I want to share what excites me most about our local church. Each and every Sunday I get to catch a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven. I worship alongside businessmen, teachers, cripples, widows, beggars, drunks, drug-addicts, prostitutes, and homeless people. We all sing praise the same God. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness. We all celebrate the same savior, and are empowered by the same Holy Spirit. It's a beautiful experience as we are all connected by our love for Christ. We truly are one body, and I'm excited and thankful to be part of it!

Love you guys,
Spence

6:8 Ministries Update: 'The Refuge' Men's Shelter

We are excited to announce that "The Refugio", the new men's rehabilitation center is up and running. We have welcomed our first four residents. Their names are Thomas, Ali, Gerson, and Roymax.



Each of these men appear to have a genuine desire to change. However, we are not so naïve as to think desire alone is sufficient to bring true change. True life-change and rebirth can only be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Will-power, self-discipline, and self-confidence are feeble and ineffective in comparison to God's redemptive love. So that is what we are going to try to give them.




The plan is to shower these men with the love, support, and spiritual direction they need. The hope is that they come to truly know Christ, and He will break the life-stealing addictions in their lives. Mauricio (Chichi) is our local Costa Rican overseeing the project. He has already built a great relationship with each of these men. Brian and Amanda Blalock are the 6:8 Missionaries that are coming alongside Mauricio to provide direction, counsel, and support. Together this ministry team will provide daily devotionals, group prayer time, weekly church services, and ongoing accountability.(Click here to check out the Blalock's Blog)




The ministry team has decided to use the word "family" to describe the kind of environment and relationship they intend to have with these men. The intent is that these men will grow together to become a family. As they go through the process of rehabilitation the hope is that they will all become true brothers in Christ.


God is using Brian, Amanda, and Mauricio to produce much fruit. One night after the group bible study Thomas gave his life to Christ! Brian and Amanda led the study and Mauricio led Thomas through the prayer. Ali has found gainful employment as a taxi driver, which explains a lot about the taxis in Costa Rica. Trust me, if you have ever ridden in a taxi here you know what I'm talking about! Plus, Roymax and Thomas have upcoming job interviews! All the men are making progress in their sobriety, and are truly becoming brothers in Christ!

Please join us in celebrating what God is doing in and through 6:8 Ministries. I'm incredibly excited about the life-change God is bringing though this ministry. I also ask that you would pray for my new brothers Thomas, Ali, Gerson, and Roymax. Also, pray that God will continue to provide funding for "El Refugio" to stay in operation for years to come.

Love in Christ,

Spencer

6:8 Update - The Refuge Feeding Center

We wanted to send you a quick update on how God is using the "Refuge - Feeding Center". As many of you know last November we felt led to start a feeding center ministry here in Alajuelita. The purpose of this ministry is to reach the homeless population with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have called this ministry "The Refuge" feeding center.

The feeding center currently feeds three days a week. However, we are hoping that God allows us to expand to five days a week. This ministry is about much more than feeding the homeless. It's about loving the unloved, and bringing hope to the hopeless. Before every meal the Gospel of Christ is preached. There is also time for individuals to share their struggles and receive prayer. The 6:8 staff and local volunteers try to love and encourage these "least of these". Each of these men and women are warmly greeted with a hug and kiss; and because the center operates out of the new Celebration Church plant, we are getting many of these men and women plugged into a local church body where they can grow in their new found faith.


So far the ministry has been funded primarily by Mason Community Church, along with some start-up funds given by Cross Creek Church. It's only because of the generous support of these churches that were able to start and maintain this ministry. However, now we are calling out to the 6:8 body of Christ to help us grow and expand this ministry. One way we want to expand is by partnering with another local church to operate a children's feeding program. Please prayerfully consider if God is calling you to join with us in this exciting ministry.

In closing, here are a couple links where you can download a few photos of some of the people who come to the center (Page 1, Page 2). We ask that you would try to pray for each of them. Pray that they will come to have a deep faith in Jesus Christ, and that through this relationship they will be able to overcome their life stealing addictions.

Come As You Are

Crack kids, track kids, hookers and robbers
The naked and hungry, mothers and fathers
Abuses, excuses, and guns in your hands
And I even welcome the arrogant man
I welcome you all to the biggest of feasts
A night of no shame
To pause and to breathe
This is a night of love’s renovation
A feast I am sure that could change a whole nation

Odds are, these people will never beat the crack and alcohol. But their lives can still be changed. The meal is open to anyone, but it isn’t technically free. Price of admission is hearing from God’s word first. But I step back and wonder, which act is more beneficial. For some reason, I’m leaning towards the food.

This post was written by Cody. You can see Cody's original post here and see his blog here.

Ramblings - The Invitation

His name is Emanuel. He is eight years old, and he is my new friend. I met him just a little over a month ago. I was in the park with the mission team doing outreach ministries. One of the team members, named Derek, had brought an old baseball and glove. He started to play catch with this little boy who was hanging out in the park. After a short time, I had the opportunity to take over for him, as he went to join the group to pray for different people in the park.

It was soon time for the team to head back to the team house for dinner. As we prepared to leave the boy ran up to me with the glove and ball in hand. He asked me to please give the ball and glove back to the nice gringo man. I found Derek and helped him explain to the boy that is was a gift. The boys eyes grew wide with excitement as he hugged and thanked Derek. We handed Emanuel an invitation to come to church the next day. We walked off feeling good about the joy God allowed us to bring to this little boy.

The next morning Emanuel and his mother came to church. Emanuel was still carrying his glove, and we played catch a little bit before church started. During the church service an invitation was given for those who would like to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. Guess who made a public profession...Emanuel and his mother!

Since then our relationship has grown. We found out that Emanuel and his mother are practically homeless. They have been eating in the feeding center and we were able to help with all of Emanuel's school uniforms and supplies. Emanuel only comes to the feeding center on days that don't conflict with his school schedule... but when he comes, he brings his ball and glove and we play catch.

It's amazing that something as simple as playing catch and handing someone an invitation can lead to two people giving their lives to Christ. God can use anything and everything to call His people to Himself. However, He wants to use us. He has commissioned us to preach the gospel, teaching them everything He has taught us and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Imagine if we would have left without giving the invitation. While he would have been happy about his new ball and glove and may have been content with one memorable day...but he would still be empty. They probably would not have come to church. They probably would not have heard the gospel preached. They probably would not have been given the chance accept and profess faith in Christ. They would still be empty and dead in sin.

I don't want to get into a big theological debate about predestination or election. I'm just saying that without the invitation it wouldn't of happened the way it did. We (Derek and I) would have missed an opportunity and would not have been able to celebrate and experience the joy we have found in being used by God with the situation.

So I guess I've been reminded that we are called to unashamedly preach the gospel at all times in everything we do. While we shouldn't beat people over the head with the Bible, or guilt them into a relationship with Christ. We should do everything we can to teach them the gospel and help them get plugged into a local body of Christ. So let's be bold and tell the world about Jesus.