Born Sunday, January 19th 9:16pm at Hospital La Catolica in San Jose. We are so excited to have two boys! John Lucas loves to kiss his little brother and is adjusting to being big brother.
Blog Highlights of 2013
4 Jan
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,000 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people…
Top Posts, Pictures, Our Ministry in Costa Rica in 2013: Click here to see the complete report.
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Legacy
14 Dec
John’s sweet grandmother, “Mama Ree” passed away this week. John is now in the states for the funeral and to be with his family. She was such a sweet woman who will be missed dearly. She left a legacy of love to her family, especially grandkids, that I admire. Please pray for John and his family this week as they celebrate her life in a memorial service on Monday.
GGP Kids
27 Nov
Our kids ministry at GGP has been growing quickly! We’re following the Jesus Storybook Bible, and weekly reading a story and making a craft for the kids to take home. Then there’s songs, snack, and toys! We have one room and two volunteers (that rotate on a weekly basis) and kids aged 0-9. There are challenges of sharing this space with the church we rent the building from, and only having one room for all ages, yet we press on! Pray that we’ll reach the children and parents of GGP with the love of Christ by pouring into them on Sunday nights.
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Jesus + Nothing = Everything
6 Nov
Our friend and GGP Guest preacher Dr. Micah Carter brought the word Sunday night from Colossians! He is also teaching ‘Doctrine of Salvation’ this week at GAP. We look forward to his visit every year!
Our Trip to Panama with GAP
22 OctWe got to accompany the GAP students last week on their short missions trip to Panama. We had the opportunity to serve with them in a nursing home one morning, working with a local missionary and his family. John led a devotional at night and worship. The next day, the students led songs and games for kids in a tribal village’s school in the jungle. I am thankful we live in CR, Panama is HOT especially for a 7 month pregnant lady like me! God blessed us with easy border crossings and we’re now good for our 90 days (leaving the country) until mid January. We enjoyed spending lots of time with the GAP students and getting to know the group better. We’re also hosting two former GAP students this week that went with us on the trip, and have stayed with us at our house; Will & Erica Commins, just married in June! Will was a student our first year, then an intern our second when he & Erica met. They are praying to come back to Costa Rica and serve with the GAP Program or GGP in some capacity.
“Whoaaa We’re Halfway There….”! Bon Jovi? Nope. Car Fund!
9 OctWe’re at $2,000 for our Goal of $4,000 for a new vehicle!
Here’s the Details:
Supporters, Friends and Family: We’d like to ask you to help us meet a need for our ministry and family. We are in need of a different car. Our car breaks down almost weekly and has been costing us hundreds of dollars in repairs the past few months. We are also unable to place 2 carseats in its backseat, come January when Judah is born. We are hoping to repair this car, sell it, and raise about $4,000 to meet the difference and cover taxes on a bigger used car/small SUV before baby Judah arrives. Would you pray about the opportunity to help us meet this need? Thank you!
You can give by PayPal at rebekah.r.lovell@gmail.com
or Check to: John Lovell, 504 Tara Court, Woodstock, GA 30188.
Growth at GGP-Church in “Spanglish”
8 OctSunday night, we had 160 at Guadalupe Gathering Place Church. Even with our 30 GAP students, that’s 130 people from the community, Gringo and Costa Rican that are coming out! God is growing his church. Even our kids program had 7, which is higher than average. One visitor, a Tica (female Costa Rican) who was coaxed into coming by a friend, commented that she would be back every week. This week John preached a little differently, with side-by-side simultaneous translation, instead of translation by headset. So he preached a few sentences, and Sebastian, standing by his side, translated this to spanish before he continued with the next thought. Though this was a trial-run of this method, the feedback was immensely supportive. We’ve become a church in “Spanglish.” We have advertised as church in English, have offered translation to Spanish by headset, but now are pursuing Spanish immediately alongside the english sermon and the reviews make us think we’re on the right track. One member that runs an orphanage ministry said that he’ll be bringing some of the orphans each week now that the sermon is also in spanish (Visually-this makes a big difference for Sebastian to stand up front while translating alongside John). Our free English classes on Saturday mornings and sunday afternoons are running at least 10 per class and are bringing a few people into sunday night church-which is the goal! After church sunday night, there’s an open invite to play soccer at a nearby field, and this week there were enough attending for 6 teams! Lots of young people go out just for soccer, and end up becoming faithful to the church.
Prayer Requests:
- For people to come and hear the Gospel, be discipled, and have changed lives that glorify Jesus Christ
- For committed workers to our Kids Ministry, we are week-to-week with staff for the babies & kids
- For the building owners to be willing to cooperate with our suggested rennovations to the run-down building
- For an offering given weekly that will help us make the changes we need, pay the church’s rent, support our GGP missionary Jairo (Kids and soccer ministry), and provide materials for the church
Photo: Danielle (Daniel) showing his ‘Cardboard Testimony’ from last week’s sermon, watch online here
Missions in Costa Rica 