Vineyard Community Church
Brent Paulson, Senior Pastor

August 2007

Hola Mi Amigos and may the blessings of God be on you all.

Well summer is drawing to a close and here in Costa Rica we are looking to an end of the rainy season and looking forward to more sunny days. As I told you in my last email I was exploring a new direction to my missions work. The short term employment period for the summer was a success and I have been offered a staff position with Pura Vida Missions. (www.puravidamissions.org) When I returned to Cleveland last march I took a hard look at my strengths and weaknesses and after some discussion with my friend Eladio, head of a Children's Ministry here, he suggested that I should see about joining a missions group. His biggest point was that there was a lot to learn about the culture and ministry in Costa Rica. I should learn from someone elses mistakes instead of my own. Not to say that even with good teaching it's possible to screw up occasionally. An example of a cultural no/no is that here it is bad manners to point at someone. You gesture with your chin or shoulders and in one case your tongue in the side of your cheek. There are countless other examples of things to learn and understand to allow me to be an effective missionary. So I applied with Pura Vida Missions for a staff position and after a 2 month trial I was accepted.

I am now the Chef/Kitchen Manager. It's kind of funny that every time I try to distance myself from my Chef experience the Lord brings it back to me. The other day I was preparing dinner for a group and was meditating on the idea and 2 things came to me. First was a verse from Romans about us being created for Gods glory and second was that my skills as chef (which God gave me) are for me to use to glorify God. These skills open the door for me to share God and without them I wouldn't have an opportunity to even try. It seems everyone is fascinated by food. If you look at culture from a food view we are not that different. The ingredients change by region but the similarities are still there. In Romans Paul also talks about each of us having different gifts and abilities but still part of the same body. So why not use these gifts God has given me for his glory.

Now I won't always be stuck in the kitchen. The director Delynn told me that he doesn't expect or even want me to do all the cooking. In addition to my cooking duties he asked me to be a regular staff presence in La Tabla and assist the church there anyway I can. The heart of Pura Vida Missions is the discipleship of youth from all cultures and walks of life. I am very happy where God has put me. The plan for me for the next 4 months is language school. First to respect the culture and second to be a more valuable tool for PuraVida Missions. My time is divided up between 3 days of school and 2 days of children's ministry in La Tabla. I stay busy with church on the weekends and also do the meal planning and food purchasing for the base.

During the fall and early winter the staff takes time to pray and study the word together. We are always seeking to be intimate with God. We even have a weekly fasting and intersession time. For without our connection with the Father we become ineffective Christians. It has been an awesome summer and I have made a lot of new friends and have seen my Spanish improve greatly. I was forced to do some translating the other day and while I was really bad I did manage to get the point across for both individuals involved. It really males me want to learn more.

Thank you all for the opportunity to be here able to do these things. Without your support it wouldn't be possible. I can definitely feel your prayers. Please pray extra this week as I start a new program in La Tabla. This place is Satan's territory. Full of despair and apathy I believe this is the place the Lord has called me to focus on. I was with a team there this summer and was angry to see two 10 year old boys smoking crack. We are in the planning stages about a teen center and I am starting to teach an English class in a week. The fight for La Tabla starts now and while it may be long and hard, God will win!

Adios for now I will let you know whats up and keep you all informed.

God Bless,
Frank

Prayer needs: Salvation for all the people of La Tabla and Central America Continued spiritual growth/ Have seen a real increase in my spiritual intimacy Language training/ continuing my education to the point of fluency A car/ while not absolutely necessary would be helpful. Repairs to my laptop/would greatly increase my ability to communicate with you all.