The La Union church is about to double its membership.
Through
a video presentation by Orlando Bullon projected from a nView projector,
and followed by 45 minutes of intense Bible study, many people in this
farming community have made an important commitment for Jesus. The video
projector seems to be a unique tool because these people have never seen
pictures as large as a wall, and the material is well done, which glorifies
God, and holds their interest.
How
fitting that the La Union River, which means "uniting" is the scene for
this joyous uniting with Jesus. One can almost visualize John the Baptist
baptizing on this special Sabbath which represents 21 people committing
their lives to Jesus. About one half of these baptisms are the work of
Victor, one of Alvaro's dedicated elders.
 |
 |
 |
Pastor
Alvaro Noguera and his wife, Vanessa, inspect my loud speakers on top of
a Chevy LUV. I drove it from Arizona in 1995. An oscillating yellow
light attracts attention to the vehicle as music is played between announcements
on the p.a. system. This is done as we drive throughout the small community
for the first three nights of the meetings. In addition, the Bible truths
presented appeal to our guests, and they invite friends. On the first
night, we had eight guests, the next night, 25; and then the church was
full with 60 people.
While
working in the Quepos area, we took a break and spent one day visiting
Miguel Antonio National Park. It has three sandy beaches separated by beautiful
peninsulas. You may view many types of natural wildlife, like several species
of monkeys. They subsist on the fruits and berries that grow there. Guests
are prohibited from feeding the animals so they will not loose their natural
feeding habits and abandon the jungle. The picture shows a large stone
ball that the Indians quarried. No one knows exactly why they did this.
In the background, colorful beach towels are hung from lines for visitors
to purchase. I'm on the left, then the Noguera's: Ariana, Ariel, Vanessa,
and Alvaro.
 |
 |
|
| For 100 Colones (29 cents), a boat ride will ferry you.
Or you can wade or hike through the jungle to get to the beach. |
Can you see the iguana sunning on the log? His
coloring has adapted to that of the limbs. They are mostly vegetarians, and eat foliage and fruit. |
|
 |
 |
|
| I followed a jungle trail and arrived at another beach
just in time to see Ariel and Alvaro taking the short cut. |
Adriana and Ariel enjoyed watching the hermit crabs
scamper around the beach, I tried to stay in the shade--my happiness was watching the children play. |
Lorona
is a small community with company furnished houses. The peons (workers)
there must work six days a week. Their pay is so low that they either
walk or ride bicycles. These large oxen are used to pull a cart loaded
with clusters of bright orange fruits inter spaced with protective spines.
These clusters come from the palm trees (Some young trees are visible in
the background). After using the oxen (buey) to load the
wagons, tractors will haul a column of six or seven of these wagons full
of fruit to a nearby mill for processing. The fruits are fibrous, tasty,
and very oily--they find their value in the marketplace where the palm
oil is extracted for applications such as butter, cosmetics, and floor
waxes.
 |
 |
 |
 |
The meetings were held in the Community
Center, which is also used for dances. It has a partition that lifts to
allow drinks to be served from an adjacent bar--it was closed for our meetings.
Next to that is their only country store where a few vegetables and canned
goods are available. The store has the only telephone in town. They allowed
me to hook my notebook computer to their phone, and for a fee of 20 Colones
(seven cents), I was able to send and check my e-mail every day.
This was the second series of meetings
for August, and represents a monthly total of 31 decisions for Christ as
His work progresses in Central America.
MORE TO FOLLOW, FOLKS--STAY TUNED AS GOD'S WORK CONTINUES
Home
LINKS