Forty-two people from First Church of God and Great Lakes Eye Care, both of Saint Joseph, Michigan, recently completed a two-week mission trip to Obligado, Paraguay. Working alongside the people of Paraguay, a 4,500-square-foot church building was erected in Obligado by members of First Church of God. Dr. Ron McKey led four people from Great Lakes Eye Care to conduct an eye clinic in Encarnación. Working with local eye doctors, they provided needed cataract and other eye surgeries in a poor section of the city where these services are usually not available.

Church members used personal vacation time and paid their own way to accomplish this mission, and the people of Paraguay were grateful. Even a national newspaper, El Nación, took note of it:

04-27-08

Today is Sunday, the day of the Costa Rican Church of God Festival that is going to be held at Maranatha de Rodeo a beautiful park in the mountains just outside of San José. Of the nine Church of God congregations in Costa Rica, all but one was present at the festival. This festival is the equivalent of our North American Convention.

We got up this morning and had breakfast before we boarded the bus to go to the park for the festival. Once there we were made to feel right at home. A band was set up on a basketball court, and on the small hill surrounding the court were the names of each of the churches that would be present and also a sign that said “USA.” That’s us. We are so honored to be able to participate in this great event of the church. It began with the band leading us in wonderful time of praise and worship. It was especially exciting to be able to sing along in English on the song “Lord, I Give You My Heart.”

04-25-08

Today is our final day in Las Vueltas. Yesterday, we made good progress on the wall and were able to get the outside of the church painted. The electrician showed up very late and was unable to finished installing the lights, so today he returned to finish the job. Our goal today was to finish the wall with enough time to get cleaned up for church in the evening, and to finish painting the inside of the church building.

The Church of God in the town of Tuqurique began meeting in a horse pasture. Each Sunday they would meet under a temporary roof set up in the pasture and learn about the love of God. People from the surrounding villages would walk to take part in the services; however, when the rainy season came, it was difficult for the people from the surrounding villages to attend. The rains usually came in the afternoon, so going to church in the morning meant that they would have to make the return trip home in the rain. For this reason and because of the distance, the people of Las Vueltas began meeting in homes. Eventually, the home meetings grew into a full-fledged congregation with their own church building. Now the church has reached the point where they have a vision for the new church at the new site. Pastor Noily Hernández wants to reach out to the community through this new facility. She even has a dream of having a football field (soccer to us gringos) next to the property so that the children from the community can play ball near the church.

4-23-08

Costa Rica is bordered on the north by Nicaragua and the south by Panama. This beautiful country covers 19,650 square miles and is divided into eighty-one counties. Nearly one-third of the country is protected in national reserves, and Costa Rica’s 3.9 million people are concentrated in the Central Highlands, where the city of San José rests. In this small land area, there are fifty-one distinct climates, which enables farmers to grow most anything. Heading out of San José to the southeast is the village of Las Vueltas.

Thirty-five leaders from across the Church of God movement met in Anderson, April 10–11, to continue the planning and development of the strategies for the implementation of the Five Strategic Goals, known as Ignite! Permeate! Free! Cultivate! and Refresh!  The two-day planning session led Dr. Ronald V. Duncan, general director of Church of God Ministries, included pastors, lay  leaders, area administrators, agency staff, and representatives from the Partners in Ministry.

“It is exciting to have brothers and sisters from across the movement engaged in meaningful work for the Lord regarding the Five Strategic Goals,” said Duncan. “I truly believe that what was accomplished here this week will significantly impact the body and lead to transformation of the culture. We fervently seek the Holy Spirit’s leading as we as individuals and as a movement attempt to live out being the body of Christ.”

On Monday, April 21, fourteen people from across the United States converged on Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, where we continued our trip on to San José, Costa Rica. This group of people met and bonded instantly. This, the first trip coordinated as part of the new Eye on the World Program at Church of God Ministries, is headed ultimately for the village of Las Vueltas in the heart of Costa Rica. Once there, the group will assist in the construction of the Church of God congregation’s new church building.