Tico Tuesday, June 27th

Hello!
Thank you so much for praying for me this past Friday as I had my retreat day to pray for and focus on strengthening the vision and philosophy for small groups. It was a wonderful day and I came away feeling a greater sense of focus and clarity with small groups and some ideas of what needs to happen next. I am now even more excited for the Small Group Strategic Planning conference I'll be going to in 2 weeks! There is much work to be done. I think my greatest prayer request now is two-fold: For God to raise up people to help carry this ministry forward (because it is completely impossible for me to do on my own), and for me to be able to let go and trust the people God raises up (I have some pretty obnoxious control issues that God and I are still working through). I'm excited to see what God will do in the future!

Today we had a staff work retreat day. We needed to update our organizational chart in order to prepare for making our first ever 5 year strategic plan. It was not an easy task, but God gave us grace, and a really helpful engineer took the day off work to help us. Some restructuring happened, and now our chart makes a lot more sense. However, we are also more aware now of some glaring personnel needs, and the budget has been painfully tight lately. We have seen God's hand as we've made our way through the God Provides series, but as we discussed today, long lasting change starts in the heart and makes its way to our pocket. Ok, so we didn't say it quite so poetically, but life experience shows that real, lasting transformation happens from the inside out. Please pray for us as we continue to move towards making our 5 year strategic plan and being a better organized, more effective church. We have a lot of churches asking us for training and mentoring, and having our ducks in a row will also allow us to help others better. I'm excited for what God has in store for us and the churches we mentor in the future!
Funny note about today: I think it was the day in which we ate the most together. We started with a big breakfast and fruit, then someone brought us a traditional dish called chifrijo at 11, then we had lunch at 1 (though no one was hungry), and we celebrated a coworker's birthday, so we had the dirt cake I made him too! Needless to say, I had a very light supper tonight! As you can see, food is a very important part of our church's culture!
May God continue to transform us all from the inside out and use us more effectively for his glory,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 20th

Last Thursday, my small group did a prayer walk around our town, San Rafael de Heredia. I drive through it often, but, I have not been able to get to know it as well as I'd like since moving here in October. I usually get to know my town by running and bicycling around it, but with my knee surgery last year and a nasty sprained ankle a couple months ago, I haven't been running much lately, and it has been hard finding time to get in a good bike ride. So, our prayer walk was a wonderful adventure. I loved being so intentional about praying as we walked along. We also stopped to pray in a couple strategic places, including the corner of the park that is right in the center of town between the school and Catholic church and across the street from the municipality. As we walked and prayed, I felt my love growing for my town, and a desire to get out into it more.

Aerial view of the center of San Rafael, Heredia

And, I discovered we have a full size track! I'd heard there was one, but thought people were talking about a different one I'd seen that isn't full size and not so nice looking. While I prefer to not run on a track all the time, I like having it as an option, and love that it is so close to my apartment! I can't wait to use it!
Anyway, the prayer walk. You never know what you'll discover or what God will do in you, but it sure gave me different eyes and deeper love for my pueblo. The prayer walk was actually one of our assignments for the God Provides series we're doing right now. Only a few of us in my group were able to go, but it was a really special time. If you haven't done one before, I encourage you to do so. All you have to do is walk and pray: blessing and interceding for the town, praying for the people around you, praying for the properties for sale or rent to be bought or rented, etc., etc., etc. I don't think I'd done a prayer walk since college, but I sure don't plan on letting almost another decade go by without doing another one!
Thank you for your continued prayers for me. I have been coming up with some ideas and strategies for small groups, and have set aside this Friday as a retreat day to pray and do some strategic thinking and dreaming. I'm excited for what's to come!
May God bless you and use you to be a blessing to your town!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 13th

Salutations from Costa Rica!
I've been visiting 1-2 small groups per week over the last few weeks, in addition to the meetings with my own small group. It's fun getting to know people, seeing who is in which group, and seeing each facilitator's leadership style (and getting to eat delicious things like last night's dessert torte of ripe plantains, refried beans, cheese, and cinnamon!). Rudy, our head pastor, often says that the bigger our church is, the smaller it must be. This means that the more people we have coming to our church, the more people we need in small groups.

I have been doing a lot of thinking and brainstorming about small groups lately. How do we take small groups to the next level? What does that look like? What will it take? I've been wrestling a lot with these big, hard questions. Being small group coordinator is a lot of hard work. I am amazed and very grateful for all that has happened with and in the area of small groups in the past year and a half that I've been in this role. I kind of feel like I've created a Frankenstein though: I can't do it all, it's too big for me. That is a good thing though, and I'm working hard on trying to strengthen and grow my core team, but issues of time and commitment make it quite a challenge. So, I'm continuing to learn...and seek the Lord about it. Will you pray with me as I work to clarify and strengthen the vision for small groups and share it with others so they can catch and spread the vision too? I'm registered for a small group conference at Saddleback in July and I have high hopes that will be a fruitful, transformative time. I appreciate your prayers for that as well.
May God help us all to better understand and spread his vision for his kingdom!
Carrie