Feliz Navidad…. Merry Christmas

Dear Friends and family,

Merry Christmas! We wanted to take advantage of the tradition of the Christmas card to send you all an updated photo of our family! As our family grows so does our ministry as God has blessed us not only with our own beautiful baby girl but also with two teenage boys whom we are able to model Jesus’ love too! The new additions to our family are Selah Marlise Leon and Anthony Segura, not in the photo but now also a part of our family is Josue Rodriguez. Selah of course is our second child born in July. We debuted Anthony in our last newsletter and Josue moved in with us a day after this photo was taken.

Josue is 14 years old and like Anthony is an excellent surfer. We saw him in Jaco one day and he asked for a ride to Esterillos to pick up a surfboard he had left there at a friend’s house. He came home with us that day and never left. He has a sad story and has been struggling at school. Please pray that we can provide him with a stable and safe environment to grow up and finish school in.

As our family grows so does our grocery bill so please continue to support us both in prayer and financially. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to our ministry please send checks to the Santa Barbara Free Methodist Church 1435 Cliff Dr. Santa Barbara, CA 93109 and don’t forget to designate: VISA-Leon. Or you can give online by going to www.puravidachurch.com and clicking on “make a donation”(not tax deductiable).

Pura Vida, Leon Family

Leon family October News…”parents” of teenagers

Relationships

Meet Anthony, the newest member of our family. Anthony is 17 years old and has been living alone or with friends in Esterillos for the last few years. He is a dedicated student and an incredible surfer. Coming from a broken family with few resources he has found it easier to live on his own. Anthony moved in with us a few months ago and we were instantly the parents of a teenager! We are so great full that we can bless him by giving him a stable family. His grades have improved and he is more relaxed then we have ever seen him. Dennis is on the a.m. carpool rotation and so gets time to talk to Anthony as well as 3-4 other boys from Esterillos, including the Costa Rican national champion surfer in Jr., Boys and Open divisions for 2009.

Be and make Disciples of Christ

We are officially opening a surf shop in Parrita as our second church plant. This will be a self-sustaining ministry were the profit is used to bless the community as well as giving us a rent free space for the church to meet. In Costa Rica getting permits is never easy or fast but getting the permits for this endeavor was a breeze, by God’s grace. We have our first merchandise on the walls already although we do not officially open until December. We will be coming to Santa Barbara on November 19 until December 2 to visit you all, celebrate Thanksgiving with family and to purchase apparel for the shop. We are planning on taking advantage of the last few weeks of school to get our bible studies going on a weekly basis in Parrita. The high school students that have been coming to PVC Esterillos are excited to invite their friends from Parrita to come and learn about Jesus in a relaxed and safe environment as the discipleship process continues.

Be a blessing to the community

Our friend Lindsay from PVCSB told her friend Zack to visit us on his trip to Costa Rica, Zack came and saw what we were doing and stayed three weeks with us, he called his friend David, an interior designer, who came for a week and is helping us set up the shop, decorating, teaching us how to run a business etc. The way God brought these friends into our life at the perfect time is a miracle. The best part is that as they bless us they also feel that they are receiving a blessing. The ways of the Holy Spirit are awesome when he works through us!

Family Notes:

• Selah is rolling! She is still blue eyed and beautiful and likes to put everything in her mouth. She smiles all the time and goes by Selah, Shayla, Say, Lala, Alicia (Diego’s sister), fatty, and roly-poly.
• Elias is really getting into his imagination and loves to be told stories. He rarely is Elias anymore but instead goes by Diego and is accompanied by his kitten “baby Jaguar” as they rescue animals, usually a stranded baby chicken. For those of you not up to date on the cartoon world, Diego is Dora the Explorers animal rescuing cousin. We explained to him that when we go on the airplane he needs to pretend he is Elias because “Diego” does not have a passport.
• Dennis and Kyle are doing great. Surfing, walking with friends and having quiet coffee times together. We thank God for a strong relationship everyday, despite the stresses of a cross cultural move.
• 
  

Depend on the Holy Spirit: Please pray for:

• Dennis’ citizenship and crossing the boarder in a few weeks
• For times of relaxation on our visit to SB.
• For continued financial support from the US
• For the shop: purchasing merchandise, shipping, dealing with customs and getting everything set up
• For the people of Parrita, especially the students.

Meeting in the dark:

Reenactment of an early church meeting by candle light as we study the book of Acts, only we had no light because lightning had struck a transformer.

PVC Surf & Sk8… store by day sanctuary by night

Surf Shop by day Sanctuary by night…….

We are ready to reach south in our mission to plant churches along the coast of Costa Rica. With many opportunities and the Holy Spirit’s prompting but no space to meet we are starting a surf and skate shop in Parrita.

Parrita is about 20 minutes south of Esterillos and has a population of about 5,000 people. Parrita is the town center for six different beach communities and is on the road to Quepos, Dominical and Pavones. Furthermore most of the students of Pura Vida Church attend high school here.

Surf and Skate shops have always had a community feel, with kids hanging out and being influenced by whoever was running the shop. With that idea in mind we would like to provide a safe and healthy environment for people to hang out as well as create a comfortable place to learn about Jesus. By being staffed by our leaders we give them an opportunity not only to earn a living but also to share what they are learning about God at Pura Vida Church.

One of the obstacles to church planting is the meeting place. Although we know many people in the area we have not found a central and consistent place to meet and to rent a space to meet once or twice a week seems like a waste of resources. The idea of running a business is not to make money but to create a self sustaining ministry. But we need your help! As with any business there are start up costs, so we are looking for investors to give interest free, short term loans or one time tax deductable gifts. Please see attached budget and feel free to email us with questions and suggestions as this is our first venture into business. Could you pray and consider investing not in a business but in a ministry that would change people’s lives?

Blessings,

Leaders of Pura Vida Church Esterillos

Budget:

Rent: $500/ month (with water and security)

Inventory: $7,000 (start up)

Salary: $200/ month (one employee. 3 days a week)

Electricity/phone: $80/ month

Equipment: $3,000 (displays, cash register, TV/DVD, couches and chairs etc.)

Insurance: ?

Advertising: ?

Permits and taxes:

Please Pray for Honduras…and Central America

Dear family of Christ and all of you who visit this site, please Join with us in prayer for the Country of Honduras!

This morning the Honduran president got kidnapped by the army and they dropped him here in Costa Rica, please  pray for peace, that this will not turn into something ugly since Venezuela has already said that they will intervene if needed.

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central America and violence will only make things worse for its people and the rest of central America.

¹³ “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek myface and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” 2 Chronicles 7: 13-16

Thank you, Dennis Leon

ooops a little late…

Of Fleas and Friends

Hello friends and family, we have been looking forward to write you all and share with you about our first weeks in Costa Rica and we are sure you have been waiting to hear from us! We made it to Costa Rica and are quickly being reminded of time orientation in the tropics. When we arrived at our house there had been a flea explosion to the point that it was inhabitable. After four days of intense fumigation we were able to move in. The great part about not being able to be in our house was that we were able to spend all our time with friends and family as everyone was on vacation because of Holy Week. We were able to move in just in time to host our first “church” service on Easter Sunday. We invited people over for an “Easter Celebration” with food, a brief message and an Easter egg hunt to top it off. It was such a success that we decided to keep up with Sunday night services and have consistently had an attendance of about 20 people of all ages. We are also looking forward to starting a Friday afternoon preschool mothers group as well as a Christian Surfer style bible study on Fridays.

Dennis has been busy doing repairs on the house as well as reestablishing relationships with people as he surfs, plays soccer or even walks down to get something at the store. God has used a broken deck for His glory. We had anticipated having to replace the front deck of the house soon and in the first week of our arrival it was no longer usable. Laborers are a dime a dozen down here and some have better reputations than others. Two of the more notorious thieves and drug addicts in town grew up playing marbles with Dennis and as soon as they heard that we might need a laborer they came up looking for work as it is hard for them to find work because of their reputations. Dennis was able to hire both of them on different occasions and minister to them as they worked together during the day. If a laborers wants to be paid at the end of the day you can expect them to not show up the next day even if you need them because they have spent the money on whatever vice they have and are out of commission the next day. So you can imagine our delight and surprise when Dennis’ friends came back the next day and the next to work, and with no visible side effects of drug or alcohol use! This is a victory!

In our second week here we had two amazing opportunities to network and see how God is working in Costa Rica. The first was our meeting with the Superintendent and the local board that appoints Free Methodist pastors here in Costa Rica. We have met with them in the past but have never gotten the chance to get to know them. So for our first official meeting they decided to come down and stay with us. We were able to share our vision for the beach communities and offer our house as a place of retreat for the pastors and their churches. We were able to hear about the vision that they have for Costa Rica and see how we can help them accomplish that vision. It was very exciting. That weekend we took two young leaders and drove five hours north for a camping retreat for Christians working in the coastal communities. We were joined by leaders from Calvary Chapel, Christian Surfers, independent churches as well as others. It was a wonderful time to see what is happening along the coast, to network and get to know people who share our passion for this region.

We also have made a temporary addition to our family. Lindsey Walkemeyer from a Free Methodist Church, Light & Life Christian Fellowship in Long Beach is with us for six weeks doing her practicum for a Masters in Cross-cultural Ministry. She is a fabulous guest and has been incredibly flexible as she shadows us to see what a budding ministry in another culture looks like. Doing things like getting a cell phone and internet service, which takes 2-4 weeks. Being available to visit for four hours with unexpected guests. Waiting for guests who never come and even cleaning the bathroom in preparation for Sunday night!

No newsletter would be complete without some Elias news! Elias has made a smooth transition. He has never asked to “go home” and tells everyone that he lives in Esterillos. He had a hard time with the amount of attention that he got when we first arrived which was aggravated by the fact that he did not understand what people were saying to him. Like a typical Gringo he began repeating things to people in English but in a louder voice if they did not understand him. At this point though he is speaking more Spanish and making new friends everyday. He loves helping his dad work around the house and usually has his tape measure and hammer hanging from his pants. The beach is our park and our preschool so we go almost everyday and he is in the water most of the time swimming, “body surfing”, boogie boarding and surfing. We also take advantage of the sand as our chalk board and practice our numbers, letters and shapes in preparation for Kindergarten in January.

Thank you all for your prayers and support

Love and blessings, Leon Family

Prayer line:

- We are having a GIRL!

- groups (soccer, surfers, moms, Sunday nights)

- relationships/networking

- timing and waiting (patience and God’s guidance)

Feeding Bodies and Souls - Pura Vida Church

The elephant in the Room…The new Pastor for PVC SB.

The count down is on (40 more days) as we make our final preparations for our move to Costa Rica. As we pondered and prayed about this move the issue of most concern has always been who will be the shepherd that care for Pura Vida Church Santa Barbara in our absence? We praise God for the fact that nobody is irreplaceable and we are happy and humbled to announce that we leave Pura Vida Santa Barbara in the hands of and incredible team lead by Paula Sevilla.

Paula was born and raised right here in Santa Barbara and has a heart for the lost as well as everything Latino. Paula came to us two years ago after working extensively as a missionary in Mexico and Guatemala for five years. As we got to know her we saw her leadership potential paired with a passionate love for Jesus and genuine humility. Her ministry gifts and cross-cultural communication skills are amazing. For us it was a no brainer to use someone from within the body of our local church rather than bringing someone in from the outside and after much prayer and counsel Paula took the challenge.

She will be actively supported by a prayerful team of lay leaders from the Pura Vida congregation as well as the rest of the pastoral staff at the Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara. She is currently studying cross-cultural ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dennis will continue to mentor and guide her through this transition and in the future via the internet and Skype. Please be part of her support team by remembering to pray for her and the rest of the congregation as they go through this transition.

Other Leon’s family and ministry highlights….

· We have been fundraising right and left and have raised about 75% of what we will need for our two year assignment. Praise God!

· We were able to purchase our tickets and are on schedule for a March 31^st departure (one way!!!).

· We thank you for all your prayers as Kyle experienced strong heart palpitations that had us worried. After some tests it was confirmed that her heart is perfect and that it is simply due to the combination of stress and pregnancy. She scheduled a massage for the next day!

· We are living in the trailer behind the Schmidt family house and so getting lots of quality family time in, as well as getting the packing done with time to spare.

Con mucho love, Familia Leon.

PVC Santa Barbara: Refocusing & Simplifying

A call to Simplicity and action…

Dennis always quotes Mark Twain when he says the only person who likes change is a wet baby!  That has been the case as the leadership of Pura Vida Church has prayerfully considered combining the morning and evening Sunday worship services.  The beautiful facilities at the Mesa and faithful members of Café con Leche (worship band) made the decision to have services only on the Eastside a hard one.
The Vision of Pura Vida Church is to be a relevant church in our community and the only way to do that is to be part of the community where we minister, in other words is to know the need of our community and seek practical ways to meet them.

The way we have done that is through home-groups which build relationships.  These discipling relationships have strengthened the leadership of Pura Vida and we are seeing the results.
One of Pura Vida’s main tenets is to be a blessing to the community and the Hispanic (Spanish/bilingual) community which is our mission field is mainly on the Eastside of Santa Barbara.  It is difficult to know how to bless someone if you do not know them and their needs.
Some of the ways in which we as a church are being a blessing is by blessing and partnering with flourishing ministries in this community such as Eastside Kids Club and Eastside Young Life both of these ministries have a huge representation from Pura Vida Church, (Young life meetings are hosted in the home of a member of our church and the coordinator of KidsClub is a member of our church as well, not to mention a lot of the volunteers including ourselves).  There are hungry people on the Eastside and we feed them.
Have we seen a great spiritual harvest from these “outreaches”? No, but we have seen our leaders and people in our church come to a deeper understanding of what it means to love and live like Jesus.  And after all God did not call us to fill our churches he called us to love our neighbors.
When Jesus commissioned His disciples in Acts 1:8 he did not say to just go to the ends of the earth but to start in your own back yard (Jerusalem) and then branch out from there.  I was thinking about the training ground that having Mesa services has been for our church.  In the safety of a familiar place we were able to grow and learn and now God has called us to leave that comfortable place and depend on Him which is the last and key tenet of Pura Vida Church.
Please pray for us as we venture out.  As a church we want to do what Jesus did.  The Message sums it up perfectly, it says,
“The Word became flesh, and move into the neighborhood.” John 1:14.

Love, Familia Leon

Costa Rica Project.

Costa Rica Dream: Pura Vida goes back to its roots!!!

Vision: “Establish culturally relevant churches to the beach communities of Costa Rica & beyond”

Mission (Process):
“Bring Christ to people one authentic relationship at a time.
Be Disciples and make Disciples of Christ.
Be a blessing to our Community.
Depend on the Holy Spirit for everything.”

Purpose: Why Costa Rica?
Tourism, foreign influence and money have impacted these beach communities in a negative way, creating “sin cities” where prostitution, drugs and violence are the norm.
Legalistic church tradition and lack of resources have led to stagnated congregations who intentionally do not reach out to their neighbors who are unlike themselves.
The Gospel message will never change, but the ways to communicate it do. We will never compromise the message of salvation through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection.
However, we want to meet people exactly where they are in their life and deliver a message of love and hope in Christ in a way that is real to them.

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings”
1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Ways we want to serve:

1-Weekly worship service in Esterillos & Jaco (English and Spanish) (This once we have enough home groups to have weekly celebrations)

2-Weekly Homegroup seeker friendly (English and Spanish) Esterillos-Jaco-Hermosa and other coastal communities.

3-Coffee shop office hours in Jaco:
approachable and informal way to encourage people to talk to a pastor

4-Christian Surfer Esterillos and support of Christian Surfers Jaco by providing a save place for them to send the people they reached.

5-Kids Club Esterillos – a weekend kids outreach based on building relationships

6- Leadership Training Development for mature Christians (English and Spanish)

7-Counseling and restoration (walking alongside listening) for those coming out of prostitution and drug addiction or just having a bad day.

8-Being an asset to the community in any possible way– often the church seeks help from the community we want to be a church that gives to the community. We believe that the church must have a positive influence in the community to believers and nonbelievers alike.

9-Empowering and caring for the future servants (leaders).

10-Bridging cultural gaps.

11-Beach Camp for underprivileged inner-city children (twice a year).

Note: We are using Cell Church Principles for this Project:

• Priesthood of all believers

• Leadership development

• Exponential growth

• Cell/ Celebration

• Emphasis on relational evangelism

• Multi-cultural model

• Better use of financial resources.

Accountability:
We acknowledge that one day we will be before God to give an account of the souls he entrusted into our care.

Locally:

We will be accountable to the National Superintend for Free Methodist.

We will be accountable to our Fellow US missionary Patrick Barret.

We will be accountable to our fellow Leaders. We want to lead as a team not as solo Pastor.

Internationally

We will give an honest bi-monthly report our US supporters and praying partners.

We will be accountable to the Santa Barbara FMC.

We will be accountable to the FM Southern California Conference.

We are seeking the accountability of the Free Methodist World Missions.

Please Pray:

¨ For our family. That we can be living examples of Christ’s love.

¨ For the harvest that God has prepared.

¨ That our ears can be attuned to His voice.

¨ That the coastal communities are transformed.

¨ That God lifts up local leaders.

¨ That Jesus’ message of love and hope will spread like wildfire!