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.
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Depend on the Holy Spirit: Pease pray for:

• Dennis’ citizenship and crossing the boarder in a few weeks
• For times of relaxation on our visit to SB.
• NOTE: On Sunday November 29, our family is planning on being at La Mesa Park, in Santa Barbara and we would love to see as many of you as possible so please if you can come by and say hello!
• 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.

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:

Vision: “establish culturally relevant churches to the beach communities of Costa Rica and beyond.”

Mission Strategy:

“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.”

Relationships

On September 4^th we celebrated Elias’ 4^th birthday party with lots of friends and family. We could not have prepared a Pirates and Princess Party for 75 people without the help of some young volunteers. We had three helpers, Gloriana, Steven, and Sofia. They helped us with decorations and food prep as well as holding Selah and keeping an excited Elias busy. We have found that sometimes the best way to get to know someone is by asking for help. When you ask for help it shows that you can not do it all and at the same time you affirm the value of the person that you are asking. These three are dedicated to attending our gatherings on both Sunday and Wednesday and I hope that someday they will feel comfortable enough to ask me to help them too!

Be disciples and make disciples of Jesus

The day of Elias’ birthday party we welcomed Jason Groenink and a team from his church in Seattle. They came to do a VBS and to get to know the people of Esterillos. We had a wonderful time getting to know them as we worked beside them doing three afternoons of VBS at the soccer field. We had about 55 participants plus younger and older siblings and parents for crafts, games and bible study. On the last day one mother was sharing how much Esterillos needs this kind of thing. This family does not attend a church although they probably consider themselves Christians. She said that she had been watching TV with her eight year old daughter the night after our first day of VBS. The mother had made a demeaning racial commented and the daughter corrected her reminding her that everyone is made in God’s image and so the way we treat others is how we are treating God. We pray that these lessons are repeated and become a way of life.

Be a blessing to our community

Not only was the VBS a huge blessing to the community but Pura Vida Church put on a fundraising surf contest. It was a community event that brought many people together as they volunteered and donated to put together a wonderfully attended contest. With over 80 contestants what was going to be a one day tournament ran over to be two days long with wonderful weather to top it off! With the proceeds from the contest we were able to put much needed trash cans on the soccer field, donate towards re-roofing the community clinic building and even give some funds to the local school and the local soccer team.

Depend on the Holy Spirit

- We lost our dog Boomer that we had brought with us from the States. Elias and Kyle especially were affected by this loss.

- Continued prayer as we re-file for Dennis’ US citizenship.

- That Selah can get her US passport (it is a bit more complicated process than we thought) soon and that we find cheap tickets for a trip to Santa Barbara in November.

- The option of going for our second church plant in Parrita by opening a surf shop (if you are interested in investing in this plant let us know and we will send you the business plan).

Con mucho Pura Vida, Familia Leon

Relationships

It has been a season of visitors. As the vacation months hit in the States many friends have taken this opportunity to come and visit us here in Costa Rica. We have enjoyed their company, catching up on the goings on in Santa Barbara over coffee at our house or while enjoying weekends at the beach. Speaking of weekends at the beach….. Kyle has given up trying to get anything done on weekends from now on! Somehow she always think this would be a good time to do some laundry, clean the bathroom, write a newsletter, but experience has shown that this does not work. We get a double dose of visitors on weekends, kids off from school, adults off from work, friends down from San Jose for a weekend at the beach. It is prime time for being available and building relationships.

Be a disciple and make disciples

God has been operating and we have had the opportunity to branch out along the coast because of surf contests. The first was the ISA (International Surfing Association) World Games held in Hermosa. Dennis took a load of kids to volunteer with Christian Surfers and help in whatever way they could. Then we took a gang of kids from church to help with a surf contest at Playa Palo Seco, a beach about half an hour south of us. Our kids were amazing, taking their queue from Dennis they helped with judging, announcing, clean up and they all displayed great sportsmanship. We will be hosting our own surf contest here in Esterillos in September where we hope we can get to know more key people from the different beaches along the coast.

Be a blessing

Project “A Smile for Esterillos” is underway. Our friend Macarena brought her whole family along with her this year. They are originally from Chile but God called them to the Basque Country of Spain ten years ago. Her father Gerardo is a dentist specializing in dental prosthesis. In two weeks, with the help of his dental assistant wife Gianela, they were able to bring back 17 people’s smiles with 22 dental prosthesis.

Depend on the Holy Spirit

• Health as we head into rainy season and dengue becomes more prevalent
• Elias’ transition to being a big brother and saying goodbye to my family again
• Spiritual growth in our congregation and guidance on how to cultivate that growth

Family Notes

Selah is sleeping, growing and eating. She is almost 2 months old now and getting bigger and cuter by the day. Elias is a great big brother and loves to look at her and help change her diapers. He is having some jealousy issues with other people but not with Selah. Dennis is loving being the dad of a daughter, showing her off around town. He is also happy to be fully recovered from his fall through the roof and is back to surfing and playing soccer. Kyle is fully recovered thanks to all the help she has received from her family and is back in the water surfing again as well.

Pura Vida, Leon Family

The baby is here:

Date: 7-7-2009  … 3.3KG (7.3 lbs)….. 52CM (21 inches)

Relationships:

The waiting has begun, the count down is on! Here we are in Santa Barbara de Heredia at the home of Ron and Roxanna Stronach waiting for the birth of our second. We feel so blessed by Ron and Roxanna who are part of Pura Vida Church in Santa Barbara, CA. Roxanna is from Costa Rica and her husband Ron from California, they built a house here in Costa Rica a few years ago and generously offered it to us so that we can be closer to the hospital here in the capital. While we wait we have filled the time visiting friends, going to the dentist, and getting to know the other pastors here in the central valley.

• We attended a wonderful and inspiring seminar by Dr. Ricardo Gomez on the “The Legacy of John Wesley for Latin America” with the rest of the Free Methodist pastors.
• Dennis was able to share last Sunday at the Free Methodist church plant in Cartago which is pastored by Juan Carlos.
• We have been able to attend Christian Surfer bible studies here in San Jose at a friend’s house.
• Celebrating Dennis 31^st birthday on June 30^th.

Surprise….. Before we left Esterillos Kyle was blessed by a surprise baby shower. Friends and family had organized a beautiful luncheon and Dennis just had to get her there. She was resting and so had on P.J.’s when she arrived at the shower. She was truly surprised and felt very special and loved.

Being a blessing:

We are so proud of our little group; Dennis has been setting the framework of Pura Vida church in our weekly bible studies. Teaching about being a blessing to the community, etc. One Sunday night Dennis asked if anyone had identified a need in the community and the kids were excited to tell us about a brother and sister who walk 5 miles to get to school everyday. That night the congregation decided to raise money to buy them a bike. In three weeks they brought in enough money to buy the bike and were able to decorate it with all sorts of Pura Vida stickers and present it to them. Now we see them riding tandem to school every morning.

We were also blessed by a visit from friends, Barry and Anna Holm and Fred and Jenny Guillermo from FMC Santa Barbara. Barry shared his carpentry skills and together with Dennis and Fred were able to change an odd corner of the house into a third bedroom. Anna and Jenny helped me to stay on top of the dry wall mess that the construction caused as well as feeding the hungry workers.

Be disciples and make Disciples:

Kyle and Lindsey (the intern) were able to have a girls only slumber party after bible study on a Friday night. Most of the girls that attend Pura Vida are between 10 and 16 years old, and absolutely beautiful so we felt the need to have a little boy talk time. We had a great time eating popcorn, playing games and talking about boys and boundaries. It was a very special time of bonding and talking as we shared with each other.

Dennis had been spending special times with the boys by taking surfing day trips on Saturdays.  They go to beaches nearby and in this way he has the opportunity to have meaningful time and conversations with them.

Dependence on the Holy Spirit:

· Pray for the group as the meetings are on hold while we are in San Jose

· Pray for leaders to emerge and wisdom for us as we train them

· Pray for baby’s birth and mom’s recovery

· Pray for wisdom as to when and where to have our group meet once we get back to the beach

· Pray for Christian Surfers groups as they minister to the participants of the ISA (International Surfing Association) contest this coming month here in Costa Rica.

· Pray that Dennis’ body continues to heal from his fall through the roof.

Thank you for your prayers! Leon Family

Dear family of Christ, friends 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

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 Free Methodist Long Beach is with us for six weeks doing her practicum for a Masters in Intercultural 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 we can not wait to get internet so we can be in contact with you more often. At this point you can reach us by snail mail :

Leon Family

199-4023

Jaco, Garabito

61101, Costa Rica

home phone 011-506-2778-7276 or cell phone 011-506-8339-0309.

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)