On November 1, a grand celebration took place in the community of Tres y Tres, located in the area of Santa Rosa de Pocosol. Approximately 200 people attended the celebration, including some of the members of the mother church, Barrio San Jose in Alajuela, which is located three hours from the new church. The Pastor is Rev. Alex Loria Espinoza who lives in Alajuela and travels with a group of local church leaders each week to minister in Tres y Tres, a round trip of six hours.
The Church is called Church of the Nazarene of Tres y Tres: Monte de Santidad (Mountain of Holiness). Already the church has 53 members and an attendance of approximately 125 people each week. It is the only Evangelical church in the community of 500 people.
Pastor Alex shares this about the church. “The faithfulness of the Lord is so great. Just two weeks ago, we met with the community development committee and they were so surprised that we had helped so much in the community. And now, we have plans to help in the community by building a playground near the park for the children, and we hope to start the work in January of 2015. I do not have the words to thank the Lord or the members of my church in Barrio San Jose who have given so much to plant this new work.
The District Superintendent, Rev. Johnny Calvo, mentioned that this church is special because they already have a sanctuary, a very beautiful sanctuary. The land was donated by a church member, and it is not just any piece of land; it is the best of all he owned, a beautiful corner lot. The mission received help from Work and Witness teams to help with the construction of the sanctuary, but since then the congregation has continued the construction of the kitchen and dining area.
With the blessing of the building, the church is already impacting their community. The local school has asked permission to use the sanctuary for the kindergarten and sixth grade graduations in December.
In addition, Superintendent Rev. Calvo shared during the celebration that each local church should plant a new church. It is part of the DNA of the church to do so. Rev. Calvo left this goal with the congregation of Tres y Tres so they can continue the great evangelism work in the Costa Rica North District.
We await great news from the Church of Mountain of Holiness and pray that God will bless them now as an organized church.