Hey TC Family,
Happy New Year All! We hope you all enjoyed bringing in the new year with friends and loved ones. The first news I wanted to share with you all as
we bring in the new year is that we will be resuming in-person worship services at Tamarindo Church starting next Sunday, January 10th @ 10:00am! It has been months since we have met together in person as a church and we have missed you all. We very much look forward to seeing you at church next Sunday. If for some reason you aren’t able to attend, we hope you will join us online via Facebook or Zoom. And for those of you who don’t use Facebook, we will be posting a Zoom link on our TC Web Page on Sunday Morning that will allow you to join us for worship. We hope you can join us this Sunday!
Okay… with that news out of the way, let us catch you up on some highlights from the past couple of months.
COMPASSION MINISTRIES
Tamarindo Church continues to support various ministries helping those most in need during the pandemic. During the pandemic we have been sending weekly orders of food to a feeding center in nearby Santa Cruz, increased monthly our financial support to the Las Playas Food Bank, and we began purchasing food to help the feeding center at Long Boards BBQ in Tamarindo. In addition… individuals from TC are personally supporting various local families
with food, rent, and medical needs on their own. We will also be sending additional support again to Funda Cristo in Nicaragua in January to help feed kids/families fed in Cristo Rey, Nicaragua. And lastly, in December… our Children’s Church Director, Steph Gough, brought some Christmas cheer to our friends in Los Pochotes by hosting an event that included providing a community meal, distributing food bags for 45 families, and giving out Christmas gifts to 83 children in the community. Thank you Stephanie and her team as well as all of you for all for your generosity in supporting Tamarindo Church’s efforts to help those in need during this difficult year. Your generosity is has made a difference in the lives of many!
VISIT WITH THE IBC
During the monty we spent in Texas on Sabbatical, Stacey and I had the opportunity to meet with our friends Darryl and Debra Evetts from the (International Baptist Convention) IBC. Some of you may remember
Darryl and Debra from their time visiting and preaching at TC a couple summers ago. Darryl is the Director of Church Multiplication for the IBC and was involved in the early days when Tamarindo Church was planted, and we have been friends and colleagues ever since. TC has been partnered with the IBC over the years to give us an umbrella of support and fellowship in the community of International English Speaking churches. It’s nice to know TC is a part of a bigger organization that understands and encourages the vision of English speaking churches around the world. It was a great time connecting and catching up with Darryl and Debra on all that’s been happening at Tamarindo Church.
2021 PLEDGE DRIVE
Just wanted to give you a final update on our pledge drive for 2020. So far, we have reached $54,000 in pledges toward our budget of $118,220. We are thankful to be off
to a great start. For those of you who have already responded with your pledge… THANK YOU for making your pledge and helping us to continue to have an impact in our community in the year ahead. If you have not made your pledge already but are interested in doing so…. please go to our TC GIVING PAGE on our website for instructions on how to give a one time donation or to give recurring monthly donations.
VALERIE ESCHUK- LAS PLAYAS FOOD BANK
Many of you know Ms. Val from Las Playas Food Bank. Las Playas Food Bank is an awesome ministry that is distributing food monthly to hundreds of people in need in our community and this is where Ms Val founded and faithfully serves that ministry . Well, Val
contacted me recently with news that she has been suffering pain in her hip, and her doctor has informed her that she will be needing to have hip surgery. The cost of the surgery and rehab is beyond her ability to pay, so I told her that I’d like to help spread the word about her financial need for the surgery. She told me that the cost of surgery will run about $12,000, and rehab should run about $3,000. If you would like to help Valerie with the cost of her surgery, feel free to reach out to her directly at valeriesfoods@gmail.com, or you can also make contributions through Tamarindo Church by going to our TC Giving Page, make a contribution, then email me to let me know know that you’d like your donation to go toward helping Ms. Val. Thank you for any help you can offer to help Ms. Val!
As I finish up this update, I am in the last day of my Sabbatical, and I want to first say thank you to God and to the TC Board for allowing me this time away to pray, reflect, and just “be”…. with God and with my family. For sure this was not the Sabbatical I had envisioned or planned, but I will always be grateful to God for the work He has done in my heart and in our family… in ways that none of us could have ever planned or expected. I know that our family will always look back on this time with gratitude to God for the time we had together.
And thank you all again for the many ways that you continue to support and participate in the life and ministry of Tamarindo Church. Blessings to you and your loved ones this Christmas season and into the new year.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
~ Matthew 6:33
Peace,
Pastor Lyle