Tamarindo Church Update/Announcements- January 2018

Hey friends
Happy New Year!  We hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas and bringing in the new year with family and friends.  My family and I are blessed to be bringing in the new year with family in the U.S. Forgot what sub freezing temperatures and  driving on black-iced roads were like… don’t miss that so much.  But we are very much enjoying being with our family in the U.S.
We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead at Tamarindo Church as we kick off the new year with our 5th Anniversary at Tamarindo Church and our upcoming Mission Trip to Nicaragua.  You can read more about that below. But as we look back on December, here are couple of highlights of the past month.

SAILING DAY

On Sunday, December 17th we had a great day on the water for our TC Annual Sailing Day. Good people and good times together.  Looking forward to next year already!
CHRISMAS EVE SERVICE
We had a packed house on Christmas Eve at Tamarindo Church.  What a fun night of celebrating Christ’s birth, the incarnation, and the significance of what those profound realities mean for us.  Thanks to all who volunteered with set up, decorations, and making treats to share after the service.  And special thanks to our musicians for putting in the extra practice, and bringing songs of celebration and  contemplation of what Christmas is all about.A couple of other highlights of the past month are that we had a lot of our seasonal visitors back with us at church as well as several seasonal residents who came back to keep warm up in Costa Rica during the winter months.  We are so grateful for our seasonal visitors and residents who make this time of year even more celebratory.  Thanks for taking time to visit with our church during your time on vacation!

COMING UP THIS MONTH
As we move into January there are a few important events worth mentioning. First… on Sunday, January 14th, we will be celebrating our Five-Year Anniversary at Tamarindo Church.  Feel free to join us afterwards for a time of fellowship at the Monkey Bar/Best Western.  Secondly… we will be doing our annual mission trip up to Nicaragua.  Praise, God we have raised the funds needed for our trip.  Please keep us in prayer as we serve the local school/ministry of FundaCristo in Cristo Rey, Tipitapa.  And lastly… we are getting closer to reaching our goal of raising $200,000 to start construction on the new church in February 2018.  I will be sending out an update on our progress in a separate email in mid-January to keep you posted.

Thank you all for your prayers and support of Tamarindo Church.  We are blown away by what God has accomplished in TC’s first five years of ministry here in Tamarindo.  To the many people who are Tamarindo Church, thank you for your participation in the life and ministry of Tamarindo Church.  We are anticipating a fruitful year of ministry ahead of us in 2018 as we serve Christ together.  And with the new building on the horizon, we are closer to our vision of being a church that will have a lasting impact on our community for many years to come.

Peace,
Lyle & Stacey

ANNOUNCEMENTS
FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!
Sunday, January 14th

Join us as we celebrate Tamarindo Church’s Five-year Anniversary.  We also will be gathering after church at the Best Western, Monkey Bar for pizza & fellowship.  Don’t forget your swim suits if you want to take a dip in the pool.  We hope to see you there!

_____________________________________________

NICARAGUA MISSION TRIP
January 22-26th

On January 22nd, Tamarindo Church will be headed up to Cristo Rey in Nicaragua for our annual church mission trip.  This year, we will be partnering in Cristo Rey with the ministry of FundaCristo that runs a school in the barrio.  While many children in the neighborhood don’t make it past a 6th grade education, FundaCristo has a vision for seeing that these children have the opportunity to one day graduate from high school.  Here are some statistics that I gathered from their website on elementary education in Nicaragua…

Only 72% of children finished primary school in 2009, the latest year for which data is available. This low figure hides bigger inequalities as only 65% of children from the poorest 20% of families completed primary school compared to 98% from the richest homes.

Secondary school figures are unsurprisingly much worse:
46% finished the first tier (9th grade/year 10), and only 19% completed 11th grade (year 12). In the poorest families, only 6% of children finished secondary school.

To help Fundacristo in their vision of seeing kids get a complete education, we are helping to install tile floors which are required by the ministry of education, building storage space, and hosting VBS activities for the children. We also hope to be able to distribute basic food items to the community as we have in the past.
GET INVOLVED
If you would like to be involved in making a difference in the community of Cristo Rey, please consider the following ways of helping.

1.  Come on the trip-  The dates for the trip are January 22nd-26th.  If you would like to join us on the trip, please contact pastor Lyle Watson for more info.  lyletamarindo@gmail.com

2.  Pray for us & the community-  There are always a lot of logistics and surprises on a trip in Central America.  Please pray God’s grace, wisdom, and protection on our group.  And please pray that our group would represent the love of Christ as we serve.  Please pray also for community leaders and pastors… that God would guide them on how best to love and lead their people in community development and spiritual renewal.

3.  Give Financially- To accomplish all of the projects mentioned above, we have a goal of raising $9,000.  If you would like to contribute toward this trip, please make your donation through the Tamarindo Church Giving page.  Just make your donation to Tamarindo Church, and be sure to send a follow up email at tamarindochurch@gmail.com to let us know that you would like your donation to be designated for the Nicaragua trip in January.

_____________________________________________
TC Youth 
Dear Parents,As I look back on this past year, it has has been a fruitful year of building relationships, being vulnerable, and gaining trust with our youth. What an incredible privilege it has been to be a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and a guiding voice in these kids’ lives.  These past few months in particular have been full of hard but life-giving conversations over ice cream or coffee with teenagers who are so eager to be known, loved, and heard. Being a teenager can be hard, no matter where in the world you live…. even in this paradise called Costa Rica! It really is an honor to be a light and a voice of truth to these teenagers, constantly nudging them towards Christ. Thank you for your constant prayers and support.

Youth nights at Tamarindo Church create an environment where teenagers feel welcomed and safe to be themselves.

Each week, we start with some crazy games… followed by a time of digging into the Bible together to figure out who Jesus is and what He is all about.  All 6th – 12th grade students are invited!

Join us for Youth Group every Friday7 – 8:30 pm at Tamarindo Church! Join our facebook group “TC Youth” and follow our instagram account “tcyouthcr” to stay up to date on what’s happening! But be sure to “LIKE” our Facebook page for Tamarindo Church Youth to stay updated on any changes in schedule or special events.  Click here to go to our page.  TC Youth

For more information, contact Ashley Look: 8416-8807    Ashleylook9@gmail.com

_____________________________________________
MUSICIANS WANTED 

We are seeking people with a musical and vocal talent to join our worship team. If God has gifted you with musical or technical talent, we want you to be able to use it for His glory! Our immediate need is for instrumentalists, primarily Bass and Drums. Other instruments are welcome to join in (i.e. keyboard, ukulele, etc.) but cannot be supplied by the church at this time. Here are the first few steps for becoming part of the worship team.

  • Prayerfully consider your involvement.
  • Contact Lyle Watson: tamarindochurch@gmail.com expressing your interest. The email should include:…
    • Musical or technical experience and skill.
    • The reason you are interested in joining the worship team.
    • Pastor Lyle will review your information and schedule time when you can join us for an audition.

If you have questions please contact Lyle at tamarindochurch@gmail.com.

 


WOMEN’S GROUP
WHEN? Tuesdays@12pm-1:30pm
WHERE? Meetings are at the Watson’s home.
For more info contact Stacey staceycostarica@gmail.com
or call 8706-7479
MEN’S GROUP–  New Time & Place
WHEN? Wednesdays @ 9:00am
WHERE? Come join us on Wednesdays 9:00 AM at Pastor Lyle’s home.  If you would like to come early and hang out over coffee, several of us meet early at 8:30.
For more info contact pastor Lyle at lyletamarindo@gmail.com or call 8868-0871

~ PRAYER REQUESTS ~
Did you know that Tamarindo Church has a page where you can share your prayer requests with us.  On this page you have the option to have us keep your requests confidential, or to have us invite others to be praying for you.
CLICK HERE to check out the new page and submit your prayer requests.

Tamarindo Church Prayer RequestsPlease continue to pray for……

VISION
that God would guide us in our vision and strategy for reaching and serving our community.

MINISTRY TEAM
Thanks to God for our staff and volounteers who serve in many roles in the church.  Please pray that God would continue to build a sense of unity and family among our core church members… especially our Board, our Pastor Advisory Group, and our Volunteer Team.

FINANCES
Last month we sent out information on how people can partner with Tamarindo Church financially next year.  We are praying that God would provide for our annual budget through pledges.  We are also praying that God would provide finances for the construction of our new church building.  Please pray to our Father that he would meet our needs in the coming year through pledges and regular supporters!

OUTREACH
That God would create a spiritual hunger in our community, and that we would see many come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.  Please pray that our church members would be salt and light in the community to those who are not saved.

CHURCH LIFE

Thanks be to God for his blessing of the Women’s Retreat this past month.  It was a great time of fellowship and time in the Word.  The women came home challenged, encouraged, and refreshed in the Lord.

CHURCH PROPERTY
Please pray that God would guide us in this process, and that our needs would be met for building the first phase on the 2nd floor of the church which includes the sanctuary, bathrooms, kitchen & parking lot.  Please pray that God would provide the $200,000 we need to raise to complete this initial phase of the project.  Please pray also that God would provide the additional $160,000 we need to raise to complete the project.  This $160,000 will allow us to complete the first floor which will include the children’s church rooms, office, youth room, fellowship room, kitchen and bathrooms.

LYLE & STACEY
– For spiritual wisdom and direction as we lead the church.
– For Stacey’s job in real-estate… that she would find balance between family, ministry and work… and not feel over-stressed or anxious.  And that she would earn enough to cover our children’s school tuition.

OUR FAMILY
For meaningful times together and healthy balance between family and ministry.  For our children Olivia and Wolfie… that we would raise them to know, love and serve our Lord.

SPIRITUAL PROTECTION 
Prayer of spiritual protection over our family and our church Ministry Teams…. guarding us from spiritual attack and oppression, and anything that causes dis-unity and divisiveness in the body of Christ at Tamarindo Church.