Proyecto MORFO Meeting Update

Judith Grossman sent this e-mail late this afternoon. Saturday's meeting to introduce Proyecto MORFO to the community went very well! Read on, and please pray for their continued success. I am so looking forward to getting down there to do my part.

Thank you so much for all your prayers for our first community meeting of Proyecto MORFO. The meeting was an unqualified success! With many different organizations represented, more than 35 people stated their desire to come to more meetings, to help with resources and materials and to participate in community programs to help stem the rising tide of teen drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, school dropout rates, prostitution and the sexual exploitation of children in the Orosi Valley.

Comments (I am translating into English) on written evaluations included:

"Congratulations! Excellent work. This project must go forward! Together we can do it! God is with us!" -- a councilman

"I want to be part of this intiative. I am a mother of a preschooler and was a victim of psycholgical aggression for part of my marriage and believe that young mothers need to be trained regarding domestic violence." -- a mother

"I very much appreciated this meeting. I want to participate and offer resources." -- a local coffee farmer

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -- a Sunday School teacher

"I am very worried about our adoloscents who have many problems and I want to help them avoid all of these things." -- a teacher

When asked if our community currently has the necessary means to prevent the serious social problems and reduce social risks for our children and adolescents, the nearly unanimous response was a resounding "no!" but, by the end of the meeting, a sense of hope and empowerment had grown among us. It was clear that Proyecto MORFO is an initiative whose time has come. Please pray that the next meeting, planned for September 20th, will be fruitful as we begin to make strategic plans for the coming year. In God we trust!

In the meantime, we have a short term team arriving tomorrow from Threshold Church in Charlotte to help us renovate the La Gaviota Blanca building where we will be doing Christ-centered ministry for children and youth -- afterschool bible programs, bible story hours, youth group meetings and outreach, trainings for parents, for youth leaders and Sunday School teachers, etc. Saturday, September 13th we will offer a training in the morning followed by an outreach event in the afternoon for children 4-12 years old. We need your prayers for this, too, of course!

We love and appreciate you so much and are grateful for your partnership with us in the Kingdom work in Orosi, Costa Rica.

Dios le bendigo!

Rick and Judith