Humble Beginnings

Greetings,

We pray that this latest news finds you doing very well and that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are also having a glorious time preparing for Christmas. As you go about the business of shopping, please don't forget the true reason for Christmas, and that is to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Just like Jesus had humble beginnings and born in a manager, our new phase of ministry is starting with humble beginnings as well. God has been speaking to us for a while about having a place of our own. We had been praying about when the right time would be for us to move, and it seems that God helped us out by shutting the door of our previous place where we met. We are very thankful to the lady that allowed us to meet on her porch for the last 4 months and understand that we were putting a lot on her, so when she said that she no longer wanted us to use her porch we took it as a sign that God was saying now is the time. However, this presented us with some challenges.

1. Finding a place for us to rent. 
This is a very difficult thing to do in the area that we work because there are very few houses for rent. 

2. We needed a place to meet the children until we could find a place to rent. 

However, these two challenges actualtly turned into blessings for us. We were able to find a house to rent (the one in the pictures at the top) with a backyard space. Finding a backyard space is almost impossible in this area because there are not that many houses that actually have open space, so this truly is a blessing.  At first we were a little skeptical as there is ALOT of work to be done, but we could see the potential. In fact, it is like He is giving us a blank slate to work with. We met the next challenge by just choosing to meet the children in the streets. This actually allowed us to meet some of the parents and more people from the neighborhood, so two challenges were turned into blessings!!! Praise God!!

How can you be a part of transforming the house into a community center?

Below is a list of needs that we have and a cost for those needs.  If you would like to contribute to the transformation of the community center please click here. Please mark that it is for Thalheimer's mission and make a note that it is for the community center. If you would prefer to mail a check please make all checks out to Wellspring Fellowship and include a note that it is for Thalheimer/Community Center. You checks can be mailed to the address at the bottom.  All donations are tax deductible.

Needs: 
1. Since the floors in the house are dirt we will need to pour a cement floor. $1000-$1200 (this is priority)
2. Updating the outside sink and fire pit for cooking. $300
3. Fixing the walls $1000-$1500
4. Paint $500-$750
5. Updating electric and plumbing inside $1000-$1500
6. Stove/Refrigerator/counters inside $1500-$2000
7. Chairs/tables $1000-$1200

The total cost is around $6300-$8450. We are completely trusting God for all of our needs with this new project. We serve a big God!!!

Preparing for Christmas

We are now preparing for two big Christmas celebrations that we will have here. One is for the children that we work with and will be held on December 20th. The other one is for The Homeless Ministry and it will be held on December 23rd.

During the children's party we will have food, piñatas, and a small gift of some sort for each child. This party is being co-sponsored by the church in Las Lomas, another missionary couple and some children from a church in Florida. This will definitely be a good time for all that are involved. 

The homeless ministry party will be celebrated right in front of the beach. We will have tables and chairs set up with lots of food including tamales (traditional Costa Rican food served at Christmas). There will also be music and just a time of fellowship. This is a great way to make these men and women feel very special. This party is being co-sponsored by local churches and several other people. 

On December 24th we will fly to Kansas City to spend Christmas with our son. This has truly been an answer to prayer because when we were looking at flight prices, they were very expensive. Then one day, He directed us to check out our sky miles to see if we had enough miles to fly, and wouldn't you know it, we had just enough miles to get both of our tickets. We are so excited to be spending Christmas with our son and getting to see his new place. 

 Donate your frequent flyer miles

Since many people have frequent flyer miles that go unused, we are asking that you pray about donating your unused miles or a portion of your miles to us.  

 WIth God ALL things are possible. Matt 19:26.

Lots of love and Blessings,
John & Cindy