Our First Baby Dedication

We pray that this latest news finds you doing very well. We also would like to thank you for your continued love, prayers and support as we continue to minister here in Costa Rica. We are continuing to work to change one life at a time.
One of the exciting things that happened in the last month was a baby dedication. One of the moms asked us if we would be willing to be Angely's (pictured above) Godparents and asked us if we would ask a local pastor if they would be willing to have a baby dedication. Of course we said yes, and a local pastor was willing to help as long as the mom would start attending his church. However, this proved to be a challenge because the local church was too far from where we work and she lives. There is no public transportation where we work, so this mom and her 6 children would have to walk at least a mile just to get to the closest bus stop and this local church is one that we attend occasionally so we wouldn't be able to take them to church every Sunday, so we prayed and asked God what to do. and we felt like He said that you are going to have the baby dedication during our kids church time on Saturday. We asked our other missionary friends, Paul and Vicky Young, to help us with the baby dedication. What an honor and privilege it was to be a part of this baby dedication.

Street Ministry

We often only write about our work with the children,but we really felt like this month we were to share what has been happening with the street ministry that we help out with. Every Tuesday. we get together across from the beach to host a small church service for the men and women who are addicted to drugs and alcohol and they also receive food as well. Some of them ,are homeless and others of them have a very basic house that they live in. This is a ministry that was started by John and Debbie Overholt about 2 1/2 years ago and is a joint ministry made up of a few different groups. John and Debbie recently left Costa Rica and returned to their home country of Canada, but the ministry is still carrying on.

During the last nineteen months, we have built some amazing friendships with the people that we are ministering too. When we first started ministering to them, they would stand off to one side and not really talk much, and you could tell that they were just waiting for us to judge them for their addictions and to tell them that they were all going to hell if they didn't change their ways. Of course, this was not our way but they needed time to see that we were different, and slowly the love of Jesus is changing them little by little. For example, they never have cared before if the grass was cut or not but now they are taking the responsibility on themselves and keeping the grass cut. Another example is that if one of them starts to get disrespectful to one of us, one of them will stand up and say that we deserve to be respected and that the person needs to stop behaving this way. Lastly, we have had a few of them work on getting rid of their addictions. It really is great to see them starting to change and pray for the day when they will become completely free from drugs and alcohol. Please agree with us in prayer that our friends lives will be completely transformed by God and they will once and for all be free from the drugs and alcohol that holds them in so much bondage.

Christmas Celebration

We are currently in the process of planning our yearly Christmas celebration. Last year, we gave gifts to almost hundred children but really didn't know a lot of them. In fact, a bunch of children only came to the children's center in December just because they wanted a present and then once they received a gift we never saw them again. Therefore, this year we feell that God is wanting us to scale down our celebration and to only invite the children that we have been working with throughout the entire year. We feel that everything we do is to be about relationships so we will send out invitations to forty-five children. Please pray that this celebration will be the best yet and that the children will really get to know the true meaning of Christmas.

We will be traveling to San Jose by the end of the month to start buying the gifts that we need and also to get some other special treats and food that is cheaper in San Jose then where we live. We were given some money by a group of families that will help with the cost of the celebration but we are still in need of about $500. If you feel God is saying that He would like for you to help out with the additional money needed, please click here . Please mark that it is for Thalheimer's mission and that it is for Christmas.

Ministry Opportunities

We have 4 opportunities to come and minister with us. We are looking for some small groups to come and do the following projects here:
1. To run and bring a VBS program for a week.

2. A photography workshop week
3. Woodworking and craft week
4. Possibly various building projects
If you or know of someone that would like to bring a group to do one of the above please, email me at cindy@pishonriver.com for more information and an application.

Please pray for us as we go and talk to the bank. Please be in agreement with us that we will have a very favorable visit and that they will see that what we are doing is good for the community.

We love to hear from our friends and family around the world, so if you would like to share any comments, prayer requests or news about your lives, please drop us a line.

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

Lots of love and Blessings,
John & Cindy Thalheimer
Missionaries to Costa Rica