2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

 The time is going very fast, I' ve a year in the leadership of OMCR, the journey has not been easy, there have been difficulties, along the way I've shed tears and many times I felt unable to believe that I'm not worthy to be in this role. I identify many times with Gideon, who was a man who even had speech problems, but even so, God was with him, I know that this is my time, I know that God wants me to be a leader and I simply obey him and my prayer is that every day He fills me with his wisdom to guide the ministry.

Last year was a year of adjustments with the new OM’S vision, aligning the ministries, encouraging the team to pray to see what God wants, some team members left, donors stopped blessing the ministry, even a bank fraud, we lost many dollars, but still we do not desist from continuing with the task of serving the Lord despite the proof.
 
God allowed me to be in the Logos Hope Ship in Dominican Republic, I was blessed to be sharing with the crew, in meetings with the different departments, and I was part of a training because the Boat will be 2 years in Latin America, but, the most beautiful thing was to share with hundreds of Dominican women where I shared my testimony of how to be women with a character like Ruth, today I understand even more that God wants to mold our lives and that allows us to go through different situations to encourage and encourage others, what I did on the ship those weeks.  

Around 40 women in Talamanca were discipled and challenged throughout the year to continue loving Jesus despite the circumstances, we were able to finish with a beautiful coffee and all together giving thanks to God, thus also dismissing our Dutch friend Benthe who she was supporting the women in Talamanca some years.

In Talamanca, elderly people are very neglected and devalued and this is the case of Don Natalio, a man over 70 years old who had always dreamed of having his home and spending his last years of life, thanks to the help of many people They donated, their house became possible and currently lives with their family, and above all, they rest in a decent house.

Despite the financial loss we had, God gave us the opportunity to blessed 2 organizations that work with teenagers and young people at social risk in areas of high violence in Costa Rica, each of these guys left their area of comfort even though their cities are very risky, but in the end they understood that there are others in worse conditions than them, that there are young people, in other parts of the world who are waiting for someone to talk about Jesus.

Some Costa Rican families went out to the mission fields such as the Paniagua(Alex-Julie-Keyla-Emma), who are serving in the Logos Hope Ship, they are working mobilizing Latinos to the less reached through the Ship.

Marco and Lorena are a couple that departed to make a tour of South America, by car, they have already passed through Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and now they are in Peru, we have seen how the hand of God has been with them at all times and they have not had any need.

It was beautiful to end the year with a special dinner for the families in Talamanca, we usually had 13 years doing “Festival de Sonrisas” that we did not this year, we decided to make a dinner, thanking them for every help, support that they had with OM and for each program, groups, churches that came to give some help, training and experiences.

 Sophie and I had a good rest time on our vacations, we went to the beach and received the year with many strengths and  we  renewed our energies.

 







We had a time as a team for 3 days, we were challenged to work even more together and see more Latinos going out to the less reached. This year, beautiful things come for OMCR and as a team, we are asking God to be the one who guides us in all areas, that we can together mobilize, train and send more workers, our focus areas these coming years are the mobilization of the church , the preparation of national and foreign workers so they will have a cross-cultural experience and increase the passion about the UNREACHED, we are working with being a self-sustaining ministry through our Pura Vida 506 Hostel www.puravida506.com
we offer accommodation, food and a place to arrange meetings, all with the purpose of being able to raise finances to cover operational expenses, send to projects of unreached countries. Join the cause! ...

Sophie traveled with me to Nicaragua to participate with our friends from MOVIDA in a conference called CIMA 2018, in this conference young people from all Central America joined to obey the call to be witnesses to the end of the earth, it’s beautiful to see a new generation that is rising up Take the challenge and go to the Unreached peoples, please do not get tired of PRAYING for this Generation.

As mom I started a huge challenge with Sophie, this year she starts Elementary School, , as every new mom I have been with much expectation of what this stage will be like, it really scares me, as every day I ask God to be a balanced woman in all areas, but in the Mom´s area is the one I most desire  to be balanced,  it is not easy to carry all the responsibility, in my family and ministry, but as I said at the beginning of this letter, I wish to have the heart and character of Ruth to carry all, The expenses that I have for the school of Sophie are high, monthly I must pay $ 375 (this to cover, food, fuel, and the monthly fee), anyone would tell me that it is a luxury to have her in a private bilingual and Christian school, but I don’t see in that way, I see it as a long-term investment and also a need that, because of my OMCR work  I do not have the option of having her in a public school, I would like to invite you to be part of our team, how? , We need sponsors who wish to support Sophie every month, with an offering, $20, $25, $50, $100 come and join! If you are interested, you can send the money to the Banco Nacional account,#  200-02-000-709303-4 account SINPE 15100020027093036 ced # 110380704 correo raquel.lopez@om.org if you are in the USA at the address , OM USA - Finance Department P.O. Box 444 Tyrone, GA 30290-0444 O email: auto.giving.us@om.org with the office OM in your country (you only have to specify that it is for Raquel Lopez / Sophie's School) or via PayPal to the following address https://www.paypal.me/YeimyLopez , in exchange you will receive news of Sophie and her progress, as well as messages, drawings, and invitations to share with us, drink something maybe an ice cream and many other things.

Sophie and I thank each one of you who follow us through social networks, through messages, calls and taking their time to pray and offer, as always  I say, only by his grace we are still standing , because we have an excellent support team, YOU ARE ONE OF THEM !!! ....

This Monday, February 19, I will be go to South Africa to the annual meeting of OM leaders, it is my first time traveling to Africa, please pray so that my flights are good, do not have health problems, Sophie will be ok without her mother (it is the hardest part for me, but I have peace that I am doing God's will).

With love

Raquel & Sophie