Dear Friends,
Lynn and I are happy and thankful to the Lord that we can serve
in Costa Rica. It is a great reward for our labors when we see
national pastors taking the churches that we have established to
new spiritual and numerical levels. Yes, there are battles; but
the victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ. More
stringent regulations are being placed upon the churches by the
government which results in more costs to meet their demands. To
date, we have not faced any visible persecution and strive to
maintain a clean testimony before all men.
This past week I
grabbed a taxi for a 20-minute drive. During our trip, I
witnessed to the driver and gave him a tract. Later that
evening, I called this same taxi driver and he shared with me
that he had read the tract and received Christ as his Savior!
Such are the blessings and encouragements that God gives us
daily!
Youth camp was a great spiritual boost to the young people of
our church. Several new youth were saved as well. These high
school and college-age kids are busy in church activities such
as evangelism, Sunday School classes, building maintenance,
music, and tract distribution.
Richard, our younger son who is in the Marine Corps, was
married on May 30. He will deploy for the second time to Iraq
around August 1. Loralyn, his wife, will continue to live near
his base in NC.
Rachel, our daughter, photo-journalist with SCORE
International, is working with several missions teams in the
Dominican Republic this summer. This organization is doing a
great job in medical, sports, and evangelism missions in several
Latin American countries.
Lathan, our older son in the USAF, has finished his tour at
the Pentagon, and is considering several new options as he
continues to live in the DC area. During Lathan’s visit for ten
days, he and I climbed two volcanoes. As we trekked through the
jungle, he commented, “When we get to heaven, I’m going to ask
the Lord to give us a re-run of this trip, and show us all the
snakes that didn’t bite us!” This was our first opportunity in
twelve years to spend so much time together in outdoor
activities, since he has been constantly deployed for the past
several years in Iraq, Sudan, England, and several other
countries.
Thank you for praying for us in our ministry. Your financial
support is greatly appreciated as well. We are thankful for the
opportunity to represent you, your church, and above all, our
Lord Jesus Christ, in Costa Rica.
Working together for Christ,
Russ and Lynn Turner