Assembly Of God Team Builds Classrooms In Costa Rica

A team of people from the Valley Assembly of God Church recently journeyed to Costa Rica to help build classrooms for a private Christian school.

Pastor Al Hulten and 14 others laid concrete blocks for two classrooms at a school in Los Guidos, a suburb of San Jose, the country’s capital city.

The school was founded by Latin America Child Care, a group that establishes schools in very poor areas to provide the best education possible to children who otherwise might not receive any education at all. There are so many children crammed into the school (about 1,000) that they can only attend classes in half-day shifts.

Most of the children are sponsored by people in the United States and other countries so they can attend the private school at no cost to their family. The cost of $24 per child per month pays for a school uniform, one hot meal each school day, materials and the salaries of the teachers.

“My mother sponsors a couple of kids and she receives correspondence from them,” says Hulton. The children often write thank-you notes and write about themselves.

Hulton says the group was warmly welcomed to the area and got along well with the children, despite the language barrier. The children even wanted to help build their new classrooms.

“They were always up there wanting to know what they could do,” Hulton said.

A lot of the children live in severe poverty and come from difficult circumstances, including abusive homes, Hulton says. For many of the children, the school is their sanctuary. “The school, to them, is a real ray of hope,” he said.

The classroom construction was paid for by $9,000 the church raised and sent ahead to pay for building supplies. The remaining funds will be used to hire laborers to finish the rooms, which the team wasn’t able to complete during their 10-day trip. Another trip is being tentatively planned for March 1998.

Marriage class offered

Christ Lutheran Church, 13009 E. Broadway, will host a “Marriage Enrichment” class beginning Sunday. The class will be offered each Sunday from 9:50 to 10:45 a.m. through April 27 and will feature counselor Bob Newcomb.

The class will cover how to keep the lines of communication open and how to keep a marriage strong. Members of the community are encouraged to attend this free class. No advance registration is required.

Christ Lutheran has also resumed its Saturday evening worship services. The informal services are now held each week at 5:30 p.m. Child care will be provided.

African missionary to speak

The Pasadena Park Church of the Nazarene will host a third-generation missionary from Africa this weekend. Harmon Smelzenbach was born in Africa and spent nearly half a century working in the country. Smelzenbach now travels the United States speaking about his work.

Smelzenbach will speak at a 6:30 p.m. worship service today and at the 10:50 a.m. and 6 p.m. worship services on Sunday. All are invited to attend. The church is located at 8822 E. Upriver Drive.