February 2023
Que esta pasando
1 Corinthians 9:26-27
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
These are the words of the apostle Paul, the greatest missionary ever. Paul did not have any quit in him. He only knew how to keep on running his race. We can relate completely. Our race is difficult. There are many obstacles and disappointments along the way. We get to run and count it a privilege. Like Paul we don’t always have the crowd cheering us on. That’s okay. We do have a lot of support from others that see the finish line with us. Prayers, finances, and physical side-by-side co-laborers all working together with the power of God will take us across the finish line. We must keep our focus or fall out of the race and become a castaway-quitter.
Our whole family started off the New Year with sickness. Several days of fevers and flu like symptoms. Better than having the Covid again but still no fun.
One of our heroes of the faith graduated to heaven. Missionary Mary Graham of Bible Time Ministries passed into glory after serving her Lord with husband, Bill, and then with a team of others after his passing. Location, heath, age, nothing could stop Mary. She was such an encouragement to us and is missed. Many times we would receive a call or a card with a check in it from her just because.
We have prayed for almost a year for God to provide us with a house big enough to have school, an office, and extra room for missionaries passing through. We lived in Airbnb’s for 4 months and then in a 2-bedroom mobile home since early May. We have made it work and had what we needed. Although we prayed we didn’t look around much, kind of like leaning on a shovel and asking God for a hole. Start digging! Using our sick time we began looking at rental properties. We found one and signed a 1-year lease. It will be a huge blessing to have more room and have all our belongings in one place for the first time in almost 5 years. Woohoo!! We will move in the next few days.
We continue to serve in our local church and help with the new building process and documents. We need one more engineer letter and should get the permit to begin the actual construction. The utilities are in, the surveyor has been given the locations to stake the building corners, the concrete man has ordered the rebar and steel mesh, and we should be setting forms soon. All the sub-contractors are waiting on go. Pray for things to get going and a smooth flow with no more delays. The church continues to grow and needs a bigger building ASAP.
On that same note Kevin got a call from our sending church Pastor saying a sister church has a need. So Kevin met with Pastor Mike Kelly of Grace Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fl. The church has bought an old doctor’s office and is needing it remodeled into a church. They want to use missionary builders for the labor and most contractors will not take on that liability. We have built and remodeled many churches and provided contractor services for many others and worked with missionary builders too. We have talked with the missionaries and the architect and will do what we can to help as God directs. Jesus said he would build his church and it’s exciting to see some physical buildings being built and remodeled for the church to have a place to worship and train and send out of.
While in Pensacola we had the privilege to be in our sending church for an update and video presentation. We joined Gulf Coast Baptist in July 2004. We served there in many areas- deacon, nursery, children’s church, safety team, buildings and grounds, and contractor for the new building and renovate the existing ones. We got trained there, ordained there, and commissioned and sent out from there. A lot has changed with us over the last year or so and it was good to catch up and answer questions too.
Word is starting to get out to the churches on the training that we have to offer. Several churches have contacted us to schedule training for their people. We do some other things like help churches with their building needs and disaster relief but practical training through the local churches is what we really went all in to do. We have the certifications to train in the following areas.
Vocational– mainly for those in ministry or going into ministry, currently in Costa Rica and in North Florida
- Carpentry-electrical, plumbing, heating, and air
- Building technology-solar power, weatherization
- Landscaping-masonry painting and finishing
Life safety
- First aid, CPR, AED
- Active shooter
- Basic self-defense
Disaster
- -Emergency response team
- -Relief and distribution
- -Recovery and rebuilding
Please if your church or school is in need of any of these contact us at 850-777-0097 or trainingcentercr@yahoo.com
Kevin met with BRACE or Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies also while in Pensacola. There are areas in a disaster that seem to lack the resources the big letter agencies bring to the impact zone – the local church and the rural community and smaller third world countries as we might say. To us these are the areas we would try to help the most, those not really getting help and being passed by. BRACE is developing a program specifically for the local church and the rural community and mid-summer an opportunity for an International location that we know well-Costa Rica. We have been asked to do the legwork in finding the local churches wanting to be trained to help themselves and their communities in times of need and be part of the training team. We are already doing likewise on a much smaller scale and can get this training to the churches we choose.
Would your church want training in any of these areas? Again please contact us.
-Emergency action plan
-How/where to apply for assistance
-Community meal distribution
-Coordinating with others
-Relationships with government entities
The ball is rolling in many of these areas. We will continue to kick it and with your continued help and support these will grow and multiply and through these tools the gospel will continue to go forth and many will be saved. This is our heart and we are grateful that you choose to partner with us in these efforts. Please always feel free to contact us.
In Christ,
Kevin, Sonya, Bethany and Jon McCoy
Training Center International
Email: Mccoysincostarica@yahoo.com
Kevin 850 777-0097
Sonya 850 698-1694
