Transformation Testimony: Guatemala Short-Term Team Member

We have hundreds of people that travel with Christ For the City International to various countries, and God tends to do awesome, amazing, and awe-inspiring things in their lives. We wanted to share just one example of how God moved in Guatemala. 

Blessings to you in the Lord!

My 14-day trip to Guatemala exceeded my expectations! God worked in ways and situations that were extraordinary. In my 30 years of ministry I have not witnessed such an outpouring of God's Spirit as I ministered. The translator provided, Lucia, played a large part in the success of my trip. Her flexibility and patience with this gringo, enabled us to be effective in diverse ministry settings. From military prisons to private High Schools, we were able to share the gospel of Christ and see dozens of people receive the Lord! 

We were also able to speak to the staff  5-6 times and witnessed an awakening of faith in three of its members. God's movement was powerful, joyful, and personal as we spoke from the Bible about God's training and growth of faith. 

As we also went house to house we also had great receptivity. Entire families received the message of the gospel! 

In one home, a woman who was paralyzed and had not walked for 1 1/2 years, asked for prayer. As we prayed, we sensed the power of the Lord was present. We continued to pray and wait on the Lord; however, we left with no visible signs of healing. She attended a small church that we were to speak at the following day. You can imagine our astonishment as we saw this same woman, who had not walked in 1 1/2 years, come walking through the church doors the following day! She was limping - but on her own power with no help - she was walking! 

In that particular church, the Lord was especially present with many coming forward and finding Christ or renewal through Him.  

Lastly, we also established contacts with some of the churches/pastors we visited.  Lord willing, we will be able to further encourage these churches in the future with a team from the church I now pastor in California. 

Working with CFCI proved to be an incredible asset in doing God's work in Guatemala. Without your help and organization, I would not have been able to serve and see God do so many wonderful things. Thank you!

Blessings to you, and thanks again for all your help.

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Interested in supporting more of this kind of work? Click the link below to help support the work God is doing through Christ For the City International.

Edited by: John Michael Den Hartog

Skunk in a Bottle

In the past few months, our readership has more than doubled. (Thank you! All you fans are amazing!) What this means is that we have gotten to be a part of the lives of many new fans. However, it also means that there are many of our fans that have been unacquainted with some of the amazing stories from the past. We desire to rectify that. So here we present a glorious repost from 2012, in the hopes that you will be encouraged, uplifted, and maybe will choose to read a few older posts. 

By Mirna Sotomayor

Not too long ago, arriving at Camp Kikomar (Caribbean coast of Mexico), we saw quite a commotion.  A little skunk had his head stuck in a glass jar.  It was unclear how long the poor animal had been stuck there, but what was clear is that he was exhausted and terrified by all the people around and the dogs trying to kill him. It was a miracle he could still breathe.

"We need to break the bottle with stones," someone said. Fortunately, there were no stones available.  “Someone could pull on the bottle while another grabs the skunk.” another expressed.  But the threat of nearly inch-long claws and the sprinkling of the famous urine were extremely persuasive factors for not attempting that route.  Suffice it to say that all these "helpful suggestions" were being offered at a safe distance.  No one wanted to run the risk of being too involved.

It occurred to me what we needed was to throw a heavy rag or plastic over the animal to protect us from his "scented" defenses and the claws.  With a long pole maybe we could get him out from under the leaves where he was and perhaps twist the bottle off.  The stick did not work, because in our eagerness to help and his fear of being attacked, it was clear this would end up breaking his neck.

So I tried to throw a shower curtain over him where he was, but it was useless, the animal escaped putting his rear guard in attack position.  Suddenly one of those present said, “What if I hit the bottle with the back of the machete?”  It was a risk, but it was better than to let him die with his head in the bottle. Waiting for the right moment I gave the order.  “Hit it now!”  A thud broke the bottle cleanly and the little skunk fell like a dead animal on its right side.  It took about 10 seconds before he started moving, obviously dazed but relieved. We gave him space to move. Dizzy, he was stumbling, falling, rising, and staggering as he walked back down the path into the jungle.  

Everyone thanked God and was glad that the skunk had not suffocated, and we hadn't seriously hurt the animal nor did we have to end his life.  

How many times, I thought, are we like that skunk; we get ourselves into situations that “suffocate” us.  We get so "bottled up" that we almost kill ourselves.  God wants to help and sends us people, suggestions, and ideas. Instead of cooperating with Him and with those that love us, we get defensive and do not see the danger until God himself intervenes and gives us an accurate blow to free us from our prison.  It may not be a gentle blow, but one that is precise, accurate, experienced, and safe.  Of course it will hurt, and sometimes we will think that we will almost "die."  We will walk around half dizzy and without a clear direction for a while, but in the end, with God's help and care, will find the way home.  Yes, the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword and God, in His infinite love and mercy, always comes to rescue us even though we continually get "bottled up" like little skunks.

Inspired? Contribute! Click the link below to get involved - God may need you to be part of freeing a few skunks from the burden of their bottles!

Edited By: John Michael Den Hartog

News: Urban Plunge Offers New Scholarship to Develop Young Leaders

Urban Plunge, a ministry of Christ For the City International, has established a new scholarship fund to enable young teenage leaders to have the opportunity to learn about the social needs and opportunities in their own cities.

Urban Plunge challenges groups to leave the comfort of the suburbs and the safety of the small town by taking a weekend to volunteer at six to nine nonprofits in the inner city. Groups have the opportunity to hear stories, serve at these ministries, and ultimately, be inspired to transform their own communities.

However, many potential leaders are prevented from this powerful experience simply because of their own lack of resources. The Virginia Penker Scholarship Fund was established to allow teenagers who desire to understand the state of the urban community to do so without having to worry about whether or not they can afford it.

Virginia Penker was a beautiful example of love, mercy, and grace to everyone around her. Her home was a place of safety, where a hot meal was only one of many resources that she used to bless others. Virginia passed away at the age of 88 in December of 2014. The hope is that through this scholarship, her legacy of stewardship and hospitality would be passed on.

To give to the Virginia Penker Scholarship Fund and support the leadership development of teenagers, email Randy Fontaine at Randy@cfci.org.

Urban Plunge is a ministry of Christ For the City International and was launched in Omaha,Nebraska in 2007 after decades of successful urban ministry in Latin America.  More than five hundred churches and over seven thousand people have participated in an Urban Plunge. There are also Urban Plunges in Sioux Falls, SD, Des Moines, IA, Lincoln, NE, and Dallas, TX.

Virginia Penker with her granddaughter, Jennifer Mahoney.

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And if some of this tugs at your heart, please do not hesitate to partner with us to continue transforming cities by transforming lives.

Written By: John Michael Den Hartog and Randy Fontaine

Transformation Testimony: Carpio, Costa Rica

Carpio, Costa Rica: a peninsula on the northwest side of San José, between the airport and the city dump.

It's also the place where 35,000 people, many of them illegal Nicaraguan immigrants, live in squalor. Into the darkness and despair of a place like this, Christ For the City International is reaching in with the love of Christ. Watch the video below to see how God is using something as simple as a meal and a couple of classes to transform Carpio for Christ.




And don't just watch the video. Engage! Click the link below to begin your process of getting involved with Costa Rica's transformation.

Written By: John Michael Den Hartog

CFCI's Winter Newsletter

So, since it's the beginning of spring... we thought we'd pull out this little gem that we've had hidden in our back pocket all winter! We hope you enjoy seeing the way God worked in and through the ministry of Christ For the City International.




If you enjoyed the Prezi, or thought some particular ministry was great, let us know in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Edited by John Michael Den Hartog, Rachel Tonhorai and Amanda Jones
Designed by Bailey Wells

And if you don't just want to be a spectator, click the link to play your part in God transforming cities by transforming lives.

Written by: John Michael Den Hartog

An Easter Reflection

By Barbara Rowe, Christ For the City International missionary in El Salvador

This week is for me the most important time of year in the liturgical calendar. It is a time to read and reflect on God's many precious gifts to us: His incarnation into the world as Jesus, His ministry and teachings, and His final sacrifice on the cross. This one event changed the course of history, making it possible for us to be in communion with God forever.

I have been asked by my church to reflect on the situation of the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus. Both were criminals and thus subject to the penalty of the law. Yet they demonstrate polar opposites in terms of the attitudes of their heart. The first criminal, as related in Luke, scorns Jesus by saying, "So you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself - and us too while you're at it!" The second criminal rebukes him, saying, "Don't you fear God, even when you have been sentenced to die?" (NLT)


These two men are prime examples of the two options we have when faced with the person of Jesus. We can hang on to our ego, our selfish natural (and sinful) human nature, and decide to "take our chances" when it comes to our own death. Or, we can accept that Jesus is who He himself claimed to be, the Messiah, God incarnate in this world who came to save humanity through His death and resurrection.


"I am the way,the truth and the life," Jesus said in John 14:6. "No one can come to the Father except through me." To those who believe, Jesus promises, "For it is my Father's will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day."  (John 6:40)


C.S Lewis describes this choice we have most eloquently:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”


Clearly there is no "in-between option" about who Jesus was and is.  I have made my choice, and it has transformed my life in a way that I never could have imagined.  Have you made your decision?


May this Easter time be one of deep reflection and joy as we celebrate what God has done for each of us in our lives!

And here is a wonderful opportunity to share that joy with some people who have been giving their lives to make sure others know about this wonderful day.

On Vision

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 28:19)

In nonprofit circles, people often talk about impact. It helps to know how your organization is affecting the lives of a variety of individuals – changing them for the better. But impact only occurs when an action has taken place. Impact is the result of an action. A child can tie their shoelaces or cook spaghetti or say the word “hello” because you were able to act in his or her life – that is, have an impact.

Cosmologists speak in terms of the first action, the grand moment that set the universe as a whole into motion. In the Christian perspective, that moment was when God spoke, his voice echoing throughout the whole of the universe, until all that had existed before could not hold it. And behold, there was light.

But in fact, there was something that came before light. That light could not have existed without the germ of an idea that burst to life in the mind of God. There, He envisioned a universe populated with stars and planets, a place of life and death and the process from one to the other. That first statement from God would never have existed if He didn’t have something in mind that He wanted that light to reveal. Light would never have existed if He hadn’t had the idea that plants would draw nourishment from it through photosynthesis. He would never have created it if He hadn’t had the idea that soon, there would be this wonderful mechanism called an eye that would be able to behold it.

God had a vision, sometime long ago in eternity past, for a world with each and every one of us in it. And His vision was so good that it was worth the pain of sin and death – even the death of His Son.

So how does vision come? It comes with the understanding that things could be better. Whether that’s a feeding program or a Bible study or speaking a language, there are always things that could be done better in our own lives or for the lives of others. It starts with an understanding that whatever that other thing is, it’s better than what we are doing right now. Perhaps it means travelling to Costa Rica and seeing the possibilities for transformation there. With God, it meant that eternity past in perfect communion with the Son and the Holy Spirit was amazing… but time spent with frail, broken humanity would be better.

 And the fact is, without that divine vision, not a single one of us would be here today.

So, what is your vision? For your church? For your community? Feel free to comment below!

And, if you have not had the chance to go already, go visit Costa Rica this summer to get a vision for how you and your family could be a part of God transforming them for the better. To get more info, click on the link below. 

Written by: John Michael Den Hartog