Hello everyone!
This blog marks a big milestone for me. This is the first blog I am posting while on The World Race!
Team Bioluminescence (that’s us!) has had a wonderful time here in Costa Rica so far. The ministry that we are working with this month is called Give Dignity and it is run by Seth and Andrea Sears (who are originally from Kansas City!!) with the help of their 3 children.
Give Dignity has property in La Carpio where we are staying. La Carpio is a suburb of San Jose and is largely inhabited by Nicaraguan immigrants that have come to Costa Rica. Costa Ricans view these immigrants much the same way many Americans view Mexican immigrants. That is to say, not well. Racism is alive and well here in Costa Rica.
So part of what Give Dignity does is take people that live in this poor neighborhood (mainly Nicaraguan) and show them their identity in Christ. They do this in a variety of ways for people of all ages.
Seth and Andrea understand how important it is to define godly identity early so one thing Give Dignity does is called the Princess Club. Andrea leads a time for young girls, ages 8-12, to come and experience unconditional love while learning about their identities in Christ. Something Ben, Mason and I (the guys on the team) would like to do while we are here is serve snacks to the girls that come to the princess club so they can see how godly men behave around women. We want to lovingly serve them with no expectation for them to do anything for us.
Give Dignity also offers tutoring services (in all subjects) to students that need help academically. Tutors are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 2 hours each day.
Another thing Give Dignity does for the people of La Carpio is offer English classes. They have a Beginner class that meets on Tuesdays and an Advanced class that meets on Thursdays.
There is also a weekly church service that takes place at the Give Dignity space. Seth said the original plan was to have home groups, like bible studies, but through various circumstances the meetings began happening at Give Dignity and have continued since. We were able to lead the worship (en Espanol!) our first Sunday here and also help entertain the children while Seth delivered the message. Including the children there were probably 50 people who attended our first Sunday.
The last thing that Give Dignity does is job training. They have a 16 week program where they teach participants a skill and what to do with that skill. One of their graduates is now a pizza chef just down the street from Give Dignity. And let me tell you, it’s dang good pizza.
So Team Bioluminescence is helping Give Dignity in a few ways during this month. Our primary focus is on physical improvements we can make to the property. We are helping to construct a wall to surround the property which will help with security. We are also helping to organize all of the future and past building supplies that are currently laying all around the Give Dignity land. It’s amazing what a little organization can do to clean up a place. We’ve also done a lot of painting to improve the look of the buildings.
We have been given a lot of freedom from Seth and Andrea to do what we would like to do so there are also a number of smaller, personal projects on our agendas. We have a few talented artists on the team so there are plans to do some murals and mosaics to brighten up the place. We also have some other projects in mind but I don’t want to spoil any surprises so those will have to wait until the end of the month to be revealed.
Our team is also helping with ministry when we can. As I mentioned above, we helped with the Sunday service and will continue to do so while we are here. We are also available to help in both English classes, though we are admittedly more useful in the Advanced class than the Beginner.
Mainly we are here to be available to Seth, Andrea, and their family. Whatever they need, we aim to make happen. We are also surrounding them in prayer and would love for you to join us.
Here are some things you can pray for.
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Another full time staff member to join Give Dignity and take some responsibility from Seth and Andrea.
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True, deep, heart changing impact with the individuals that come through Give Dignity.
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Rejuvenation for Seth and Andrea. It is hard to run a ministry by yourselves and not experience burnout.
Thank you all for your continued support! It is so very meaningful to me, especially now that I have officially begun this journey. Please keep praying for me and for my team as we continue to show the light of Christ in the world. See you in 10 ½ months!
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