Shoot Dang! Ministry here in Costa Rica has been so rich and sooooooo good. I have had the opportunity to partner with several ministries so far and they have ALL been so well run and rich. Today I am going to highlight two ministries that I feel show a beautiful picture of what God is already doing in this BEAUTIFUL country.
The first ministry I want to highlight is one that I went to with our guys team and it was INCREDIBLE. We met a pastor of a church in a low socioeconomic neighborhood. This neighborhood started partnering with the local church to bring beauty and life into their concrete jungle. People within the community decided they wanted to start a project where people within the community can paint all the light poles with nature scenes to bring more life into their space. They want it to be something the community comes together in to do, to help also bring some unity to their entire neighborhood. They are not only painting light poles but are painting tires to use for small gardens. They want to bring green spaces to their community to help bring more life and sustainability into their community; the goal is to plant herbs and trees.
The pastor of this church we are partnering with also explained the beautiful vision the Lord gave him about how this church will help transform his community. He has a twenty year plan and cast the vision for us; IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! That first day they gave us the opportunity to paint a light pole as well as walk around the neighborhood to get to know some of the community. Our guys team will go to this ministry every Wednesday to paint light poles and tires as well as do an in home discipleship program the pastor came up with. Check out the light pole the guys painted.
The next ministry I want to highlight is called Conexion Extreme Service. It was created by a family from Colombia and they do many different kinds of programs with the goal of mobilizing the church all over Costa Rica. And let me tell you it is a family run ministry in its truest form. Jherson and Johnny head up the ministry with their families. Jherson’s brother and sister and their family’s help run the logistical aspects as well as participate in running the programs as well. They have a couple from the states, Beth and Brian, working with them. Beth is a powerhouse. She learned Spanish at 40 years old when God told her and her family to move to Costa Rica. They had newly teenage triplets when they moved and have been here for 10 years now. Hayte came from Nicargua to partner with them and Cristian started volunteering with them after Conexion put on a program in his community. These people outside of the original families were attracted to the impact Conexion is making as well as the family this ministry has created. They are shaking up this small country and making big kingdom impact.
So far we have gotten to partner with Conexion only in their children’s program. In these programs Conexion partners with local schools to plan and put on “field trips” for the students. These field trips are trips where the kids go to a park and Conexion plans icebreakers, talks on values, plan activities, and crafts for the kids to do all day. All the activities point to the gospel and try and instill kingdom values. We have so far put on these field trips for 2nd graders, 4 and 5 year old, and 6th graders. Each planned according to their appropriate age group. One of my favorite parts of their program is that they put the kids in random groupings and tell them that they will not get to choose who they work with when they are older so they might not get to be with their friends. I love this because they are so right, we don’t get to choose the people we work with, we all have to learn to get along and work with people who are different than us. Before all the kids get there Jherson always reminds us to be praying for the kids and especially the teachers throughout the day. He tells us that these trips are not just for the kids, they are also meant to refresh the teachers and give them a small break in their crazy schedules. He says that these field trips are opportunities for these kids and teachers to see the kingdom of God in a real way.
If you want to find out more about this wonderful ministry please go to their website at www.extreme-service.com
Here are some photos from my time with them so far.
