You may be wondering what I’ve been up to this month! Well, now that my time in Costa Rica is coming to a close, it’s about time I filled you in on the latest happenings on my World Race journey.
This month, my team and I are singing the songs of the Unsung in Costa Rica.
Simply put, we have the honor of traveling around this beautiful country in search of people who are dedicated to serving some of the most impoverished populations, but rarely receive recognition for their dedication and service.
Adventures in Missions’ goal of incorporating the Unsung Hero program into the World Race is to allow for current Racers, while on the ground, to identify people who are working to further God’s Kingdom, assess how we could serve them and to see if there is potential for these ministries to become future hosts for World Race teams. By networking for potential partnership, we have the opportunity to acknowledge the impact of their ministry and serve them in whatever way possible.
Some of these Unsung Heroes live with meager conditions but all are consistently giving from an abundance of God’s love. While their service may be unrecognized and unknown to the rest of the world, they are building the Kingdom of God.
This month our team has taken 15 buses, 11 taxis and have walked several miles (with our packs on our backs) to meet with these Unsung Heroes.
During our first week of travel, we connected with four different ministries with many Unsung Heroes.
Here are their songs:
Photo Credit: IBC Facebook Page
International Baptist Church Costa Rica (San Jose)
International Baptist Church (IBC) is a church rich with cultural diversity. Their mission is “Knowing, showing, and sharing Christ!”
Founded in the early 1960’s, IBC started as a church to minister to Southern Baptist missionaries in Costa Rica. Today, its reach has expanded to minister to the needs of a very diverse English-Speaking community. IBC supports a variety of ministries and have several missionaries within their church community.
One of their ministries called Rahab Foundation, helps women who have been sexually exploited to obtain new career opportunities to help improve their lives and those of their loved ones.
Our team had the pleasure of attending one of IBC’s Sunday services – which was entirely in English! And before and after the service we did some networking to find that there is a strong potential for World Race teams to work with their Rahab Foundation in the future.
Pearl Process Mosaics (San Jose)
From great pain comes great beauty …
Pearl Process Mosaics began with a small group of four at risk women learning how to make mosaics. In an effort to instill worth and value into their lives, founder Julie Paniagua, began teaching these women a skill that they would otherwise have no opportunity to learn. While learning the process of mosaics, these women found it similar to their lives. They associated the cutting technics and the fragmented pieces of glass to the pain and suffering they had endured and yet found encouragement in that once all the little pieces were glued together a beautiful piece of artwork was made.
The foundation of Pearl Process Mosaics is to bring women beauty from pain through the transformational knowledge of Jesus Christ, while also creating a platform for newfound value and worth. The business helps meet the financial needs, as well as the physical needs for at risk women due to poverty, lack of education, exploitation or abuse of some form. For an additional twenty plus number of women, Pearl Process conducts weekly Bible studies and provides them with legal help, professional assistance, and equips them to produce and self-sustain through sewing and baking.
During our visit at Pearl Process, we had the opportunity to meet three of the four of the women and see their beautiful hand-crafted mosaics.
The women of Pearl Process Mosaics pictured with founder, Julie Paniagua (second from left).
Faithful Servant Ministries (San Ramon)
Faithful Servant Missions, Inc. (FSM) is a Christ-centered ministry whose driving mission is to serve those whom society has forgotten. FSM seeks to improve the physical, educational and spiritual health of the community they serve, while working to break the cycle of poverty in Panama and Costa Rica. The foundation of this ministry is to help people develop a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
During the time we visited FSM, we partnered with another group of missionaries to work on a few construction projects and deliver food to two families in the community. We also participated in their weekly service for the youth in the community, where they provide supper and hold a worship service.
Conexión Extreme Service (Orotina, San Ramon, San Jose)
The mission of Conexión Extreme Service is to provide extreme service in order to meet extreme needs.
Conexión develops diverse types of projects to benefit those who need it most. Through these projects they give the best gift – the message of Jesus Christ. This ministry believes that one of the principal factors of extreme poverty in the community of Costa Rica is the lack of education. Through their support programs, Conexión works to motivate and help youth in the community by encouraging them to stay in the classroom – thus reducing the number of drop-outs.
With these tangible ministries, Conexión? offers effective solutions to social problems, restores values and emphasizes the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Our team accompanied the members of Conexión to a town called Orotina to assist as they put on one of their many annual health fairs for the community. One of our team members, Zachary, assisted in the triage area, doing blood pressure screenings, while the rest of us had the joy of playing with the children from the community. I got to do face paintings!
To read about the ministries we visited during our second week of travel, check out my blog entitled Songs of the Unsung Verse 2.
