Hey guys! We are officially through November now and cannot believe how fast our time is flying by in Costa Rica! We hope you enjoy reading our latest blog post, are refreshed by it, and continue praying for His Kingdom to come here on earth in Costa Rica.

To start the month off, we were blessed with an opportunity to travel to Cañafístula en Santa Cruz, Costa Rica, with two other missionaries who have a ministry there called Buena Tierra, which translates to “good land” in English. This couple, Esther and Jose Matute, utilizes the property to host missions teams, teach leadership classes, and provide a haven for people to spend intentional time with the Lord and fellow believers. Additionally, they have created positive relationships with the local community surrounding them and the Lord has used them to help bring unity in the community among different churches and the people. We celebrated Thanksgivng with them and with another Costa Rican ministry family. Truly, they all treated us as family and we loved our time with them.

We are continuing to serve within Las Gradas (The Steps) in La Carpio. As mentioned in our last post, this is an impoverished community both physically and spiritually. A huge praise report that we experienced is from the boys attending the discipleship program on Saturday afternoons. They began asking questions about our marriage and we were able to explore topics such as purity, respect, God’s love, and healthy relationships. This was an extremely fruitful time with the boys and we are excited for the growth of our relationship with them. There are 3 boys we have especially connected with: Luis, Enoc, and Juan Carlos. Luis told us he enjoyed hearing what we shared about our marriage, Enoc appears to be interested in Jesus Christ and His way of life rather than the world’s, and Juan Carlos has been calling us his parents since we prayed for an injury he received during an altercation. We are hopeful to see these boys believe in Jesus Christ and be changed by the Holy Spirit. We have not seen the other young couple, Ana and Santiago, we connected with in quite some time; between work and being 8 months pregnant, they have much going on. Hopefully, we will be able to minister some more to them in December.

Outside of classes and La Carpio, we have been able to connect more with other Costa Rican missionaries both at and outside ILE. One companion of ours, Kristen, runs an art ministry in San Jose, where she teaches kids and teenagers art, shares the Gospel with them, and helps the students find healing and freedom through artistic expression. Another missionary, Aby Prado, has been a minister throughout South America for decades, and there are potential ministry opportunities he may introduce us to.

Another weekend program we served at is with the church we are attending, Iglesia Lugar. This is for young children who come from another poor neighborhood that is similar to La Carpio in some aspects. This children’s program offers food, games, and discipleship to the children. We connected with them well and hope to continue to influence these children in a godly way.

Another highlight from this past month is that we spent time with our fellow companions of ILE, and the group was composed of Americans and Koreans. It was such a beautiful time of eating, conversating, laughing, worshiping, praying, and reading Scripture together. We all had to connect with the language we are all learning: Spanish! It was such a beautiful picture and reminder of God’s kingdom, how He desires all His children from all nations and cultures to be one family and one body.

Lastly, we were able to return to the US to spend Thanksgiving with our families, and although the time went by too fast, we are grateful we had the opportunity to do so. We are looking forward to December as relationships grow and opportunities arise to continue being the light of the world to all people, from our classmates to Uber Drivers to La Carpio and beyond.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:6-9 (from Esther & Jose Matute and their ministry, Buena Tierra)

6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

Song: Ven Descansa por UPPERROOM

Prayer Requests:

• La Carpio and for deliverance from the demonic and witchcraft within families

• Continued discipline and favor learning the Spanish language

• Continued financial support

Praises:

• Boys at La Carpio asking more questions about the Bible, marriage, and purity

• Another church is financially supporting our mission

• The different missionaries we have spent time with

Time of fellowship with our ILE Classmates

A section of Las Gradas

2 houses in Las Gradas and Christ for the City's ministry building

Us with Esther and Jose Matute enjoying Tamarindo and one of its beaches