The past few months have been very exciting here in Jaco, Costa Rica. We have spent many months in prayer about new ministry opportunities and the time has come for us to venture out in faith and begin launching them.
Every summer we host short-term mission teams and we invite interns to come serve with us as well. For years it has been a part of our vision to start an intensive discipleship project to help people take their faith to the next level. This summer we finally launched “The Tekoa Project” and used our summer interns as the “guinea pigs”! The program was a success and I’m excited to finally tell you about it.
The Tekoa Project: Take Your Faith Further
“The Tekoa Project” is an intensive, 8 week-long discipleship experience. During this time the students live together, work together, study together, pray together and serve together. It is a small group environment 24/7, much like Jesus with His disciples.
The students were challenged to make their faith personal in ways they never have before. They were placed in circumstances that took them out of their comfort zones, stretching them to go deeper and further with the Lord. At times, it is difficult, but it is also very rewarding. The main focus is to teach them how to abide in Christ, learning to walk with Him intimately, hearing His voice and following His lead.
The program had between 5-8 students total, some joining later in the process. They spent every day together with us, doing morning devotions, eating meals, studying God’s word, serving in the church and hosting the mission teams. This environment brings out the best and worst at times, showing us where we are in our walk with God and where we still need to grow. In the end, each student was blessed and transformed by it, saying their lives were forever changed!
Reaching Out Through Summer Mission Teams
Believers World Outreach
This summers mission teams were a blast. We hosted two large teams this year, with around 30 people on each team. The first team was from Believers World Outreach, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We have worked with BWO for 11 summers now and are always blessed by how God uses their team in Jaco. This year we did various outreaches throughout Jaco and in one of the main prisons in Costa Rica.
The outreaches included medical care, cosmetology, Vacation Bible School, sports clinics for kids and evangelism. We saw many people come to Christ and even more had their faith strengthened during the trip. We even got to do a baptism with some of the people on the team during the last day!
Pilgrim Lutheran Church
In early August we hosted Pilgrim Lutheran Church, whom we have worked with 4 times now. This team focused primarily on Children’s VBS ministry and work projects. We ministered throughout Jaco and El Pueblo Nuevo, a small town about an hour up in the mountains. We spent 3 days caring for the small school there completely repainting the entire school and repairing its roof.
We also planted a garden and walkway in the entrance, built a fire pit in the back for burning trash and dug a new water drainage ditch around the entire school! Finally, we repainted the teachers chalkboard for her and painted a beautiful tree inside the school room. It was a huge transformation and the community was incredibly blessed by it. Small towns like this one often go without basic necessities, so these kinds of projects are welcome and give us a wide open door to share the gospel with them!
It has been an incredible summer, but there is still great things coming. We are now preparing for our next Tekoa Project launch as well as getting ready to launch another new ministry endeavor… a school of ministry. Please keep us and these new ministries in your prayers, that they would be used by God for His Glory alone, to build His kingdom in Jaco!
Thank you for all of your prayers and support! Without your partnership this ministry would not be possible. May the Lord richly bless each of you the way you have richly blessed us!
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