Hello all you atheists, agnostics, and believers of all bents!
I just returned from my 10th trip to a small community is Costa Rica called Pavas. My church works with a small church there that serves a very poor and very violent community. Our ministry is mostly to children, trying to get to them before they a folded in with the gangs, drug runners, and prostitutes.
I am the director of the ministry for my church, and coordinate our efforts with the church there.
On 2 occassions I have asked the SDMB community for assistance. Once I asked for medical supplies - and you loaded up the church office with UPS and FedEx boxes from Walgreens, Wal-Mart, and CVS Pharmacy! (thanks!) Another time I asked for financial assistance to help a women’s shelter stay open and you contributed $1,000s via Paypal. (THANKS AGAIN!)
So now is your opportunity to ask me about the ministry, my belief system, the dangers and rewards of the work, or anything about mission work.
Let’s keep it respectful. I am aware that many of you think I serve an imaginary, invisible man in the sky. I am ok with that and in fact the SDMB has helped my refine and focus my beliefs over they years.
My nephew, as well as a bunch of his classmates, have been involved with something similar this summer. Are your efforts limited to providing medical supplies, education, and various other services, or do you actively proselytize and convert the people too? What native beliefs do they have to start with (or are they already Christian)?
In 2006 we traveller through El Salvador and Costa Rica visiting churches that were trying to serve their community in a way that was tangible and relavent. We found this church and have tapped into what they are already doing.
Our goal is not to prosthelytize. Everyone in Costa Rica knows about Jesus. Our goal is to meet the needs of the community. To paraphrase St. Francis, we preach the gospel without using words. Some may find God or Jesus in that, some may not. Our job is to love them and serve them, conversion is a personal matter.
The major ministries are:
[ul]
[li]lunch program for 150 kids each day[/li][li]provide sponsorship for about 40 kids to have the school uniform and supplies they need for school[/li][li]provide funds for staffing the church[/li][li]twice a year we visit and work on physical projects and activities for the kids[/li][/ul]
I’ve gotten the impression that life in Costa Rica is slightly better than in the rest of Central America owing to not having a revolution every couple years. Is the standard of living actually higher than in neighboring countries or not?
Does your church go independently or do you work with a larger mission organization? Do you mind if I ask you denomination? How many folks from your church go on these trips? Where does the financial support come from?