Hello Strong Missions Community!
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| My little friend and his kitten! |
My name is Brooke and I joined the Strong Missions Team in
January this year. I am originally from Kansas, but San Diego, California is my
most recent home and I am a member of First United Methodist Church of San Diego. I was called by God to service 2 years ago, and as of June 2013, I was
able to realize God’s will for my life by becoming a full-time missioner. I have
been serving with the Individual Volunteer Program of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries and spent last year placed with Agua Viva Serves in Los Chiles, Costa Rica near the Nicaragua border.
When that placement ended, I was looking for another place to serve here with
the amazing people of Costa Rica, and Strong Missions invited me to join the
team. I look forward to working with all of the incredible volunteers that help make our work possible!
The Loaves and Fishes program is growing and it is time to
have someone devoted to full-time administration so Rebecca will be
transitioning into that role and I am transitioning into her Program Assistant
role working with the teams. We are still feeding year-round, 5 days a week, at
the La Carpio Evangelical Methodist Church and the Los Guido Evangelical Methodist Church. La Carpio
has recently expanded their ministry to include a neighboring community on the
edge of the river called Cuervo Sapo (Toad’s Cave) which Pastor James says has
even more need then the area immediately around the church. That has brought
their numbers up and they are now serving around 70 kids daily. Los Guido is serving about 50 children daily and we are working to expand there as well with
the help of Pastor Humberto. Our goal, God-willing, is by 2018 to be feeding
100 children twice daily in both of these locations.
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| Pastor James & Pastora Kristina with the children of La Carpio as they begin to arrive and line up for lunch! |
During the Christmas (summer) break here in Carrillos, we
were feeding approximately 50 children 5 days a week at the Evangelical Methodist Church
and approximately 70 children 5 days a week at the Pentecostal Church. This
year, with the help of our amazing volunteers who will number over 600 people
coming in over 40 teams, we expect to be able to complete the facilities at the
Carrillos Evangelical Methodist and Pentecostal churches which will allow us to expand
these programs to feed year-round. Our goal by 2018 is to increase to feeding 100
children once daily year-round at both of these churches
in Carrillos.
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| Team from Oakwood UMC in Iowa working on leveling the ground in front of the Carrillos Pentecostal Church and digging a trench for the foundation of a front gate for security |
There is also an Evangelical Methodist church in Tuetal, which is about halfway
between Carrillos and Alajuela, that is working to finish a new kitchen facility
thanks to the help of some other organizations and volunteers. They have
approached Strong Missions for help utilizing their kitchen to begin a feeding
program and we hope to be able to add them as an additional location soon!
Glory to God for allowing us to help these churches realize
their missions reaching out to their communities!
This week begins our first push of the season as Spring
Break hits the states. We are indeed blessed over these 3 weeks to host 99
volunteers from 6 different groups and families. We are going to be working at
the Pentecostal Church, at an elementary school in San Isidro, the home of one of our cooks,
Ana, as well as other projects. over the next few weeks to take advantage of the dry season with outdoor projects. Thanks in advance to all who will be serving with us in-country throughout the year, supporting us financially, and also those who will be praying for us from near and far. Every one of you is in mission with us and we could not do this without you!
I look forward to working with all of you!
Peace and Blessings,
Brooke
