- Details
What you can do to help
So many people from the States ask us how they can help.
Below is a current list of needs:
- PRAYERS! Prayers for our family, the members of Conexion, and prayers for all the people that God places in our path are greatly appreciated.
- Medical care packets- these can be made very inexpensively. Each bag consists of a sandwich bag filled with a package of Kleenex, Aspirin, Band-aids, Soap, Toothpaste and a small bottle of Lotion.
- Assist by decorating a Care Package Bag. We can give you the information on how to acquire bags, decorate the front and make a donation of $12.00 to fill them. We hand out to the families in the communities we visit. They are filled with basic need items- a bag each of rice, beans, coffee, sugar, cookies, toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar of soap.
- We need tents that we can use for medical missions. We cannot find quality ones here and the ones from the States are heavy. If you are coming down or know someone who is and if they are willing to bring a tent, we can have it sent directly to them.
- Serve on a Short Term Team. We still have spaces available for this year. We are also taking reservations for next year.
- A projector. The one we are using now is very outdated and needs replacing.
- Letters of encouragement to the English speaking ladies we serve at the Women's Prison.
I will update as needs arise. Thank you for your consideration.
This is an example of the bags we are using for the Care Package Bags. They are durable and families can reuse them.
- Details
President Obama visits Costa Rica
The President of The United States, Obama was here on May 3rd. Wow, how the country changed for this event and nearly 2 million living in San Jose were affected. It was said that this was one of the biggest security operations in the history of Costa Rica.
A few days before his arrival, we saw Black hawk helicopters flying over the city and there were almost 1,000 police officers, 180 intelligence agents and 150 traffic offices, plus the U.S. Secret Service agents on alert. Undercover Secret Service walked the streets of San Jose for days.
Most businesses and schools closed- not in hopes of seeing him because that was nearly impossible, but because so many of the streets were closed.It was strongly recommended that private businesses located in areas where Obama would be on Friday and Saturday to be closed. Not only were businesses closed, main highways and most of downtown were inaccessible.
Obama met with the presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to discuss trade, security, immigration and energy.
We were not in Costa Rica on the day of his visit, but were near the Honduras boarder, inside of Nicaragua.
Tico Times, an online newspaper, reported that there was some violence during the visit. Protesters, with masked faces threw rocks and bricks at the police officers and members of the media, which broke several Legislative Assembly building windows. They also removed the police barriers, while throwing gasoline or diesel filled glass bottles at the building. It was reported that police arrested around 20 rioters.
- Details
Poverty in Costa Rica- article from Inside Costa Rica
Over one million people in Costa Rica live in poverty
November 23rd, 2012 (InsideCostaRica.com) Almost one in every four people in Costa Rica live in poverty, defined as not having enough income to satisfy their basic needs, including their nutritional needs.
The information was revealed on Thursday in the 2012 National Survey of Households, carried out by the National Statistical and Census Institute (INEC, in Spanish).
There are 280,000 households in the country that live in poverty, which is equal to 20.6% of all households. That amount is 1% less then last year, though INEC says that it does not consider that to be a reduction, as the change is not statistically significant and is within the margin of error.
In addition, a total of 335,000 people, equal to 7.2% of the population, live in what INEC describes as “extreme” poverty. These people earn between just 34,921 colons (about $70) and 41,842 colons (about $84) per month, which is not enough to satisfy even their basic nutritional needs.
The survey also pointed to an increasing gap in Costa Rica between the “haves” and the “have nots.”
The per capita income of the 20% of households with the highest income (Quintile V), is 18 times more then that of households with the least income (Quintile I).
For example, the lowest income earners earn an average of just 50,491 colons per month (about $100), whereas higher income earners earn an average of 913,175 colons per month (more than $1,800).
The disparity among households can also be seen in the percentage of accrued income. If the entire income of all households in the country were to be summed up, 50.9% of that income goes to the top 20%, whereas the poorest 20.6% receives just 4.2% of total income.
80% of household income comes from labor, while 10.8% comes from pensions, remittances and money transfers between households. State benefits and scholarships represent 1.2% of household income. This last percentage is more important amongst the poorest households, where it represents 12% of their total income. In wealthier households, income from rental properties is also significant.
- Details
Costa Rica facts published by Habitat for Humanity
-
In the country more than 52% of the population live in poor housing or overcrowding, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).
-
47 000 households use wood or coal stoves.
-
More than 22,000 have black pit toilet or latrine exposed.
-
Nearly 4,000 homes have no room for personal hygiene.
-
6000 does not have electricity.
-
Over 7000 still have dirt floors.
-
All this according to data from the National Household Survey 2011.
- Details
Overview of Mission Opportunities
We have had the privilege to help in hosting a few Short-term Mission Trips this year and we greatly appreciate all the hard work that the teams put into preparing before their arrival. The pre-trip meetings, planning and preparing made it possible for team to focus on working with the people they came to serve.
As we have been sharing with you for the last several months, our work in Costa Rica has changed. Our work in the Children's Home has ended and the Father has opened the door for us to continue His work in Costa Rica. We are very happy to partner and work alongside a great team in the Conexion Ministry.
As we talked and prayed with The Mission Society and other missionaries, we learned that this is a very normal part of missionary life. We heard many similar stories and how common it is for the Father to get you to the field in one area of ministry, for the purpose to open the door for another ministry.
So, what is Conexion? 
Conexion was founded by nine years ago by a Columbian family, headed by Jherson, and his nephew, Jhonny. They believe in spreading the gospel of Jesus by acts of "extreme service" in communities of great poverty and need. The Conexion team is made up primarily of Latinos- Costa Ricans, Columbians, and now with us, North Americans.
This is an overview of some of the “categories” of the work we are involved as we share the love of Jesus with the children and families of Costa Rica:
• Construction and painting
• Distribution of food, clothing and school supplies
• Play days in the public schools. This sounds simple, but nine years of building relationships made this possible. These play days as a means of developing relationships and gives us the opportunity to return to share the gospel with the parents.
• Teaching a Virtue and Values Curriculum in the underprivileged schools. We have received permission and we are currently in the process of preparing the curriculum. Several schools have asked us to teach this curriculum and we are praying that this will become a powerful part in reaching children and their families.
• Sports camps
• Worship and praise concerts with the Conexion band
• Parent and Teacher, Christian based Seminars on health, marriage, parenting and teamwork
• Monthly medical and dental missions
• Christmas parties for up to 3000 children in different poverty stricken areas
• Hosting short term teams- due to the diversity of gifts that our Conexion team has been given, we mold the mission trip around the gifts of the team members.
• Teaching Celebrate Recovery inside the Women’s Prison
So, if you feel lead to assist in any of these areas, please contact through The Mission Society and we will be happy to discuss the opportunities to share the love of Christ.
