Building Relationships in Costa Rica

Welcome To Cachi

It is hard to believe we have been in Costa Rica for over a week. We arrived safely in Cachi, Costa Rica, on Sunday, July 2nd. The church in Cachi welcomed us with a fabulous meal of beans and rice. It is our 20th year of partnering with the church in Cachi. Led by Pastor Alfonzo and his wife Grace, the church has a passion for seeing the lost reached across Costa Rica and has embraced the mission and vision of Royal Servants to come alongside their church to achieve that goal.  

After a good night’s sleep in our rooms at the church, Pastor Alfonzo gave us a tour of Cachi and an introduction to Costa Rica. Cachi is a small and quaint town outside the larger cities of San Jose (the capital) and Cartago. His love for his people and his country overflowed as he spoke his heart to see the people of Costa Rica saved. Pastor Alfonzo stressed that Costa Rica is not an impoverished, pre-modern nation. While the way of life differs from the United States and Canada, Costa Rica is a growing modern nation with programs for education, healthcare, and the like. This information was helpful for our team as we seek to craft our presentation of the Gospel in culturally appropriate ways. 

Summer Rhythms

Daily quiet times in the scripture are a lynchpin of every Royal Servants summer. We spend an hour each day individually with the LORD in the scriptures and typically a half hour in small group discussion. This summer, we are seeking to know Jesus better by reading through Matthew and John together. During one of our opening teachings, we explored the first-century context of the Rabbi-Disciple relationship to better understand what it meant to follow Jesus as disciples. If time allows, we love to finish the evening with worship and a large group discussion of the day’s quiet time. Our team is blessed to have three talented guitar players: Katie, Sophie, and Taylor. The church has lent us a guitar, so they pass it around, sharing the responsibility to lead each night.

Each activity is a point of contact in which to build a relationship and share the Gospel.

Building Community in Cachi

Our ministry assignment changes each day. One way we do outreach is by sending students out with a member of the church youth group to serve as their interpreter. They then invite youth and small kids to the town square, which has a soccer field. Once we have gathered a group, we may play a game of soccer, bean bag toss, or sack races. Each activity is a point of contact in which to build a relationship and share the Gospel. At some point, we pull the group together to perform. 

We have three sets of skill groups for this sort of street evangelism. We have a puppet team led by summer staff Lilliana and Trent, including Ethan, Malachi, Caleb, Jentzon, Colton, and Josh. They are a hit with the younger children. 

Our dance team is led by alumni Katie and Alyson and includes Sophie and Molly. While our dance team is small, and for some, this is way outside their comfort zone, they are learning to have so much fun with it and make the dances their own. 

Our drama team is led by senior staff Karalynn, who jumped in because we were short-handed, and summer staff Jillian. The team includes Elliot, Cici, Sophie, and Taylor. For years, we have been using a power drama called Frozen in Time (or Clocks), and this team has been performing it powerfully from day one. 

After the drama, we often have a student either explain the drama or share their testimony with the help of an interpreter. Then, students fan out in the crowd to share the Gospel with the individuals and groups in the crowd using our evangelism tool, “Join the Story.”

So, win or lose, we will continue to share the Gospel daily with those we meet. 

Formal soccer and futsal games are also a part of our ministry toolbox. We have played several matches already, and the team is learning to work together and communicate. The skill level on our team varies widely, from high school and club soccer players who have been playing most of their lives to beginners who kicked their first soccer ball just two weeks ago. We are learning to include, communicate, support, and work together as a team through these games. 

Sunday night we played in a local futsal tournament, and our team lost two close games after a couple of bad bounces. We are still waiting for our first win, but in reality, the games are simply a means of building relationships to share the Gospel. So, win or lose, we will continue to share the Gospel daily with those we meet. 

God has blessed the 2023 Costa Rica team with incredible young men and women. As staff, we are continually blessed by their passion for the Word of God and their overall energy. They seem to always be on the go and always have questions about the scripture on their lips. It is so exciting to watch what God is doing in and through them and be a part of it. 

‍

For the Costa Rica Team

Matt