November News Letter

Psalm 82:3 "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."
A reminder of why we are here.

I met Eduardo 4 weeks ago with a broken backpack and standing barefoot outside his shanty town home in a slum of San José, Costa Rica. The directors from Campamento Roblealto and I were meeting with the director of Education Plus to see who he ministers to on a daily basis. These kids homes would make us ashamed of the amount of time we put into our garden sheds.  They live in barrios where drugs, sex trafficking, violence, and poverty tend to overshadow the idea of hope of a better life.

The only bedroom (for 2 adults + 5 kids)

This was the first time I had been exposed to the other side of Costa Rica that tourists never see. I was touched and moved to compassion for this boy Eduardo and his family. The director, who was like a favorite uncle visiting the family, asked how they were doing and what size shoes he needed. This was a reminder of why we are here.

We're excited that Campamento Roblealto is partnering with this ministry, Education Plus and others to provide a week of camp for free.  As our supporters, you are a part of this too!

Hope experienced at Camp

We're calling it Proyecto Esperanza (Project Hope), where we will provide a week of camp totally free for kids like Eduardo.  These kids normally never leave their barrio, but with Proyecto Esperanza,they will be able to get away from their normal lives and spend a week in the mountains. As we talked about the idea of partnering with Education Plus the Director told me:

 "For many of them just the fact that they don't have to share a bed for for the first time in their lives and get to have 3 meals a day will make the week an amazing experience and will free them to hear more about the love of Jesus through His Word as they play games and listen to the devotionals."

This is all part of training up the next generation of Christian leaders who help to bring the gospel to kids like Eduardo and many others.

As the year ends our ministry is just now ramping up.  My office is filled with volunteers and the phone is ringing off the hook with parents signing up their children for the upcoming January camp season.  My prayer journal is filling with the personal requests of the college age and young professionals that we call voluntarios. I am meeting on a weekly basis with the voluntarios to help them write the bible studies and devotionals they will teach kids like Eduardo this January. We know this is where God wants us and are so thankful to be able to see already how the Lord is using us here.

Opportunities to get more involved and be a blessing:

• If you are interested in learning more about the ministry that is helping Eduardo on a daily basis, check out this video. 

• If you or your church might have interest in sponsoring a Project Hope camp or to send a few individuals to camp please let us know.

• This month we are filing our paperwork to gain our temporary residency which will save money and  time by not having to leave the country every 90 days.  Please pray all will be in order and that it would be granted. For those who are able, it would be a huge blessing to us if you would consider a special one time year end gift for this purpose. It would go a long ways towards these expenses. Here is how you can make your tax deductible gift online today.

Noah, Liz, Forrest, Elliot, and Quinn