This past month with ILE, we had our semesterly Spiritual Emphasis Week, which is what I (Christopher) had the opportunity to do with the missionaries in July. We invited a couple, Warren & Christina Dodson, to lead Spiritual Emphasis Week, and it was an edifying, reflective, and insightful time, to say the least. Warren and Christina have been in Costa Rica for a few years and were previously missionaries in Asia for over ten years, so there was much to glean from them! We had chapel services everyday and read through various chapters of the book of Deuteronomy, going deep into the text and still being challenged by relevant practical applications. We are grateful for the refreshing time with the Dodson family.
On the last Monday night of this month, Hannah, along with one of our dear Tico friends Jose Pablo, shared their testimonies (in Spanish) with all of us. I (Christopher) was simultaneously excited and nervous to listen to Hannah! Not only did she share it well but it left an impact on quite a number of people afterwards. We are expectant of future conversations with certain individuals from the fruit of Hannah’s bold vulnerability. Within that Monday night, we met another young missionary who came over for the first time, Alba. She is young like us, and has come from Spain to serve in Costa Rica. Needless to say, it always encourages our hearts to be surrounded by other like-minded, young missionaries such as herself.
On the last Wednesday of October, we got to eat dinner with dear friends of ours, Eduardo and Jordan-Lynn Poveda. During our first year in Costa Rica, we were next-door neighbors, and shared many fun times and deep conversations about our faith, movies, and life as newly-married couples. In a short time, we all became close friends. They ended up moving to the USA and we stayed in Costa Rica. We had not seen them in almost two years, but they came to Costa Rica recently, so we were blessed by their visit and it was as if no time had passed at all. Being in a foreign country, it is godly friendships here in Costa Rica, such as theirs, that certainly strengthen us, help us through tougher times, and make us into more Christ-like missionaries.
Our Friday night discipleship groups with boys from La Carpio continue to be fruitful. There are a few things that I repeat to the boys or we all do together almost every week: individual and corporate prayer time (as seen in the featured photo for the blog), the purpose of discipleship (to know Jesus, be/become like Jesus, and make disciples), and memorize Scriptures. In addition to that, I emphasize to the boys that I hope that through the group, they genuinely get to know each other more and develop meaningful, godly friendships. And we have seen the first fruit of it. A few weeks ago, one boy, Benjamin (17), was ministering to another, Eddie (22) in deep conversation. Benjamin and one of the other teens, John (15), in our group chat were bantering and joking back and forth - at 1 AM in the morning! When I awoke, I was happy to see that, as it is another small indication of these boys getting to grow together as disciples; before, they hardly talked to one another, and that has been changing over the past few months. We love getting the privilege to witness the fruit of discipleship. Additionally, their growth has been seen in their increasing ability to memorize Scripture. First, we memorized Psalm 119:9-11, and now we are doing Romans 1:16. It is becoming easier for them as God continues to open up their minds and hearts to retain more and more of His word. Certainly pray for this group of boys: Eddie, Brayan, Benjamin, & John. They all are going through difficult situations, and yet they continue to stay firm in their commitment to Jesus.
Recently, we received exciting news from missionaries in Indonesia with whom we have had contact for some time now. They finished translating my book, The Truth About Porn, into Bahasa Indonesian and had a mission team take 100 copies into a prison ministry. During their time of ministry, 15 men repented and gave their life to Jesus, and another 100 copies will be given to a Bible school. It is humbling and honoring to see God use the book to draw people closer to a life of freedom in Christ, especially on the other side of the world!
Lastly, we cannot say it enough: we love being parents! Eliana has had explosive growth and hit major milestones in the past month. In one month, she has gone from throwing herself to crawling to sitting up on her own to standing up while holding on to something for support! It is bittersweet, as we already find ourselves missing the days where she was a newborn and depended much more on us, but are filled with wonder and excitement as we continue to see her develop strongly and healthily into the image-bearer that God has made her to be. Truly, there is no other experience like being a parent, and we thank God for our beautiful baby girl.
Upcoming events between now and the spring of 2026 (Dios mediante):
- Youth camp.
- Discipleship retreat (a weekend where we have a spiritual retreat with those in La Carpio who have been growing as disciples of Jesus Christ).
Reminders / Things to be on the lookout for:
- At some point in the near future, we are going to make a WhatsApp group where we can send messages to all of you, keeping a more regular form of contact. We have seen other missionaries do this with great success! The idea would be that only Hannah and I would be able to send messages to all those in the WhatsApp Group Chat, whether it be for immediate and urgent prayer requests, an update, or photos to see more of our day to day life! When we create it, we will send an email with details on how to join.
- There may be an opportunity to sponsor teenagers to go to camp this year. Stayed tuned for more information!
Praise Reports:
- The fruit of the boys' discipleship group.
- Our Monday Night Group and Tuesday Night Dinners with missionaries are edifying and fruitful.
- Testimonies in Indonesia!
Prayer Requests:
- Conflict among leaders in the ministry currently in the process of hopefully reaching a loving and God honoring conclusion.
- Wisdom for hard conversations we may need to have.
- God’s favor as we plan youth camp, both for provision and wisdom.
- For Carlos & Mari to get fully fundraised! (See September Blog Post)