Bethel Church in Costa Rica

Posted on August 07, 2019

God is glorified when His people work together for our common mission in Christ. This week, we are praising God for our partner in Northwest Indiana, Bethel Church.

Bethel sent a youth team of 30 last week to encourage and labor alongside Pastor Roy Soto and his church in Costa Rica. At Global Action, we don’t believe in sending groups of Americans to “fix problems” overseas. We believe in connecting Christ-followers and churches with one another for mutual learning, encouragement, and ministry work. And that’s exactly what happened last week.

While in country, the team helped the church accomplish projects that would have taken them months to complete on their own, such as working in their greenhouses to prepare the soil for a new crop and to prune their thousands of strawberry plants to stimulate fruitfulness. These greenhouses are a major source of income that Shalom uses to fund their community outreach endeavors. The work the team accomplished will continue to bear fruit (literally and figuratively) long after they are gone.

The team also touched many Costa Rican hearts as they connected with the people. They spent several days with the elderly in the Senior Center, which was started by the church to care for abandoned seniors in the community. They fed the homeless on the streets of the city, sharing stories and singing together. And they poured into the lives of dozens of impoverished children who live in a nearby shantytown, bringing light into a dark place.

And the team members themselves left with eyes wide open to the amazing ways God is working around the world. Their hearts are now filled with a burning desire to implement what they learned from Pastor Roy and his church. They were challenged to live out their calling as disciples by serving the hurting in their own community with the love of Christ. We thank God for this partnership which has touched both Costa Rican and American lives for eternity.