March 2020 Update from Santa Rosa

By Brandon Hoover - March 20, 2020

It has been a little while since our last update and we wanted to fill everyone in on what God has been up to in the past few months here in Santa Rosa, Costa Rica. We hit the ground running when we got back from our time in Pennsylvania. We were invited as a church to be part of a Christmas party that was held in the town of La Aldea. La Aldea is a small town where we have been invited to start a Bible study. We were very excited to be able to host a Gospel-centered Christmas party for the kids from there and all the surrounding villages/towns. Since our time here we have been able to make some strong connections with the families there, and we are looking forward to continuing our Bible study and relationships with the people. It has been amazing to see the growth in the people as God continues to open eyes and hearts to His saving grace.

The first two weeks of January we held summer camps for the kids and youth from our church. The first week was geared towards the children as we carried out “galactic explorers VBS” and were able to share 5 days of Bible lessons, crafts and fun games with those who came out. It is always encouraging to see young kids get so excited about the Word of God and then take what they learned back to their families. We also love to see those kids continue to come each week to our Kid’s club and strive to learn more.

The second week was a week of small group studies, devotionals, card games, sports and fellowship with a group of youth from the area. Our first few months here, youth group was a bit difficult as we struggled to know how to encourage the young people to come regularly and participate in church events. God used this week of camp, though, to get the teens excited about digging into the Word and continuing to strengthen the community of young believers that was formed. We were able to lay the Gospel out in a way that the teens could truly understand it, and most of them have been steady in coming out on the weekly since then to learn more and put their faith into practice.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for the church here in Santa Rosa. We are excited to see the growth that is happening within the congregation here at Semillas de Vida as we encourage consistency and commitment to the body of Christ. We are currently in the midst of a study of the book of Ephesians on Sunday mornings, and Brandon has been leading a Sunday School class on Biblical finances. We have unfortunately had to suspend church activities for the next few weeks as we strive to do our part in avoiding the spread of the Corona Virus here in Costa Rica, so please pray that this will not affect people’s commitment once things go back to normal.

As far as the COVID-19 here in CR, there are currently 87 cases. As in many countries around the world, Costa Rica is in a “state of emergency” as they try to avoid the spread of effects. Here in Santa Rosa there are no signs of the virus yet, but schools have been shut down for one month and everyone has been asked to avoid large gatherings. We hope to use this time to prepare for the future months of teaching and studies, and encourage our members through small group meetings and video/messaging as best as we can. While borders have been closed to any incoming visitors, we are able to stay in country and continue serving the people here.

Unfortunately, with the many unknowns of future travel in the next month, the present GAP students have been asked to return home to the States as soon as possible. We are sad to say an early goodbye to our weekend team of helpers, as well as Steven who has been interning with the ministry this year. Please be praying for the students and staff as they abruptly adjust to life back home in the midst of an unsure and unsettling time. This will also be the last year of the GAP Program here in Costa Rica as SCORE is making some changes to ministry. We are sad to see it come to an end, but trusting in the Lord’s timing in everything!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us these last few months, we are constantly thinking of you in our own prayers and as we carry out our calling here. God is sovereign and we are so glad He has brought us to where we are today!

Thank you so much for the continued prayer and support! If you are interested in learning how to financially support us you can click here. And, as always, feel free to reach out to us by e-mail or messaging with any questions!