Nine years!

Today, we are celebrating nine years of marriage.  I was laughing a bit today thinking about how shocked I would have been to know on our wedding day that by our ninth anniversary we would have lived in Atenas, Costa Rica longer than anywhere else as a married couple.  I wouldn't have been shocked that we were missionaries or that Dan was using his engineering skills on the mission field.  But having arrived back from studying in Ukraine just ten days before our wedding, and Dan having just moved back from Guatemala the day before we got engaged, Costa Rica was not a country I was even remotely thinking about at that time! 

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's will that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21)

On that day, we also didn't know all of the adventures - fun, hard, exciting, scary ones - that were ahead of us.  We have had many joys and some trials, and I am thankful to have been able to walk through each of them with the love of my life.  I love you, Dan!

YWAM Base, Costa Rica

At the beginning of March, I (Dan) once again had the opportunity to support another great ministry by helping them realize the dream God has given them for a new facility to make and train disciples.

This time the team served Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The ministry is led by Diego and Salla and their team currently includes Kimo and Laura and some other DTS students. From their base in the remote town of Corral de Piedra (go ahead, try to find it on a map), they conduct Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) to equip participants with skills in a particular area of Biblical concern (for example, justice and mercy) and to prepare them for cross-cultural ministry.  They engage with the rural community to improve the quality of life there, work with young, single mothers to teach them not only to care for their little ones, but to care for themselves by restoring their dignity in Christ, and also strive to strengthen family relationships in a place where infidelity is very common. They host teams from the United States to help with a Bible distribution program to hand out Bibles to every household in the entire province of Guanacaste! Everyone at the YWAM base in Guanacaste instilled in me as a project leader an excitement to be a part of what God is doing through them and also great anticipation for what more He may do with the new facility we designed.




Kimo and Laura on the left with their little ones, two DTS students in the center with Diego and Salla on the right.

Last November, Sarah, the kiddos, and I had the opportunity to meet Diego and Salla at the YWAM base since it is here in Costa Rica. When we arrived at the site, we talked a while about the history of the vision they have had for this site. They had recently purchased a 5-acre site only about 100 yards from their existing base. Their desire is to develop it to include a multipurpose building for up to 200 people, DTS classroom space, a preschool, and student, team, and staff housing, along with all the necessary support spaces for these functions. They told us about the previous professionals they had hired to provide a design, but who didn’t really listen to their needs. They explained how the nonbelieving architect didn’t understand the spaces or the relationships required for a Christian ministry. They told us how this single professional attempted to design all of the infrastructure needs for the site that would normally take multiple specialized designers. In the end, all of the investment they made in these previous designs was wasted. I was able to respond by describing our team which would have at least 8 specialized volunteers, and that our architect and planner are both principles in their respective consulting firms. They would all be dedicated Christians who understand the exacting requirements of Christian ministries. As I listed all the expertise that the EMI team would offer, the look of amazement slowly grew on Salla’s face until at last she said, "That is exactly what we need."


Out team of professional, specialized, volunteer designers and engineers working together to develop the Master Plan

For example, the missionaries requested a "prayer room." However, even they didn’t know exactly what it would look like. Through the master planning design process, the "prayer room" evolved into a "prayer area" located at the heart of the site. It was placed where everyone needing to move from one part of the site to another would have to pass through it. This emphasizes the central place of prayer in all that YWAM does and will do on that site. This is a prime example of how Christian professionals who understand the functions of ministries can provide compelling design solutions to the glory of the Lord. Here are some preliminary renderings of the idea.

Conceptual rendering of the prayer area located at the center of the site.

Apart from the master plan, we provided a design for the multipurpose building which will be the first they will build. It will be one of the busiest buildings on the site. YWAM will use it as everything from a dining hall to a concert hall, from a gymnasium to a sanctuary, from a café to a conference center. They even wanted some classrooms for their DTS and other ministry training. Additionally, it will be used both by the people on the site as well as the entire community. Therefore, Diego and Sala wanted it to be open and welcoming to the community. I am really excited about this design.


Volunteer architect, Jim, working on the design of the multipurpose building

I am also excited about how EMI will be able to support Diego and Salla through this building process. This was the first full project I’ve done in Costa Rica and the proximity promises to allow us to do even more than usual to help YWAM realize their vision. For example, during the trip, I could confidently tell Diego and Salla that this project trip was just the beginning of a long-term relationship to which we are committed, not only until they are occupying this building, but until they can completely develop their entire site according to the calling and vision that God has given them. This is something we have never really been able to do before, but we hope to capitalize on the proximity of the ministry in order to provide the most comprehensive professional services possible.
 

The team taking a much deserved coffee break from their hard work

Missionaries are good at missions. They aren’t always as good at implementing building projects. But almost every missionary encounters himself in the midst of a building project that could potentially distract them from their ministry. I don’t want that to happen to Diego and Salla. I want them to be able to focus on their ministry using the gifts God has given them while we focus on realizing their vision for the ministry base using the gifts God has given us.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12:4-8

Since I am so proud of our team, I want to include some of our final renderings.  We produce these to give to the ministry in order to help them raise support for the construction costs of the project. In fact, we were able to personally put some of these renderings into the Diego's hands just a couple of weeks ago. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do:

This is the Master Plan with the Multipurpose Building shown in the lower left (North is up).

Here is another view of the Master Plan from the North

Here is a view of the Multipurpose Building from the entry road.

This is a view of the Bonfire Amphitheater at the back of the Multipurpose Building.

We hope to be able to update you soon on the progress towards starting this exciting building project!  Please pray for YWAM Guanacaste as they raise the funds to make these plans a reality!