GAP Year and Wedding Countdown

Hey everyone! A lot has happened since my last update. We are coming to a close of another GAP year as the students have two weeks left here in Costa Rica. We just finished a tough week of Bible class going through the book of Ephesians. It has been awesome to see the students’ responses as they process what they have learned and how they have changed over these last 8 months. It has been a year of challenges and growth for many of the students, and it has been great to see God working in so many ways in and through their lives.

Our GAP Class of 2017

Second semester started out with some amazing weeks at camp with our ministries! Our first week included 40+ kids from ages 7-12. It was a crazy awesome time with our kids from Tirrases with Bible lessons, songs, games and a whole lot of pool time. All of the kids were split into two teams for the week. I, along with another one of our church leaders, was a captain of the team “Intensos”. I also had the opportunity to be the counselor for half of the boys. It was an awesome opportunity to spend tons of quality time with the kids, getting to know them better and pouring into their lives. I was with the boys day and night for the 5 days at camp, giving them the love and discipline that many of them do not receive in their homes. Looking back, I never would have imagined myself in this challenging yet so rewarding position, but I have loved every second of it and always look forward to serving these kids. The following week was another 5 days of camp, this time with the youth group. This week is more of a conference, with much more Bible time. This year we joined with the youth group from the town of Los Guido. Again, this was an amazing opportunity to spend time with and get to know the youth from our church better. I am so thankful for the opportunities we all had as leaders to pour into the kids and youth from these towns, and to see the growth that God has brought throughout the years. It has also been cool to see the growth within myself as they continue to challenge and pour back into me as well.

Teens and staff for second week of camp

My cabin for first week of camp

Kids and staff for first week of camp

In March, Jairo (The pastor from our church in Tirrases) and I were invited to attend the Calvary Monument Bible Church missions conference in Lancaster, PA. It was a great opportunity to be able to share all that God is doing here in our church plant as it continues to grow. It was also an awesome opportunity to get to know people from the church and to hear more about what God is doing all around the world. Everyone was so welcoming and organised, and there was never a dull moment with all that they had planned for us. It was great to see Jairo experience Lancaster County for the first time, as that has been one of his biggest dreams for a while. It was a fun week of firsts for him with seeing it snow, experiencing the Amish, eating a cheese steak, and so much more.

First time seeing snow

Jairo and I had a great time being able to hangout with my family during the missions conference

Things with Samantha and I are going great! There are only 81 days left until the wedding, and we are so excited! It has been awesome being able to do ministry together this year, and we are looking forward to continue the calling that God has given us down here in Costa Rica together. On Saturday we signed the contract for the apartment we will be moving into in August. This place is a huge answer to prayer as it is close to our base, in a very safe location, the perfect size for us, and just a nice place in general. We are very excited to begin the move in process and to have a place to come back to when we return after the wedding. 

Sami and I at one of our friends weddings

Samantha and I in Nicaragua

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for us as we begin the process of renting our first home. If anyone would like to help us out financially in this new step of life with the house or would like to jump on our team and become monthly supporters that would be a huge blessing to us!

Also please pray for us all as we finish this last month of GAP. It can be a hard time for many of the students and staff as they begin to think about goodbyes and transitions to come. Everyone wishes to end the year strong so pray for perseverance over these last weeks of class and ministry.

Big thanks to all of you who continue to give faithfully to the work that God has called me to in Costa Rica. If you would like to learn more or would like to join our support team you can click here. Score International Webpage.

Exciting News and Life Update!

My Christmas break was definitely the most exciting break that I’ve ever had. I had a great time spending Christmas with the family and visiting friends that I haven’t seen since summertime, as well as getting engaged to my best friend! God works in amazing ways... Samantha Dienner and I grew up 20 minutes from each other in Lancaster, Pennsylvania but God brought our paths together 4000 miles away in Costa Rica. It's been a great last year and a half serving, working, and spending time getting to know each other. We are so excited to have the opportunity to continue in our relationship here and to continue serving together. Our plan is to stay down here in Costa Rica and serve as leaders in the Gap Year Program and also continue serving in the town of Tirrases. Something that God has put on our hearts is to point the people of that community to Christ by example with our relationship together. We are looking forward to serving the people there and to see how God uses our relationship  in ministry over the next couple of years!

There have been some great changes happening in the lives of the students here since the beginning of the GAP year in August. One of the great things that the GAP Program has to offer is our Bible classes. Every year we see students come down here, some with a lot of Church background, others piggy backing off their parents' faith and some with a very small amount of church influence. It is cool to watch them begin to figure out what they believe and grow so much in their faith. Early on this year, God decided to use one of the Bible classes to call one of the students to a better understanding of Him, and ultimately the student gave his life to the Lord! We praise the Lord for his saving grace as he continues to work in everyone's lives here. Please continue to be praying for the students as they go about their daily classes and life here in Costa Rica.

In Tirrases we are keeping really busy with camp preparation along with our normal activities throughout the week. Starting on Sunday, we will be headed to camp and will definitely be needing your prayers. This year we have 42 kids for the first week and around 40 teenagers for the second week. Each year, camp weeks are some of the coolest opportunities to see God work in both the lives of the kids and teenagers of Tirrases, as well as ourselves as staff. I serve at camp as being one of the counsellors which basically means that wherever my 15 kids are is where I'll be for the week. I love being able to spend the time with them and to truly get to know them and hear what it is that is going on in their lives. My weeks include staying in the cabin and cleaning up after 15 crazy boys, leading bible studies and discussions throughout the week, and losing my voice with leading cheers for our team. Camp week is packed full of all kinds of fun things for the kiddos and we are looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for this year's camp weeks!

Prayer Requests:

• For camps starting on Sunday that God will use camp as a tool to bring the youth of Tirrases to Him
• For Sami and I as we try to plan our wedding being far away from home.
• That God will provide more financial support as Sami and I make preparations to live our lives together.
• Continued growth of the GAP students.
• That God will continue raising up leaders in our church plant in Tirrases.

I had a great time over Christmas catching up with different supporters of mine and I am extremely thankful for you guys! If you feel led and would like to join my prayer and support team click here.  Score International Webpage

End of Summer and Beginning of GAP Year Update

This past summer was full of groups in and out of the villa, moving bunk beds back and forth between rooms, grocery shopping for up to 4 teams at a time each week, and watching the lives of people  being changed week by week. The months of May through August, I had the privilege of helping to lead short term missions teams from the states through different towns and events here in Costa Rica. We had some great groups come down here and help to lead different kids clubs, youth groups, sporting events and more. It was awesome to be able to see the lives of the people visiting being impacted and changed as they served here, as well as the impact that they had on the lives of the people here. While it was lots of work and sometimes very tiring, I was honored to be able to translate for and guide the numerous groups around Costa Rica.

Some of my favorite groups to work with this past summer were Mountaintop Church from Hoover, Alabama, Calvary Monument from PA and Christ Community from North Carolina. They did a great job of coming down here really prepared. It was neat seeing how not only the people that the groups were ministering to were impacted, but the groups themselves left impacted big time by the people they met and the experiences they had.

August ended with our new group of GAP students arriving on the 25th. It has been great getting to know the students as they begin classes and get settled into living here for the year. We have 9 male and 16 female students from all over the United States this year. I am looking forward to seeing God work not only in the students lives but our lives as staff as well.

 I am so thankful for the opportunity I had this Summer to stay here and invest so much more into our ministry in Tirrases. It is great to see the growth happening there day by day as we continue in our kids club, youth group, Sunday morning and Thursday evening services, and all the other events we have throughout the week. God has answered prayers in that He has provided a great team in Tirrases with people serving that are actually from the town of Tirrases. We are working with different student leaders trying to teach them leadership qualities by giving them classes and letting them get some hands on experience.

On August 20th our church in Tirrases had our first Baptismal Service and 10 from our church got baptized!

Thank you all so much for the prayers and support sent my way over these summer months! If there is anyone that would like to join my support team you can click here. Score International Webpage.

End of GAP Year and Beginning of Summer Update

I’m going to have to say one of the best things about my job is seeing God work in the lives of the students. I get a front row seat in getting to know the GAP students as soon as they get off the plane landing from the United States till they walk across the stage at graduation 9 months later. A lot of the students come down with the idea of them knowing everything there is to know about the Bible only to have their world flipped upside down throughout the year.   It’s hard to believe I was in their shoes just over 5 years ago.

There have been numerous students over the years that have left the program completely different people. There’s something about having constant Bible classes and living in an unfamiliar environment that creates an atmosphere that God uses to make some big changes in you. I often think about where I would be if it weren’t for coming to this program. God has blessed me with awesome people to work with both with SCORE and in the town of Tirrases.

GAP Class of 2016

 The students in the GAP program graduated on April 29^th, but there is plenty to do between now and when the next group of students arrive.  I’ve had much more time to devote to the ministry in Tirrases, which has been great.  The church plant in this town I’ve come to love, is thriving.  We host various short term missions over the summer months here as well.  We had a group from Calvary Monument Bible Church come down the third week of May. I had a great time being their interpreter for the week! One of the many things we did with the group was a prayer walk in Tirrases. Basically what that looks like is we walked to the houses of 15 different families from our church in order to bless them with a visit and a weeks’ worth of food.  During our time together we would get to know the families, hear their stories and prayer requests as well. This walk is intended to bless the Costa Rican families, but always ends up blessing the short term teams more.  It was evident their time spent with these families left a huge impact on their hearts.

During the three summer months that the GAP program is not going on, our facilities down here are filled with short-term missions’ teams from all over the States, just like the one from Calvary Monument.  This is a blessing to help carry on the community outreach efforts of the former students and to give people a first-hand perspective as to what God is doing here. For the past 4 summers I would go home during this time, and now since being called into full-time ministry here, I get to be a part of these summer adventures.  My ever expanding role will include leading and translating for these teams, arranging outreach programs, helping with getting menus together, shopping for the food needed and arranging transportation when there could be as many as 4 teams arriving at one time. This is in addition to handling administrative and financial responsibilities, and serving in the church in the town of Tirasses and all the various ministries that have sprouted from that. 

Interpreting for the Calvary Monument team we had in Tirrases

 I will be home for 2 weeks, however, from June 22-July 8 so I’m looking forward to catching up with family and friends over that period.

A Huge thank you goes out to my monthly supporters! I can’t tell you how good it feels to know I have friends and family and even people I haven’t even met, back home supporting me and the ministry here. I would appreciate prayer for stamina and energy as I work with the various teams over the summer, and continued prayer for the Tico friends I have made that they would continue to grow in their walk with the Lord, that the church in Tirasses would continue to thrive and more and more people will be impacted because of their love and outreach to the community. If there is anyone that would like to join my support team, please click here to be a part of the life change in Costa Rica.  Thank you again!

A few of our Tirrases kids from our Kid's Club

April Update (A Normal Saturday in Tirrases)

The process leading up to our new church plant in the town of Tirrases has been quite the journey! Jairo, our pastor at the church, had a rough past growing up. He was the town drug dealer/gangster, but God saved him from that mess. Later on, he went to a Bible Institute where his love for the Lord and the Bible continued to grow. One day he was back visiting family in Tirrases and got on the bus ready to leave, but just before sitting down he felt the Holy Spirit telling him to share the gospel with 5 kids on a basketball court who were playing soccer (anywhere that’s flat you’ll see people gathered playing soccer down here).

Fast forward 3 ½ years, now God has lead us to having our first church service and things are going great! Seeing where God has taken our ministry from those 5 kids playing soccer, to now having 40 kids in the morning, 25 soccer boys, and around 25 teenagers coming out each week has been incredible.

For me, a normal week in Tirrases looks like this: I leave my house at 8:00 in the morning, and it takes about a half hour to get there. Once we arrive there, we walk to different houses to pick up the kids and take them to the church building where we hold the kids club. When we get to the building, we have different games, crafts, snacks, which all related to the Bible lesson for the day. After we drop the kids back off at their houses around 11:00, we take a small lunch break and some of the kids that live close to the church hang around with us. At 2:00 in the afternoon is when our youth group starts (jovenes). Since returning from camp, it has been awesome to see the consistency of the jovenes group, and the number of teenagers that have been attending. For me, it is been really great having that time to deepen my friendship with some of them. Our new church plant has brought a lot more work our way, but it has been great seeing how all of the pieces have come together. I never thought that I would ever be a deacon in a Spanish church in Costa Rica. It was not even close to being on my radar, but that goes to show that our plans don’t always work out the way that we have planned.

Prayer requests:

• ·      Our new church, Iglesia Emanuel Tirrases.
• ·      For this summer with it being my first full summer leading teams of gringos, translating, and being the mediator between the two different cultures.
• ·      Pray for our GAP students as their time is winding down here in Costa Rica, and that God will continue to use them in the USA.

Thanks to all that have come along side and been a financial and prayer supporter of mine! If you would like to join my support team click here. Score International Webpage

 The street where the majority of our kids live

 A look down on the city of Tirrases

 Some of the kids that come out to our ministry

 Our first church service at Iglesia Emanuel in Tirrases

January Tirrases Camps

Over Christmas Break I had a great time catching up with friends and family. When I returned to Costa Rica a little over a month ago, it was time to get ready for our Tirrases' camps, both the jovenes (or teenagers) and the niños (kids). The purpose of the camps is to remove them from their rough homes and living conditions for a week filled with games, competitions, three meals a day, pool time, a bonfire, and the Gospel.

The first week of camp was a kid's camp. There were about fifty kids from the ages of six to eleven. As soon as the kids arrived at the camp by bus, they were divided into two different teams (my team, which i was the captain of, was called "Pirratas de Tirrases"). Throughout the week I played: alarm clock, doctor, lifeguard, team captain, and a little bit of everything else fro my cabin of fifteen boys. Kid's camp was crazy because of all the yelling, screaming, and ridiculous team chants and games.

The second week, jovenes camp, with the teenagers was a lot more relaxed. I was a team captain again and my team's name was Sapricampa. There was still a lot of screaming and yelling, but, it was easier to connect with the teenager because there were only twenty-five of them and they were more relational than the little kids. It was an awesome week. For the teenage week, it was more of a youth conference and the teenagers were able to have more free time than the kid's week because they don't have to be watched 24/7. I was a counsellor of nine guys and I was able to connect with them and show them the love of Christ.

One of the guys I was really able to get to know throughout the teenage camp was Andre. Andre was one of the older guys at the camp at seventeen. He's close to graduating high school and is nervous about what to do next. He did and internship at a  bank this summer and really enjoyed it. My prayer for him is that he doesn't fall into all of the different temptations and problems in Tirrases like so many of his peers. I pray that God will continue to change him, giving hime a desire to change. Before camp, Andre wasn't attending our Saturday ministry and was actually invited to camp an hour before the bus left. However, he was willing to go, and at the end of camp, he talked about how God taught him so much throughout the week. It was cool to see how God worked things out for Andre to be able to attend camp and that he was able to learn more about God and His Word.

Since camp, we have retained a lot of the kids and teenagers during our Saturday ministry. A lot of them are still eager to learn more and hang out with us, so we are trying to continue their interest in our ministry by coming up with new, fun activities that they can participate in and enjoy.


Please pray for all of us in the Tirrases ministry and that we would use this great opportunity God has given us to continue to grow the church, our children's club, youth group, and our connections with all of the kids and teenagers as they come off their "camp high" and go back to school again.
Pray for Andre and the rest of the kids and teens as they go back to school and face all kinds of temptations.
Pray that God may continue to work in their lives and call them to Him and His son, Jesus.
Pray also for God to guide all of the GAP students this year as many of them are still trying to figure out what their next step is.

Thanks again to everyone that has been supporting me down here both in prayer and financially. If you feel led to financially partner with me you can click here.
Score International Webpage

 Losing my voice cheering on our team Sapricampa

 Group of teenagers that were in my cabin

 My kids for the week of craziness

 Andre sharing about his experience throughout the week of camp

 Jafet and I sharing testimonies 

Celebrating after winning one of the competitions 

January 2016 Update

Here's the most recent update that I made about my time down here in Costa Rica! Camps start tomorrow! If you guys could keep both the kids and us as staff in your prayers these next two weeks it would be greatly appreciated!