We are a Finnish- Costarican family of 5 (Diego &Salla and children Troy,Julia and Nic Markus).
We have worked in Costa Rica as YWAM (Youth With A Mission) missionaries since -94 and -98. In 2005 we moved out from the city to pioneer a new YWAM ministry in the rural areas of Guanacaste.
What is Guanacaste like?
We live and work in small countryside villages of Guanacaste,in north west Costa Rica.The life in this area is a mixture of spiritual,political,cultural and development issues. The area is beautiful by nature,mostly cattle farm lands. The Catholic religion has been mixed with naturalism,witchcraft,superstition and cultural heritage. This has brought confusion to the people and keeps them away from encountering God. Government institutions and helps don’t often get to the small villages,the people feel alone,abandoned and out of reach of change and development. The macho-culture allows and expects the men to be irresponsible,alcoholics,abusive,men of many women and fathers of many children without really ever being part of their lives. The youth don’t have opportunities to learning,hobbies,dreaming…they often don’t finish their studies,they don’t have hope for the future.
What do we do?
Our desire is to guide the people of Guanacaste to a personal relationship with God. As they learn to see themselves and their lives from God’s perspective,we believe that it will bring healing to the families and even biblical development to whole communities. Through our ministry we want to see the youth of Guanacaste to find their identity in Christ,getting excited about life and start doing great things with and for God.
In practise our work includes many different kinds of tasks. We lead a missions base,YWAM Nicoya,Guanacaste,for long-term workers as well as short-term teams and volunteers. At the base we run regular activities for children and youth from the closest villages. From the base we go out to work in many different villages to work with local churches and pastors,to speak and teach in local schools,work with teen mothers,teach English,organize camps,outreaches,visits,work with handicapped children,implement building and fixing projects,community development etc. Part of our time is used in leadership responsibilities of leading the ministry and the base,administration and maintenance.
