We are a Costarican-Finnish family of five. We are called to reach especially the young people, to disciple, equip and mobilize them into missions to reach the unreached. As a family and individuals we are called to live a life of impact in today’s society. We have a calling to see our own nations, Finland and Costa Rica, changed, but are ready to go where God wants to take and use us.
We met and 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 ministry location in the rural areas of the north-west province of Guanacaste. In December 2014 we moved to Finland to a new beginning and more adventures with God. We are returning to Central America in 2020.
Our life and ministry in Costa Rica
We 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.
Our heart 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 work to see the youth of Guanacaste find their identity in Christ, getting excited about life and start doing great things with and for God.
In practice our work has included many different kinds of tasks. We pioneered and led a missions base, YWAM Nicoya, Guanacaste, for ten years. Through the effort of long-term workers as well as short-term teams and volunteers the base runs regular activities for children and youth from the closest villages. From the base the work extends to many different villages supporting local churches and pastors, speaking and teaching in local schools, working with teen mothers, teaching English, organizing camps, outreaches, visits, working with handicapped children, implementing building and fixing projects, community development etc.
One of the biggest projects we started and have worked with in Costa Rica is the Bible Project. The vision is to give a Bible to every home in the province of Guanacaste and in the whole nation of Costa Rica. The goal is to hand out 114 000 Bibles in Guanacaste and 1,3 million Bibles in the whole nation of Costa Rica. We continue to work towards this goal by raising funds and mobilize people to distribute Bibles in Costa Rica.
Our Life and Ministry in Finland
Diego is a YWAM missionary in Finland, making an impact through teaching, music, evangelism and serving people in need. He has been studying the language to function and communicate better in the Finnish culture. Salla works in the Finnish Lutheran Mission as a fund raising coordinator and a leadership team member. Salla is also part of a European network of Ministry Partnership Development trainers. During this time in Finland she is working on her graduate degree in International Relations / Conflict Resolution.
We live in the Tampere region, about 1,5 hours north of Helsinki. We are involved with the ministry of YWAM in Tampere and in Finland, with the King’s Kids ministry and with local churches.
While we live in Finland, we still continue working in Costa Rica. Diego is traveling regularly to participate and do ministry in Costa Rica 3-4 times a year.