Planting seeds in Jaco, Costa Rica

Dear friends and family,

We wanted to write to keep you informed of what we have been doing in our school. First of all, we have just returned from 3 amazing months in Bogota, Colombia. We had the privilege to work with children in the ministry “Shaping Lives” and were able to learn a lot about the lives of the children, some who have been abused and exploited physically and emotionally. We were given the opportunity to share with them about a loving and forgiving God who is capable of cleaning hearts and changing their lives and futures. We were able to see in their faces a new smile, full of joy, peace, trust and above all, love. It was a very satisfying time, filled with purpose. We feel honored to be a part of what God is doing in Bogota, knowing that He is using our lives to change others.

Now begins a new step in our training for Children at Risk. We are still in the practical part of our training, this time we are on the Pacific coast of Cost Rica, in one of the most touristic places of the country, called Jaco. Here the needs are derived from issues such as drug abuse, prostitution, the breakdown of family structures,etc. These problems are are a result of the lack of culture and values and we will be working to fight against this pattern in the next 3 months. The amount of Christians in this place is minimal. The majority of them do not have a clear message of who God is and what His love and forgiveness towards humanity truly signifies. We are working with the ministry “Christian Surfers” to help them with one of the biggest and most important surfing events directed by the brand BILLABONG. We are also helping in a camp for children who desire to learn to surf. Additionally we will help them with a surf competition called Eternal Crown, organized by the ministry. These and many other activities organized by the municipality, Christian church and missionaries with whom we are joining during our stay in Jaco. We hope to plant seeds in this area, one of our purposes here is to leave Jaco with firmly established relationships so that in the future we could continue with this project in Jaco and continue making a difference in the lives of people here.

We are still praying for more supporters who would like to support us in prayer and financing. We believe that God can change and transform lives through our work and our personal relationships with Him. If you would like to be part of this work and feel in your heart to help us, we leave you with an invitation to contact us and let us know the way in which you want to help us.

If you want to know how you can donate financially, the following are instructions for how to do so:

Make checks payable to Youth With A Mission or YWAM. Please do not put the missionaries name anywhere on the check. Enclose a separate note designating this donation for Rachel Grimes (Rachel has already set up an account through YWAM. Send checks to:

Youth With A Mission (or YWAM)
4444 Edgar Park Avenue
El Paso, TX 79904

You can make one donation at a time with a credit card on our web site www.ywamepj.org through PayPal or if you have a PayPal account you can send a donation directly to the e-mail address below. Make sure you put who this donation is for in the PayPal Item.

Our telephone number is 919-757-3387.
Our e-mail address is accounting@ywamepj.org


We pray that God blesses your life in abundance.

Sincerely,

The team for Children at Risk School in YWAM, San Jose, Costa Rica
Jessi, Rachel, Renate Warner, Elena and Suzanne