Where are you from?

We live in the community of Los Guido in Desamparados, Costa Rica.

What is something you like to do in your spare time?

In our spare time we enjoy spending time with friends, watching movies, reading, and spending time with the children and youth of Los Guido. We also enjoy music, sports, and our daughter Hanukka loves ballet.

Why did you decide to join the SI team?

We love serving and learning from people. In Students International we found a way to serve our community while helping people transform their lives.

Describe the site where you’ll work with SI:

The plan is for Luis Diego to work with the youth of Los Guido in the area of sports.  He will use soccer and other sports to build relationships with the youth and to teach biblical values while providing them healthy ways to spend their time.

The plan is for Cindy to work in a micro business site with women, helping them to develop business plans and apply for small business loans. The goal is to then walk alongside these women as they carry out their business plans in the hope that these women might be able to provide for their families.

What is one thing you are looking forward to in your future ministry with SI?

We are hoping that God touches the lives of those we will work with, both students and the poor. We are praying God will touch women’s lives as they learn about his heart for them and that they’ll be able to provide for their families. We are praying God will touch the hearts of young people through sports, and that because of that they will leave the life of drugs and violence behind.

Do you have a favorite verse? What is it?

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” plus Psalm 1 and Psalm 8.

God continues to work and to move in mighty ways in and through SI-Costa Rica. The last few months have been eventful. In May as we were preparing to welcome our first team of the summer our office was broken into, and then in June our woodshop was also robbed. Through both events the Lord’s protection and faithfulness were clearly evident as the losses could have been and should have been much greater than they were. The Lord has also brought many new relationships about due to the robberies. In the midst of trial God has proven faithful and used what the enemy meant for evil for good.

As our summer outreach season is winding down, I am amazed by the reports coming in from staff and participants of the ministry that transpires in the name of Jesus.   This month is focusing on SI-Costa Rica, and it is clear that everything happening there is a result of lots of prayer and lots of work. The addition of Costa Rica national staff as well as two outstanding Nicaraguan women as interns has been a huge blessing. As the chairperson of our board Mike Alipaz said, “Students International seems to be in an incredible season of blessing.” I agree wholeheartedly, and as we continue to grow in SI there are more opportunities for full-time staff. Maybe you might consider giving several years of your life serving another culture in the name of Jesus? Or perhaps you might know of someone who would be open to that challenge? If so, please contact me at our SI office.   The Visalia staff at the SI Service Center has worked diligently, seeing that all things run smoothly. From team communication to booking next year’s schedule, there is rarely a down moment. I am thankful for their hard work and the blessing they are to this ministry.

I would also like to remind you of our annual banquet coming up September 18th in Visalia. If you can make it please contact the office for details.

Dave

Eleven years ago Students International desired to expand beyond Guatemala, the only country they had ministered in, and they visited the Dominican Republic. In God’s timing and in his will, the SI team met Lowell and Cheryl Troyer and began ministry in the DR under their leadership. Soon some of their friends joined them in this kingdom work and the leadership team of the Troyers and Nate and Maggie Slabach was complete. The two couples are reminiscent of how Jesus sent out his disciples in groups of two. This pair of families began a decade of adventure, remarkable by the parents’ humility and obedience. Their children were young and grew up as best friends, involved in the ministry at many levels. Today they are all dynamic believers starting new lives of their own. Meanwhile, the four parents are continuing to work together as a team and the entire DR ministry reflects them. What a beautiful picture of how it should be! Please continue to pray for them and their families as together they seek to be faithful in all they do.

Psalm 133:1 “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.”

Dave

We are excited to announce that we have two new couples that have committed to serve with SI here in the DR. Jayson and Lindsay York and their three children plan to join us the middle of August. Jayson will be working on Funds Development here in the DR.  Hans and Jami Miller and their two young boys will be joining us in February of 2011. Hans will working in our construction site and helping with maintenance around the base and at ministry sites. Jami has a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Development and has been trained to be a coach to other teachers. Pray for these two families as they fund raise and prepare to transition to life in the DR.

In April two of our staff, Rudy and Yajairia, were married here at the SI base. We pray blessings on Rudy and Yajairia as they continue to serve SI together.

In April we also took our staff to Haiti to help in one of the tent communities of Port-au-Prince that has developed since the earthquake. This was a great experience for each one of us to step out of our comfort zone, to be reminded what it is like for the teams we host when they come to the DR, and to minister to those who had lost so much in the earthquake. It is amazing that as we serve, God uses what we give and He multiples it over and over again to bless others. Thanks again for your support and investment into the lives of so many here in the Dominican Republic.

Here are some reflections of the last five months from the DR Field Director.

January to May have been very busy months for SI/DR. We’ve hosted nine different outreaches, which have been a blessing to both us at Students International and to the surrounding communities here in the Dominican Republic. Our first team was from Greenville College in southern Illinois. From this team we had several people commit to serve here in the DR this summer as interns and two students signed up to be a part of our fall semester program.

In February we hosted a women’s outreach team. While here, God laid on the heart of one of the ladies to raise the money to purchase four new treadle (non-electric) sewing machines for our social work sites. Two will be placed in our social work site in El Callejon and two in our women’s center in Los Higos. This visionary, a former home-economics teacher, will be coming this month to train the leaders of these sites how to use the machines. What a blessing this will be! Another one of the ladies that came as a participant on the women’s team has now signed up to bring a group of women from Indiana to the DR next February.

In March a team from Taylor University brought hundreds of pairs of shoes with them to be distributed to the people in the communities of our ministry sites. Before you could receive a pair of shoes, Team Victory washed each child’s feet and prayed for them. You can imagine the excitement of all those who were blessed with a brand new pair of shoes!

Also in March, along with our regular teams, we hosted a vision tour lead by the President of SI, Dave Hansen. The response from this group was a great encouragement to us. In this group was a couple from Hume Lake in California that leads the Joshua Wilderness Institute. After visiting here they signed up to bring a group of around 70 for a two-week outreach in January. We also hosted several people from a Church in Sturgis, Michigan who decided to bring a team in June.

These are some of the ways that the fruits of our labor have blessed us. I wish you could hear or that I could share all the testimonies of people who have come and left a part of their heart here in Jarabacoa. Again, we praise God for His faithfulness!

-For Dustin Woida as he learns Spanish

-For the development and funding of the new workshop and apprenticeship program

-For the approval of our non-profit association by the Costa Rican government

-For quality Costa Rican staff members who are called to work with SI-Costa Rica

Dave and Janice Hansen

This past month I visited SI Costa Rica while on a “vision tour” with professors representing nine colleges or universities from the states.  All are interested in partnering with Students International for semester programs.  It is exciting to report that Costa Rica will be offering semester programs similar to the spring Guatemala term and the fall term in the Dominican Republic. Jeff Dixon, country director, and Darin Mather, who has been instrumental in developing curriculum for all of the programs, are crafting a unique program that will include an SI partnership with the University of Costa Rica. Several Christian Universities are excited about the partnership that would allow science majors to study abroad without falling behind in their required class and lab work. The program would also include an emphasis on learning the Spanish language and offer time to work alongside our staff at the ministry sites.

The current semester programs in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic have served as great models, yet each country and culture is unique. The Costa Rica program looks as if it will begin spring of 2011. Students spending a semester in a country while pursuing their course of study and serving at the ministry sites have been a blessing to the work of Students International.  Furthermore, the semester programs encapsulate our mission and vision statement:

Mission
Bringing students and the poor together cross-culturally to encounter God, share the Good News, disciple and serve others in occupational ministries.

Vision
Seeing students and the poor transformed into the likeness of Christ and discover their true calling.

Blessings,
Dave

Cailah Pritchard

Cailah was one of our first staff members here in Costa Rica. She grew up in Hanford, California and graduated from Biola University with a degree in Intercultural Studies. Before college Cailah spent time serving in Chile with YWAM where she learned Spanish and developed a love of Latin culture. Throughout her college years Cailah was anxious to graduate and to put her degree into practice. It was clear God was leading her into overseas missions. It was not a question of “if,” but rather “when” and “where.” Cailah says, “Through a combination of the right timing and connections, God confirmed that SI Costa Rica was the place for her at this time.”  As Cailah works in the community of Las Fuentes at the Community Development Site she constantly strives to bring a level of excellence to her work and to incorporate the community members into the decision making process. “And although we may not always see the kind of results we anticipate, it’s clear that God is at work in the people of Las Fuentes through the continual building of relationships and the enthusiasm of the people for the projects at work there.”

In Los Guidos SI-Costa Rica staff person Krysta Williams runs a tutoring center in partnership with La Iglesia Cristiana Reformada de Los Guidos and Food for the Hungry Costa Rica. The tutoring center provides a safe place for children to work on their homework, enjoy educational activities, to practice their English, or to read a book.  Although the tutoring center is available for students of all ages, the majority of those who come are in elementary school. The Costa Rican school year ends in December, so Krysta is busy helping children study for year-end exams and finish up various projects.  In the five months since the tutoring center has opened it has developed a consistent clientele. It is a joy to watch God work in the lives of these children. For Krysta, “the best of part of the tutoring center is being able to build relationships with the kids who are coming everyday and to be able to be a positive adult who can sit and listen to them for awhile. It’s amazing to see how they light up when you say you’ll go to the playground with them, or even just listening to them read for a few minutes.”