Pastors in Costa Rica often have the same type of problems that pastors have anywhere...with a few more added due to culture and economy. Being a pastor in a country where another religion is dominant is hard. It's not the respected and accepted position that it is in the U. S.
Permit me to introduce you to three pastors who need your prayers. Of course there are more, but these three have come to my attention lately.
First, there is Rigoberto. Rigoberto lives in Quesada and is pastor of a small church which is about 6 years old. It was growing well until lately. Then what happened? A couple of people got upset about something. It doesn't matter what it was really. Their immaturity caused a disruption of fellowship and several families left the church. Understandably, Rigoberto is discouraged, and when pastors get discouraged, the church suffers too. Often they all begin to focus on problems instead of blessings and there is just a lack of joy. Rigoberto shared that they are struggling to have good music, a common problem for all small churches, especially in Latin America. Pray for Rigoberto to be encouraged and for God to work in the church to bring a fresh wind of joy and accord.
Gilberto is a fairly new Christian. He is not officially a pastor...hasn't been ordained or licensed or any of those official things, but he is leading a group of new believers in weekly Bible study and will take over full leadership of the group when one of our missionaries leaves in a couple of weeks. (Sounds kind of New Testament, doesn't it?) Gilberto came out of a pretty bad lifestyle. He used to drive a taxi and got in to all kinds of stuff. But he gave up his taxi because it presented too many temptations. For a while he had a small bakery, but that has proven unprofitable, so he shut it down. About the same time that happened, he lost his house. No, it wasn't repossessed. In a quasi-legal maneuver, the man from whom he was buying the house sold it to someone else and made Gilberto and his family move out. They had lived there and made payments for 14 years. Those kinds of things happen down here. Basically, they now have nothing. But Gilberto wants to stay in the town where they have been living and continue to lead the group. He needs your prayers.
One last pastor...thankfully, more positive, but still needing prayer. Leandro is pastor of a church in a rural area in northern Costa Rica. He lives very simply, as most do in the area. (We would view it as very poor, but to them it's normal.) Leandro is a progressive thinker and is very mission minded. He has several cell Bible study groups going in closeby villages and is looking for ways to start more. Leandro is training people to be leaders of these groups and has a view to reach as many as he can in the area. Pray that God will continue to give him vision.
