Our church had a guest speaker one Sunday who is a missionary with e3 Partners Ministry. He shared about his short term mission trips, including one to Costa Rica this summer. He preached a very persuasive sermon about sharing the gospel and how these trips are a great opportunity to do that. The crux of his sermon was basically that as a follower of Christ, what good reason do we have to not go? We both realized that all our excuses and reasons were nothing that God could not overcome, if He wanted us to go.

Our team will be led by e3 Partners Ministry. Together, we will take the Good News of the Gospel to the people of San Jose. Our team will partner with national churches and believers to target unreached areas with the Gospel. Each day we will team up with several national believers, including a translator, and go home to home sharing Christ with those we meet. The nationals we work with are committed to following-up with the people who make professions of faith throughout the week - and are further dedicated to establishing new churches in these areas.

We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with us on this e3 Expedition. We believe God is calling us to go, however, this can only happen if others help send us. As it says in Romans 10:13-15:

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of who they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are SENT?
As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Would you consider sending us? There are two ways you can do this. Most importantly, you can commit to pray for us. This is a great opportunity outside our comfort zones and we desperately need prayer. Evangelism is not our strong suit nor something we are very comfortable with doing. Also, Brenden is not fond of travel. Second, you can give financially to help cover our Expedition expenses.

Thank you for prayerfully considering this request. We look forward to seeing how the Lord will move as we take this step of faith. Your prayer and financial support will be a great blessing to us, as well as to many who will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel because you helped send us.

Brenden and Sami VanEenwyk

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Costa Rica is a most unusual country. It has no military, but is protected in a time of war by Venezuela. It is small geographically and with a population of only about five million, but it is home for 500,000 to 700,000 Nicaraguan refugees, which places a real strain on the country. The official state religion is Roman Catholicism, but other religious groups do have freedom under the law. The evangelical church does have an imprint in Costa Rica, but is facing a number of problems. One challenge that faces the church is the staggering number of young people in Costa Rica. Two thirds of the population is under 30 years of age. Many of those in that category are simply not attuned to the church's culture and thus are not associated with the church. A further challenge for the church is adequate discipleship for new believers. The church has been quite good at "winning" converts, but historically has struggled to build them up in the faith. Our ministry with e3 Partners brings to the church nontraditional ideas of church growth and a discipleship method that leads to churches which has been proven to work around the world. Our goal is to initiate a Church Planting Movement that will spread throughout the country.