Holy Week in Costa Rica 🌅⛪✝️
This is our first Holy Week or “Semana Santa” in Costa Rica. It is the busiest time of year in the town of Jaco. The schools around the country are closed and many people who live inland head for the beaches in Jaco and other coastal towns (Tamarindo, Quepos, Playa del Coco). In other traditional Costa Rican towns, it’s common to have a “Last Supper Procession” on Holy Thursday and an elaborate and decorative Good Friday procession with several stations of the cross. It would be interesting to experience some of these unique religious traditions and festivities, but they are no longer celebrated in Jaco and the one highway through town is backed up for miles. As usual, most people here in Jaco are content doing tourist things and engaging in the nightlife.
Our family is blessed to have a small role in the Good Friday service at Horizon Church this week. Julie, Zoe and I will be sharing from Isaiah 53:3-10 and talking briefly about how we are healed by Jesus’ wounds and how his death represents victory over sin for everyone who believes. We also have a youth mission team staying at Ocean’s Edge this week from Rochester, New York. The team finished painting a huge mural at an elementary school and visited several businesses to pray with the owners. They also volunteered at Horizon Church and helped with maintenance around the Ocean’s Edge property. It’s a young team, but I will be training them in basic Biblical principles relating to how we view work as Christians. My training is being videotaped by one of our marketing interns for future use.
A New Christian Surfer 🏄
Branden is probably the most surfer-ish dude I ever met. He came to Jaco for a few months never thinking he would encounter the Savior. A couple of the young male interns at Ocean’s Edge befriended Branden and he became a regular around Roasted Edge coffee shop. He began attending Horizon Church regularly and engaging the Christian community. He desired a new lifestyle and better choices, but he also understood that, unless he experienced a real transformation, he wouldn’t be able to resist falling back into his old life. To his credit, Branden really struggled with this decision and expressed that he wanted it to be genuine.
This past Sunday evening, Branden kneeled with several Christians and dedicated his life to Christ. Praise the Lord! That night, he immediately began planning to get baptized. On Monday, he responded to the Holy Spirit by stopping and talking to a homeless drug addict and sharing the love of Christ. On Tuesday, he shared some of his favorite Christian songs with us at the coffee shop and we listened to them together. Branden sang loudest. Last night, Branden was baptized in the surf at a beach down the road called Playa Hermosa, his favorite local beach. About thirty of us came for the celebration. It was his last sunset in Costa Rica before returning home.
Today, Branden returned to Corpus Christi where he grew up. He doesn’t know a single Christian there and has no family to speak of. His Jaco Christian family is the only family he knows. Before he left, I challenged Branden to arm himself with the Word and find a community of believers to train him how to use his new "sword." I encourage him to order his own ESV or NASB study bible as soon as he returns home. I also offered to help him find Bible-centered churches to visit in Corpus Christi – churches where he can get connected with a small group of young adults to encourage and disciple him. I explained a couple promises for every believer: that God will never abandon him (Deut. 31:8, Heb. 13:5), and that God will provide for his needs (Phil. 4:19). I explained that, unlike some New Agers in the surfing community, Jesus and his disciples and the Apostle Paul were not captivated by dreamy mystical experiences or cleverly devised schemes. They were constantly pointing to the scriptures and the truth of God’s word. I hope you’ll join us in praying for Branden's spiritual growth and search for Christian community.
Accepting the Truth of God’s Word 📖
I was so happy this Monday after meeting with one of our long-time friends here in Jaco. This friend and I meet and discuss the Word once or twice every week. I’d become discouraged because he tends to reject the plain language of the Bible in favor of human understanding on weighty topics like Jesus’ deity and God’s character. I met with him Monday after a long absence and he said he’s reading over some Bible passages again with a more open and accepting mind. This was a tremendous answer to my prayers.
We’re not surprised that the world rejects the Bible, but this friend claims to be a Christian. Even believers rebel against Biblical authority at times. Perhaps pride or ongoing sin leads us to reject the truth of who God is. We opt for a god of our own making who makes us comfortable with our worldly nature. We may feel better temporarily, but all we’ve done is create an idol to ourselves (1 Sam. 15:22-23). Rejecting the truth of God’s Word is a sign of a rebellious heart in the Christian and non-Christian alike. God’s Word is truth, and we are to obey Him rather than men (Acts 5:29). It begins with fully accepting God precisely as He has revealed Himself in the Bible. Please pray for this friend and for me – that we would continue meeting together faithfully and yielding our own understanding to the truth of God's Word.
Visitors from Montana! 🏔️
In March, we had our first visitors to Jaco from Montana! Our niece Abbie is a nursing student from MSU-Bozeman. She spent her spring break here with us in our tiny condo and saw some of the terrain and wildlife. She fed the homeless with us and attended Horizon Church. She was such a joy to have around.
Abbie's trip overlapped with a visit from our daughter Kalyssa. Kalyssa brought Zoe back to Jaco from Billings after Zoe’s volleyball season ended. Thanks, Kalyssa, for helping Zoe knock out so much math! And thank you to Zoe’s coaches and teammates who made it a special season. Special thanks to our dear friends, the Schiffner family, who kept Zoe safe and warm while Kalyssa was out of town. You showed Zoe so much kindness and love! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends.
While she was here, Kalyssa began a mural with a team visiting from Toledo, Ohio. She also helped Ocean’s Edge learn how to operate a laser engraver that we purchased second-hand recently. The engraver will be used by a new business called Marketing Edge, which is part of the Business As Mission’s program that I oversee. Kalyssa’s help with the engraver will help expand our training experience for the marketing interns. These interns learn to work alongside real estate companies and can be placed into Christian ministry almost anywhere in the world.
Prayer Requests and Praises
I previously shared how our small community of Jaco seems overrun with false teachers offering prophecies, healings, deliverance from demons, baptismal regeneration, end-times predictions, and more. These teachers have found their way into Horizon Church on occasion. Please continue to pray that these “ministries” would wither away, the truth of God’s Word would prevail, the leadership at Horizon would continue to be courageous, and God’s people would be protected.
On a related note, there is exciting news. A month ago, a group of 15 men from Horizon, including myself, began church leadership training. These men were selected by Pastor Daniel because he knows they are solid in their theology and have a heart for discipling others in the church and protecting the flock. Wow! In the year-and-a-half since we first came to Jaco, this was my first time gathering with a small group from church where I didn't feel like I had to guard vigilantly against false teaching. It was an incredible answer to prayer and a turning point for Horizon Church. To God be the glory!
Pastor Daniel at Horizon Church is a wonderful Godly man. His family is a blessing to the community. He has been the pastor for the entire 10-years of this church and has faced many attacks and challenges. He has a tremendous heart for the "least of these." God is using him to pave the way for our ministry here in Jaco. We are so grateful!
Please continue to pray that our vision for a successful Christian ministry to the handful of squatter neighborhoods and slums in the Jaco area will become a reality. We are identifying individual Christians who share our vision for this outreach, but there are several hurdles. Most notably, other Christians have discouraged us. Those who have served in these neighborhoods before have seen little fruit. Our vision for an effective ministry is that God raises up young Christian pastors and leaders in these communities so the church has a presence in the slums every day and generations of drug use and prostitution come to an end.
Please pray for Ron's sister, Kayleen. As many of you know, she has had severe health problems and has been hospitalized the past several months. She was recently relocated from Billings Clinic to a nursing home in Clancy, Montana, only to suffer some additional health problems requiring hospitalization again. She is currently in St. Peter's Hospital in Helena receiving quality care, but she is in constant pain and in need of comfort and several medical victories. We serve a big God. Please pray for Kayleen's complete healing.
Thank You!! ❤️
We are so thankful for those of you who have partnered with us financially. We are currently less than 25% funded, but God is providing and teaching us to trust in Him. I am blessed to have a colleague back home who provides legal work that I can do remotely. This has been a tremendous blessing to us in addition to the giving we receive. We look forward to the day we can devote ourselves entirely to ministry.
Please look around our website and consider participating in our ministry, whether financially or by visiting us here in Costa Rica. We would love to introduce you to our new community of Jaco. We would also love to hear how you are doing. Please reach out to us with an update anytime at our email address: swiftsunriseinc@gmail.com.
Pura vida!
Ron, Julie and Zoe Youde
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