2026: August

Greetings from Costa Rica. We are slowly entering the rainy season and appreciate the sunny mornings that come with slightly cooler temperatures.  Local students are entering their third trimester of school while the American school just started back last week.  While it hasn’t been an easy transition back, Windsor and River are getting the hang of 3rd and 6th grade.  Please pray for them as they navigate difficulties like taking grade level spanish literature and history and being a part of a school initiative in transition.  Big things are on the horizon for them though as next fall, the new school facility will be ready.

We remember the start of this month celebrating an over $6,000 fundraiser led by the Connect Women’s Ministry.  Dale Mitchell and her fearless leaders hosted the 5th Annual Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser.  Jhoana White gave a testimony of what her time was like in Costa Rica serving in June and RuthE Tobey led the charge in the kitchen with her famous and delicious sauce.  Thank you to everyone who came out to volunteer, dine-in or carry out meals.  We appreciate the consistency this fundraiser gives us in doing ministry.

Shortly after returning to the mission field, Jordanna’s college roommate, Amanda, and her two kids came to serve for a week.  Amanda is a nurse practitioner with her own medical business focusing on women’s health.  This is her second visit here but her first with her two children Kellen and Charlie. 

Seeing as summer classes carried on while Jordanna was away, many of the girls had earned an abundance of discipleship points and having Amanda in town gave us good reason to book a guest house for a slumber party!  Girls swam, ate good food, played soccer and were able to ask Amanda deep questions about life as a young woman today.  The questions demonstrated great vulnerability and we were delighted to have Amanda’s sincere attention for their specific questions.  We also celebrated Merary’s 23rd birthday while we were there.  Merary continues to be an asset to our program in many ways and we are very thankful for her loyalty and dedication.

Pepper hosted a retreat for five combat veterans through his organization, Freedom Alliance.  These women have fought in hard places in times of war and some are still active duty.  It was a joy to partner with Freedom Alliance and show the group our community and use their strength and hearts to feed 50 families.  A “diario” is a food bag that can last a family a week in groceries.  Now that high tourism season is over, families are hungry.  It’s our joy to be able to help, even for just one week, to eliminate the need for them to perhaps take desperate measures to find resources. These women helped meet that need and we were thankful for them!

We have a mission team arriving from Howerton’s Baptist Church in just three days!  This is a returning team, led by Jordanna’s youth pastor Mike Walter.  They have come every year for a long weekend over Labor Day to come alongside us and serve in areas that are of much need.  This trip they will be building a gaga ball pit, a bunk bed for a family of 6 and hosting a Children’s Day Carnival.  Children’s Day in Costa Rica is almost equal to Christmas so it is wonderful that we can show our NOW Costa Rica children God’s love during this very important time of the year.

Prayer Requests:

- Please be praying for our boys' leaders: Kenneth, Vinicio, Seth & Dany.  Kenneth and Vinicio are graduates of the Rehab Farm “The Finca” associated with Horizon Church.  Vinicio has a passion for music and Kenneth brings great energy for games and teaching English.  Dany has remained loyal and steady as our Bible teacher which is amazing since he was once a student himself!  We will welcome Seth Lockwood TOMORROW as an intern who will teach swim lessons and join Kenneth in teaching English to our boys.  Please pray that this team will stay focused and united as they empower this next generation of young men here.

- Please be praying for our girls’ leaders: Jennifer, Merary, Doneira, Ariana, Amanda, Channel.  They worked very hard over the summer months and celebrated well with the pool party and sleep over.  We will take a break from girls classes this season to focus on leader training for our Pillars Program on Saturdays led by Jordanna.  Meanwhile the NOW CR girls will take choreographed dance classes and some art classes, so as to stay engaged here on the property.

- Please pray for several mothers who take the lead roles: Marielos, Kerly, Rita, Victoria, Alejandra, Laura.  Without invested mothers and grandmothers, we would not have the respect we need to run our ministry.  Several of these mothers will join us for the Leader Training next month.  Pray as they navigate leading their households and children in the ways of the Lord.

- Please pray for our 9-week leader training starting on Sept 26.  We will train our 12 leaders and more on the Pillars Program, which helps shape the futures for our girls and boys through foundation courses in the gospel and then characteristics of Godly living.  This curriculum was written by our NOW Costa Rica Council and was under review for many months.  It is targeted specifically to meet the needs of the girls living in this community, however the truths, realities and anti-human trafficking lessons are applicable to other communities should you or your church community want to have a copy.  It is in English and we are delighted to share with church partners.

In closing, we’d like to share our latest video update that shares about the need for an instructional pool.  With current funds and projected pledged funds we are 2/3rds of the way to our goal to break ground on this project.  We know that having an instructional pool will not only give our students the life saving skill of survival in water, but also may allow them to receive gainful employment in the tourism industry. Thank you so much for taking the time to watch or rewatch this video, pray about how to support this project and spread the word.  While having 2/3rds of the funds is reassuring, we still have a long way to go to break ground.  Would you pray about being our ambassador in seeking more funds for this project? Every little bit helps and sharing this video could make waves.  We send this newsletter to over 300 people and it’s viewed by nearly all of you!  Thank you for reading it!  Imagine if even just a portion took the time to help us reach our goal.  We are praying to find the resources by January 1st.  Our children will truly be blessed by your gift, support, prayers and dedication!

God bless you!

Jordanna, fam & team