Building Church Partnership In Playa Azul
An update from Leo Parris, an elder of Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA...
Greetings brothers and sisters. For some time, members in our church have loved Costa Rica and in recent years have developed a burgeoning friendship with Chespi, lead pastor of Casa Vida. Chespi’s wonderful people have worked with many missions teams to build a beautiful camp site to host teams and serve as a connection point to their neighborhood. Their church also meets there on the property.
Earlier in July, Covenant Fellowship sent me and my fellow pastor Jared Torrence, along with 21-person team of youth and adults to deepen our partnership with Casa Vida Iglésia in Playa Azul, Costa Rica. We went in faith despite the challenges of travelling during COVID (very challenging there right now). God was so kind! He kept us safe while there and we all were able to return safely home on time. By God’s grace he helped us accomplish a lot in a short time under the leadership of several guys from Playa Azul and the church. While there we worked hard most of the day laying a concrete basketball court, painting large trash receptacles, and constructing street signs for the community. It was hard, but it was fun!
Through this trip, our youth were also able to build relationally with Casa Vida Iglésia and the Playa Azul community. We worshipped in song in Spanish most evenings and prayed for one another. On Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching to the church from John 1 on the deity and humanity of Christ. Alvaro, deacon of Casa Vida, did an excellent job translating. That evening we enjoyed a traditional Costa Rican barbecue with the church. It was a rich time of exalting Christ, loving one another, and sharing fellowship!
One fun highlight for our youth was participating in a 4-church futbol tournament at the campsite field. Our team, Gracia Soberana, held our own, at least for a bunch of gringos! We even came away with one win (not sure if this was just them being kind though, haha)!
I’m so grateful for the many friendships that my team and I built while in Playa Azul. At the airport on the way home the question that I kept hearing was, “So when are we going back?” I love that! Our hearts our filled with gratefulness for what God is doing in Playa Azul, and they remain behind as our prayers continue for this church. We certainly do hope to return to continue deepening our partnership and help this church spread the gospel throughout the Puntarenes region of Costa Rica. I’m so grateful for partnership in the gospel! God is so kind to join us to a worldwide body when he saves and unites us to himself.
