In a remote Cabécar village in Costa Rica, Arsenio, a Global Mission pioneer, overcomes physical and cultural barriers to share the Adventist message. Arsenio and aspiring pastor Melvin work passionately to bring hope and the love of Jesus to their indigenous community, striving to make the gospel accessible in their native language.
For the people in this remote village, a trip to the nearest store means hours of trekking through steep mountains and crossing treacherous rivers. Life can be challenging for the Cabécar, an indigenous tribe in Costa Rica.
This is a largely unreached people group for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In addition to the physical barriers of the terrain, the language and cultural differences are another challenge.
“Everything is difficult. It's hard, it's not easy, you know? Some people don’t like it. People don't always like the gospel.”
The Cabécar people can be shy and resistant to outside influences. Arsenio is one of just a few Adventist Cabécars. He learned about the Adventist message from a lay preacher visiting his village and was eventually baptized.
Recently Arsenio became a Global Mission pioneer working to start a new congregation of believers among his own people. Arsenio is being mentored by Alvaro, a pastor who belongs to the Bribri tribe, a related indigenous group. Alvaro pastors the nearest Adventist church, which is many hours away.
Although Arsenio already speaks the language and knows the customs, sharing a new worldview is still challenging. Arsenio models Christ’s method and visits families in their homes. This has allowed him to develop relationships throughout the village. Some have asked about his faith and have started Bible studies. One of these people is Ana, who meets with Arsenio regularly and sometimes invites others to her home for small group meetings.
“So we went, then they opened the door and we read the Word and prayed, and they felt good about it. Now they have opened their home to us so that we can always meet as a small group.”
Over the past year, several people have accepted Jesus into their hearts and have been baptized. There has been so much enthusiasm that a church was constructed by Maranatha Volunteers International.
On this day, local Adventist church leaders from the Caribbean Costa Rica Mission came to offer support to Arsenio and the villagers by bringing food, sponsored by ADRA.
They meet in the church for a short worship and prayer. Then, the group gathers in Arsenio’s home to enjoy the food.
Nearly halfway across the country, Melvin is a student at Central America Adventist University
Like Arsenio, Melvin became an Adventist because of a lay preacher who visited his village.
When the message arrived in my community, it was a different message, a message of hope for a village who didn't know about God.
Melvin felt a conviction to bring this message of hope back to his people.
“For me I feel that it was a call from God. So I accepted the call because I saw that it was an important message for my family, for my community, and for all the people I know.”
Melvin is studying to become the first Cabécar Adventist pastor. His dream is to translate Adventist literature into the Cabécar language so the gospel can be more accessible to his people.
Please pray as Melvin and pioneer Arsenio take the gospel to unreached villages in Costa Rica. Pray that the Cabécar will be a people group filled with the love of Jesus. Thank you for making this work possible.
“Thank you for supporting Global Mission.”
