Grace Presbyterian Church is located in Chicago and is a Christian fellowship that gathered about 600 people. At the beginning of this year, they sent to Costa Rica one of the pastors: Joe Shelly. He went to CR on a scouting trip to see the possibilities of supporting a project and sending a service team in the middle of the year. During his visit, he was taken to 3 churches where the community center could be supported: VAE, Alajuelita, and Caminantes church.
In a pastoral meeting, back in Chicago, they decided to support VAE, in the construction of a multipurpose room to provide the parents of the CAFI with a training space to build capacity to be able to provide for their family. Vida Abundante del Este (VAE) brings support to 60 children every Saturday with tutorials. These kids represent a total of 60 families that are improving their emotional, educational and physical well-being.
We had several meetings via zoom, before the trip, while coordinating the budget, lodging, food, and activities to be carried out, in addition, we wanted to start with the Find your fire (FYF) program for Latin America. The group arrived from June 11 to 18. Formed by 9 young people between 14 and 17 years old and 4 adults who accompanied them. Our goal was always that at the same time that they supported the project, they also received training from the FYF program. An itinerary was created where the project support, recreational activities, devotionals, and sharing with children, parents, and leaders. One hour walking through the community sharing with families of the CAFI and bringing evangelistic pamphlets.