Faith, FROGS
I
Members of Faith lead a sing-along in Puriscal, Costa Rica.
Judy Knutson (right), a member of Faith, makes a new friend in Alla- juelita, Costa Rica.
& Costa Rica How one congregation’s mission
relationship has changed them By Natalie Zett
n January 2011, Minnesota’s winter seemed a distant memory compared to the vibrant tropics of Costa Rica that surrounded DeNae Van Westrienen. She had joined other members of Faith Lutheran Church, Coon Rapids, on a nine-day global mission trip—her first. Leaving her husband and two small children was difficult, but the call was too great to ignore.
“While in college I wanted to join the Peace Corps. But then I got married, had children and put that dream on hold,” she said. The Van Westrienens had even considered becoming missionaries. “Then Costa Rica fell into my lap via the mission trip through Faith,” she said. Van Westrienen didn’t know what to expect: “It blew
my mind. This was a time of cultural exchange, of learn- ing and partnership.” The 20-year-old Lutheran Costa Rican Church (Iglesia
Zett is a freelance writer in St. Paul, Minn. 14 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Luterana Costarricense) is a member of the Lutheran World Federation and the Communion of Central Ameri- can Lutheran Churches. The connection between Faith and Costa Rica began in 2006 when one of its pastors, Kiri I. Solberg, and her husband, went there on a mission trip. They were accompanied by another couple and Ste- phen Deal, ELCA regional director for Latin America. “We fell in love with what we saw,” Solberg said.
“Typically we measure a church by its size. But in Costa Rica, the church is actually the community, not a building.”
Faith immediately wanted a long-term relationship with the Costa Rican church. “We don’t just drop in some place to be ‘do-gooders’ and then leave,” Solberg said. “We wanted the experience to change us—to show us how our choices impact our brothers and sisters. Since we started traveling to Costa Rica, there’s been a consistent core ministry team through our global mission outreach.” Faith’s global mission outreach leader, George Dahl- man, is planning the next trip to Costa Rica in March. Recently retired, he has traveled to the country five times. During the visits to Costa Rica, a team of 10 to 12 usu- ally completes a work project. “We do spackling, electri- cal work, painting—we’ve even built furniture,” Dahl- man said. “However, it’s in the spirit of being immersed in the community. A local person is in charge of work proj- ects, so that means you get to learn Spanish the hard way.” Often they’ll stay with the locals. “We’ll have a wor- ship service with them,” he said. “We share things like arts and crafts, and have reading and games for the kids. Over several days, we’ll get to know each other.”
Learning, living the ‘body of Christ’ Dahlman said members have learned much about being
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