Pura Vida Newsletter--September and Submission

Hey friends!  Below you will find my latest newsletter!  Enjoy!

And a note about submission.  As some of you who read this blog have found, it often acts as my diary (open for the world to read).  So I feel compelled to share a word about submission with you today.  Perhaps if only to put it out there for public record so that I am held accountable to what I feel God leading me to do.

It's an off-putting, dare I say alienating word--submission.  It conjures up a whole host of images and emotions.  And yet it is something we are encouraged to do, compelled to do, as those who have chosen to follow Christ.  And I am, once again, being called to do it.  It.is.NOT.fun!

I read this morning (after an insightful and convicting message last night and affirming talk after with my pastor) about submission in (....yes, you guessed it) My Utmost for His Highest:

"First be reconciled to your brother...' Our Lord's directive is simple--'First be reconciled...' He says, in effect, 'Go back the way you came-- the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing.' Jesus does not mention the other person-- He says for you to go.  It is not a matter of your rights.  The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus."

OUCH!  He always cuts right to the heart of the matter.  "It's not a matter of your rights."  But doesn't he know that I AM right.  Doesn't Oswald know that what he's [my neighbor and brother in Christ] proposing is ridiculous, dare I say outlandish.  Why would I submit to that?  No one would disagree with me (particularly no one who lives in the US).  It's unfair!

"What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?...Submit yourselves then to God."
-James 4:1, 7

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority..."
- 1 Peter 2:13

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving." -Colossians 3:23-24

Amen.  There's nothing left to do than submit.  And oh, how it hurts, the injustice of it all.  In fact, it reminds me of another injustice, an even greater one, the fruits of which I now live in each day, I drink in morning and night.  And I remember, it is for FREEDOM that Christ has set me free.  And that includes a FREEDOM to submit--not for my sake, certainly not for the unjust, ridiculous, law-keeper's sake, but for HIS sake, to bring HIM honor and glory, to love and obey HIM, and to live in the light of His truth and grace.

Pura Vida September 2012

Lis: A Changed Life

One of the things I am doing with FundaVida (www.fundavida.org) in addition to helping with their programming for at-risk teens is collecting and writing stories about kids whose lives have been changed through the holistic presence that FundaVida has in some of the poorest, most violent communities around San Jose.  Below is a story about Liseth, one of the girls who participates in the bi-weekly discipleship program I help lead.  

I'm excited to be joining the other teen program leaders and youth leadership/discipleship kids on a trip to serve the indigenous Bribri people who live in a remote area called Talamanca in the southernmost part of Costa Rica later this month.  It will be a challenging trip, taking kids from the inner-city to experience poverty and need on a whole new level as we serve alongside a local church and nonprofit seeking to provide educational and income opportunities to these communities.  Many lack sanitary living conditions and struggle from subsequent illnesses and malnutrition.  

Please pray for us as we seek to bring hope, light, and tangible assistance to this area, as well as help these young FundaVida leaders better understand that leadership starts with serving.  Our tentative theme is it is better to give than receive (Acts 20:35). 

Lis:  A Changed Life

Pura Vida Newsletter--July 2012

Extra, extra read all about it!  An update on ministry with at-risk teens in Costa Rica!

Pura Vida July 2012

Pura Vida Newsletter--May 2012

Here's the latest edition of my Pura Vida newsletter.  If you would like to be added to my email list and receive regular newsletters, please email me at ali.c.campbell@gmail.com.  Happy reading!

Pura Vida May 2012

There are no coincidences!

Don't you just love that?!  In living a life of faith you know that there are no coincidences.  God says that He knows every hair on our head and every day of our lives.  And on top of that, He's so good!

As I was sitting in church last Tuesday at my young adult group, SuperNova, they were announcing that Crossover (a famous Costa Rican worship band, several of the bandmates lead worship each week at my church!) was going to open for the Jesus Adrian Romero concert on Friday.  WHAT?!  How did I miss this?  (Oh, yeah, I was in the US most of April :)

Jesus Adrian Romero is a huge Christian artist and I love his music, and of course, I love Crossover as well.  My next thought--oh, but I have FundaVida Teen Club on Friday night AND a birthday party for a good friend after that.  Sigh.  Oh well, next time....

So I go to club on Friday night and there are just a handful of kids.  The director, Alvaro, pulls me aside and says, "Hey, what do you think about us going for a drive?  Maybe go to the national stadium and sit on the steps, get some soda, and do our lesson there?"  Great idea!  The kids were really excited about doing something different and fun.  The national stadium opened last year and it is a HUGE deal in Costa Rica.  It was a gift from China and is one of this soccer-loving country's most prized possessions.

As we got close to the stadium, though, we realized it was teeming with people.  Did you figure it out yet?  Yep, you're right--the Jesus Adrian Romero concert!  I, nor Alvaro, had any idea the concert was at the national stadium!  So we got out, set down a tarp and soaked up the music from outside on the lawn as we discussed how a supernatural God does supernatural things in our natural lives and world.

There certainly are NO coincidences with God!  Not only did He bless us abundantly through the music, but it was a great example for the kids of the fact that God is always at work around us and desires to give us good gifts.

The view from outside the stadium!

Exciting announcement--joining the Commission to Every Nation family!

I'm excited to announce that I have been officially accepted to the Commission to Every Nation (www.cten.org) family!  Commission to Every Nation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides spiritual and financial accountability to those serving in ministries around the world! Founded in 1994, CTEN now assists over 450 individuals serving in more than 50 countries as they pursue their own great adventures to bring hope and life to a world in need.  After much prayer and research, I'm excited to join the team at CTEN and believe they will provide me, along with the leadership of the local organizations I will be serving with and my home church in Indiana and local Costa Rican church, with the support and accountability I need to faithfully carry out the work I believe God is leading me to do in Costa Rica.  

For those of you who have been financially partnering with me over the past 2+ years, I hope you will consider continuing to partner with me, as I follow the passion God has put on my heart for youth to know and love Him, and in the process for their lives to be transformed by this love that brings complete, holistic healing for a future free from poverty and violence.

To continue supporting me through Commission to Every Nation, you can make a tax-deductible gift by check or online via credit/debit card:

To give online, go to: www.cten.org/alicampbell and click “Donate” where you can sign up for a recurring monthly gift or special gift. 

To give by check, please send your check made payable to "CTEN" with a separate note indicating you would like the gift to be credited to "Ali Campbell" to:

Commission to Every Nation

PO Box 291307

Kerrville, TX 78209-1307

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at ali.c.campbell@gmail.com.  Thanks for reading!

Illegal Immigration--not just a problem in the US

This is the second in my series on organizations I will be helping with in this new season of life and ministry in Costa Rica.  For the first blog, scroll down to the entry directly before this one about FundaVida.  Now, I'd like to introduce you to New Horizons, a project by Christ for the City International in La Carpio, a largely immigrant community in San Jose.

La Carpio is a squatter community in San Jose, surrounded on two sides by a river and on the third by a large landfill, that arose in the mid-1990s at the height of Nicaraguan illegal immigration to Costa Rica.  Around 40,000 people live in the 1 square mile of La Carpio with an average of 6 per "home."  Most of the residents in La Carpio do not have titles to their land and live in houses constructed of scrap metal and wood with exposed cement or dirt floors.  Over half of the people living in La Carpio are undocumented immigrants from Nicaragua (the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) and other Central American countries.  The majority of its residents live below the poverty line and opportunities for work are few.  Those who do find work often work for a third of the pay a Costa Rican would receive with none of the social security and medical benefits Costa Rican workers receive in jobs such as construction, waste collection, and as maids. It is arguably one of the poorest, most violent slums in Costa Rica.

Below are some pictures of La Carpio:

One of the organizations fighting the cycle of poverty and violence in La Carpio is Christ for the City through their New Horizons project.  New Horizons has a plot of land at the end of La Carpio where there is a huge field for recreation, outdoor and indoor meeting areas for youth events and educational opportunities, two computer labs, and much more!  

There is no high school in La Carpio and so many kids stop going to school after 6th grade because their families either can't afford to send them to a school outside of La Carpio or they just don't.  New Horizons offers a systematic way for kids to move through high school by taking classes in each of the materials they need to pass and then taking the tests to pass them.  The idea is sort of like a GED.  I may help by teaching English through the Institute.  Learning English is one of the fastest ways for teens to rise out of poverty because it opens up a wide variety of job opportunities, even without any other formal education.  

Additionally, there is a great need for mentors for teen girls who have grown up in neglectful or abusive homes and are often sexually active by age 12 or 13.  There are opportunities to form relationships with girls through a Saturday recreation and bible study program, teaching Zumba (which I became licensed to teach in the States), and/or small group discipleship.  

Here are some pictures of the Saturday program I was able to volunteer with recently:

To read more about New Horizons, Christ for the City and the two American missionaries I will likely be helping out (Andrea and Seth Sears), please visit their blog:  http://richinfaith.blogspot.com/2010/08/day-in-la-carpio.html

Also, take a look at this video made by another missionary who works with New Horizons.  He has an amazing skateboard outreach to teen boys, as well as computer program that is providing real and tangible opportunities to learn skills to get better jobs!