Chicos

"Mike, this boy has a question for you." I honestly had no idea what was going to come next. I looked down and saw this little 5th grader named Dylan looking up at me. In simple words, as directly as possible he began to speak (in Spanish), "I have a question. When are we going to start a Chicos?" Immediately my heart melted. These boys really want this. They're ready; and so am I!

Chicas de Promesa

Even before we knew we were going to be working with missionary Mary Mahon, we knew about her ministry to girls in the community of Linda Vista called Chicas de Promesa and were planning on assisting her with this ministry. This short video explains about Chicas.

While we are moved by this need and the impact of this ministry and have been praying over this need and ministry for a couple of years now, it was another burden of Mary's with which God began burdening my heart: the boys of this same community.

"We're Abused Too"

Earlier this week, Mary had been sharing a little about Chicas with a missions team visiting from the States. While I had heard everything she was sharing before, one thing she said really jumped out at me this time. She was sharing about how a boy came up to her once and said something along the lines of, "What about a club for the boys; we're abused at home too." There is a need for the boys. There is a need for Chicos. They deserve better too!

Chicos

I have known in my heart for some time that a big component of my ministry here in Costa Rica would center around starting a Chicos program. And Dylan's sweet, simple question was just the impetus I needed to take the next step into turning this dream into a reality. I want to share with you the three things that I told Dylan in response to his question:

1. Soon - We would like to start something in January just before the kids return to school.
2. Pray - I told him to keep praying that God would provide all we need to get this going.
3. The last thing that I told him was that I would put his picture online and ask that my friends from the States would pray with us. So here is a picture of Dylan and me.

Prayer Specifics

The thing I am asking for most right now is prayer. Here are some ways you can be praying:

• We would like to do a weeklong "launch" of the Chicos program this January. Please pray that God would give us wisdom as we organize this weeklong event with curriculum, speakers, topics, etc.
• We also need to have a structured plan for curriculum, speakers, topics, etc. moving forward.
• Property - There's a piece of property that we have our eye on which we think would be perfect for this ministry. We are praying that God show us clearly if this is His will and make the property available and allow us to purchase it if it is.
• Team members - we will need other people with a heart for these boys to come alongside us as we look to impact this community.

There are obviously other ways we can be praying. And we need to be praying for the boys in this community. Here's another picture from the other day with Dylan and a couple other boys. The one in the middle asked me about Chicos too. Let this photo serve as a reminder to pray for the boys in this community.