We moved to Quebrada Amarilla, Costa Rica on March 9th 2019, the day after their wedding. I (Johnny) grew up in the town of Jaco, ten minutes away from Quebrada Amarilla. Mabel grew up in the town of Los Jiotes, in the country of El Salvador.
Costa Rica is predominantly Roman Catholic, most people would say they believe in God and the Bible, however they also pray to Mary and other saints, and believe that salvation is through works and faithfulness to the Catholic church.
We started out sharing the gospel with our neighbors handing out gospel tracts door to door. In May of 2019 we rented out the community gym to start a weeklong gospel series. It was very encouraging as many Christians travelled to attend and support the meetings: Mabel’s parents came from El Salvador, Christians who lived in the area, Christians from assemblies in Costa Rica, and missionaries Kory and Rebecca Crawford who have been serving in Costa Rica since 2016. A few people came to faith in Christ during the week, while others began to gain interest in the Word of God.
Soon after, we began renting out the gym once a week for weekly gospel meetings. We also began a Bible study out of our home, where we could begin studying the Word with the new believers and a few believers that lived in that area. As the group began to grow, we moved to a cabin next door to their house that my dad owns, this allowed for more people to be able to attend. This cabin is now what they are currently using for both Bible studies and Gospel meetings.