Dear People of St. James’,
This summer, June 19-27, seven St. James’/Proyecto Santiago youth along with The Rev. Eileen O’Brien and The Rev. Edward Thompson will team up with a group of youth and adults from Christ Church Cathedral/La Iglesia Catedral de Cristo and head to Limón, Costa Rica.
Limón is the home of some of the first Anglican churches in Costa Rica (founded in the 1830s and 1840s, around the same time as the first churches in what would become the diocese of Texas). For years, many of these churches have nurtured an English-speaking Afrocaribbean tradition of Anglicanism in the midst of a Spanish-language dominant culture, because they have been the home to generations of immigrant workers from islands like Jamaica. Even though the Limón region is the point of origin for Anglicanism in Costa Rica, the diocesan center has been in the capital of San José. Part of our work will be to assist in building a second diocesan house that can be a homebase for diocesan staff when they visit Limon, a place for teams to stay, and a place where lay people from the area can gather for fellowship and retreats.
The other part of our work will be to co-host a youth retreat that will bring our youth together with youth from San José and Limón. One of the priorities in the diocese of Costa Rica is to develop leadership of youth and young adults. Our leaders have been working with their leaders to co-plan this retreat, which will be their first diocesan youth retreat in a long time. We have received a generous grant from the World Mission Board to assist with transportation, housing, and hospitality costs for the youth from the diocese of Costa Rica. Last year, we had a weekend long Encuentro online together. This year, we can’t wait to bring people together for a retreat in person!
How can you support our team?
- First, we ask for your prayers for our team, especially from June 19-27: Bethany Lopez-Vasquez, Akello Garcia, Makeda Garcia, Myers Powell, Ella Powell, Graham Pulkingham Morales, Ella Pulkingham Morales, The Rev. Edward Thompson, and The Rev. Eileen O’Brien.
- We invite you to join us for the special Costa Rican Breakfast and Coffee Hour on Sunday, May 22, 12ish – 1 pm. The team will share with you some of the things they have been learning about the history of Costa Rica and the Anglican Church there, and they will ask for your financial support (just being honest about that!). Join online HERE.
- If you would like to make a donation to help make this trip possible, you can also give here: https://stjamesaustin.org/give/, noting on PayPal that the donation is to be directed to “St. James’ Youth Missions.” Checks can be made out to St. James’ Episcopal Church with “Youth Missions” in the memo line.
- Stay tuned! During the trip, the team will be blogging about what we are seeing, doing, praying, and learning daily.
Thank you for being on the journey with us!
Rev. Eileen
