NEWSLETTER #01
JANUARY - MARCH 2025
Welcome to all of you to this space of communication and news. Friends, brothers and sisters and collaborators of Ignis Mundi, who support us with prayer, donations, work, closeness, advice and support.
Here life seems to go faster than anywhere else... the days are intense, and the things that happen are many. That is why we have decided to create this space, where every three months, we will try to summarize everything we are living here, the life of which you are also part of.
Thank you for your support and for walking with us.
MISSIONARIES
TERESA & ESTER
We began the year with the arrival of two new missionary members: Teresa and Ester, who have come to enlarge the family and the hearts of all of us.
A sign of fruitfulness, of the life that is developing in the Mission, a gift for all.
Teresa is the second daughter of Cori and Daniel, missionaries from the USA, and Ester is the second daughter of Mariana and Juan, a Mexican family.
THE MISSION HOUSE
We can say that the Mission House is practically ready: at this moment we have two psychology rooms, two school support rooms, a youth room, a music room, a computer and study room, a library and reading room, recreational space and we are about to open our medical office. In addition to our offices.
There is really a lot that can be done with this space, we are trying to get volunteers to help us offer more and more quality things that really help the community.
THE WOMEN'S ACADEMY
The Women's Academy has continued, with cooking and embroidery. This is a training space for women who, for one reason or another, have not been able to enter the labor market, or cannot do so at present. We want to promote entrepreneurship and work that they can do, especially from their homes, and that allows them to be with their children.
MANICURE
Our Manicure course, after more than a year, is coming to an end, 7 women have finished, 4 of them are already working and living from their work, this is news that makes us very happy.
ACCOMPANIMENTS
In addition to individual psychological counseling, a group therapy group for women suffering from anxiety has been added to the program.
At the end of this month we started "circles of peace", a space to work on the wounds and pains produced by life history.
At the beginning of the year, together with the IAFA (Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency of Costa Rica), we conducted a drug prevention course for more than 35 young people and adults.
EDUCATION
IMPULSA is Ignis Mundi's project for the promotion of education, a school support program in small groups, we have two missionaries and several volunteers. They have started by attending and interviewing about 20 families.
MUSIC
The piano and guitar classes continue to fill up each week, especially with young people.
COMPUTING
We have received a donation of 20 computers, and now one of the missionaries is being trained with the donor foundation, to be able to give courses in the mission center.
IGNIS FIT
While waiting for the gym, the Ignis Fit girls continue to train on Mondays and Thursdays at the mission house, with about 30 women doing functional exercises.
Our trainer Emilia, who is a neighbor of Los Guido, has started to train professionally, studying a module to become a certified trainer. It has been very nice how, through her experience as a volunteer, she has realized that she has the potential to be able to make a living from what she is passionate about. And we have been delighted to see how she has dared to take the leap to study and train.
VOLUNTEER
Thanks to God, we have started to have a volunteer who will be in charge of supervising the life of the Mission House and will allow us to keep it open for much longer without the need of always having a missionary present. Her name is Andrea and she is a neighbor of the community.
THE PLAZA, CHAPEL & RANCH
THE CORNERSTONE
The work on the main square is practically finished, the Chapel is still waiting for the floor to be finished and for Cori to paint the murals. But we had the joy of receiving the altar, an altar made of a single stone, from a quarry in the mountains that surround us. The cornerstone of the whole project, from which the Lord will bless and transform those who arrive.
FIRST VISIT OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
The last weekend of March, the children of our parish celebrated their confirmation retreat at the IM Center. On Saturday night, the first Eucharistic Adoration was celebrated with them in the Chapel... It was really moving and a sign of God's faithfulness to us and his work.
THE RANCH
El Rancho / Chiringuito / Palapa / Quincho... It is finished and yesterday we inaugurated it as Ignis Latte, a cafeteria that will open for the moment only in the afternoons, with women from the community who will help us to serve, clean... the idea is that everyone who wants to can come to rest and enjoy a beautiful space, cared for and accompanied by the missionaries.
It also aims to become a community dining room, both for celebrations of the missionaries, as well as to be able to support with food in activities of the mission.
Upstairs in the plaza, we have raised the swings and trampolines, to leave the area below for sports. this way we have everything close by, chapel, ranch, mission house, playground, and it is much easier for us to supervise life.
COMMUNITY GARDEN
Our small garden is an example of resilience in adversity, as the land is in very poor condition, and yet we are having a small production of fruit and herbs. Last Sunday 30th, with the help of Cori and Daniel, we opened this space to the community, offering workshops and also "beds" for those who want to have their own small harvest, it was really beautiful.
PATHWAYS
With the same eagerness to bring our neighbors closer to nature, aware of the power it has on people's minds and hearts, we are making trails for walking and biking in the neighboring forest.
SPORTS ACTIVITIES
Sports activities are central to our mission. We believe that the more we get children and youth involved in sports, the less they will be on the streets, the lower their anxiety levels, the less they will use drugs and alcohol, the less they will find a family in the team and not in gangs and gangs, and the more they will learn all that is taught through discipline and effort.
SOCCER FIELD
We have just inaugurated El Campo de Fútbol, a dream come true thanks to the Tiempos de Esperanza Foundation led by Keylor Navas. We know that this field is going to be a huge attraction for people, and we are already receiving many more people every day. Esteban, volunteer coach, neighbor and friend, has started to lead the soccer project, and he is a huge help to us. The Guido's team has already played and won the first game.
BOXING
The boxing project continues to go from strength to strength, and around 200 young people train under the guidance of Allan and Zeneida.
Some of them have been crowned local and national champions in their corresponding categories. it is truly a joy to see how the boxing kids have been transforming from the way they look to the way they come. from kids you would pass on the sidewalk in the street, to friends we love with all our hearts.
SKATE
Skate classes have already started , our volunteer teacher is Michael, also a neighbor and skate champion, and although the skatepark is not yet built, we have already made, thanks to Caco and Michael himself, the elements to make spins etc..
VOLLEY
The volleyball kids that meet every Thursday are already about 40, the atmosphere is beautiful and they are enthusiastic.
BICYCLES
And of course, the bike loan in the afternoons continues to be a success, many children come to ride and learn how to ride a bike.
PARISH
We continue to support the parish on Sundays, both at the 8:00 a.m. mass and on Sundays with the family. We also support with the Holy Hour choir, with the baptism catechesis of adults who come to the church through the mission, which are 3 at this time. We continue to collaborate weekly with the Pastoral de Adulto Mayor.
We are currently preparing the Easter Mission that will take place during Holy Week. This year we have added a new activity to the usual Easter Mission activities, we are going to dignify the home of a family that lives in extreme need. 9 people in 2 rooms, without any order, sanitation, ventilation ... We hope to help them to have a more dignified and more livable home.
AND HOW DO WE DO IT?
And how are we able to do all this, certainly not through our own strength, there is a huge stream of graces coming down from heaven, and more and more volunteers who support with local presence, as well as temporary missionaries who join the Mission.
We, the permanent missionaries, are only 6 families, with our work, our children, our smallness, but also with enthusiasm and joy and much thirst to serve and respond to so much need that we witness every day. During the past year we realized the need to organize and coordinate ourselves, because there are many tasks that accumulate every day, and it is very important to take care of ourselves and our family. We cannot give what we do not have, nor accompany another, if we do not know how to do it at home.
Thank God, we are now receiving help from the Caricaco Foundation, which has donated an advisory service to help us develop a strategic plan. We are working hand in hand with them and it is helping us a lot to clarify roles, organize tasks, discard activities that do not make much sense, discern what to undertake and what not, etc... in short, to organize and plan everything that is social work.
We continue to need much prayer and help to fulfill this dream of the Lord, and we are deeply grateful for your accompaniment, friendship, help and closeness.
