Costa Rica

Refuge City

The vision of Refuge City is to invest in the transformation of men and women trapped in addiction and gangs into servant-leaders for the Kingdom of Heaven through discipleship training programs.

Refuge City will be an extension of the work we are already doing to transform lives but on a larger scale and with a greater opportunity for community transformation. Refuge City will serve as a central place to teach sustaining life skills and to equip and train leaders who were once trapped in a life of darkness. Opportunities to learn and practice new life skills will be immediately available through partnerships with local fishing communities including Punta Morales, Cocorocas, Costa de Pájaras, Manzanilla, and Judas de Chomes.

Andres Alonso Fallas Davila

Andrés is 22 years old and lives in San José, Costa Rica. He graduated in Business Administration with an emphasis on Human Resources.

He serves as Director of the children’s ministry in Tirrases, focusing on Bible School and discipling youth. Andrés is also giving English classes to children and adults.

He is also active in the Roblealto Youth Camps ministry, and assists the activities of other ministries in the Tirrases Community Transformation Center.

Eliette Padilla Carpio

Eliette Padilla has been collaborating with CFCI in different ministries for 21 years, she currently works as Director of Antioquia, has a Ministry of Counseling and together with her husband they collaborate with the Remendarte Ministry.

Her focus has been Christian education, family restoration, and support groups.

Eliette Padilla and her husband Miguel Rodriguez have a son, José Miguel. Her family resides in Tibas, San José, Costa Rica.

Contact information:

Tel. (506)89248372

Email: eliettepac14@gmail.com

Franklin Valverde

Franklin’s passion is evangelism. He works in the community of Guanacaste, in evangelism and music ministry. Franklin and his wife, Olga, have 3 children: Abigail, Benjamin and Joel.

Luis Halsband

Luis teaches Rugby to children in La Carpio, teaching them the Word of God before every practice. He also works to obtain donations of food, clothing, and school supplies for different CFCI ministries. Luis and his wife, Giuliana, have 3 daughters: Erika, Milena and Valeria.

Ivan & Andrea Fonseca

Andrea serves as the Coordinator of the CFCI Tirrases Community Center. Ivan assists, and together with their two children, Brandon and Keilyn, they provide workshops and activities that allow people to get closer to God.

Carpio Ministry

La Carpio is the largest slum in Central America, and home to around 40,000 people, including 20,000 children. La Carpio is the city dump, and measures only 1.4 miles in diameter.

Kids growing up in this community have an almost non-existent chance of getting any form of employment besides construction work. Cramped conditions lead to many family members sharing small spaces, which produces high rates of disease spread and staggeringly devastating statistics of incest and sexual abuse. Our missionaries in La Carpio believe that up to 90% of children have been sexually assaulted by their 12^th birthday. This has led to an epidemic of STDs, teenage pregnancy, and very young, single mothers.

There is only one primary school (K-6^th grade) for the 20,000 children. Three school shifts take place throughout the day, and children only attend school for around 2.5 hours. Upon graduation this puts them at a severe disadvantage to attempt any high school classes.

There is no high school for them to attend within the slum, and so only those children whose parents can afford the bus fare out of the area have the privilege of attending. A large number of youth without schooling or employment has led to drug and gang communities.

CFCI works in La Carpio through a number of different ministries , including:

Our medical clinic, for all those who cannot attend the government clinic. The clinic sees general patients, and also offers dentistry and gynecology.
A community center, where we run Bible studies, a program from the elderly, and youth events.
New Horizons is a program for boys 8-18 who come every Saturday for sports and recreation, as well as during the week to play sports.
The Refuge is a program for girls, and every Saturday they have around 60 who come for fellowship and healing (related to issues such as sexual abuse and bullying).
The Institute is an educational program, similar to a high school, where kids can come and have the opportunity to learn and complete their classes. After noticing the children were lethargic and unable to concentrate, the program now also includes the provision of breakfast and lunch.
Vocational Training, in baking, carpentry, sewing, English classes, and soon-to-be training in cosmetology.
A Daycare for children of the teenagers in the programs.
Scholarships for the children who cannot afford the minimal fees to attend.
Every January we take nearly 200 of these kids to camp for a few days, to get away and have fun, worship and learn about the Lord. For most of these children, camp is the only opportunity they have had in their lives for three meals a day, and a bed and blankets of their own.
‘Las Gradas’ children’s ministry where once a week, in the depth of the slums, we put on a program with games, a snack and a Bible story.

Carpio Building Project

In 1988 God called us to begin a project in what was then a squatter community, Rincon Grande de Pavas. We started very simply — doing tutoring at the local school and teaching first aid courses in the shacks of the people. God added more members to the team and soon we had 50 home Bible studies weekly throughout the community. Shortly a church was born and God enabled us to construct a large building which serves as church and center for a variety of ministries to reach the community.

In 1993 we saw that across the ravine, to the north of Pavas, squatters were beginning a new community — Carpio. As more and more families settled there, all of us from the Pavas church decided that Carpio was our Samaria — we should go and share with them what we had received.

We began with out-door activities. But soon the need for a place to have a center became evident. We were able to obtain a small piece of property and we constructed a simple structure out of corrugated tin. This building has served us well for 26 years — housing the church, the after-school tutoring program, the clinic (for 2 years), Bible clubs, sewing classes, activities for the elderly, computer classes, medical caravans, English classes, Bible studies for youth, children’s rallies, etc.

But we have long seen the need for a better, more permanent building. The present building has tin walls and a tin roof (no ceiling), so on hot days we are essentially in a convection oven! And on rainy days, all we can hear is the rain pounding on the roof. With stray bullets now and then, cement walls are a necessity. In addition, we really need more space. Since the lot is small the only option is a second floor.

We need your help in order to construct this building that we’ve been dreaming of for years! A place where anyone can come and hear the good news of Jesus. Would you consider donating to our building project at the link below? We need $150,000 for this project. We know it’s a big goal, but we serve an ever bigger God!

Carpio Refuge Scholarship

Scholarship Information Coming Soon…

Where Most Needed (Costa Rica)

The diverse country of Costa Rica is located in Central America between Panama and Nicaragua. It is home to over 4.5 million people, with nearly half of those living in the capital city of San JosÃƒÂ©. It has a stable democracy and has not had an army since 1949.

Amidst the beautiful beaches, vast coffee fields, and breathtaking mountains, there are real needs to be met. This is where CFCI reaches out – to the impoverished slums of undocumented Nicaraguans, to the girls and women negatively affected by tourism, to the homeless, to the children and youth who need Godly role models, to the AIDS victims – to those who are in desperate need of the hope of Jesus Christ.