Pray with Costa Rica, October 5, 2025
Lectionary Selection: Luke 17: 5-10
Prayers for Costa Rica
Creator God, we give you thanks this day for the beautiful country of Costa Rica, where the Latin American Biblical University is based. We give thanks for its beaches and forests filled with diverse forms of life. Behind this beauty, there are struggles. This day, we lift up the people in different communities working to defend water sources from contamination by agrochemicals and deforestation. We especially pray for the leaders of the Bröran, Bribri, and Cabécar peoples as they defend their territories and their ancestral wisdom from outsiders despite threats and physical violence. May their cries for protection and justice be heard in the halls of power and in the churches. Fill us with a vision of abundant life for all living beings. May our hearts and hands be moved by your Spirit to join in efforts to renew creation here in Costa Rica and around the world.
Mission Moment from Costa Rica
What kind of faith is needed in Latin America today? A group of Latin American Biblical University (UBL) students from four countries asked this question in a seminar on eschatology in times of climate change. In probing the preaching and singing in their own churches, students encountered the widespread belief that Jesus will rescue believers before the earth is destroyed. At the same time, their communities are experiencing rising sea levels, more intense storms, and recurring droughts. As the class reread the apocalyptic texts of the New Testament as expressions of hope and resistance to powers of destruction, students began to see God at work now to redeem all of creation. As Rubén from Peru wrote in his final creed, the abundance life Jesus promised begins now and commits us to defending life on earth. Isis of Costa Rica dreams of churches becoming ecological squadrons working to restore ecosystems. We do not need a faith that can pull up trees and cast them into the sea. Latin America needs a faith that moves with the Holy Spirit to renew creation and plant trees.
Written by Karla Ann Koll, Professor of Theology and Facilitator of the Green Team, Latin American Biblical University
Partners in Costa Rica
- Mi Tía Childcare Center
- Presbyterian Evangelical Church of Costa Rica (IEPC)
- Latin American Biblical University (UBL)
Make a gift to support the Latin American Biblical University (UBL)