July 22, 2025 Show with Luke Peterson on “Bringing the Gospel of God’s Sovereign Grace to Costa Rica”

Providence, Costa Rica, and the Guest Introduction

Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend Jim Thorpe, it's Iron Sharpens Iron.

This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Matthew Henry said that in this passage we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better. It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions.

And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen.

Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this 22nd day of July 2025.

Before I introduce my guest for the day and our topic, I just wanted to tell you about an odd circumstance involving God's providence. Yesterday, which would have been July 21st, when I was beginning to prepare to promote today's program, which involves church planting in Costa Rica, I was on my computer and looking for graphics on the internet to use in the promotion of today's program, and I was in a graphic of the map of Costa Rica, and just as I was looking for that, listening to the television at the same time with Fox News on, and they had a breaking news announcement that actor Malcolm Jamal Warner had tragically died of an accidental drowning in Costa Rica while his family and he were on vacation there, and I was totally stunned because I was looking for a map of Costa Rica when I heard this news.

Most of you who have any clue who Malcolm Jamal Warner is will most remember him for his role as Theo, one of the children of Bill Cosby in The Cosby Show, and I believe he was portraying Bill Cosby, that is, Theodore Huxtable, I believe, was the name of the character.

And I just found out today that my old friend Steve Camp, who many of you are familiar with, he's a Christian recording artist, he's a Reformed Baptist, and he is currently pastoring in Florida. Well, he had a three-hour encounter with Malcolm Jamal Warner years ago in a studio where Steve Camp was involved in recording some music, and he was specifically working on a song that was a response to the Black Lives Matter movement called All Lives Matter, and although Malcolm Jamal Warner, who was in the studio with Steve, took great exception to this song, even threatened Steve that if he were to show up at a rally where Black Lives Matter was protesting, if he were to show up there with his own group to promote an All Lives Matter theme and publicly perform his music and so on, Steve was told by Malcolm that he would be met with violence, and that included at the hands of Malcolm Jamal Warner himself.

But oddly, Steve seemed to still nonetheless have an enjoyable, in-depth conversation with him for three hours. We can only hope that seeds were planted, that eventually, by God's sovereign grace, took root and blossomed in genuine faith in Christ before Malcolm Jamal Warner perished.

The actual day of his death was Sunday, July 20th, but that didn't make the news until yesterday, the 21st. So we should all pray for his family, that this grief and mourning draws them closer to Christ and even results in the salvation of many, if not all, in his family.

But today, as I just hinted in that little story, we are going to be talking about Costa Rica. And in particular, we have as a guest today, Luke Peterson, and he was strongly suggested to be a guest on this program by my pastor, Simon O'Manney of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

He urged me to consider having Luke on the program, and if my pastor urges me to do something like that, I have nothing but the highest appreciation for his discernment and wisdom. And so I took him up on that suggestion immediately, and I was very grateful that Luke Peterson was available to be on the program today.

Luke is a confessional Reformed Baptist church planter in Costa Rica, originally from North Carolina, and he's addressing bringing the gospel of God's sovereign grace to Costa Rica. And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Iron Trip and Zion Radio, Luke Peterson.

Thank you, brother, so much for having me. It's an honor to be here today.

It is an honor to have you on the program. And before I forget, I want to make sure that I announce to our listeners that you, God willing, are going to be preaching at the aforementioned Trinity Reformed Baptist Church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where I am a member, and that is going to be Sunday, August 3rd, I believe?

That's correct.

And our services are at 1 .30 in the afternoon here in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, because of the fact that we're using the facilities of Carlisle Baptist Church, so we have to wait for their morning worship to conclude before we use it.

And if you want more information about this preaching engagement for Luke Peterson and for all other details that you might want to find out about Trinity Reformed Baptist Church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, go to trbccarlisle .org, that's trbccarlisle .org, and Carlisle is spelled C-A-R-L-I-S-L-E, trbccarlisle .org.

But before we get into your ministry, this exciting new ministry to Costa Rica, and I know that you have been involved in Costa Rica already, but this is a new chapter in your involvement there that we're going to be addressing.

We have a tradition here on Iron Shrub and Zion Radio, whenever we have a first-time guest, we have that guest give a summary of their salvation testimony that would include the religious atmosphere in which they were raised, if any, and the kinds of providential circumstances our Sovereign Lord raised up in your life that drew you to Himself and saved you.

So let's hear your story, brother.

Conversion, Repentance, and the Call to Ministry

Yes, amen, amen. Thank you again, brother. Again, as I said, a pleasure to be here. I pray that the Lord would be honored in our time. Again, my name is Luke Peterson. I'm married to my beloved bride, Courtney, nearly 13 years now, coming up in a few weeks.

And by God's glorious grace, we have two children, Harper, our daughter, who is 10, and our son Judah is 7. I'm originally from the mountains of North Carolina, West Jefferson, to be precise. It's kind of hard to find on a map.

It's a small mountain county of 25 ,000 or so people. In fact, there's much religion there. I think I recall when I lived there, growing up there, we counted once upon a time that in just that county of 25 ,000 people, there were over 81 Baptist churches alone.

And so from an early age, I remember going to church, grew up in a very religious environment. It's the South where everybody would tell you that, of course, they're a Christian because they made a decision when they were young.

But I really don't recall unto the Lord the truth of the gospel being distilled into my life. It's very likely that my ears were hardened, and my heart was hardened in that sense. But I grew up in a fundamental Southern Baptist assembly where easy-believism and decisionalism were very present, very encouraged.

But I don't recall hearing the gospel in its fullness, speaking on the forgiveness of sins offered in the name of Christ through repentance and faith, because every service was really about someone coming to the front, praying that prayer, making that decision.

And the best way to say it about my own life is that I was completely enamored with my sin growing up, but content to claim that I was a Christian because I thought that I'd made a decision when I was seven years old.

But what the Lord later revealed to me was that I had faith in a decision, not in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I was trusting in myself and my own works. And I was not united to Him by faith, but instead was very self-righteous.

And there were no fruits in my life, and I was headed straight for hell. And in the Lord's kind providence, when I was 17, 18 years old, there was a youth pastor that came to this church, and he directly confronted me in my sin and told me that I wasn't a Christian.

And I was angry with him for telling me that. But he said, let's do this. I want you to read the Word of God. And after you've read it, we have discussions. You tell me then if you think you're still a Christian.

And so through that year, between 17 and 18 years of age, I read the Word of God and the Lord saved me. Through that, especially in a passage like John, that tells us, if you love me, keep my commandments.

And just seeing that love is at the center of a relationship with Christ. And so I had no fruits. And it was when I was 18, in the Lord's kind providence, that He granted me repentance and His grace. And so I think John 3 really hammers home that which I say about my own life, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. And so it was then, by God's sovereign grace, that He saved me when I was 18 years old. This would have been 2008. And from there, I was originally planning to be an anesthesiologist.

I wanted to go and make as much money as possible. But the Lord removed every desire from me at that point. And when I was 19, I attended Appalachian State University and then ended up later going to Southeastern Seminary.

So that's a little bit of my conversion. I won't get into the whole ministry aspect right this moment unless you desire me to do so, brother.

Well, I just think it's interesting that you began wanting to knock people out for a living, and then you transitioned to being used of God to wake people up.

Amen.

And bring them to new life. So when did you realize, and what were the circumstances involved, that God had called you to be a missionary, and then even later, or it could have been simultaneously, that you believed you had the call upon your life to become a pastor as well?

Yeah, absolutely. 2009, about a few months after my conversion, I was still a part of this church in the mountains of North Carolina, and there was a mission trip scheduled that we were going to take to Mexico.

And then at that time, in 2009, that's when the swine flu broke out. I'm sure some of you may remember that. It diverted our plans, and that's how we ended up getting connected, and we went to Nicaragua.

And so just to give you a little bit more of context of what I grew up in, this was also a church that when you see someone generally converted, especially a man, and he's serious about the Word of God and the things of God, then the next couple of weeks, he's probably going to start preaching.

And so that was a challenge for me growing up in that. But through discipleship from my uncle and this youth pastor, who eventually had to leave this church for Calvinistic convictions, they really encouraged me to really consider the ministry and that desire to do that.

But it was really part and parcel because of the trip to Nicaragua that started stirring my affections for missions and really the work of the ministry. And it was in August of 2009 or late July that we went down, and we were connected to a pastor there who was working in a little small town.

Didiamba is the name of it. So about an hour and a half south of the capital city of Managua. But through those trips was really just what stirred up a lot of my zeal for missions. But at that point in my life, I would say it wasn't really a spirit rock conviction, but more of it was a romantic idea of missions.

I like the idea of it. And so from there, I didn't really act on those longings, if you will, towards missions, but really consider getting prepared for ministry. And so that's when in 2009, I decided to transfer from Appalachian State University, where I was just in finance, just a generic degree, but to focus on going to Southeastern Seminary, the college at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, which was a Southern Baptist seminary to study pastoral ministry and Christian studies.

And so that's what I focused on for the several years that I was there. But I think during that time and then just continuing through that process, I had a great desire and zeal and a hunger for the Word of God, just an insatiable one, but also really just weighing and just being held captive by the thought of how many are perishing without the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so it was probably 19, 20 years old when I really just wrestled with going into the ministry and didn't obviously understand the implications to that. And then, of course, by down the road of laboring in another church plant, and that helped confirmed that conviction and that calling, because obviously there's a subjective nature to the pastoral call, but we don't simply allow that subjective nature to determine whether a call has to be confirmed by Christ Church.

And so after seminary or during seminary, we moved to plant a church in the mountains of North Carolina with that same youth pastor who was at the previous church that I grew up in. And this would have been the first Calvinistic church, other than a Presbyterian church in the area, but definitely the first Calvinistic Baptist church.

And so through the course of time, it wasn't overnight, I could say, but the Lord really gave me, I believe, a pastor's heart and a desire to labor. And so that started in 2009 and really was confirmed until we planted in 2011.

Now, according to your testimony, the youth pastor had to leave the previous church because of his Calvinistic convictions. When did you begin to develop these convictions?

Yes, first semester at Southeastern. I had been attending at that point. My now wife, I went to her parents' church. It was another Southern Baptist church, but the youth pastor, we got to know each other and spend some time and do some studies together.

And then one day out of the blue, he asked me if I would like to study John Calvin's Institutes to Christian Religion with him. And of course, I said yes. And so that was really my introduction. Now, keep in mind, it was very Arminian where I grew up in.

But also at that time, I'd started listening to a man named Mark Driscoll. And so Mark Driscoll was very influential of that Calvinistic stage. But I remember it was a very deep struggle for me at first to really wrestle with Calvinism.

And I remember one of my first years at Southeastern that I decided I'm going to read the entirety of the Bible through and look for every instance of the election and just see. And obviously the Spirit convinced me that that was the case.

But that youth pastor was very influential as well. That was from my in-laws, my current in-laws' church, and just guiding me along the way.

And why is it that you immediately wanted to study the Institutes? Were you just humoring this brother or did you already have a deep-seated curiosity? What was the deal there?

Yeah, I think one was I had a hunger and I just wanted to devour anything. And of course, this man taking interest in me and wanting to spend time in discipling me was significant for me. And it meant a lot to me.

Also, you know, you heard the first couple semesters of being at Southeastern, the Arminian Calvinistic debate that was there. And so it really piqued my interest. But I pray that my posture was I just want to see what the Word of God teaches.

And so John Calvin had been cited in classrooms in different places already at Southeastern. So I think that that piqued my interest even more.

Great. And as far as Mark Driscoll is concerned, where is he these days theologically? Is he still a professing Calvinist?

To my knowledge, I don't believe he is. I saw a post not so long ago that he would say some unpleasant things toward Calvinists. It seems that he has went more of the charismatic camp. Obviously, I don't believe he's qualified.

And so he left there at Mars Hill and decided he was going to go plant another church kind of on his own accord, which I assume he's still there in Arizona. I guess it's Phoenix. But very unfortunate to see just that instance.

But as far as I know, I don't think he would claim the Calvinistic banner any longer.

Nicaragua, Calvinistic Convictions, and the Move to Costa Rica

Well, we are going to our first commercial break. And if anybody has a question for Luke Peterson, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail dot com. Chrisarnson at gmail dot com. And as always, give us your first name, at least your city and state of residence and your country of residence.

If you live outside the USA, don't go away. We're going to be right back after these messages.

James White here of Alpha Omega Ministries announcing that this September I'm heading out to Pennsylvania to speak at two events. And my longtime friend Chris Arnson has lined up for me on Thursday, September 18th at 11 a .m. I'm speaking to men in ministry leadership at Chris's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastors Luncheon at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville.

Then on Sunday, September 21st at 1 30 p .m. I'm speaking at Trinity Reformed Baptist Church of Carlisle on the theme. Can we trust the Bible is the authentic and inerrant word of God? I hope you can join Chris and me for both events.

For more details on the Free Pastors Luncheon, visit ironsharpensironradio .com. That's ironsharpensironradio .com. For more details on Trinity Reformed Baptist Church of Carlisle, visit trbccarlisle .org.

That's trbccarlisle .org. God willing, I'll see you in September in Pennsylvania for these exciting events.

I'm Daniel Wolford, CEO and President of Lebanon Credit Union. And we're excited to be part of the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio family. At Lebanon Credit Union, we're proud to serve the community with six convenient locations across Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and we're growing.

We offer competitive rates on everything from loans to savings. And we're dedicated to providing top-notch member service. We pride ourselves on the credit union movement of people helping people. We are deeply involved in our community, supporting local events and organizations that help make a difference.

When you join Lebanon Credit Union, you'll immediately notice the difference. Our focus on meeting your financial needs with personal care and a friendly touch. LFCU can also offer you better rates and lower fees than our competitors.

To find out more, please visit us online at lebanonfcu .org. Membership eligibility is required, federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration. Terms and conditions apply.

I'm Simon O'Mahony, Pastor of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally from Cork, Ireland, the Lord in his sovereign providence has called me to shepherd this new and growing congregation here in Cumberland County.

At TRBC, we joyfully uphold the Second London Baptist Confession. We embrace congregational church government, and we are committed to preaching the full counsel of God's Word for the edification of believers, the salvation of the lost, and the glory of our Triune God.

We are also devoted to living out the one another commands of scripture, loving, encouraging, and serving each other as the body of Christ. In our worship, we sing psalms and the great hymns of the faith, and we gather around the Lord's table every Sunday.

We would love for you to visit and worship with us. You can find our details at trbccarlisle .org. That's trbccarlisle .org. God willing, we'll see you soon. This program is sponsored by Hope PR Ministry.

Hope PR Ministry is a podcast produced by Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. We are dedicated to sharing Reformed Biblical content every Wednesday and Friday. Tune in for sermons, lectures, and interviews exploring distinctive Reformed doctrines.

If you are looking for Christ-centered content, simply search Hope PR Ministry on your favorite podcast platform to begin listening today. Hope PR Ministry also offers Morning Meditations, a daily podcast featuring Reformed devotionals designed to nourish your soul.

Start your day with these spiritually enriching messages by tuning in to Morning Meditations, wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Pastor Bill Shishko of The Haven, an Orthodox Presbyterian church in Comac, Long Island. I hold the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program hosted by my longtime friend and brother, Chris Arnzen, in the highest esteem, and I'm thrilled that you're listening today.

I'm also delighted that Iron Sharpens Iron is partnering with one of my favorite resources for Reformed Christian literature for decades now, Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service. Well, with the economic nightmare that we're all currently enduring, CVBBS .com is going to enable you to build a wonderful personal library of the best literature that the Reformers, the Puritans, and the great Christian minds of today have to offer, and at affordable prices.

Not only does CVBBS .com offer up to 50 off retail prices, but you'll get an added 5 off orders of $50 or more by using promo code IRON, I-R-O-N, an added 5 off all of your orders of $50 or more from Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.

That's CVBBS .com, making the joy of reading the finest in Christian literature more affordable. Oh, and make sure that you tell them you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron radio.

And don't forget, CVBBS .com is now shipping worldwide. And still praising God for the addition of Gold Wealth Management to the Iron Sharpens Iron radio family of advertisers. They are veteran owned and operated and built on the values of honor, courage, commitment, and service to others.

The same values that were instilled in the owner during his eight years in the Marine Corps. Gold Wealth Management is offering free reports on current market conditions. The threat of BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The coming digital currency and how to protect your savings and retirement accounts with real assets like physical gold and silver. There is absolutely no pressure and no obligation. Request your free reports today.

Call 623 -640 -5911. That's 623 -640 -5911. Or visit goldwealthmanagement .com slash iron. That's goldwealthmanagement .com slash iron. And tell them Chris from Iron Sharpens Iron Radio sent you. Don't wait.

Be informed. Be prepared. With Gold Wealth Management.

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio praise God for the generous monthly financial support of Royal Diadem Jewelers. Educated by and affiliated with the American Gem Society, Jewelers of America, and the Gemological Institute of America.

For the perfect custom-designed engagement ring or any one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry created exactly according to your imagination and specifications, Royal Diadem Jewelers has you covered. No matter where you live in the world, Royal Diadem will walk you step-by-step through every stage of the process.

And even hold a high-tech internet virtual visit using state-of-the-art jewelry design technology to serve you. They start by listening carefully to determine your needs. They're interested in making what you want, not what they want to sell you.

From rough design to digital model, to photorealistic image, to wax prototype model, to the finished product. They're continually listening to your input, likes and dislikes, making any changes necessary along the way.

This will ensure that your custom jewelry will turn out exactly as you dreamed and well beyond your expectations. Visit royaldiadem .com. That's royaldiadem .com today. Sterling Vandewerker, owner of Royal Diadem Jewelers, his wife, Bronnie, his business partner and manager, Brian Wilson, and the entire family, thank you all for listening to, praying for, and supporting the work of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

And don't forget folks, if you purchase jewelry from royaldiadem .com, whether it's jewelry that they already have in stock or a one-of-a-kind customized piece of jewelry that you have created, either way, if you mention Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, we will get 100 of the profits from that sale.

And this amazing offer is being given to us on top of the monthly financial support that royaldiadem .com already automatically provides us. So this is just a huge, enormous, mind-blowing bonus. If you love the show and you also have any intention to buy jewelry for yourself or someone you love, whether it's jewelry they have in stock or a one-of-a-kind customized piece of jewelry, please go to royaldiadem .com.

They deal with customers internationally, so it doesn't matter where you live on the planet. Go to royaldiadem .com and mention Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, so we will get 100 of the profits from any sale of jewelry.

And we're now back with Luke Peterson, and we are talking about his church planting work in Costa Rica. And I'd like to know, when was it and how did this develop in your mind and heart to enter into a mission field in a Latin country?

I don't even know if you had previously spoken a word of Spanish, but then moving from that to specifically wanting to plant roots and plant a church in Costa Rica.

Yeah, absolutely, brother. Going back to what I mentioned earlier, after we planted the church in 2011 there in West Jefferson, North Carolina, we continued to go twice a year to Nicaragua, being as we developed a relationship with that pastor.

And so we continued to support the work there, traveling usually twice a year is what it ended up being. And to make a long story short, we found out, unfortunately, that he had been dishonest with us about the actual work that he was doing there.

And in fact, he had been aiding the communist government and using a lot of the things that we had been helping with, including building a church building to kind of promote whatever the communists would like there, and they would give him a kickback from that.

And so that happened around 2016. And after we got back from that trip, myself and another fellow elder, we had a difficult elders meeting where we decided that either we're going to stop working completely in Nicaragua and pull out altogether, or if we're going to continue, then we need to send someone down to beat boots on the ground for us.

And so the other elders, the two of them at the time, looked at me and said, we think that should be you. Now, keep in mind, during this time, I was bivocational, I had great desires and aspirations for full-time ministry, but yet had not had that opportunity come my way.

And my wife was still working at the hospital. Our daughter was born in 2015. And so for us, I would say when we first decided to go to Nicaragua, it wasn't really that we felt a call that we could do nothing else, but more of an open opportunity where we could labor full-time ministry.

And we love Nicaragua, that country. But as you mentioned, we didn't really speak Spanish. And so in 2017, that church sent us to Nicaragua to labor and really to the first year studying language learning.

And so that was initially how we got there. And, of course, I know we'll talk about it in a moment. But that conviction, that calling to be and serve in Latin America, especially Costa Rica, became much clearer to us later.

And we'll get there, I'm sure. But that was 2017 that the church originally sent us to Nicaragua. Then it was to labor with another missionary couple that was already there. And we originally went just with a two-year commitment, thinking that we could accomplish everything in two years if we wanted to.

But we were very unwise. And the Lord really helped us to see that. And so we labored in Nicaragua for a year. And about nine months in, I preached my first sermon in Spanish. It was extremely difficult.

I just wrote out my sermons in Spanish and learned how to pronounce each of the words and the letters. And there's actually another pastor down there. He's originally from Venezuela. He would sit down with me and go word by word along with me through my sermon manuscripts and help me to pronounce the language.

And so our goal was to eventually plant Reformed Baptist Church in the capital city of Managua. But in God's difficult but kind providence, we were forced to flee the country after only being there for one year due to political turmoil with the same communist regime.

If any of you recall, Daniel Ortega. So he is still there and still in power along with his wife. And so we weren't in direct persecution, but we just got caught in between the protests that were happening and the communist government.

And so that same year, this would have been May of 2000, April of 2018, going into May, I was invited to attend a Spanish pastors conference in North Bergen, New Jersey. And it was there that I met several Costa Rican pastors.

And our elders, the sending church in North Carolina, decided that it was going to be too dangerous for us to return to Nicaragua. And so that's when they pitched the idea to us to move to Costa Rica because there was a group of five families in the northwestern part of the country desiring to see the confessional church established.

And I think Proverbs 16 is very correct to think through in this process was a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Praise God. Now, whatever happened with the scam artist that was stealing money from you and actually funding the cause for communism?

Yeah, he's still there. We've had some conversations since then.

I mean, he is a professing believer in Christ still.

Yeah, yeah, he's still a professing believer in Christ. And he would have articulated as he didn't really have a choice that he had to provide for his family. And the communist government would give him enough to have his sustenance.

And so we just parted ways and told him that we couldn't in good conscience work any longer with him. And it broke our hearts because we had a very close relationship with him and his family. And so that was that was a significant challenge to us.

Well, one of these days I've got to introduce you to a friend of mine, Lou Vega. He is pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. PCA congregation. And Lou is a native of Cuba. And his family fled Cuba just in time before the fall of Cuba to Castro and the communists.

And Lou has a passion to bring the gospel to those enslaved by communism and even rescue children out of communist controlled countries. And he's involved in a ministry called Pedro Pan, which is a takeoff of Peter Pan.

And they rescue children out of Cuba and so on. So one of these days I've got to introduce you to he's coming back on Iron Trip and Zion Radio for another interview. And we just haven't picked an exact date yet.

But so tell us now about this new work. Now, I remember at one point. You were a missionary there, if I'm not mistaken, in Costa Rica, and now you've turned from missionary to church planter, correct?

Yes, that's correct. And so when we were invited in late July of 2018 to come to Costa Rica and the elders were sending church were in agreement. What ended up happening was that we we joined another reformed Baptist church that was there.

It had been established since 2014. And we became members, my my wife and myself. And and it was then because of this group of five families that were desirous to see a church established and planted.

But they didn't have anyone to lead them. But that church set us apart, set me apart as a church planter there to the town of Liberia, which is Liberia for my English speakers and Liberian Spanish. And so by God's grace, that is when we started, I think, cultivating more conviction about what the Lord would have us to do in realizing that in most normal circumstances, you can't plant a church and see it established in two years.

And so when we left for Costa Rica, really, our heart was as long as the Lord would have us there. We wanted to be there and to labor. By God's grace, the pastors of the church that's now meeting in a town called Miramar, they had done a lot of the groundwork already.

And so they had been traveling really twice a week for a year and a half, maybe more at this point. They had afternoon services on the Lord's Day and a midweek Bible study on Thursday. But again, they just kept praying for a man to be raised up.

And so that is when we got connected providentially to them and the other sister churches there. And at the time when we went to Costa Rica, there were only two Reformed Baptist churches in the country.

By God's grace, there are eight now. It is really encouraging to see. But I think that was when the shift was, you know, their really desire to see a healthy, biblically organized church, which is far and few between to find in Costa Rica, very difficult to find.

Not even Reformed Baptist churches, but let alone churches that preach the gospel.

Reformed Baptist Church Planting in Costa Rica

Are you aware of the Reformed origins of the works that were proclaiming the doctrines of grace before you got there in Costa Rica?

Yes, yes. A few of them. I think primarily we affectionately call the church, it's a Reformed Baptist church of Los Lagos, which is the town. It's in the greater metropolitan area of San Jose. We affectionately call that church our grandmother church.

And it was really in the early 2000s that a missionary, a man named Steve Henning, was laboring there. He was an independent fundamental Baptist and started growing in convictions toward the things of Reformed.

Hallelujah.

He became Reformed while he was on the mission field. But that created problems for him.

I'm sure it did.

Yes, he lost his support. And then he went to the Reformed Baptist Church, Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Mebane, North Carolina.

Yeah.

Asking for help. And they agreed to kind of help and really become his new sending church, for lack of a better term. And so he set really the process of Reformation off there in Los Lagos. There was another man who's still a pastor there today by the name of Eric Rosales, a dear brother of mine.

And so they were laboring together. But in God's difficult providence, Pastor Steve Henning went to be with the Lord in 2009. He died of colon cancer. But the Lord provided three other men to be raised up as elders in 2011.