In an article first published by Assist News Service, KENNETH D. MacHARG reports on a mission which is transforming lives in the central American nation of Costa Rica…
Gustavo Cabezas has a novel, perhaps revolutionary, idea. He is working to start a gang in one of San José’s poorest areas – a gang for Jesus.
“There are many reasons that a kid joins a gang,” Mr Cabezas says as he shows a visitor around the New Horizon’s center in the La Carpio area. “Most are the product of a disintegrating family. Others come because they think that there are no opportunities for them in the community, And, studies show that six out of ten kids join a gang to pass the time.”
CHANGING LIVES FOR THE BETTER: Gustavo Cabezas and Deli Palomero Rodriguez discuss programming at the CFCI New Horizons center in Costa Rica. PICTURE: Kenneth D. MacHarg.
“They have to use the opportunities to break the cycle of poverty. The New Horizons center offers them the resources to develop physically and spiritually. They identify goals here including the development of their own self-esteem.”
– Gustavo Cabezas
To address these needs and prevent gangs from growing in this low-income community made up primarily of poor immigrants from Nicaragua, Mr Cabezas and the team from Christ for the City International have established the New Horizons center on the edge of town.
CFCI works in a number of countries around the world to meet the greatest needs of the poorest cities. The mission’s purpose is to help people transform cities by transforming lives. Missionaries from CFCI accomplish that by determining what needs people have, meeting those needs out of the love of Christ and building relationships so they can share the Gospel and change lives.
“I think it is possible to have a Christian gang, if you can use those words,” he says. “We are helping them to grow both personally and as Christians.”
Mr Cabezas says that of the 120 youth with whom he works, fifteen per cent are Christian.
However, the majority come from limited backgrounds where the income per family is around $US2 to $US3 a day. Speaking of the teenaged boys with whom he works, Mr Cabezas says “If they read, they read poorly. They don’t know English that they need for a better job, they cannot operate computers and they have no support at home.”
Mr Cabezas says that while the teens think that there are few opportunities for employment in Costa Rica, the real problem is that many youth don’t use those that exist to advance themselves. “They have to use the opportunities to break the cycle of poverty,” he says. “The New Horizons center offers them the resources to develop physically and spiritually. They identify goals here including the development of their own self-esteem.”
Mr Cabezas looks out over four sports fields on the center’s property. “Three of them were designed for futbol (soccer) and the other for baseball (Nicaragua’s most popular sport),” he says. “However, all of them are used for futbol because playing baseball here in Costa Rica where futbol is number one is a little embarrassing for them.”
Alongside the boy’s program, which involves not only sports but religious and psychological counseling and teaching, the New Horizons center also runs a remedial education for girls who had to dropout of school for various reasons.
“The girls come here for a few hours every day to study,” says Deli Palomero Rodriguez, an Ecuadorian who heads up the educational program for CFCI in La Carpio. “They must take an evaluation exam to move ahead with their education. However, most of them were excluded from the exam so we are trying to offer them classes so they can continue.”
Ms Palomero Rodriguez says that some of the girls are caring for younger children, others dropped out to work and still others have little support from home. To meet that need, she begins the day’s classes with an assembly where she gives the girls a pep talk and offers encouragement before they begin their day’s classes.
Mr Cabezas and Ms Palomero Rodriguez struggle to keep the program going. “It costs us about $US261 dollars a year to involve a boy in the program,” Mr Cabezas explains. “For that they receive regular Bible studies, mentoring, academic help, vocational orientation, an active sports training program, a field trip every three months and a week at camp.”
NEW SKILLS : Young women who have dropped out of school find the New Horizon center in Costa Rica as a place to do remedial study and advance their skills. PICTURE: Kenneth D. MacHarg.
Mr Cabezas says that the camp alone costs $US70 dollars for each boy, but each young man pays a $US6 dollar symbolic fee. “Sending the boys to camp is also expensive. Many of them don’t have a bathing suit or the clothing they need. Some don’t have a blanket. We have to provide all of those.”
While Mr Cabezas spends a lot of time raising money to keep the program going, Ms Palomero Rodriguez is constantly searching for teachers. “We could use missionary volunteers who would come for a year and teach math, social studies, English, natural science or civics,” she said. “Of course, other than the English teachers, they would have to speak or learn to speak Spanish in order to teach.”
“We are giving the kids a place to belong,” explains Mr Cabezas, who says that evangelism is at the root of all they do. “They can find a place to belong in a gang, so that’s why we are trying to build a Christian gang here in La Carpio.”
• For further information on the New Horizons center in Costa Rica, contact Christ for the City International at www.cfci.org.
This article was first published on Assist News Service. Kenneth D. MacHarg’s website is www.missionaryjournalist.org.
