Nearly 900 volunteers from the U.S. and Canada are traveling to Guatemala and Costa Rica throughout June and July for Encuentro Missions 2018.

Encuentro is a bi-annual event that offers opportunities for youth and families to serve in missions. During the last 50 years, Encuentro has led trips with the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, and Peru. More than 250,000 students have participated, and as a result more than two million children and adults have heard the gospel.

This is the first time Encuentro will be in Guatemala and Costa Rica. The trip is broken up into two separate sessions, from 30 June to 7 July and from 7 to 14 July, with a total of 500 volunteers serving in Costa Rica and 350 serving in Guatemala.

Local churches are working with the teams in both countries to offer Vacation Bible Schools, sports camps, and other fun activities to the communities. They also have planned construction projects, church planting initiatives, and even medical service projects.

The Guatemala team will serve at the Center for Christian Conventions in Guatemala City, while the Costa Rica teams will work in and around the city of San José with their home base at the Nazarene Seminary of the Americas (SENDAS).

“We have united under the same goal, prayer, preparation, and execution of projects," said Gabriela Bustos, the Encuentro event coordinator. "The only goal is to be the hands and feet of Christ; to reach the hearts of those who need his love. We feel very blessed to have this beautiful event in our country so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be magnified."

--Church of the Nazarene Mesoamerica