Pastor
Jose Trana
Iglesia Biblica Mejico de Upala
Pastor Jose is already a PPM365 partner and enrolled in the program, but you can make a donation in their honor and support another church in Costa Rica.
Pastor Testimony:
Pastor Jose Rino was raised to be a super religious Catholic in Nicaragua, but felt very empty. He wanted more in his faith journey and asked God to fill the gap in his heart. One day he was coming back from work and felt like he needed to kneel down at a log, and as he did, he confessed all the heartache he was experiencing and asked the Lord to speak to him. A month later as he was working, he felt the undeniable presence of the Lord all around him and felt convicted to begin growing in his faith. He started reading his Bible constantly. His wife didn’t know what happened to him and why this change occurred. In his village there was only one other Christian, so Pastor Rino asked him when he would meet for church and he was informed that the pastor only came to their village once a month, so they weren’t holding services. Right there, the man asked if Jose wanted to receive Christ and he did. As soon as he received Jesus he jumped into evangelism telling everyone about what Christ had done in him. He evangelized the community, and began leading the people there as their second leader for the next two years. After that, he felt called to Nicaragua and spent 10 years in Nicaragua, pastoring and growing in his faith. In 1992 God brought him back to Costa Rica and in 1994 he planted the church in Mexico de Upala. Pastor has been married for 46 years. They have 9 children (1 is adopted). He has been in ministry for 34 years.
Meet the church:
Iglesia Biblica Mejico de Upala
Mejico Upala Iglesia Biblica is located in the middle of beautiful pasture land in a very remote area close to the Nicaragua border. The congregation is devoted to sharing the Gospel and outreach to the community - they are very active! Their primary focuses are evangelism, visiting with families, food distribution, and visiting door to door. Most of the residents of their community are Nicaraguan refugees and immigrants, who sometimes struggle to make ends meet with the lack of resources at their disposal. They aim to work with people in their needs to share the Gospel while also doing social work like cleaning the local hospital and school, repairing the community center and more, all to share the love of Jesus.