How Can I Help?

We'd love to have your support and partnership! Here are the ways you can help or become involved in our ministry. Together, we see the Lord do amazing things for His Glory Download our brochure! (Link to PDF) 

You can also help by sharing our mission with others via social media!  Contact us for additional information.  Blessings to you from all here at Hogar de Vida!

Here are some of the essentials for all missionaries serving at Hogar de Vida:

Call of God:
God has called each of us to be involved in His Great Kingdom, and some He has called to be a part of the blessing of Hogar de Vida.  A personal call of God to and for the ministry of Hogar de Vida is essential.  You need to know that you know God has called you - be it for one week, one month, one year or one lifetime.  Being obedient to God's call has its overwhelming blessing, but also its costs and struggles.  Satan hates obedient children of God and does whatever he can to steal, kill and destroy.  God's call is your guarantee that you are in the right place, at the right time, for the right purpose, regardless of your situation or surrounding circumstances.

Servant's Heart: 
Serving is the reason Jesus came to earth, even to the point of death on the cross.  We honor God when we follow Jesus' example and serve those around us.  A servant's heart operates when it is inconvenient, and when everything we had planned is interrupted.  A servant's heart doesn't mean doing everything always for everyone, but it does mean being available to be used by God when He reveals the need.

Flexible Attitude: 
Being flexible will take on a whole new definition.  The missionary's beatitude is, "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not break."  The culture in Costa Rica is different than the culture of your home country.  The differences include language, social system and lifestyle.  Because of this, many things may not make sense to you or happen as you expected.  However, there are many positive aspects of the Costa Rican culture, which is true of every culture.  Looking at the differences as right or wrong will only increase your frustration.  Embracing the culture's differences will enhance your enjoyment of its many positive aspects.

Open Mind: 
An open mind enables you to give and receive all that God has planned for you.  Possibly more important than what you give is what God desires to pour into you.  God never misses an opportunity to allow His children to work out their salvation and become more like Him.  The Lord delights in filling a yielded vessel with such opportunities.

Teachable Spirit: 
If the culture, the humidity/heat, the bugs, the children, the dust, the language, or being the "foreigner" doesn't cause you to exercise some amount of self-control or a deeper dependence on the Lord, pinch yourself to make sure you're still alive.  God promises us that iron sharpens iron and this is most likely to happen in a setting outside your homeland "comfort zone."  The Lord uses "iron sharpening iron" experiences to mold a teachable spirit and produce Christ-like character qualities in you.

Work Ethic: 
Most of the day is spent in strenuous manual labor both in the homes and on the property.  Cooking is mostly from scratch and takes the better part of the morning to prepare the main noon meal.  Laundry is washed daily, hung to dry and folded or impeccably ironed.  In a household of 12 to 15, laundry piles up quickly.  Laundry duty is even more demanding when there are babies.  Cloth diapers are often used and need to be scrubbed by hand before washing them in the machine.  If you don't know what a cloth diaper is, ask your mom or grandmother.  Cleaning of the homes is a daily routine that involves disinfecting the bathrooms, washing and drying dishes, and cleaning the ceramic floors.  The outside work involves mowing the grass with walk-behind lawn mowers, helping with the cows, painting, repairing and building - all done without the convenience of a Home Depot or other hardware warehouse down the street.

Conversational Spanish: 
Because the national language of Costa Rica is Spanish, it is the primary language spoken at Hogar de Vida by the staff and children.  Not only is it helpful to speak and understand the Spanish language, it is essential.  All of life happens in Spanish.  The more effectively you communicate in Spanish, the less frustrated you and others will be.

Love for Children: 
Our kids live with us because their biological parents were unable to provide a healthy, safe and nurturing home environment.  Their previous life experiences, coupled with their age and unique personalities, add a dimension to child rearing that necessitates a God-given love for children.  Working in a children's home 24/7 requires the compassionate demonstration of that love. 

Availability to be Blessed: 
At times you may be tired, sore, frustrated, stretched or pushed beyond your preconceived limits.  But those who make themselves available to be blessed will be blessed, indeed -- to the fullest and overflowing, a hundredfold.