Our Story
From Comfort Zone to God's Plan
The Beginning
“You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give to you.”
John 15:16
In January 2017, Jon Rand, a retired broadcast executive, traveled to Costa Rica as part of his Charis Bible School graduation requirement. Upon arrival in San José, Costa Rica’s metropolitan capital city, this well-traveled businessman found himself utterly unprepared to be outside his comfort zone when he saw where he was to stay—in a hostel, not a hotel, bunking with several others and sharing very little space and minimal bathroom conveniences.
The next morning, and possibly more comfort-zone challenging than where he laid his head the night before, he went on his first mission—something that could have easily been called Operation Abrazos Gratis (Operation Free Hugs).
Despite some weird stares and even his own awkward feelings at first, he offered people hugs, told passers-by Jesus loved them, and prayed for those who requested such comfort. After seven hours of hugging at least 500 people, Jon was energized and touched by how many received this kind offer and the variety of folks who were willing to accept free hugs.
Three days and even more hugs later, God led Jon to something else He wanted him to see: an up-close view of poverty in Costa Rica coupled with an Christian community’s belief God would build them a church within that year.
This leg of his journey took him to a local tribal village of the Bribri in Shiroles, Costa Rica, populated by many who trusted Jesus as their Savior. The Bribri are the largest indigenous population in Costa Rica, most of whom live in the rain-forested province of Limon, closely located to Panama, up in the Talamanca Mountains.
The Bribri are known as the hidden people of Costa Rica, as they live mostly out of sight in hard-to-reach regions, thereby retaining much of their culture and their own language. They live mostly off of subsistence agriculture. This particular community they visited also lives off the sale of cacao they raise for the production of chocolate.
Jon was impressed with the simplicity and the resourcefulness of the community and the joy of the people, but he also witnessed great need.
As they began setting up for their church service, he saw that it was simply a large black tarp stretched taught from the eaves of a home onto a pole in a yard. The tarp covered benches and chairs at least three decades old, which were composed of rusted steel frames and rotted wood. All proof of the simplicity with which they live their daily lives.
At the end of the service, Pastora Xinia Aguire shared with Jon’s group that she and her fellow Christians were believing God for the funds for a new church to be built before 2018.
Jon inquired about the funds needed to buy the land and build the church, and as he was heading back down the path to his next visit, he heard from God.
“See to it that they get a church building.”
This call confirmed what he already felt God leading him to do, but he was perplexed as to how he was going to do this. God then made it clear to him that his job was to oversee the tasks—the funds and the building coordination—not that he had to build it himself.
This first ask of God and his experiences on his very first mission trip became the fertile soil out of which the seed of Your Kingdom Purpose Ministries grew and operates today.
After his mission trip came to a close and with his assignment clear, Jon raised the funds and more to build the Bribri Christians a church in four weeks’ time. He gave God all the glory.
In May of that same year, Jon and his wife, Melva, came back to the Bribri community to dedicate their new building to God and to rejoice in the Lord for the great things He had done.