United World Mission

With UWM creating a partnership with a Latin Seminary, ESEPA, we have been able to begin to insert into this mix talented teachers and trainers. The UWM missionary team presently consists of one couple that teaches the New Testament at ESEPA Seminary. This Latin Seminary produces crème of the crop leaders for all of Latin America and through our partnership for Cuba Latinos connected with ESEPA Seminary are providing theological education to Cubans.

UWM is actively seeking additional cross-cultural workers and partnerships to complete needed projects, which will propel national initiatives forward among the many under-reached areas of the country.

Paul & Dori recently moved to Costa Rica. Paul is working as Co -Area Director for Latin America.

Even though I grew up in a Christian home and was active in church, it
wasn't until age 18 that I really understood the difference between living out a religion and living in a relationship with Jesus Christ. From the time I understood this difference I knew God was leading me to help others know Christ and make Him known. Thus, with this desire and with my Mexican-American heritage, I knew God was calling me to serve in Latin America. In 1996 God sent me to Peru where I served under another mission agency more than four years. While in Peru I discovered the incredible joy that comes from teaching, training and discipling national church leaders, preparing them to reach their country with the message of the Gospel.

Through God's leading He allowed me to join United World Mission in 2002. The more I learned about United World Mission the more I discovered
that their vision and values are alive and active in the lives of the men and women who serve on their teams! I am excited to be a part of a mission that seeks to do a strategic work within a country by empowering the nationals to do ministry in their country while giving them a vision to reach those outside of their geographical boundaries.

Currently I am serving with UWM as a professor at Seminario ESEPA in San Josè, Costa Rica. The students at ESEPA come from 14 different Spanish speaking countries and represent over 40 denominations. They are preparing to serve as pastors, missionaries, church planters and Bible teachers. Some will continue serving here in Cost Rica, others will return to their respective countries to serve as strategic Christian leaders and others will be sent out to some of the least-christian nations in the world.
What a privelege to help train Latin American leaders who will be used by God to saturate their communities and the world with churches that God will use to transform lives through the Bible-centered teaching, preaching, evangelism and discipleship.

Marietta and I met in Chile while serving on a team that was doing college ministry at the University of Concepción. Since our time in South America, we have been particularly interested in how we might be able to come alongside the Latin American church

and partner with them in training their pastors for teaching, writing, discipling, preaching, and in equipping and mobilizing Latin American missionaries to go to the Muslim world and the 10/40 window. While we had felt God was burdening us with this particular task, we knew absolutely no one who was involved in this sort of ministry. So for the last seven years we have been waiting for God to call us with some specifics...and He did, literally. Well, sort of. One day, out of the blue, Kelly received a phone call from the president of United World Mission who told us about an amazing opportunity in Costa Rica, and opportunity that seemed to fit us perfectly.

Situated in one of the most economically and politically stable countries in all of Latin America is a leadership training institute that equips pastors, evangelists, missionaries and lay leaders from some 16 Spanish-speaking countries. Future denominational leaders, pioneer missionaries, writers, scholars and influential pastors will pass through the halls of Seminario ESEPA where they will be rigorously equipped to handle God's Word, integrate it into their lives and make disciples of all the nations. And if they can't come to Seminario ESEPA, Seminario ESEPA will go to them. Seminario ESEPA professors travel to all parts of Costa Rica, to Cuba, to Nicaragua and to other Central American countries to meet the educational needs of pastors and lay leaders. As one missions director has said of Seminario ESEPA, ãI can't think of a more strategic leadership training center in all of Latin America.ä This was just the kind of work that God was calling us to.

Why are we going to Costa Rica? Because it is there where we can fulfill what God has placed upon our hearts; because it is there where we can be strategic with our time and resources; because it is there where we can multiply our efforts through God's grace.

Jose and Dian

Kids: Candace, Daniel and Stephanie

Serving in Latin America. We received Christ as our Lord after our baby boy, Daniel, contracted Spinal Meningitis and almost died. We were immediately enthusiastic about sharing this newfound faith with others. We began reaching out to others as our new church gave opportunities through Billy Graham crusades, short term mission trips to Mexico, small group bible studies, children’s ministries, etc. After a few years of growth in our Lord, a missionary speaker came to challenge our church to send from their own congregation. We looked at each other and knew he was talking about us. Jose voluntarily resigned from his job of 16 years with Hewlett Packard and we headed for the Amazon of Peru, to administer with a team of 7 American families and 7 Indigenous families reaching unreached tribal groups.

We know this is God’s work as He works through our weaknesses. Dian has a chronic disease: Crohn’s and our son has special learning needs, but God still uses us for His purposes. We are now beginning a new ministry based out of Costa Rica. We will be facilitating helping partnership in church planting in Cuba, and helping training centers throughout Latin America. Ephesians 3:20-21