Partway through the opening session of an Advanced Homiletics (preaching) class for an international group of pastors in Costa Rica, I was giving the students a road map of how we were going to organize our sermons when a young … Continue reading
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Jon & Jennifer
Dahlager
Jonathan, Joshua, Julia
Serving in Costa Rica, Latin America Caribbean
Account #2505238
Apartado 509-2010 ZapoteSan José, Costa Rica
Central America
We have served in Costa Rica since the year 2000, and the theme of our ministry is "Raising up the next generation of men and women of God in Costa Rica to touch the world."
Over the years we have come to see ourselves as strategic investors, identifying unreached or underserved segments of Costa Rican society and investing in men and women that God is calling to reach those areas. This has turned into several major areas of service:
1. Ministry Training. We are the directors of the central Theological Seminary, or Bible School, in San José. With 150 students on the main campus and 1,100 on extension sites, we teach, preach, counsel and mentor the next generation of pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists and marketplace Christians. Jon also teaches and helps lead several international undergraduate and graduate-level education ministries, helping the Assemblies of God leadership in the 20 Latin American Spanish-speaking countries to better prepare those that God is calling.
2. Pastors’ Kids. Since the beginning of our ministry we have worked closely with the children and families of national pastors, first in Costa Rica and now internationally. Sometimes called “the black sheep of the church,” PKs have unique advantages and challenges, and it has been our joy to be Uncle Jon and Aunt Jennifer to hundreds over the years and support them as they grow into what God has called them to be.
3. Church planting. We have helped with the launch and mentoring of several new churches, most recently Emaus Community, a project led by several of our millenial Bible School students who work in and reach out to the artistic community in San Jose.
4. Cabecar indigenous outreach. One of the most underserved and desperate segments of the Costa Rican people are the indigenous populations, who often live in the remote mountain regions and practice subsistence farming, bound in superstition and manipulated by external forces. For over eight years we have participated in a ministry that has built a church and brought holistic ministry to a whole region that had previously had no gospel witness.
Thank you for being such an integral part of our ministry, providing us with the necessary tools to reach Costa Rica for Christ!
Blessings and thanks for the visit!
Jon, Jennifer, Jonathan, Joshua and Julia Dahlager
Your missionaries in Costa Rica
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Resources
- Jon's blog - "Costa Rica's Next Generation"
- Dahlager D.Min thesis PKs in Latin America
- Hijos de Ministros en América Latina artículo
- PKs in Latin America Encounter Journal article
- Dahlager Team Facebook group
- Prayer card 2022
- International PK Ministry Network
- Dahlager YouTube channel
- 2022 Family Photo lg
- AGWM Profile Sheet
- AGWM Latin America and the Caribbean - our team
- ChildHope LAC Christian Schools
Read Our Blog
In May we returned from Costa Rica for a year of US-based ministry, which we call itineration. After every four or five years in Costa Rica we base back in Minnesota for a year, visiting our supporting churches and friends … Continue reading
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Todo Cristiano debe aprender a alimentarse de la palabra de Dios, leyendo la Biblia y orando todos los días. Sin embargo, a muchos nos cuesta entender lo que leemos en la Biblia y saber qué decir o pensar a la … Continue reading
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Con frecuencia mis alumnos de teología y amigos cristianos me hacen preguntas acerca de la Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI) y otras traducciones modernas de la Biblia. Estas versiones tienen algunas diferencias importantes comparadas con las traducciones evangélicas tradicionales, de las … Continue reading
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Costa Rica’s presidential election is making international news, and I have gotten questions from friends in other countries about Fabricio Alvarado, a Christian candidate in Costa Rica’s presidential election run-off on April 1. Here is a short summary explanation of … Continue reading
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YouTube
John and his wife Jennifer are world missionaries to Costa Rica with a vision to raise up the next generation of men and women to reach the world for God!
www.youngadults.today
Conference: www.youngadults.today/west-coast-conf
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Lecture #3 of the 2022 J Phillip Hogan missiology lectureship series at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary @EvangelUniversity in Springfield, MO. October 13, 2022. The series is called "Latin America's Next Generation," and is built on the theme that although the indigneous national church has been established in the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, national church leaders keep asking for missionary help in certain strategic areas, including investing in the second generation. In this lecture I mention major areas of cultural change in LAC, missional priorities, and how we can help young leaders face important tensions in the latin context. @Assemblies of God World Missions
Lecture notes available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3mzc88xyw5y1l8t/Tensions%20in%20the%20ministry.docx?dl=0
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Lecture #2 of the 2022 J Phillip Hogan missiology lectureship series at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary @EvangelUniversity in Springfield, MO. October 13, 2022. The series is called "Latin America's Next Generation," and is built on the theme that although the national church is established in the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, the national church leaders keep asking for missionary help in certain strategic areas, including investing in the second generation. @AssembliesofGodWorldMissions
Watch this video
Lecture #1 of the 2022 J Phillip Hogan missiology lectureship series at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary @EvangelUniversity in Springfield, MO. October 11, 2022. The series is called "Latin America's Next Generation," and is built on the theme that although the national church is established in the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, the national church leaders keep asking for missionary help in certain strategic areas, including investing in the second generation. @AssembliesofGodWorldMissions
Watch this video
It is our joy to invest our lives in the next generation of men and women of God in Costa Rica. Here is a short video describing a bit of what that looks like.
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Projects
National Training Auditorium sound
As directors of the Seminary in San José we are finishing the construction of our national training auditorium, used for all of our national training events, including youth/ children/ university ministries, evangelism, church planting, missions, and pastoral training events. Last major remaining pice of the project is sound installation, $25,000.
Media studio for Bible College
Setup of studio for recording and production of video and audio content for evangelism and discipleship, online classes, AG national communications, and NextGen ministries.
3 Classrooms set up for Hybrid/Online classes
We need to equip three classrooms at the Bible College with technology to handle hybrid in-person and online undergraduate and graduate classes, with front and rear cameras, host computers, audio mixing and multiple microphones. $5,000 per classroom
Downtown Church Plant
The business district downtown San José has recently undergone a repopulation with new high-rise apartment buildings. With a population of 300,000, we have no churches in the area. Pray with us to find a place to have services as well as a coffee shop and art studio.