Pastor David Mora Badilla & wife Gabby
Iglesia Biblica in Frailes, Costa Rica
We meet Pastor David and Gabby at the same time we met his parents Eli and Martha. David is a man after God heart just like his father and mother. David is in his mind 20s and has taken on a very large assignment for the Kingdom. The AIBC Association asked David if he would become the pastor of a 35 year old church in Frailes. Under the old leadership the church had unfortunately lost credibility in the community. This church had been responsible for starting all the other evangelical churches in the area, but now had dropped in membership to 4 people. Since David has become pastor a year ago, membership has grown 5 times (that 500%, the fastest growing church in Costa Rica ;-), to 25 people. Along with worship, the church currently has two cell groups meeting in homes in the community, and conducts home visitation in the community to introduce David and the church back to the community. They also offer English as a second language, and have conducted movie nights showing movies such as ‘Facing the Giants’ with good attendance. They were offering a food ministry until the church was broken into a few months ago and their rice cooker and propane gas tank were stolen (along many with other items including David’s motorcycle).
Some of the obstacles David and Gabby face are: witchcraft, a practice of idolatry, and teens who practice Satan worship. David has begun to unite the community churches in a way to deal with these issues. Although the danger is not life threatening, they have had witches on their property at night doing their thing to discourage them. But, David and Gabby are confident in the Lord’s provision and protect as they continue the ministry He called them to.
David envisions: a food pantry and hot meal ministry, ministry to elderly and widows, clothing and blanket ministry (it gets cold in Frailes), youth center and ministries, door to door evangelism, children’s ministries. And David and Gabby would also like to provide periodic medical clinics to the community using short-term medical teams. He also needs a lot of work on their current facilities including a security wall for the property.