It’s not every day you get 94 acres of stunning grassland and forest at the base of a volcano to play with. It’s exciting, but it hasn’t been without challenges. As we learned more about the site and the local restrictions, we came to realize that our first attempt at a master plan was less feasible than we had hoped. Still, a clear vision persisted, so we adapted and searched for increasingly creative solutions to serve this amazing ministry.
Árbol de Vida (Tree of Life) was first envisioned in the 1970s as a ministry to serve local churches and visitors in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica. Today, this vision continues as the ministry builds up local pastors. There are currently around 150 evangelical churches in Guanacaste, yet over 80% of the pastors are untrained, with no seminary schools in the region.
Through God’s perfect timing, a 94-acre plot of land recently became available. Situated by the Miravalles Volcano and Rio Blanco (White River), the site was ideal for a retreat campus.
Árbol de Vida’s vision for the site is to create a hub to train pastors and support their families through children’s camps, marriage counselling, and other programs. As Árbol de Vida considered development options, they sought EMI’s expertise. Our team was tasked with creating a site master plan and designing Phase 1 buildings.
I’m Catherine, an Architectural Intern at the EMI Canada office. Árbol de Vida is my first project with EMI and my first professional project since graduating from university in England. What an exciting project to be a part of! In January 2022, I travelled to Guanacaste with 11 other EMI volunteer design professionals and staff members to begin work on this project. It was fascinating and very humbling to chat with the missionaries living in Costa Rica leading Árbol de Vida: Aaron and Cassie Gortmaker.
On the trip, I quickly came to realize the significance of God's restorative love on the lives of so many people in need in Costa Rica. Knowing the impact this new development would make motivated me even further professionally and spiritually.
On our first day in Costa Rica, we met with the ministry to understand their vision for the land. We quickly identified that the master plan was best organized into several phases, given the large scope.
Phase 1 involves building a new entrance, since the current road access is very dangerous. It also includes building a house to host people and hold events. Currently, pastors are being hosted and trained from the missionaries’ home, but space is becoming tight.
The future phases include staff housing for other families from Costa Rica and abroad to stay long-term as they add depth and experience to the ministry. Another aspect is a children’s camp, which was born out of the personal growth and fond memories the Gortmakers had when attending Christian camps, and their desire to share this with others. Finally, the ministry also has plans for a teaching centre as a dedicated space for seminary teaching.
Throughout the trip, we visited the site with the missionaries and envisioned the master plan together. It was beautiful and appeared to be the ideal spot, including views of the volcano and even a rainbow at one point. It was spectacular!
The site, however, was not without its challenges. Some of these included its large size, steep terrain, and snakes. Despite its large overall size, another challenge was finding sufficient buildable space on the land. It was a blessing for the team to be able to meet with the local municipality and learn that there were some significant restrictions to where buildings could be placed, namely the 50-metre no-build setback from the river on the site. Although this forced us to rethink our initial design, awareness of the restrictions guided us towards a more feasible design solution. The ministry was very grateful for the hours of research and design we put in during the week and said it saved them ‘years’ of work.
The process of navigating these challenges has made me recognize the importance of using our gifts and what blessings they are, as mentioned in Peter 4:10: ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.‘ I not only learnt this from the other volunteers and staff but also through the enormous hospitality that the missionaries showed us. I am grateful for everybody I met on the trip and their serving hearts. It has been wonderful to collaborate together with different design disciplines and backgrounds; I learnt so much from these experienced professionals.
The master plan for the Árbol de Vida site is a long-term vision that will take many years to come to fruition. But as a team and a ministry, we trust in God’s provision and pray for perseverance. 2 Corinthians 9:8 has been an encouragement, which says:
‘… God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.’
I thank God that He has partnered EMI with Árbol de Vida to help realize His plan.
Following the trip, I returned to the EMI Canada office to begin post-production. There’s always work to keep an intern busy! Meanwhile my team members, many of them in other EMI offices around the world, have also been busy further developing various aspects of the design. Through witnessing first-hand how many hours go into a project, I now further appreciate the blessing that EMI is to ministries.
As our team has continued to take on new challenges in the design of our project, I have learnt that although I may have big plans as an architect, I need to adapt to meet people where they are and trust God that He has it under control. Although circumstances may not be ideal, God can use any situation for His Glory! I pray continuously for wisdom so that our team can complete the design of the master plan and Phase 1 to best fulfill God’s plan. I am so excited to see and share how God’s plan will unfold in Costa Rica!
