Photo Essay
Graceful Travels
A teaching and disciple-making journey through the beautiful pathways of Costa Rica and Panama.
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A teaching and disciple-making journey through the beautiful pathways of Costa Rica and Panama.
By Jonathon KelsoRuss Turner relaxes with Randy, who operates a road grader, on a ferry ride in Costa Rica. Turner gave Randy a Messenger and introduced him to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Motorcycles kick up dirt along a road that winds around the edges of Deer Island in Costa Rica.
Turner presents a Messenger to a new believer in her Deer Island home.
Pastor Eladio is both chief and pastor of the community on Deer Island. For 30 years he and his wife Ipi have lived and ministered among people whose livelihood comes from the fish they catch each night.
Turner and Eladio walk the island, following up with people who came to a recent evangelistic meeting. Along the way, they encounter a young woman Eladio has been praying for—gifting her with a Messenger they hope will draw her to the Lord.
In western Panama, Turner joins Pastor Alex Taylor for a mountain visit with the indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé.
Along the upper elevations of the Ngäbe-Buglé region in Panama.
Turner brings a new, updated Messenger to Aniceto, a blind Ngäbe-Buglé pastor who has worn down the buttons of his old device.
A Ngäbe-Buglé family receives a visit from pastors Russ Turner and Alex Taylor. Like many families, they live along the roadside in the mountains, where the Panamanian government has recently installed electricity. A new washing machine sat outside their home while clothes dried on the line.
The gentle dim of evening begins to fall on the mountains of the Ngäbe-Buglé. It is the rainy season, when cloud cover brings cooler nights to the community.
Local children pose on the edge of Río Indio, a village in central Panama, where Russ Turner has come to lead a seminar on evangelism and church growth.
Pastor Amado in his home in Río Indio. For over 20 years Amado has shepherded this community while planting and continuing to preach at many other churches in nearby villages.
The river Río Indio runs through the village that bears its name.
Russ Turner leads the Corazones, Mentes & Manos training session in the Río Indio church, Iglesia Bautista Emaús. His colleague, Clip Suddeth (in pink), watches from the center of the room.
A faithful contingent from Monte Horet Iglesia stands on the dock following a morning of teaching in Río Indio. Honesimo (in the white shirt) pastors this small church, which is 20 minutes away by boat.
Russ Turner relaxes beside Isaac, a farmer from the Monte Horet congregation. He’ll listen to his Messenger while tending his fields and will apply the lessons as he leads the evangelization effort of his small church.