February 12, 2018 – Please pray for Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the east and Pacific Ocean to the west, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Isla Calero is the largest island of the country.
There are 14 known volcanoes in Costa Rica, and six of them have been active in the last 75 years. The country has also experienced at least ten earthquakes of magnitude 5.7 or higher (3 of magnitude 7.0 or higher) in the last century.
Because Costa Rica is located between 8 and 12 degrees north of the Equator, the climate is tropical year round. However, the country has many microclimates depending on elevation, rainfall, topography, and by the geography of each particular region.
Costa Rica’s seasons are defined by how much rain falls during a particular period. The year can be split into two periods, the dry season known to the residents as summer (verano), and the rainy season, known locally as winter (invierno). The “summer” or dry season goes from December to April, and “winter” or rainy season goes from May to November, which almost coincides with the Atlantic hurricane season and during this time, it rains constantly in some regions. The location receiving the most rain is the Caribbean slopes of the Cordillera Central mountains with an annual rainfall of over 196.9 inches.
A pioneer of ecotourism, Costa Rica draws many tourists to its extensive series of national parks and other protected areas. Costa Rica is the most visited nation in the Central American region, with 2.9 million foreign visitors in 2016, up 10% from 2015. The lead country of origin to enter Costa Rica in 2016 was the United States with 1,000,000 visitors, followed by Europe with over 430,000 arrivals.
Bananas and coffee are primary exports of Costa Rica.
It has a population of around 4.9 million.
Christianity is Costa Rica’s predominant religion, with Roman Catholicism being the official state religion according to the 1949 Constitution, which at the same time guarantees freedom of religion. It is the only state in the Americas which established Roman Catholicism as its state religion; other such countries are microstates in Europe.
According to the most recent nationwide survey of religion, conducted in 2007 by the University of Costa Rica, 70.5% of Costa Ricans are Roman Catholics (44.9% practicing Catholics), 13.8% are Evangelical Protestants (almost all are practicing), 11.3% report that they do not have a religion, and 4.3% belong to another religion. The rate of secularism is high by Latin American standards.
Due to small, but continuous, immigration from Asia and the Middle East, other religions have grown, the most popular being Buddhism, with about 100,000 practitioners (over 2% of the population). Most Buddhists are members of the Han Chinese community of about 40,000. There is also a small Muslim community of about 500 families and a small number of Jewish families.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims more than 35,000 members, and has a temple in San José that served as a regional worship center for Costa Rica. However, they represent less than 1% of the population.
The above are from en.wikipedia.org. These statements have not been fact-checked and are only used here to help us gain a better understanding of this nation.
I continue to believe that prayer can change nations and the hearts of both believers and non-believers. I therefore choose to pray for not only family, friends and our local church, but also for our nation and nations around the world. We all need God in our daily lives. All people and nations need the leadership of God.
1. Pray for a move of the Holy Spirit to sweep across Costa Rica – especially among the youth of the nation.
2. Pray God will direct missionaries to this nation to demonstrate the love of God and share the Gospel.
3. Pray as the Lord leads you for Costa Rica. The burden He places on your heart may be different than the burden He places upon my heart in prayer. He knows the need of every human in the world and seeks to have a loving relationship with each person.
Let us pray for one another. We all need prayer and encouragement. Life is difficult at its best and we need a solid foundation of prayer to abound in our individual lives to enable us to more faithfully follow Jesus.
