Missionary Life

Life at YWAM Nicoya

FACILITIES:

Our main property has the main building where our kitchen, dining and meeting room are, with some office, housing and maintenance spaces as well. On this same property we have four wooden cabins and four tiny homes for dorm space, all with their own bathrooms and porch areas. We have 50 bed spaces on base. In another building we have Bible storage, classroom and offices. There are tables outside for eating, studying, conversations and spending time with God. We also have a small coffee and gift shop.

Our second property, “La Finca”, has fields and forest for enjoying the nature and spending time with God. The Nature Trail stations guide you to meditate on God’s character. One part of the property is being developed for our after school program and another part for cowboy ministry. Right now only horses and goats live on the property, but in the next few years we will start using this property also for more housing facilities for our growing community.

The two properties are a walking distance from each other, in a rural village, surrounded by a lot of nature and some neighbours.

COMMUNITY AND WORK SCHEDULE:

We usually start our days at 7 am with breakfast. After that everyone has one hour of “quiet time”, time alone with God. Depending on the day, some mornings at 8:30 am we get together for community worship and/or prayer time. Other mornings different ministry and school teams start their work right away. We work full and busy days in ministries, training and practical jobs. At the end of the work day the staff families and couples who live off base go to their homes and base dinners are usually served at 6 pm. Some ministries have evening activities, or teams might have team times at the end of the day. If not, evenings are free for resting, processing, hanging out, playing games etc.

We host ministry events at the base every day from Monday to Friday. We pick people up from the surrounding villages and take them back after. At the base we all take turns cooking, cleaning and helping with other practical jobs like house chores and property maintenance.

Every Monday evening we come together as a community for Family Night, an evening of worship, word and fellowship. Family Nights are also open for anyone from outside the base who wants to come and it is a nice way to get to make friends in the community.

Saturdays are usually free, Sundays church and rest days.

ATMOSPHERE:

We are a unique and diverse missions community. On staff, we have people between 18 and 57 years of age, from five different nations. Staff families children are an important part of our community. Our students are mostly young adults, but we also welcome adult students. We receive volunteers both from Costa Rica and from different nations, ages 18 to 80. All of us come from different backgrounds, different walks of life, different Christian experiences and denominations. A community like this is a place of sharing, grace, growth, fun, challenges - and a little piece of heaven. Our love for Jesus and a passion to participate in God’s mission is what unites us.

What is Life at YWAM Nicoya like?

  • "It is very peaceful. It is a place where you can spend a lot of time in a godly community, having a lot of fun and also seeking the Lord"

    Alicia
    YWAM School of Worship outreach team leader.

  • "We are closely connected with the local people through all the ministries we do every week. We work together to share the Gospel."

    Isabel
    Children and Valo Education ministry staff

  • "This is a place where you can experience the beaty of creation while deepening relationships with other Christians, learning what it means to serve wholeheartedly in a Christian community."

    Janessa
    YWAM School of Biblical Foundations and Missions outreach team member

  • "It is both challenging and relaxing. It provides opportunities to serve the Lord in almost every area: through evangelism, hands on service and opportunities to teach and share with other team members of the base. There are also times to seek the Lord, to get to know each other and develop meaningful relationships.

    Elliot
    IBC staff

  • "It is a beautiful place where everyone loves God and shares God's love with everyone around them. The ministries are great because they grow you and stretch you with the Lord.

    Brylie
    School of Biblical Foundations and Missions outreach team member

  • "Life at YWAM Nicoya is packed with diverse activities reaching different age groups and people in the community. We are very international and the base has a strong family atmosphere."

    Siska
    Hospitality and Valo Education Ministry staff member

  • "YWAM Nicoya is an encouraging place to be, to live in community that disciples you and helps you grow in your relationship with God. The designated Jesus time we have every morning is very important and I really love how YWAM Nicoya values that. This is such a peaceful place and you can feel the presence of the Lord. I love the emphasis of community here, because it is important in the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Lilli
    School of Worship outreach team member

FAQs about base life

  • We have rooms from two to eight people per room, usually in bunk beds. There is little shelf and drawer space per person for clothes and personal items. The space if very limited! Each room has two fans.

    The main building has three bathrooms with a shower and each cabin and tiny home has its own bathroom. There is no hot water, but the water here is lukewarm, it never gets really cold.

    At the base you can flush toilet paper down the toilet. Usually anywhere else in the country you have to deposit used toilet paper in trash cans.

  • The surroundings are excellent for running and walking. There are soccer games in the surrounding communities in the afternoons that you can join.

    Many people who like to work out do calisthenics workouts in the yard or on the porches. You can also purchase gym items and donate them for a common gym space that we are starting to develop. There are gyms in Nicoya, but you have to have your own means of transportation to get there.

  • We have a few laundry machines and a drier. Usually during the morning they are used for base housekeeping laundry and in the afternoons, evenings and weekends they are available for personal laundry.

    Each load costs 600 CRC and dryer load 1200 CRC. We encourage line drying, especially in the dry season clothes dry very fast.

  • We have reputation of being a YWAM base with excellent food. We have a balanced menu of three daily meals that will keep you full and healthy. We make sure there is enough fruit and vegetables, carbs and protein both from vegetable and meat sources. We have both Costa Rican and international dishes. The Costa Rican diet consists of rice, beans, vegetable and meet (mostly chicken) dishes. For off base ministry days and weekends, we do pack sandwich lunches.

    Outside the three meals, you can have your own snacks and additional foods, as long as you don’t use the kitchen at the same time base meals are being prepared or cleaned up.

    We facilitate special diets for medical reasons. We can provide gluten free and dairy free meals if you have a medical condition, same for specific food allergies such as peanuts, fish, tomato etc. Make sure you let us know about your condition and allergies beforehand.

  • We are located in a very rural area, so there is not much entertainment around. Here are some of the things our staff and students like to do on their free time:

    • Take the bus to Nicoya on Saturdays (for coffee shops, wifi, ice cream, shopping…)

    • Go to the beach for a weekend. (A long bus ride, but it is possible!)

    • Hike the Caballito mountain close by.

    • Go for a walk or a run.

    • Organise a movie night.

    • Play board games.

    • Read (the base has a good library).

    • Sleep in your hammock.

    • Journal.

    • Visit neighbours.

    • Exercise.

    • Play an instrument.