The Sears Family
Seth and Andrea with son,
Jude.
giveDIGNITY Founders Seth and Andrea Sears were both raised in middle-class families in Kansas City. Wrestling with issues of economic resource disparity led them to move to Costa Rica in 2009 with their children (Annabel, Alden, and Jude) to work in La Carpio, a marginalized community on the outskirts of San José, Costa Rica.
During their first few years of working in the community, they saw many things that disturbed them about the missions endeavor as it relates to helping the poor. They saw a lot of handouts given and dependencies created. They saw an assumption on the part of many that those living in the community didn’t really have any resources or skills to contribute to fix their own problems. They saw superficial attempts to help that didn’t make a difference in transforming lives in the long run. And worst of all, they saw people being trained to feel “less than” and helpless, stripped of the dignity endowed to them by God as His image bearers.
With that in mind, Seth and Andrea started a new kind of ministry, giveDIGNITY, which seeks to serve the poor in strategic ways that empower them to break the cycle of poverty through long-term development instead of short-term aid. In 2022, the Sears transitioned day-to-day management to a local team (see below) and headed back to the States to focus on fundraising and development in order to continue to grow the resources available to the community.
During their first few years of working in the community, they saw many things that disturbed them about the missions endeavor as it relates to helping the poor. They saw a lot of handouts given and dependencies created. They saw an assumption on the part of many that those living in the community didn’t really have any resources or skills to contribute to fix their own problems. They saw superficial attempts to help that didn’t make a difference in transforming lives in the long run. And worst of all, they saw people being trained to feel “less than” and helpless, stripped of the dignity endowed to them by God as His image bearers.
With that in mind, Seth and Andrea started a new kind of ministry, giveDIGNITY, which seeks to serve the poor in strategic ways that empower them to break the cycle of poverty through long-term development instead of short-term aid. In 2022, the Sears transitioned day-to-day management to a local team (see below) and headed back to the States to focus on fundraising and development in order to continue to grow the resources available to the community.
Luis Calvo
Luis joined the team in September of 2021. Luis is from La Carpio and has years of experience teaching math and serving in the community as a youth pastor. Luis oversees giveDIGNITY's student sponsorship program, which this year includes 92 students. However, during any given week when you include additional neighborhood youth, Luis and his team are helping more than 150 students study by giving tutoring and special classes. Luis is also in charge of leading the volunteer team and coaching them on how to effectively serve others. In addition, Luis is in charge of youth group, camp, music teaching, and theater group, as he also has many artistic talents. He is a dynamo and a fantastic communicator!
María José Jarquín Ortiz
María José joined the team in early 2022 as a tutor and literacy expert. At only 19 years old, she is a go-getter and already serves with such maturity. She runs our little readers clubs (to help kids in grades 1-3 with reading and math/logic skills), our grade 4-6 reading club, and teaches adult literacy, as well as tutoring students of all ages with whatever homework they bring in. In addition, she manages our library times and keeps track of what books are where. She brings strong organizational and planning skills to the team, and is always ready to learn something new with enthusiasm. The best thing about her is that she's so sweet and gentle!
Jorge Arias Rodriguez
Jorge joined our team in May 2022 as our English teacher. He studied English at the national technical institute in Costa Rica, and has his hands in real estate and business. But he has also served for many years with another ministry in La Carpio oriented to youth, and has a love for serving the marginalized and meeting the needs of those who live in La Carpio. He teaches classes for grades 4-6, high school, and is our go-to guy for helping kids with English homework during tutoring times. He is currently designing an expansion of English programs for 2023, to include a more intensive track for high schoolers that will prepare them better for the university setting.
Adriana Guerrero Tapia
Adriana is both our neighbor in La Carpio and a team member that provides cooking and cleaning services at the ministry. She is a faithful servant, working hard in mostly “invisible” roles to support the ministry’s effectiveness. She is also a considerate friend and neighbor, looking out for people who may try to break in, deface, or otherwise pose a threat to the ministry. She is married to Elmer and has two daughters: Dayana and Reychel. She is also raising her niece, Ariana. Her daughter Dayana was one of our sponsored students since the beginning of the program. She graduated in 2021, passing the sponsorship on to Reychel.
Volunteers
The giveDIGNITY team also relies on the help of dozens of volunteers who fill roles such as tutors, ESL and Jobs for Life teachers, library attendants, bible study leaders, child care during classes and events, and community organizers. We believe in mobilizing people and resources within the community to solve its problems, and prefer to use more local volunteers than outsiders. Without investment by those within the community, we would quickly go astray and not accomplish nearly as much as we can by their sides.
Our desire is to honor the Lord in all our ways, and that encompasses all our ministry practices. We pledge to be good stewards of every donor dollar, and to be mindful of how we represent Jesus in every moment of ministry. In that light, we desire to provide transparency in our work. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns about how our ministry is operating: we value every opportunity to engage more fully with our supporters and to show how we are spreading the love of Christ.
Thank you for supporting our work!
We are proud to partner with Perception Funding - a Christ-centered fundraising and sending organization that helps us handle our financial and ministry needs. To learn more about their work, or contact them with questions, click the button below.
