We work to empower people in the community of La Carpio in San Jose, Costa Rica,
the largest immigrant squatter settlement in Central America.
the largest immigrant squatter settlement in Central America.
The Sears Family
Seth & Andrea
Annabel, Alden, Jude
giveDIGNITY Founders Seth and Andrea Sears were both raised in middle-class families in Kansas City. While participating in a suburban church plant, they were given the book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, by Ron Sider, and began to feel conflicted about their own pursuit of the “American Dream” while much of the world struggles daily with hunger, poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water and quality education, and is subjected to violence and oppression. Wrestling with these issues of economic resource disparity led them to move to Costa Rica in 2009 with their children (Annabel, now age 20; Alden, 18; and Jude, 15) 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 being given and dependencies being 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, as people always needed ANOTHER free pair of shoes or soccer ball later. 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 ministry, giveDIGNITY, which seeks to serve the poor in strategic ways that empower to break the cycle of poverty through long-term development instead of short-term aid.
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 being given and dependencies being 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, as people always needed ANOTHER free pair of shoes or soccer ball later. 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 ministry, giveDIGNITY, which seeks to serve the poor in strategic ways that empower to break the cycle of poverty through long-term development instead of short-term aid.
