STORIES: Joel
Cynthia +
Renee
MISSIONS
UNEXPECTED MISSIONARIES
10
F O U R S Q U A R E Leade r
UNEXPECTED MISSIONARIES
Joel Mayer
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
IN ESTONIA
JOEL MAYER'S BUSINESS ISN’T
AN ADD-ON TO HIS MINISTRY—
IT FUELS HIS MINISTRY.
Rod Light
F
oursquare Missions International Missionaries
Joel and Keturah Mayer are “co-vocational,”
leading a home church network in Estonia where
Joel runs his IT business. While bivocational pastors
might work an unrelated job to provide for their families,
this business is Joel’s ministry.
Joel hopes to provide a business environment that allows
and challenges men to prioritize family. “We have daily
checkup meetings about work and personal life,” Joel says.
Keturah is pastoral and administrative, so her care for
people throughout the week keeps the family organized
and moving forward. Joel teaches, leads and strategizes with
team members at church, while still leading his business.
“The fact that I toil and grind to make a living like my
neighbors makes … a Spirit-filled kingdom life appear
within the grasp of others,” states Joel.
THE MOUNTAIN OF
DREAMS IN COSTA RICA
CYNTHIA AND JOSIAH HUBBARD REACH INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN
COSTA RICA THROUGH A LUMBER BUSINESS, REFORESTATION
PROJECT AND BEEKEEPING ENDEAVOR.
D.L. Mayfield
C
ynthia Hubbard was born and raised in
Costa Rica, where she became a medical
doctor. In 2003, she met her husband,
Josiah, when he came on a short-term missions
trip, and five months later they were married.
In 2005, the Hubbards started working with the
Cabécar people, an indigenous and animistic
people group in Costa Rica, doing traditional
missions. For Cynthia, it was transcultural mission
work, even inside her own country.
Then, in 2014, they felt strongly that God was
going to start something new to really help the
Cabécar people. Through Foursquare Missions
International (FMI), they learned about Business
as Mission (BAM), and a new vision formed. At
the end of 2016, the couple bought a large farm/
forest area they called the Mountain of Dreams.
They didn’t have all the money, but the owners
believed in the dream and lowered the price.
The Mountain of Dreams includes a
reforestation project (replanting on 40 hectares) and
protecting the rest of the
rainforest land, with the
goal of turning it into an
ecotourism project in the
future. They also run a
Cynthia and
Josiah Hubbard
sawmill, which processes
and sells lumber that is
environmentally friendly, sustainable, renewable
and affordable for locals. In 2018, they started
working with bees as a way to provide work and
income for single mothers.
Cynthia says doing this work is different than
the traditional missions they were involved with,
but when you have a business, you have an open
door into the community. She sees BAM as both
exciting and a chance to extend the kingdom
of God in their community. Their dreams
have changed, but they remain rooted in the
Good News.
continued on page 12
SPRING 2020
11