Faithfully Serving the Lord in Costa Rica
“But seek first his kingdom and
his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” *
Someone who has
lived her life seeking to serve Christ and spread His good news as a missionary
is Julie Chamberlain, now residing in Birmingham, Michigan where she cares for
her elderly mother. After spending more than a quarter century in Costa Rica as
director of the Spanish Language Institute in San José, coming home to the states has
required readjusting to a different life style and getting used to speaking
English again in spite of mostly thinking in Spanish.
Julie’s relationship with God began as a fifth grader at church camp, where the prayers of a counselor impacted her. “He talked to God as if he were talking to Someone who was there and was listening. He also prayed with reverence ‘in Jesus precious name.’ That impacted me enough so that my prayer life changed.
“Instead of rote prayers and ‘God bless Mommy and Daddy,’ I now had more of a conversation with God… My testimony is unusual in that I didn't hear the plan of salvation until 10 years later or say a prayer for salvation, but just sort of slipped into a relationship with God.
“From this simple beginning, I went on to understand more about the Christian faith through Sunday school teachers and later, when I became involved in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Michigan.”
After college, Julie remained in Ann Arbor, working in Christian education for several years. God prepared her for the future work in Costa Rica by opening a door to get her Master’s Degree in Linguistics at Michigan State, East Lansing, in the 1980’s. She was accepted into the program with the opportunity for an assistant fellowship.
While at MSU, she attended a large missions conference with a view toward going into missions work. Out of five possibilities, one mission especially showed great interest in her… the Latin American Mission. It seemed like a “good fit.”
In 1989, Julie went to Colombia with the LAM organization to investigate the possiblities there. Upon discovering that she was a linguist, she was invited to Costa Rica to teach an introductory course in linguistics to Costa Ricans who were getting ready to serve Christ in other countries.The linguistics training would help them be better prepared to learn new languages.
That led to Julie’s becoming affiliated with the Spanish Language Institute which had begun as a Presbyterian Mission Training Center in Colombia during the 1940’s and was later moved to San José, Costa Rica. The Spanish Language Institute still operates today as an autonomous, nondenominational, non-profit organization.
A local family took Julie in while she attended and also taught classes at the Spanish Language Institute. Elisa was the single mother of three daughters who had previous contact with missionaries affiliated with the Latin American Mission. She was a lovely person who made her feel right at home. In fact, Julie had grown up with three sisters, so it was a nice environment for her. She still calls them her “Costa Rican family.”
While Julie was still a student at the institute, a woman came to speak who was involved in a jail ministry. “She invited people to join her, so I went!” said Julie, and she continued to go for the next 28 years!
The inmates were all women, some with children and babies. Weekly services with energetic singing, communion, baptisms in a barrel, refreshments, parties on special occasions… Julie remembers the special bond with the incarcerated women created through this ministry.
In 1993 she took on the job of director, months after buying her own home close to the campus. As director, she helped train and prepare North Americans, Canadians, Koreans and others to go out into the mission field. Approximately 16,000 missionaries have been trained since the inception of the Spanish Language Institute, an amazing accomplishment.
Now that she is back in the states, Julie still has a strong connection with the country, her host family and the school and was recently elected to be on the board! Will she go back?
“We’ll see!” she says smiling.
With dreams yet to be realized and work still to be done in that country, Julie Chamberlain continues to be available to serve the Lord and spread the good news of His kingdom. Thank you for your faithful service, Julie!
Julie’s relationship with God began as a fifth grader at church camp, where the prayers of a counselor impacted her. “He talked to God as if he were talking to Someone who was there and was listening. He also prayed with reverence ‘in Jesus precious name.’ That impacted me enough so that my prayer life changed.
“Instead of rote prayers and ‘God bless Mommy and Daddy,’ I now had more of a conversation with God… My testimony is unusual in that I didn't hear the plan of salvation until 10 years later or say a prayer for salvation, but just sort of slipped into a relationship with God.
“From this simple beginning, I went on to understand more about the Christian faith through Sunday school teachers and later, when I became involved in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Michigan.”
After college, Julie remained in Ann Arbor, working in Christian education for several years. God prepared her for the future work in Costa Rica by opening a door to get her Master’s Degree in Linguistics at Michigan State, East Lansing, in the 1980’s. She was accepted into the program with the opportunity for an assistant fellowship.
While at MSU, she attended a large missions conference with a view toward going into missions work. Out of five possibilities, one mission especially showed great interest in her… the Latin American Mission. It seemed like a “good fit.”
In 1989, Julie went to Colombia with the LAM organization to investigate the possiblities there. Upon discovering that she was a linguist, she was invited to Costa Rica to teach an introductory course in linguistics to Costa Ricans who were getting ready to serve Christ in other countries.The linguistics training would help them be better prepared to learn new languages.
That led to Julie’s becoming affiliated with the Spanish Language Institute which had begun as a Presbyterian Mission Training Center in Colombia during the 1940’s and was later moved to San José, Costa Rica. The Spanish Language Institute still operates today as an autonomous, nondenominational, non-profit organization.
A local family took Julie in while she attended and also taught classes at the Spanish Language Institute. Elisa was the single mother of three daughters who had previous contact with missionaries affiliated with the Latin American Mission. She was a lovely person who made her feel right at home. In fact, Julie had grown up with three sisters, so it was a nice environment for her. She still calls them her “Costa Rican family.”
While Julie was still a student at the institute, a woman came to speak who was involved in a jail ministry. “She invited people to join her, so I went!” said Julie, and she continued to go for the next 28 years!
The inmates were all women, some with children and babies. Weekly services with energetic singing, communion, baptisms in a barrel, refreshments, parties on special occasions… Julie remembers the special bond with the incarcerated women created through this ministry.
In 1993 she took on the job of director, months after buying her own home close to the campus. As director, she helped train and prepare North Americans, Canadians, Koreans and others to go out into the mission field. Approximately 16,000 missionaries have been trained since the inception of the Spanish Language Institute, an amazing accomplishment.
Now that she is back in the states, Julie still has a strong connection with the country, her host family and the school and was recently elected to be on the board! Will she go back?
“We’ll see!” she says smiling.
With dreams yet to be realized and work still to be done in that country, Julie Chamberlain continues to be available to serve the Lord and spread the good news of His kingdom. Thank you for your faithful service, Julie!
*Matthew 6:33 NIV
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