See the World Through Trino Jara's Eyes

Trino Jara

Trino Jara, from Costa Rica, is serving the Church of the Nazarene in Kiev, Ukraine. His responsibilities are many: Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) coordinator of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), superintendent of the Ukraine District, and child development coordinator for the Eurasia Region. He is working to develop sustainable and healthy churches in the CIS.
 
Who has had the greatest influence on your life?
Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela. They have several things in common. And, in the church, a couple of friends—Willie Canales (Peru) and Jorge Garcia (Costa Rica).

With what Bible character do you most connect?
Caleb. Because he was a visionary, obedient to God, and able to take risks knowing that God was with him.

Describe the overall spiritual sentiment in this post-communist era.
What I understand is that the older generations, who grew up without God, became cynical. To believe in God, they expected extreme miracles. The younger generations are more susceptible to addictions. Entire generations have been lost to alcohol and drugs.

The church has a huge opportunity to reach and affect people generationally, specifically children. If we can help children to know and understand God's heart, they will be able to give their lives to God and also explain God to their parents. I believe this is a key for an evangelistic movement in the former Soviet Union.

Give some specifics on what is taking place with children there.
Kid’s Clubs—a ministry where kids come from the community to play, eat, and learn about God. Normally, it happens outside of church hours. Many of these kids now come to Sunday School and are becoming part of the church. Also, through camps and summer activities, especially when churches can organize activities that will help bring in parents, we are able to connect with entire families.

Favorite food?
Whatever is in front of me at the table.

Greatest fear?
To fall in the water. I never learned to swim.

What’s on your iPod?
Christian music. Latino music. Russian.

What annoys you about yourself?
Being disciplined with everything else except with myself.

How do you find time for balance and personal reflection?
I’m trying to find time to give myself a work schedule in such a way that I can dedicate the necessary time to each ministry for which I am responsible, and time with the mission team to pray. Walk. Read. Spend time with friends. Take time to think about something different. The importance is to find balance.

One of the main challenges for people working in missions is finding time to connect with God. We assume that because we are in ministry, we don’t need to take time for that. But really, we need to take more time for this.

Are you a risk taker?
Yeah, all the time. I think the kingdom of God is about taking risks, by faith.

If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?
My childhood. I would like to have had a father who gave me loving discipline instead of a stepfather who abused me.

What living person do you wish you could meet?
Nelson Mandela.

Share about your children.
I’ve never been married but when I was a young man, I adopted three children with my mother. They’re now grown and living their own lives. All live in Costa Rica. I know what it is to be a single father.

Expand on what you were sharing about addictions.
Unfortunately, the levels of alcoholism are high in the CIS, but especially in Russia and Ukraine. Large sectors of the population, males especially, are addicted to alcohol and drugs. That also increases the AIDS epidemic. Ukraine has been declared a disaster zone for AIDS with increasing levels of HIV positive people. Injections and prostitution are the main ways of spreading infection.

In the Church of the Nazarene in Ukraine, 30–40 percent of pastors are former drug addicts. They are setting examples and developing ministries among people in jails. Some churches have created prevention teams, working with school kids, to educate about AIDS and addiction prevention.

We have eight rehab centers across the country connected with Nazarene churches. Two of them focus on women.
 
Share some details of your ministries.
We work with clergy and lay leaders to make an inventory of resources so they can be responsible for their own needs. With NCM, we’re trying to be more of a partner than a sponsor.

We want local people to own their own initiatives to solve their needs. For instance, if there is a need, we will work with local leaders to assess what resources they have.

Holiness Today, September/October 2011

 

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