Rachel Beveridge and Isra Ortiz

Vision and Mission

I’m passionate about young adults sinking into God’s love for them in a way that transforms their whole lives and becoming more whole and free to creatively serve God’s Kingdom. 

As the Coordinator for Cohort Central America, I have the opportunity to design and facilitate an intercultural 11-month service- formation experience for young adults from Latin America and North America that attempts to do just that, inviting participants into a deeper connection with God, the world, and themselves. At the end of the program, we want to see participants with an increased prophetic voice and imagination and the ability to love and care for people in their contexts that are desperate for connection, love and truth. 

Mission Work

In the Central American context this means we lean into ancient spiritual practices like lament, learning to lament the harsh realities of the region and the traumatic life experiences that most of our participants have experienced. It also means modeling vulnerability and opening up spaces where participants feel free to share their stories, many for the first time, in a safe community. It means visiting out-of-the-box ministries and initiatives that local Christians have started to respond to the realities around them and that stretch the imaginations of our participants. It means finding placements in grassroots organizations for our participants to serve where they can learn alongside local, committed Christians, who truly love their places and people. It means inviting participants to practice rest, resisting the compulsion to always be “doing” and to explore the art of discernment. And it means walking alongside our alumni as they continue to serve interculturally or as they return home and embrace the call to be people of loving presence in their communities.