This article is part three in a series highlighting the recent work of the Latin American Mission Partnership (LAMP). Links to the other pieces are listed below:
Part One – From Costa Rica to Thailand: Introducing Four New Workers
Part Two – Pursuing Partnership
William and Laura Quiros, along with their teenage son, Willie, traveled from their home in Costa Rica to live in Vigo, Spain in November of 2018. They are adjusting well to the culture and customs of their new community, but just three years ago, they never would have imagined a life outside of Costa Rica.
Dave and Mayela Diller (Costa Rica Representative for LAMP) first heard about the Quiros family’s desire to work overseas in early 2017. They had known the couple as strong leaders in the church who were involved in many different ministries, but the Dillers did not think of them as typical candidates for missions.
“We went to the Costa Rican churches looking for young people to go into missions. We met the Quiros family many times, but they have grown up kids and grandchildren in Costa Rica,” Mayela explained.
But when a member of the mission community in their area approached William and Laura about working overseas, they immediately said that they were excited about the possibility and would pray about it.
As they prayed, they took steps to figure out how they would have to reorder their lives to serve the kingdom of God in this way. “Right away they started attending the missions meetings,” Mayela said. “Laura started sending me notes from the meetings, informing us of their progress and decisions they were making. We could tell that they were committed to this.”
Different options for locations were presented, but William and Laura felt strongly about Spain. They had a few friends living there, and started to make connections and plans for possible partnerships. Both Dave and Mayela were immediately impressed with the level of sacrifice and work the Quiros family was willing to put into this endeavor.
“They were renting so they sold everything they had, they put everything in suitcases, and right away they said, ‘we are ready to go.’”
“When they found out about Vigo, they decided to leave their house. They were renting so they sold everything they had, they put everything in suitcases, and right away they said, ‘we are ready to go. Whenever the Lord opens the door, we are going to be ready to go.’ I think they lived out of those suitcases for more than nine months,” Dave said.
While William and Laura’s other children are grown up, they still have one son living with them. Willie is 16 years old and is also invested in the work of sharing the gospel with those who have not heard it yet.
“Right away Willie got so excited about going. Of course he had a lot of questions and fears about this new life, but William and Laura say that he’s doing great and enjoying getting to know his new classmates,” Mayela said.
One of the more challenging aspects of the move for the whole family has been learning a new language. Since Vigo is on the border of Spain and Portugal, the language spoken in that area is Gallego, which includes aspects of both the Spanish and Portuguese languages. Prior to arriving in Spain, they thought that they might be able to communicate with Spanish alone, but they are finding that learning Gallego will be an important part of reaching their community.
William and Laura are working with a local body of believers to point others toward God through forming natural bonds and being the hands and feet of Christ in their community. Many of the church’s outreach opportunities focus on ministering to the immigrants who have relocated to their city.
While William, Laura, and Willie might not be the typical candidates for missionary work, they have shown that commitment and answering God’s call are more important than age and stage of life. They hope to continue responding to that call, and use the gifts and life experience God has given them to bring his light to Vigo, Spain.
Please pray for William, Laura, and Willie as they continue to learn language and find meaningful ways to connect with those around them.