Alex & Sarah Costa

I've known Alex since college, although we recently have gotten to know each other better. I had the privelege of attending his wedding last summer to Sarah. On top of the fact that it was a joyful Christian union, the music was top-notch.

I'll let him tell you some more about what he and Sarah are doing for the Gospel.

What is the name of and location of your mission?
I'm currently in transition. For the past three years, I worked with Campus Crusade for Christ at Ohio State. But now, my wife and I are moving to Long Beach, California to work with CCC's Latino ministry, Destino.

Why did you decide to get into the ministry?
I became a believer some time during my freshman year of college. Within three months of accepting Christ, I knew that I was called to full-time ministry. Since then, that feeling never wavered. My reasons for continuing in the ministry are similar to my reasons for wanting to originally get into it. I want to devote the best hours of my days to seeing the Gospel transform the lives of people. Some time around my sophomore year in college, my heart for world missions started growing. Surely anybody could be in ministry while doing a full-time job in the marketplace, but God is leading my wife and me overseas in the long-term. We want to see people who never heard of Jesus come in to a loving relationship with Him.

What kinds of things do you do in your work to spread the gospel?
I preach the Word. The power of the Gospel is a heart-level belief, and as it says in 10:17, faith comes from hearing. Because of this, I try to give as many people as possible an opportunity to hear. Also, I meet with guys in a discipleship relationship, and we share the Gospel together.

Who has been the most influential person in your life?
I'll break it down to four categories. 1) Obviously, Jesus. 2) Dead person - Spurgeon. Particularly his seven volume commentary on the Psalms "The Treasury of David." I haven't read every Psalm, but he goes so in depth, and his theology is rich. 3) Living person that I haven't met - This may be controversial, but I'm going to have to go with Paul Washer. God used him to remove me from having a mindset of decisionism to having a mindset of regeneration. In other words, I no longer look for people to pray a prayer to receive Christ so that I can count them in my tally of people who I have converted. I look for the signs of true conversion. I look for regeneration. God used Paul Washer to teach me that. 4) Living person that I know personally - My wife Sarah. That may sound cliche, but I seriously wish that you could compare my life before our wedding and after. My walk with God took off after we got married. Just her presence makes me more faithful in almost everything I do, including my study of the Word.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Sarah and I want to go overseas to the unreached. I'm going to start seminary in the Fall, while I'm in Long Beach, and hopefully graduate in six years. God could throw a wrench in there, but I believe that we'll leave the USA shortly after six years. We're praying that God would send us to India. Children are a blessing from the Lord, and I want to be blessed richly in that area. So hopefully in 10 years, my wife and I will be in India with our huge family reaching the lost and seeing Jesus move mountains in people's hearts.
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I hope you'll join me in praying for the Costa's as they move out west over the summer. Also, if you're interested, they would love to have your financial support too. They have a site called Two Bones that is dedicated to their ministry and Alex blogs over at Spurgeon Dreamer.

Up next week is the man, the myth, the legend: Matt Henning.

-joe