Jon and Tammie Rissmiller
Jon and Tammie Rissmiller serve as missionaries in Costa Rica. Both Jon and Tammie serve as Missionary Care Specialists with Global Outreach International (GOI). Jon and Tammie help provide missionary care for GOI missionaries in Central and South America, as they serve as Assistant Regional Care Coordinators alongside Sarah Puttcamp. They also provide Missionary Care to missionaries outside of the GOI Agency as they serve missionaries in Romania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ecuador, Peru, and in the United States. Jon serves as the Campus Pastor at the Spanish Language Institute (ILE), while Tammie serves alongside of him, but specifically she serves as a engish as a second language teacher to children at The Sojourn Christian School, which is part of the ILE Campus. Together, Tammie and Jon love on and serve missionaries and their families, as well as others who are studying Spanish at ILE. Some individuals study Spanish for 8 to 10 weeks, but most missionaries are here for one year. Tammie and Jon help these missionaries through many tough transitions as they come into Costa Rica, as well as when they head out to their future mission field. Jon serves as the Campus Pastor, which means that he helps each person on campus thrive spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and even physically while they are working on a host of transitions in their lives. Jon provides formal and informal counseling, coaching, and simply lending an ear to everyone as they work through the challenges of living on a foreign field, many for the first time.
Tammie is active as a host, planning for birthdays, hosting weekly meals in their home for missionary families, and serving food for a variety of events that come up often. She also provides training for families and the institute on Third Culture Kids, ensuring that each child is cared for as they transition through the challenges of life from their perspective. Together, they both serve as chauffeurs to the students since very few of the have their own vehicles. This means that we take them to the grocery stores, pharmacies, and even fun outings. This part of the ministry is so very valuable to the students and their families as it is often overwhelming to them to get from point A to point B.
Jon and Tammie are also very active in their church, English Christian Fellowship (ECF) of Santa Ana, Costa Rica. They are part of the welcome team, overseeing the development and hosting Connection Groups (small groups), Jon preaches several times a year, and they serve on the leadership team as they help guide the future of ECF. Through the church, we also participate regularly in a ministry to the homeless people of San Jose on Wednesday nights. ECF is a relaunch church that was started to reach the 200,000 expats of the Central Valley but has quickly become a church for English speaking Costa Ricans. About 20% or less of the congregation are expats, while 80% or more are English speaking Costa Ricans who are looking for a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and a community of fellowship with other believers.