Mark & Maritza Padgett

As a TCK (Third Culture Kid), Mark was born and raised in Costa Rica where his parents served as missionaries for 20 years. After high school, he went to the U.S., where he studied Psychology at Bryan College and then Missions at CIU. After graduation, he began full time ministry in 1983 pastoring a small Hispanic church in Brownsville, Texas, prior to returning to Costa Rica in 1987 to serve. In Costa Rica, he served on pastoral teams, being involved in teaching, discipleship, Theological Education by Extension, and sports ministry. In 1990, he married Maritza Calvo, a Costa Rican national, and served at Seminario ESEPA as a faculty member and in various administrative roles for 33 years He also has traveled to Cuba several times to teach and help train missionaries and church planters there.

 Maritza has a BA in Christian Education and  her ministry experience includes Christian Education assistant director with Roblealto, a ministry that has daycare centers and foster homes for underprivileged kids, led workshops and given conferences in churches, adjunct professor at ESEPA, director of ESEPA’s certificate program and Sunday School superintendent . More recently Maritza has helped CIT Global Latin America representing CIT at the Costa Rican Missions Fellowship.

At  CIT (Center for Intercultural Training) Mark is part of a facilitating team for the pre-field training program: Equipping for Cross Cultural Life and Ministry. This  program  helps prepare the new missionaries, and their families, face and overcome unique stresses   that they will encounter  as they enter a new culture.  He gets to share his experiences as a bicultural servant with men and women called by God s to go serve around the world. What a privilege to pour into the next generation of global servants.

Maritza and Mark have two married adult daughters, Stacy and Rachel.