School of Ministry
CANOPI
CANOPI School of Ministry
(formerly CRSSM)
Is the Lord stirring your heart for Costa Rica?
Whether called to missions, church leadership or the marketplace, CANOPI offers Spirit-filled students the opportunity to receive hands-on mission and ministry training, leadership development and discipleship in a multi-cultural environment. Our school of ministry is designed to produce passionate Kingdom builders while impacting the region for Christ. Our students receive in-depth teaching, discipleship and one-on-one mentoring, moving them deeper in their spiritual growth, while at the same time being provided with hands-on ministry opportunities on a frequent basis.
Students receive intensive training for missions/ministry leadership while being discipled and mentored in this 10-week in-depth leadership development program. Outreach opportunities are concurrent with learning which reinforces and accelerates missional mindsets. School of ministry students graduate prepared for full-time missions or initial positions of ministry leadership.
CANOPI’s School of Ministry Distinctives
We believe:
Training and outreach should go hand-in-hand
In contrast to a sequential program (months of training followed by months of outreach) our school of ministry interweaves training and outreach simultaneously. We believe students should take what they learn in the morning and apply it in real life missions later that same day.
CANOPI has practiced this model since 2015 within the context of short-term outreach. Our teams receive daily instruction, followed by opportunities to activate that instruction within the same day. We believe this model better reflects our missional calling as Christians: to incorporate ministry into our daily lives, no matter our occupation. Some of the benefits include increased retention, tangible ownership and rapid growth in faith and expectancy.
Outreach should be local
While some of us are called to the nations, all of us are called to minister wherever we are. We believe that a school of ministry based in Costa Rica should be ministering to Costa Rica.
CANOPI’s positive experiences with this practice compel us to model our school of ministry accordingly. Local outreach produces local testimony which revives communities and builds Kingdom momentum.
Ministering to pastors yields exponential fruit
Ever since He announced the advent of the Kingdom of God, Jesus has been raising up pastors to feed His sheep. Many who have responded to that call in third-world nations lack training and struggle with isolation; hence, they are not reaching their potential and are often not discipling others to think missionally. We believe outreach efforts should always include ministering to pastors which, in turn, equips and strengthens them, causing them to do the same within their sphere of influence.
This is CANOPI’s most unique distinctive. Since 2015, we have intentionally crafted our outreach trips to include ministry to pastors and local congregations. It’s the difference between refueling a gas station vs refueling a car. Local pastors already know the community, the needs and the opportunities. When visiting churches, our goals include: bringing in-depth teaching of the Word, hosting the presence of Jesus through intimate worship, operating in signs and wonders (healing, prophesy, deliverance and salvation), ministering the love of Jesus, and validating, honoring and championing the pastor(s). Through this type of ministry, pastors come alive, they are drawn to relationship/partnership with CANOPI, and they are challenged to develop and duplicate Kingdom mindsets within their own communities.
Are You Ready?
Our 10-week School of Ministry will be launching in 2024. We’re now accepting applications, so what are you waiting for?
Once you’ve applied, please ask your pastor to complete this form
Get to know us
CANOPI is a nonprofit organization pursuing Kingdom expansion in Latin America. Established in 2015 as CRSSM, our ministry was originally based in Pilon de Pavones, and is now preparing to launch a School of Ministry campus near Uvita. Since 2015, CANOPI has sought to provide Kingdom leadership training while simultaneously ministering to the needs of local regions. By God’s grace, we have accomplished the following benchmarks in the last 7 years:
- Awarded twice the “International Ministry School of the Year” recognition from nationally renown Worship Leader magazine
- Ministered in nearly 100 churches, wherein we have gained a reputation for servant leadership and authentic demonstration of signs and wonders
- Established Costa Rica’s premier interdenominational pastors conference, which outgrew our base in its second year
- Built a network of hundreds of pastors throughout Costa Rica who look to us for vision and equipping for the sake of Kingdom expansion
- Conducted dozens of short-term outreach trips from the US and Europe which were hosted at our temporary base in Pilon de Pavones
- Ministered to the lost and broken with life-changing encounters with Jesus, resulting in hundreds of experiences of physical healing, deliverance and salvation, as well as innumerable encounters of heart healing and reconciliation
FAQs
When does the first session begin?
We expect to start the first 10-week session within a year, sometime before the end of 2024. The specific timing will depend upon student enrollment, campus availability and other considerations.
Where is the school located?
We are considering several options for our 2023 campus location, and expect it to be in the Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica. It will probably be between Jaco and Pilon de Pavones, and within 10-20 minutes of the beach.
What is the cost of the school?
Tuition for our 10-week school of ministry is $7500 (US) and includes accommodations and meals. It does not include your transportation costs to and from Costa Rica.
Are scholarships available?
Scholarships may be available for local, Costa Rican students. If you are a native-born citizen of Costa Rica, fill out the application so we can determine if you qualify.
Is it called "CRSSM" or "CANOPI"?
Great question! CRSSM was the name of our ministry until 2021, when it was changed to CANOPI. Not all media has been updated to reflect this change, but they both refer to the same ministry.
Have you done a school of ministry before?
Yes and no. We set out in 2015 to launch a 10-week ministry school in Costa Rica, but the Lord soon showed us He had other plans. Following His lead, we restructured our 10-week school sessions into short-term, one and two-week sessions of intense training and ministry, and the results were incredibly fruitful. We were twice recognized as “International Ministry School of the Year” by Worship Leader Magazine, and Costa Rica’s premier pastors conference was birthed from those training events. So while we’ve done numerous short-term ministry school sessions over the past 8 years, this upcoming course will mark our first 10-week school of ministry session. Full circle!
How do I get there and what should I bring?
Important questions! We will contact you directly to discuss these and many other specifics once your application has been accepted and the dates are set.
What is CANOPI?
Christian Alliance Network for Outreach and Pastoral Impact (CANOPI) is a nonprofit organization pursuing Kingdom expansion in Latin America. Originally established in 2015 as CRSSM, our outreach efforts rapidly expanded into an equipping network for pastors. CANOPI is a U.S. based 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliated with NewSong churches.
5,213,612
population of Costa Rica
2,349,541
tourists per year
750,000
species of insects
6.00
$ per hour, average wage