This project operates in four shantytowns in San José, Costa Rica. EP works with children and young people at high social risk to help prevent them from dropping out of school, while presenting them with a Gospel message. In the communities where they work, there are a high number of drug-related murders every year. EP is a vitally important ministry that encourages a refreshingly different lifestyle than what is displayed in the communities that the children live in. The EP staff build relationships with the children and families and offer them a message of hope through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over 450 children and their families are helped every year, by God’s grace, to create a different story than the typical life of dropout, crime, and drugs that is all too common in these communities. EP provides weekly Bible classes, tutoring, school supplies, family visits, soccer academies, and a week-long camp for its beneficiaries. The director of this project, Juan Ramirez, is an elder in a local Reformed church. Word & Deed provides support for 8 staff members as well as some program expenses. Word & Deed also helped them purchase the facility that they were renting. They now have a permanent home in which to operate and hope to expand vocational training opportunities for young people in the shantytowns.