(1) The New Season
-As I said goodbye to the last mission team that I was to host this year, it was a time of joy and of reflection. It was joy, knowing that the Lord had brought me through my first season of serving him here in Costa Rica, and it was also reflection, on all that God was trying to teach me through my experience. I was so thankful that the Lord had given me the opportunity to come to Costa Rica, and it was encouraging to know that it had only just begun.
I then got to change my focus to my new season of service here, notably in the Methodist School, the Methodist Seminary, and with Ray’s finances. It was a lot of unknown, but I was ready, because I knew that God had my back.
There were ups, there were downs, but, as it turns out, looking back on the past month, it’s been an incredible ride. The following gives a very brief summary of how that month went.
(2) The Young Gringo Speaks to the Younger Ticos
-With more time on my hands, I was able to start a ministry at the Methodist School here in San Jose. I was quickly thrown into the role of part-time chapel speaker, getting the chance to share my testimony with 7th-10th graders, one chapel “service” at a time. Over the past month I’ve shared at seven different chapel services, and attended many more.
One of my favorite ways to spread the Word is through talking to high school students. They are so responsive, and so willing to hear about someone who has, somewhat recently, walked in their shoes.
And their responsiveness to my talks was a huge blessing. Numerous students came up to me after the services and wanted to talk with me or share their heart with me. They opened up about the needs in their lives—spiritual, emotional, etc.—and, in doing so, I’ve taken on a very small counselor role at the school. I’m hoping to spend more time at the Methodist School next school year (2009), and hopefully I’ll be able to expand on my ministry there.
I’m praying that, one day, I could start an after school youth group, because 85% of the kids at that school don’t attend church regularly. What a blessing it would be to share with them weekly, and to open them up to the reality of Jesus in their lives. We’ll leave that one up to God . . .
(3) Since I’m American, I Might As Well Teach English
-Ray has asked me to help two of the Methodist Seminary students learn English, so that they might take their intelligence and theological studies to the States. I’ve since had two other students and an entire family jump on board to my English classes, and it’s been quite an adventure.
I love teaching people who are so willing to learn (I’ve never taught before, and I now have an even greater respect for all you teachers out there), and they’re all so intrigued by the prospect of learning English. We’ve been walking through a pretty basic Intro to English book, and I’m actually learning things about the language myself. My students are also very willing to teach me Spanish as I mess up along the way.
I’ve enjoyed seeing the reactions and the excitement of the students as they grasp more and more of the language. It’s truly a special thing to be able to help them achieve their goal of learning English. I’ll still need to spend quite a bit more time with them when I come back next year, but we’ll trust that God will continue to get the glory in all the time we spend together.
(4) The Ladies Come to Visit
-Both my momma and Amanda came to visit me at different times in October. It was so nice to spend time with the two of them, and to show them my world here in Costa Rica. I’m sure I puffed out my chest a few times as I walked around my stomping grounds with them . . .
Their visits were very blessed, and we shared many real conversations and touristy activities together. To be able to relax in the presence of such meaningful people in my life was quite a gift from God.
Both my momma and Amanda were able to attend Sunday church services with me--both of them in Llano Grande, and Amanda in Puerto Viejo as well. I enjoyed watching them experience the joy and love that spring forth from these churches here. And everyone in the congregations was so excited to meet them; it was as if they were royalty. But, in reality, those congregations were just showing the true love of God that emanates from these churches.
The icing on the cake from the time with the two marvelous ladies: I got to spend my birthday with Amanda, which was sweet!
*My momma with Abraham (the work foreman for all of our construction projects here), his wife Lilliam, and their grandson Dylan.
(5) One More Step Towards My Lifelong Goal
-On October 19, I gave my first ever sermon in Spanish, and my first sermon in front of a real Sunday morning congregation (not that I’ve given sermons to fake Sunday morning congregations . . . but you know what I mean :-).
I shared at the big church we’re building in Puerto Viejo and, since the majority of the congregation still doesn’t know who I am (even though they’ve seen me and heard me translate for mission teams on numerous occasions), I decided to share a little of my testimony and why I’m in Costa Rica. I did it using three passages that guided me or led me through the tough times during my discernment of my call to mission work—one each from Joshua, Matthew, and Job.
I can’t say that I knocked this sermon out of the park, but God provided me with my basic Spanish vocabulary and I heard “amen” at all the right parts in the sermon. Where I do know that God blessed the sermon, though, is that one of the church members came up to me after my sermon and told me that my words were sent to him from God. How awesome.
Each time I speak I ask God to impact just one person, since I am just one person that’s been impacted by different sermons, and God happened to let me know that my particular prayer had been answered that day. Thank you, Lord.
(6) An American Watching Londoners Sing to Jesus in a Costa Rican Megachurch (also known as a Hillsong concert)
-A little more than a week ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Hillsong concert with the family of a local pastor here in Costa Rica. Thanks to one of the churches that had come down on a mission trip, I was able to take 4 of the pastor’s kids (and one of their girlfriends) to Hillsong’s first ever concert in the country of Costa Rica.
We went to a church of about 14,000 members, so we were in a huge auditorium. Hillsong sang some great songs, had some great times of prayer and reflection, and just did a great job overall. But that wasn’t the best part.
No, no, the best part was Marco. Marco is the pastor’s 15-year-old son, and he has muscular dystrophy. At the age of 11 the MD started, and he’s now confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Thank the Lord, though, that he still has enough strength to hold his head up while he’s in his wheelchair, and to be the most joyful and loving kid I’ve ever met.
Marco told me after I first met him that Hillsong is his favorite band, and that he loves to listen to their music. He also happened to mention that Hillsong would be playing a concert in San Jose. As soon as I heard that, I looked up the concert online and made it my goal to get him there.
However, I probably would have never been able to do it had it not been for the support of one of our loving churches that assists us down here. One of their staff members, Krista, took it upon herself to make sure that Marco got to this concert, and what a beautiful thing it was.
Marco sat there the whole time with this gigantic grin on his face, singing along to all the songs, nodding his head to the beat of the music, and just being an incredibly joyful spirit. He sang, he prayed, he laughed, he loved. It was awesome.
Even though Hillsong may not be my favorite band, they now have an incredibly special place in my heart. Because Hillsong brought joy to Marco, a joy and an expression that I will never forget.
(7) Even My Pops Came
-I also had the joy of hosting my dad here in Costa Rica. He came, along with two other ladies, representing his church and my home church, St. Andrew UMC in Plano, Texas.
The three of them came with the intention of creating a business plan for the Methodist University here in San Jose/San Pedro, to get it out of the red and into the mainstream of higher education here in Costa Rica.
The sad part was that the trip lasted only a day and a half. The good part: I got to show my dad around San Jose, so that he could get a better feel for our ministries here. There’s still a lot to show him, though, so he’ll have to come back soon.
It’s great to know that so many people I care for have seen our ministry here, and I thank the Lord for that.
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