Building Relationships

The next day (Tuesday) we had the first part of the day free because Myra had to work.  We had arranged to be back at her house later that afternoon because she wanted to introduce us to some of her neighbors.  Hopefully we would gather up a few people and then have a church service that evening.

Earlier that week we had met another Nica, housekeeper, named Maria and we called her that morning and arranged to go to her house in Atenas.  We arrived at her house that morning and met her husband Rider.  Maria asked us if we would like something to drink and asked if we liked Coca Cola.  We all agreed that would be wonderful and she said something to her husband and then proceeded to walk out the front door.  I could not see her once she went outside but Kalina could and once she was a few steps past the edge of the door, she took off running down the road!  Kalina did not know why until she came running back a couple minutes later with a 1 liter bottle of coke in her hand.  There was a little store down the road from her house and she had run to buy us something to drink.  I was constantly amazed how these people that had so little to give would go out of their way to give food and hospitality to a bunch of strange Americans. 

We had a very good conversation with Maria and Rider, telling them about ourselves and why we were in Costa Rica.  They told us about themselves as well and Rider showed us a Bible that someone had given him.  He liked reading the Bible but unknown to him, his Bible was not the correct word of God.  It was a version that had been twisted away from the truth by Man.  We gave him a Spanish Reina Valera Bible and explained to him the difference.  He was grateful for the Bible, and we were very encouraged by their interest.  We told them about Myra and her family and  where they lived, thinking that they might know each other.  They did not know each other, however, we found out that their daughter lived a few miles from Altos de Naranjo.  Maria was planning to take the bus to go see her that afternoon so we offered to drive her there instead.  She gladly accepted and wanted us to meet her daughter and family.  They had some things to do before then so we agreed to come back to pick her up after lunch.  We drove back into town to get something to eat, very encouraged that we had made another promising contact.

After lunch we arrived back at Maria's house to pick her up.  It turned out that her other younger daughter and son were coming along too.  We barely had enough room but they are small people, so we made it work.  The place we were going was on the road to Altos de Naranjo where Myra lived.  When she told us to turn I was amazed because it was down a very small road that I had never seen before because it was almost hidden in the vegetation.  It never failed that we thought we were getting to know a certain area pretty well and then we go down a little road that looks like it goes nowhere and find more small country communities.  There are a lot of people living in the most unlikely places in this country.  What looked at first to be a small country road turned out to be a private driveway for a very big expensive house hidden away in the jungle.  It turns out that Maria's son in law was the grounds keeper for the house and several acres of property surrounding it.  He and his family had a nice little house (rustic cabin by US standards) not far from the main house that the owners had provided for them to live in.  We did not get to meet him since he was out working somewhere but we did meet Maria's daughter.  She wanted to show us around so we followed her as she guided us through the amazing landscaped grounds that her husband took care of.  It was easily the most beautiful tropical landscape I had ever witnessed.  We did not stay long but we invited Maria and her family to come to the church service we planned to have that night.  We gave her our number and asked her to call us and we would come pick them up if they wanted to attend.

That afternoon we arrived back at Myra's house and spent a little bit of time talking and we met one of her neighbors, Jose, for the first time.  Yes this was the same Jose that I have already mentioned.  After a short time we started walking up the hill to visit the neighbors and everyone came along with us.  The first house we came to actually ended up being the only home we had time to visit that night.  The homeowner was an older man named Victor that owned several houses and a some land in the area and had lived there for most of his life.  He also had a daughter and her two teenage children living there with him.  He invited everyone to sit down on his porch and it was not very long before we were talking about the Bible with him.  We quickly learned that he was very passionate and knowledgeable about the Bible.  I must admit that I only caught bits and pieces of what he was saying because he talked very fast and ran his words together.  Some people are easier to understand because of how they talk and this was one of the hardest to understand that I had come across.  I found out afterwards that even Keith was having a hard time, but he was able to keep up with him enough using the scriptures as a mediator.  This guy was a very eager talker and it did not take much from us for him to launch into a speech about his beliefs on certain topics.  When Keith started talking about baptism he immediately got excited talking about the love and grace of God and how wonderful he is to save us from our sins and that baptism is not required for Salvation.  Our ears perked up when he said that and I just smiled to see that Keith was already turning to a verse he wanted to read.  Once Victor finished his point Keith simply pointed him to 1 Peter 3:21.  Keith did not comment he just asked Victor to read the verses and it was amazing to see how quickly Victor quieted down and did not say anything.  Again Keith asked him to read Mark 16:15-16.  Again as Victor read you could just see his mind churning, this was new information, these verses did not agree with what he had been taught.  He also had him read Acts 2:38 and Romans 6.  We could tell that we had someone with a good heart sitting before us.  He did not try to argue with the scriptures, he was just speechless as he absorbed something that had been there all along.  This was a man that already had faith in God and in his word.  He had just been taught incorrectly and had never been exposed to the whole truth of the bible.  Another thing that we had discovered part way through the study is that Victor's eye sight was not good enough to read his bible anymore, he had simply been quoting verses to us.  We had run into this problem before and we had brought a few pairs of reading glasses with us.  We had a pair that worked for him and he was so excited that he was able to read his own Bible again.  It was wonderful to see the joy in his face about something that we take for granted.  I don't know how long it had been since he had not been able to read. Once we gave him those glasses he rarely looked up.  We gave him a lot to think about and did not want to overwhelm him. So, we left soon after that thanking them for the hospitality and hoping to talk to them again in the future.

One other thing that I need to mention is about Jose.  He had come with us and as we were studying with Victor, he had his Bible out that we had given him and he was listening intently and following along the best he could.  I kept an eye on him the whole time and could not help but be impressed by his attention.  When we left Victor's house I talked to Keith about it and he agreed that we needed to spend some time studying with this young man.  Keith had spent a few minutes on the walk to Victor's house talking to Jose and he had a good feeling about him as well.  It was getting late and Jose needed to get back home since he had to be at work early in the morning.  So we headed back to Myra's house for the planned worship service.

We had a good service that night and everyone really enjoyed the singing and fellowship.  We got to bed pretty late that night but it was a very fruitful day.  We continued to be encouraged by the responses and interest we were receiving in our efforts to teach the gospel.

FYI, Keith, John and Jordan just got back from Costa Rica yesterday and I will try to post something summarizing their trip soon.

Dios les bendiga,
David

September trip to Costa Rica

I just wanted to let everyone know that there is another trip to Costa Rica in the works for the first week of September.  Keith and John will be going and there is a possibility one of our sisters in Christ will be going as well.  Unfortunately I will not be able to make this trip due to the lack of finances.  At this point we are hoping that we can keep a steady presence in Costa Rica by taking alternating trips.  Please remember to pray for the work in Costa Rica, for those of us traveling to Costa Rica and more importantly our brothers and sisters in Christ in Costa Rica.  Pray that they are strengthened daily in the Lord and that they continue to serve God with all their heart and soul and strength. 

As I continue to catch you up on the July trip, I will also post updates about the current status of the September trip if I have anything to report.

Dios les bendiga,
David

The Power of the Gospel

Well now that we are caught up to the beginning of our July trip I am going to do another Star Treky time warp on you.  Because of the circumstances I am going to tell you about the second half of the trip first.  The reason for that is because we spent the first 4 days in the Cacao area because we had high hopes for Jorge and Lisseth.  Even though those 4 days did not bear the kind of fruit we had hoped, it was still a beneficial use of our time.  We became even closer and more connected to this family and also ended up meeting all their immediate family members in the area as well.  But I will tell you about that later.  For now I want to tell you the story of our new brother and sisters in Christ.

This was on day 5 of the trip and we had planned to go spend more time with Myra and see if we could make more contacts in the town where she lives.  Altos de Naranjo is the name of the place which I just told you a little bit about in the previous post.  We called Myra that morning and she was home and very eager for us to come visit her.  Altos de Naranjo is only about 10 kilometers from Atenas but it is on a very curvy, steep, pot-holed road, so it takes about 20 minutes to get there.  It is just one of countless beautiful drives in a country that is busting at the seams with God's creation.

Once we arrived we noticed there was a new little girl around the house named Franci.  She was Myra's granddaughter and we would meet Myra's oldest daughter and husband later that day.  Once we settled in and started talking to Myra we were amazed.  We had only spent a short amount of time with her and her children.  We had studied the Gospel with her in May but we had expected to spend more time studying with her in the hopes of reinforcing how she needed to obey the Gospel.  What we found before us now 2 months later was a woman that was convicted.  She had been talking to her neighbors about us and about the Gospel.  She had obviously been studying with her children as well.  Her daughter Neyci wanted to be baptized and she had talked to 2 more of her neighbors that had expressed interest as well.  We were floored.  Here was a woman who had been convicted by the Gospel and with no urging from us had already been talking to her neighbors about the Gospel as well.  She had already been laying some of the groundwork for us to continue preaching the Gospel in this area.  You will probably notice that we did not baptize Mrya yet, but make no mistake she is ready and willing.  She explained her reasons for waiting and she assured us that she would have removed any roadblocks and that she would be ready to be baptized the next time we came to Costa Rica. 

We were really blown away by Mrya's spirit the more we talked to her.  She told us about something her daughter Neyci had dealt with recently that was really awesome.  She told us about how Neyci's school required the children to go to a religious class about the Catholic religion.  At one point they demanded that they all bow before the statue of the virgin mary.  Neyci refused and said that she was not Catholic and would never bow down to the virgin mary.  Myra was very proud of Neyci because she had grown up in a Catholic family and had decided when she was 9 years old that she was not going to be  a Catholic.  Myra had been raised with something that she recognized was not the truth and she had rejected it.  She had been looking for the truth of God her whole life and praise the Lord she recognized His truth and power through the Gospel.  I was just so amazed by the abundant harvest that the Lord had set before us.  All the modest expectations we had were blown away by the sincere heart of this woman who saw the truth and grabbed on with both hands.

Neyci was at school at that time but Myra assured us that she was ready to be baptized this afternoon.  So we talked to her about a possible place to baptize her and it turns out there was a perfect spot down at the river below her house.  We hiked down the narrow muddy trial to the river to see how it looked and she was right, you could not ask for a better place for a baptism.

After talking to Mrya for a few hours we decided to leave for a little while and come back around 3:00 when Neyci came home from school.  Well we decided that this would be a good time to do some more exploring of the surrounding areas.  As we drove around we found more and more steep, narrow scary roads and breathtaking views.  In this area of the country you find more people and small communities down every road.  Another thing that is different from the US is that there are always people walking around and there is always people out and about.  The people are very friendly and easy to approach and talk.  The sense of community and friendliness we have encountered most places we go is very encouraging for us.  It is much easier to meet and talk to people when they are already out in a public place and you don't have to feel like you are intruding into their homes.

We arrived back at Myra's house about 3:30 in accordance with "Tico Time".  We heard about "Tico Time" before we ever came to Costa Rica but we have been repeatedly exposed to this method of always arriving late for appointments.  It is just another example of how their way of life is much more relaxed and unscheduled.  Sometimes it can be annoying for those of us (myself included) that like to be on time (aka a few minutes early) however you really have no choice but to adapt.  Once you slow down you start to realize that sometimes we are probably to structured and schedule oriented in the US.  It seems to leave us no time to "stop and smell the roses" as the saying goes.  How many times have we all passed someone by that may have needed help but we were running "late" for work and felt like we could not take the time.  Seems like we need to figure out the real priorities in life.

When we got back to Myra's house we met Myra's daughter Lorena and her husband Edwin.  They were here visting during the week. Their daughter Franci was 5 and they also had a 8 month old little girl.  Edwin was very quiet and reserved at first but after a couple days he was much more comfortable and talkative around us.  It did not take long and we were ready to Baptize Neyci.  We all headed down to the river where we had been earlier that day.  As we were walking hiking down the trail I was a little nervous and working over and over in my head to memorize what I needed to say in Spanish.  I was still a little bit in shock that we were about to welcome a new Christian into the world in Costa Rica.  I always had high hopes but I try to temper my optimism with realism so that I am not crushed by defeat.  I guess that is what I get for underestimating the power of the gospel!  I could tell that Neyci was very nervous and excited as I took her confession then led her into the water but other than that I was oblivious to the world around me.  I must admit that I was so worried about messing up the words, and I was so focused on the task at hand, that it did not hit me until it was done what had just occured.  As Neyci stood up out of the water, she was laughing and smiling, and I realized that she was my sister now.  We were connected by a bond stronger than blood, she was my sister in Christ!  I knew the words that I wanted to say this time without much thought, "Bienvenidos mi hermana en Cristo" (Welcome my sister in Christ). 

I wish I could explain the feelings that went through me the rest of that day, and as I sit here looking at this picture they all come flooding back.  I don't think that I can really explain it but if a picture can truly say a thousand words than this one says the most to me. 
Luke 15:10 says Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
After the baptism we spent several more hours talking and getting to know these wonderful people better.  As we were walking back up the hill to the car that night Keith and I talked about how greatly God had blessed us and how this was no longer a dream but a reality.  Neyci was only the first of a bountiful harvest that the Lord provided and we are now committed more than ever.  The Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is alive and well in Costa Rica, Praise the Lord!

I apologize for the delay in getting this post out but I hope it was worth the wait.  I will try and get the next one ready a little faster Lord willing.

Dios les Bendiga,
David