Rewind Summary

Well in light of the latest trip and the need to catch up, this post is going to combine the last two days of our trip in May.  I know everyone is probably really wanting to know more about the current trip but I need to get this done or I will never get around to it.  It is also important because I have not yet told you how we met Myra and her family.

On Saturday we planned to go visit a lady named Myra.  She was the housekeeper of the house we had rented on the first and second trip to Costa Rica.  Dora, the owner of the house had introduced us to her and we intended to go see her and see what happened.  We all met up at Dora's house and after the introductions we all headed over to Myra's house which was about 20 minutes from Atenas in a town called Altos de Naranjo.  As we came to find out this is a somewhat remote little town. It is basically at the end of the pavement and you don't go there unless you live there or you get lost.  It is a beautiful place on the side of some very steep mountains.  We arrived at Myra's home and met her children Neyci, Deybin, and Xotchi.  They were all well behaved and shy when we first arrived but they opened up more, the longer we were there.  We simply talked and got to know one another at first but before long Deybin wanted to show us the river.  The river was a short hike (or shorter fall) straight down a very steep hill.  The trail we were following really looked like a rainwater gully and it happened to make a clear path to the river.  John tried grabbing hold of a branch as we were going down but he grabbed hold of more than he wanted since it had 1"-3" long thorns covering every last inch of it.  So, we made it down safely and only slightly scratched and explored the river.  Deybin also showed us one of the swimming holes that the locals use for bathing.  After the hike back up we talked a little more and Myra gladly allowed us to come back the next morning to study with her.  We were supposed to have church services at Jorge and Lisseth's house Sunday afternoon at 2:00 so it would work out well to study with Myra Sunday morning.

We headed back to Myra's house in the morning and studied the gospel with her.  As we went thru the study it was apparent that she already had a good understanding of the Bible.  She was very adamant in her belief in the Reina Valera bible that we use as the true word of God.  She told us stories of Jehovah's Witness and Mormons coming to talk to her and trying to convince her to use their Bibles but she refused.  She also told us how her whole family was Catholic and she was raised a Catholic.  When she was 9 years old she had seen enough that she decided that she was not going to be a Catholic.  She went against her family and made a stand for what she believed.  She was able to quote several verses including the entire chapter of Psalms 91 without hesitation.  She agreed and understood everything we studied, and when we left we had high hopes that she could become a potential convert. 

It was time to head over to Cacao for the church service but most of the group needed to eat lunch and we were running a little behind.  Kalina and I along with Sherry and our two kids agreed to go ahead and go meet Jorge and Lisseth at the agreed time and keep them occupied until everyone else arrived.  When we arrived the kids were asleep in the back so I walked over to let Jorge and Lisseth know we had arrived.  I had planned to go back to the car in about 20 minutes to check on everyone.  This was actually the first time we had met Jorge; he had always been at work every other time we had visited.  His friend Norman was also there and we immediately started up a very animated conversation.  He was very nice and excited to finally meet us since he had heard so much about us.  We talked about a lot of things and I was trying so hard to keep up that I must have lost track of time.  Kalina and Sherry and the kids walked in and I said, wow that was a short nap.  Kalina just looked at me, and said, short?  It had been almost an hour and a half......I was completely shocked, it had felt like 30 minutes at the most.  Time flies when you are trying to have a conversation in another language.  My brain is really fried by the end of the day after all the mental gymnastics.  I was glad I was able to spend that time getting to know Jorge, he is a very kind soft spoken person and you could tell he loves his wife and children very much.

The rest of the group arrived and it had started to rain so we would not be able to do the service outside as planned.  So we crammed about 25 people into Jorge and Lisseth's little house, it was very cozy.  We had several of the neighbors attend as well so we had a nice sized group of people in attendance.  The singing went very well and Keith gave a very powerful lesson on the Gospel.  We did not have any responses at that time but we are encouraged by the interest and the sincerity of the people at Cacao.  After the service Kalina and I had to head back since we were both getting sick.  The rest of the group stayed and visited with everyone for a few more hours.  We all enjoyed the time we spent meeting and making relationships with the good people of this little hidden community.

We continue to have high hopes that we will find individuals that want to obey the Gospel and serve the Lord in this area and we will continue to pursue that goal.  As you will see soon, we visited this area again on the recent trip in July.  This concludes my summary of our Costa Rica work in May.  The next post will get started on the trip in July.

Dios les bendiga,
David

Spreading the Seed

Friday came along and everyone had high hopes for the day.  We were going back to the village by the river in Cacao.  We had bible studies set up with Lisseth for that morning and then with Karen and her family in the afternoon.  Keith asked if I would be willing to lead the study with Lisseth, and I was very willing of course.  I was however very nervous since my Spanish is still a work in progress.  I had made some notes ahead of time that I hoped would help, and I prayed that the Lord would make sure that his message was understood in spite of my own shortcomings with the language.  Of course I did have Keith right there with me to help as needed so that helped a lot.  The thing that gave me the most comfort however was this verse: 1 Corinthians 3:5-7. Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.  I knew that I was not that important in what we were trying to accomplish.  The Gospel was the important part, we just needed to spread the seed and let the Word of God go to work.  Matthew chapter 13 contains a wonderful parable about spreading the seed of the gospel.  I love how this parable relates to us the simplicity of spreading the Gospel but also shows us how the growth of that seed can be so easily destroyed by the trials and cares of this life.  We had high hopes this day that we had found that good ground that Jesus speaks of in verses 8 and 23.  Only time will tell what sort of ground these people are rooted in, and what kind of heart they have for the truth.

More pictures of these peoples homes from the river side

As we arrived and found a place to sit, Lisseth rounded up Julio and Jorge.  She wanted to make sure that they were present for this study, and I took that as a good sign that this was important to her.  Lisseth's husband Jorge was at work, so unfortunately we was not able to attend.  Once we got started we led her through the gospel plan of salvation.  I simply read the verses and repeated or emphasized where appropriate and let the Word speak for itself.  There were a few spots where I felt some explanation was called for, and I called on Keith to help me out when my limited vocabulary failed me.  The longer we studied it was apparent that Lisseth had used that old Bible of hers and had not just left it on the shelf.  She listened very intently but she was also not afraid to jump in with a question or comment.  We were very encouraged by her open and honest spirit not only during the study but during the entire time we spent with her.  The study went very well and she seemed to understand everything we discussed.  We continue to pray that this study and future studies will help Lisseth and her family to obey the Gospel. 

The study lasted for a few hours and once it concluded Lisseth was kind enough to offer us lunch.  It always made me feel bad to eat their food when they had so little to give.  However it would have been rude to refuse such a selfless gift given with sincerity.  We enjoyed the homemade tortillas and fixings and then it was time to move on to the study at Karen's house.  I must admit that my own foolishness caused me to miss most of the study with Karen and her family and friends.  I had walked back to the car to get more water bottles and made the mistake of locking the keys in the car.  I had set them down in the back to pick up the water bottles and then locked it from the door.  I saw the keys sitting there as the door swung shut and I just about dislocated something trying to stop the door.  My hands were full so unfortunately I failed in that attempt.  I was obviously not very happy with myself but I stood there a minute considering my options.  My first thought was to try and call someone that could get someone down here to get in the car.  After checking the cell phone, there was no signal.  At this point Keith had already started the study and I knew I had to get this fixed or I would be useless with worry.  I trudged back up to Lisseth's house in frustration, explained the situation to Kalina and tried to explain to Lisseth what had happened.  I was marginally successful and was able to explain that I needed a hanger if she had one.  Now I have never had to break into a car before so I went looking for anyone that could help out.  I went looking for Jeremy, not because he is an expert car thief, but because he is a very handy guy and I figured if anyone could help it would be him.  Well my luck continued to hold out, he had no idea what to do.  But as always he was game to give it a shot.  Well after several minutes of hair brained ideas and failed attempts, we were about to get discouraged.  But thank the Lord that one of the locals wandered by about then.  I explained the problem and he quickly showed us how it was supposed to be done.  With his help it did not take long and we had the door open, problem solved.

We hurried back to Karen's house to find it packed to the gills.  Her house had a sizable back deck/balcony where everyone was gathered.  This deck was about 15 feet above the ground below and I was not convinced that it was structurally sound.  There were probably around 20 people crowded onto it so I just stood back and observed from the edge of the deck as the study was coming to an end.  It was wonderful to see the Gospel preached to such a large group of people.  Lord willing, the Word found some good ground to start growing in that day.  They finished studying and a few people drifted out, but someone wanted to sing some gospel songs.  They had a few copies of a paperback book with some songs in it.  I think they wanted us to teach them some new songs.  Keith was able to find a few that we were familiar with and we all chimed in the best we could.  There were very few books and there was not one close enough for me to see.  I knew the tune and the english words so I found myself humming the tune in an effort to contribute something.  I was eventually able to get to where I could see one of the books and that was a huge help.  There was a little girl there that was really getting into it, you could tell that she loved to sing.

It was a great day and we were all very encouraged by the reception that we were given. The Gospel was preached to 20-30 people and all of them showed a willingness to listen and learn.  There were no heated arguments or confrontations about differences in belief.  I think everyone already understood that the Word of God was the truth and they were just eager to learn more about what it says.  There is a heavy Catholic influence in Costa Rica and even the devoted Catholics tend to be uneducated about what the Bible really says.  The good news is that there is an inherent respect for God.  The challenge going forward will be to help them see what God really wants from them. 

One other thing of note happened before we left for the day.  Keith talked to Lisseth and she agreed to allow us to hold our Sunday worship service in her home or outside weather permitting.  We set up a time for the coming Sunday afternoon and then headed back to Atenas with joy and thanks in our hearts for the many blessings of the day.

The next day was Saturday and we had another potential contact to follow up with.  Until next time....

Dios les bendiga,
David

Return to the River

Thursday, the day had finally come when we could go back to see the wonderful people we had met on our last trip down to the river.  I finally found out that this was in between the towns of Cacao and Carrillos.  Everyone was very excited about going back to see these people that had touched our hearts so deeply.  The newcomers were all excited as well since they had heard so much about this place.

We had set up a time to meet everyone at the park in Atenas.  We were the first ones there, and while we waited I walked over to the bank to restock on colones.  When I got back to the car I discovered that Kalina and Keith had ventured into the park to observe some kind of children's activity that was going on.  They were doing some kind of presentation about nutrition.  He had started up a conversation with a man and wife that was watching the children and had their phone numbers and names.  I was so glad that Keith was able to come with us, he has so much that he can teach us about spreading the gospel.  He was constantly talking to people we came across and he made contacts and connections with people and made it look so easy.

Once everyone was ready to go we made the 30 minute drive to Cacao.  This was a bit of a challenge since I had a little trouble remembering how to get there.  We got to one point and I was not sure which way to go so we asked directions from a local that was walking down the road.  Keith talked to him and in no time he just jumped in the car with us.  Now the problem with trying to tell someone where you are going is that you need to know where you want to go.  While I knew where I wanted to go I did not have any good way to explain it to him.  I knew it was by Cacao so I asked him to get us to Cacao and I hoped that things would look more familiar once we got there.  Praise the lord, everything started looking very familiar and before long we dropped off our guide and I was able to get us the rest of the way there based on my memory from the last trip. 

Getting ready to walk across the bridge to the left.

We parked the cars and walked across the rickety bridge, it all looked mostly the same.  There was a house now where there had only been a wood frame before.  One or two of the lower lying homes were not there anymore, probably victims of the fast rising river.  The older couple that had been here before was no longer around; they may have found a better place to live.  Overall not much had changed but there were a few people that we remembered from the last trip that did not live there anymore.  We slowly worked our way from house to house, talking to everyone that was willing.  Everyone seemed to remember us and it was nice to see how the children had all grown in the last 10 months.  We had heard that the electric company had sold this land and it was not clear what would happen to these people and their homes.  So it was nice to see that they still had places to live and had not been kicked out.

We had a few things with us for the children that we had brought along with us and we handed out little toys, crayons, and coloring books as we visited with everyone.  As we worked our way to each house we came to Karen's house.  Karen is the mother of Jaxsonia, the 13 year old girl that stuck in the hearts of John and Heather on the last trip.  John and Heather have a daughter that is the same age and it really touched their hearts to see this girl and how she and her family lived.  Well, Karen remembered us and she asked me where our daughter was?  She remembered our youngest daughter Leia that had come with us on the last trip.  We told her she was doing well and that she was staying with her grandparents.  She was delighted to meet our oldest two, Olivia and Logan.  I think she was a little surprised that we had 4 children all together.  One thing that I have really noticed is that our children have helped us connect with several of these people.  There is something about a child that brings us all together.  Anyone that has children, rich, poor, or anywhere in between has stories to share that we all deal with.  We all have the same stories of fun, frustration, struggles, and joys that is part of raising children.  It is just another example that no matter where we live or how much money we have, we all deal with the same problems and joys in life.
Roman 2:10-12 says,   But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.

After we all spent quite a bit of time talking to Karen, she invited us back at 2:00 for homemade tortillas.  We gladly accepted the invitation and then it was time to go eat lunch at Bohemia's house.  Bohemia is Kathia's sister, and she lives right up the hill from the river.  In case you don't remember you can read about the first time we visited her on the last trip by going back and reading the older posts from last year.  She made all of us a very good casado, but she made way too much and stuffed us all.  Logan was exhausted and he just leaned over against my leg and took a nap during lunch.  Then once we were done with lunch it was time to go back to Karen's house and eat tortillas!!

Jeremy and Sarah playing with the kids

Karen making tortillas

As everyone walked down the road to Karen's house, I realized I had forgotten something at the car so I went back while everyone else continued on.  As I was walking back I noticed that someone had come home while we had been eating lunch.  This was the woman that had asked us to pray for her husband the last time we were here.  I recognized her two sons, I could see them through the open door.  I called to them and asked if their parents were home.  The oldest son jumped up and called to his mother as I stood waiting by the door.  As she came to the door, I could tell by her expression that she remembered me.  It was a good feeling to know that these people remembered us from a short visit almost a year ago.  Well we talked and I made sure and got her name burned in my brain this time.  I am bad about forgetting names so I made sure to do better this time about remembering everyone's name.  Her name was Lisseth and her oldest son was Julio (9) and younger son Jorge jr. (7).  Her husband Jorge was at work and thankfully we were able to meet him eventually.  Lisseth invited me into her modest home and we talked some more.  After a little while, Kalina came looking for me and found me talking to Lisseth.  Well Lisette evidently remembered my wife even more because she greeted her with a hug and kiss on the cheek, she was very happy to see her.  One thing that I loved about Kalina is that she was not scared to try talking to people in Spanish even though she had not progressed as far as I had.  She had a very limited vocabulary but it was amazing to see how she was still able to communicate with a little bit of Spanish and some creative use of her hands and expressions.  Kalina and I talked to her for a couple hours and we ended up looking at pictures of her and her family and listening to all the stories about each picture. 

From left: Jorge, Lisseth, Logan, Kalina, Olivia, and Julio

We also ended up talking about her Bible, she had showed it to us last year and it was in bad shape.  Thanks to a generous donation from a Church in the US we had brought a lot of bibles with us.  So I brought her a new bible to replace her extremely water damaged one.  I also gave one to each of her boys and you should have seen how excited they were.  Lisseth had told us how her boys loved to read and they would read their Bibles all the time.  She showed us the little Gideon New Testament Bibles that they had protected with a small leather wallet.  I gave the Bibles to Lisseth and she called the boys in and gave them the Bibles.  They just looked at them with a confused look on their face until she explained to them that it was a new Bible just for them.  Julio literally started jumping up and down with excitement, I could not help but laugh with joy to see how happy he was.  Keith eventually made his way there and we finished up by setting up a Bible study with her for the next day.  We ended up completely missing Karen's tortillas but spent valuable time strengthening a relationship with a woman with a good heart.  Lord willing that relationship will bear spiritual fruit in the future.  It turns out that we also had a study date set up with Karen and her family for the next day as well.  I was not present to know how that came about but I will see if John can post something about it.

Language barriers did not stop Jonah, Olivia and Logan from making friends

It was another great trip and we were able to strengthen relationships that look very promising and willing to learn the Gospel.  I will talk about the Bible studies that we had in the next post.  Stay tuned and God bless.

-David