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

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

We planted, we watered, God provided the Miracle Grow

We just returned from Costa Rica last night and I am still in awe.  I am in awe of the power and the glory of God.  I know the verses, I understood the concept, but I did not fully comprehend it until now. 
1Corinthians 3:5-9Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? (6) I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (7) So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. (8) Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. (9) For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
John 4:35-36 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. (36) And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
Now I understand it a whole lot better because I have seen it and felt it.  I have seen the power of the Gospel work even though I was unable to "explain" it like I wanted to.  My limits with the Spanish language does not mean that the message of the Gospel was not heard and understood.  I think that the biggest thing that hit home from this trip is that I need to spread the seed and then get out of the way and let the word of God convict the honest heart.
Luke 8:15But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
I think when you have faced a long period of un-interest, failure, and rejection you can start to think that you are not doing something right.  You are not explaining it right, you think you need to spend a large amount of time explaining what the Bible means.  Don't get me wrong, I think that a lot of times we are doing it wrong and making it more complicated than it is.  However we need to realize that we are going to spend a lot of time on people that in the end do not care and their heart is hardened.  When the Gospel finds a good heart, the word of God is sufficient on it's own. 
Heb 4:12-13For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (13) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
I apologize for the mini sermon but my brain and my heart are just about to explode with thoughts and emotions and I needed to let some of it out.

Well for those of you that have not heard, the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is alive and well in Costa Rica!  Praise the Lord!

I will go into more detail in the coming days and weeks and tell their stories more fully but I could not wait to let you know how God has provided a bountiful harvest in Costa Rica.

This is Neyci, she is 13 years old.

Neyci was very nervous before the baptism and very excited afterwards!

This is Jose, he is 21 years old.  This picture was after his Baptism but we all noticed that he had worn his best clothes for this important event.  He is smiling about his new Bible.

Jose is an awesome guy, can't wait to tell you more about him.

This is Lorena, she is 20 years old and has two little girls.

Lorena was also very nervous before but I think the water was a little cold.

I will fill you in on all the details later but I could not wait to introduce you to your new Brother and Sisters in Christ in Costa Rica.  Please remember them and their family in your prayers, this is a very important and fragile time for them.  We are of course worried for them since we could not stick around longer.  However they now have God on their side and they all know each other so they will be good support for each other in the trials ahead.  Praise the Lord.

-Dios les Bendiga,

David