Monday, April 27, 2009
In The Garden
Today is my recuperation from passing through several time zones, as I flew home from Arizona yesterday. I spent 3 wonderful days with family, filling every nook and cranny of time with different people that I love. It is equally filling and draining, but I am so grateful to have the gift of travel, both in time and airline privileges. Thank you sweet husband for sharing me and brother Gordon for providing the means!
Every April we celebrate birthdays for my Dad (21st), myself (22nd), and Mom and Steve (23rd).
Although Steve needed to stay in Miami to prepare for the upcoming Board Meeting, on Mom's Bday we had a garden party and Gordon made us Salmon Taco's that were out of this world delicious.
We skyped Christa and Daniel as well as Steve . . . . two computers going at the same time! It was crazy hectic but so much fun to have them participate if even from a distance.
On one of my evenings I was able to accompany Stefani and Mowee (real name Benito), her boyfriend, as they drove me up to South Mountain and we overlooked the lights of the city. It is such a beautiful spot and hard to believe that in all the years that I lived in Arizona, I never remember going there. We took a short hike to a craggy rock and just sat and looked out over the sparkling lights of the city for a few quiet moments. Very nice.
Gordon, Stefani and I ate at one of our favorite "must visits" whenever I am in town, Postino's and Stef and I even got to P.F. Chang's for lunch one day. A flurry of shopping at known clothing stores, and before I knew it, I was on the plane headed home.
I am posting a picture I took of The Garden in full bloom . . . . Only once have I seen every rose bush so full of blooms. It was beautiful!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Impact
Every so often a person, a book an event comes into your life and has monumental impact. Probably 15 years ago, or so, I heard the name Mark and Jeannie Labberton from my brother Phil and his wife Cindi. They met and became good friends in England while Phil and Mark were working on their doctorates at Cambridge. We never had the good fortune to meet Mark and Jeannie, but providence would have it that we have encountered Mark through his new book, "The Dangerous Act of Worship". I have been "absorbing" the content of this book a chapter at a time over the last 2 months. I normally consume a book in a matter of hours, and when in stride, a book every week or two. But with the move and all the changes and traveling going on in my life at the moment, that pace has slowed. But Mark's book could not have come at a better time. This is not a book for a quick read as it is full of deep and thoughtful truths. I thought I would give you an exerpt from this book so as to possibly wet your appetite for more. This comes from the chapter "When Worship Talks To Power".
"The realignment of power is fundamental to the cause of justice because much of the twisted soul of injustice is the abuse of power. Whether the injustice is poverty, bonded slavery, land grabbing, forced prostitution, hunger, rape, or racism, we find the abuse of power. Likewise, an abuse of power is at play even in more mundane examples of injustice; gossip, manipulation, coersion, lying, deception, or libel. At the core of it all lies an abuse of power. Nothing thwarts God's purposes more than twisted power; nothing renews God's purposes more than redeeming power.
Christian worship (and prayer) can and should be one of the most profound and relevant responses to power abuse in the world. In worship (and prayer) we cast our lives upon the faithful and just power of God. When we do so, we appose all acts of unjust power. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about God's remarkable initiative and grace marshaled to realign power."
"I am stunned when I hear statistics like these: that more than 25 million people around the world today live in slavery; that 40 percent of the world's population lacks basic sanitation facilities and over one billion use unsafe water; that in the least developed countries over 50 percent of the population is not expected to live to the age of sixty, compared to just over 10 percent in the most developed countries; that the per capita spending on police in India is about twenty-five cents per person per year, whereas in the Unites States it is over $250 per person per year. And India is better off than countries where no police force even exists, such as Liberia and Chad. In other countries the local police would be the last place to go for help in the face of injustice, because of graft and corruption. We assume that the basic protection of law enforcement most in the United States enjoy is more or less present in other parts of the world, but it is not. Many people in other countries, especially the poor, are exposed to whims of power abuse, and the police are but one example."
It is so easy to find our comfortable place in life, inoculated from the pain and injustices of others with whom we share this planet. Stepping out of church ministry in a beautiful place to live, I am beginning to reawaken to the real reason that we were called to ministry . . . no, make that the christian life! It is not just for those called to 'professional' ministry. It is for all of us that call ourselves Christ followers. The only true change of injustice is the realignment of power under the grace filled love of the One who alone holds all power.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Birthday Week
Time marches on . . . . This week I turn 54. What can I say about that ? Since the joy of turning 18,with all my life ahead of me, and the trauma I experienced, albeit self induced, when I turned 25 and my life assessment disheartened me; married 7 years, 2 children, one of them strong willed and hyperactive, a tough ministry and needed growth in our marriage and spiritual life, all while many of my friends were not carrying the weight of such heavy life experiences and seemingly having "fun".
I must say with all sincerity that my 50's, so far, have been the best years of my life. Not that the previous years were not wonderful in their own right. But I have ceased striving to 'find myself' years ago, and am enjoying the person God made me to be. I have also ceased trying to make my husband the man I think he should be and and thoroughly enjoying what God has created in him using all the pain, struggle, and unique experiences that we have walked through. Steve is a compassionate, sensitive, loyal husband who has learned how to encourage and protect me. He seeks the Lord for the wisdom and courage to be the husband, father, and minister that he has been called to be. Our children are amazing people, each one in their own right. I am blessed.
Some how the same things that would have sent me into a spiraling depression or an anxiety charged fit, are managed (most of the time) with prayer and an acknowledgement that God is sovereign and has control of our situation and that of our children. I am not a victim in life's difficult situations, rather a loved child of my Heavenly Father.
Now, I am watching my children go through many of the same experiences and feelings that Steve and I went through. Giving them to the Lord, daily, I can be at peace and live and love, enjoying the years that the Lord has ordained for me.
O.K. so I am 15 to 20 lbs. overweight, wrinkles refuse to be 'hidden', and my energy and turn around time are decreasing and increasing accordingly, but in my year 54 life assessment, I would not change anything . . . . God is good and so is life!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wisdom from Oswald Chambers
Sacrifices
These precious little girls, Ada, Nica, and Evelyn, smile from the inside out. When they smile and laugh, there is a genuine joy that exudes from their faces. Parenting is a daunting task. Parenting adopted children brings even more challenge. I have the greatest respect for what my Mom and Dad are doing in their foster care of Bryan. I share that same respect for Sean and Cate. My prayers go up for them daily as they sacrifice what most would be unwilling to do, by giving everything they have to make the life of someone who had nothing, full and rich with the love of Jesus.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Back to School!
As wonderful as it was to be traveling, meeting new people, seeing and learning new things, it is equally as wonderful to be home. Our puppies were well and happy to see us, an no worse for the separation.
As per usual, Steve hit the ground running this week as he is preparing for one of the two yearly Board Meetings. Next Wednesday, men and women from all over the U.S. and even some Latin countries will gather for the three day event. Tomorrow he gives the MSO (Mission Support Office) the yearly "state of the Mission" address, (sounds so formal!) adding to so many firsts.
Every challenge is still fresh and new and he is taking them on with energy and enthusiasm. I remember thinking to myself during one of our many meetings with missionaries in Costa Rica, just how perfectly matched he is to this position. He could go from person to person, ministry to ministry, relating to and immediately tracking with all that was being said and happening. He thrives on the challenge as well as the relationships. He can quickly process where a ministry and a person is, and find ways to bring what ever is required to that situation. I just sat back and watched. I am so grateful to God for all He is doing.
One note of praise . . . last week Steve received word that the Tyndale Foundation has donated $50,000.00 to LAM to be used at the presidents discretion . . . That was amazing and wonderful news! Not only is it a large and needed gift, but Steve can prayerfully seek out the most strategic ways for that money to be used. While funds are incredibly tight right now for LAM, as they are just about everywhere, we are so grateful to the Lord for lifting our spirits and providing funds for purposeful ministry.
Dramatic change of subject, but . . . . .
Over the years I have had several thoughts of going back to school, but every time something else took priority. One of our other children needing the funds for education for themselves,
one time it was an unexpected pregnancy, ( that would have been #3 for me!) and so on. But I have been praying and thinking about finishing my degree and there seems to be no roadblocks at the moment. So, over the last week I have researched over 200 schools and numerous degree programs and have landed on a BA degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Upper Iowa State University. They have a marvelous Online program that gives me the freedom to work from home and at my own pace. If I am able to stick with it, my ultimate goal is to also take some theology and psychology classes, perhaps ending with an MA in Christian Counseling. Kind of funny and strange to think that it may take me from now until I am 60 (ugh!) to reach this goal, but I could have at least 10 if not 15 years to put the education to use. It certainly would keep me busy and focused! Today I sent for my transcripts from ASU to be sent to UIU, and could be starting my first class in June . . . I think it will be fun to attend college while at least one of my kids is doing the same. Of course Christa may have her doctorate before I even have my BA, but that only serves to motivate me. I will keep you posted!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Day 12 in Costa Rica
This is it! Our full day in Costa Rica. One the one hand it has gone by so fast. However, it tires me out to think where we have been, what we have seen, who we have met and what God is doing through LAM in this place. Our time in “Jesus Calling” every morning seems more than just appropriately relevant to each days’ challenges and it has served as one of the few constants, along with morning toast and fruit, during our trip.
Very honestly, we did not want to leave the hotel today, even if it was for a couple of hours. Before retiring last night Steve spoke with Bob and Ann Jeffrey, a retirement age couple who don’t know the meaning of the word, who would be our guides today. They had aggressive plans for us to see another one of our LAM clinics, CEDCAS (google it), and several of the poor shanty villages where they and CEDCAS have been working for 25 years. We already had to make plans for dinner with one last couple for tonight, so it didn’t look like we would be able to enjoy the hotel too much today.
The Jeffreys came and got us at the hotel at 9:00, and we hit it off right away. Bob and Ann are the type of people who live to serve, love it and show it! Their weathered look belies years of hard work outside. Their hearts, however, are about as tender as they come! A quick trip to the center of our little suburb led us to the CEDCAS clinic, another state-of-the-art facility. Unlike the hospital, CEDCAS is committed to serving those with minimal resources, partnering with the government to give high quality care in a small facility. In many ways, CEDCAS is a full-service mini hospital, complete with Xrays, ultrasounds, gastrointestinal scopes, a complete surgical suite, dental and vision suites, quarters for twenty short-term workers and a nice apartment for the CEDCAS director, Lillian Solt, another one of our LAM stars!
Lillian is the textbook definition of overachiever. To see what God has wrought through her vision, inspiration and tireless effort over the last 25 years is nothing short of truly awesome. She runs the clinic which tends to dozens every day, she oversees the work of dozens of short-term teams from the U.S. and elsewhere every year who come to build, renovate, or minister in the shanty towns on behalf of CEDCAS, she maintains a continuous regime of teaching nationals healthcare, she is acquiring buildings, designing the facilities that go in those buildings and manages the process all along the way, she is helping to build a new campus for her local church…and raises a bunch of money to get it all done! We’re tired just thinking about it.
She has an adult daughter who shares the load, but we did not get to meet her.
Lillian gave us a thorough orientation to the ministries and services of CEDCAS, took us on a tour of the sprawling facility (which looks like nothing more than a large house from the street) and sat us down to watch a couple of videos of the shanty town work. The Jeffreys knew how spent we were, so they decided to replace a trip across town with a seven-minute video. God bless them! Two hours came and went quickly as we were both very impressed with what we had experienced.
Right around noon, the Jeffreys dropped us off at the hotel apparently just in time for a scrumptious lunch, followed by afternoon naps and walks in the gardens. We were so tired, changing to go swimming in the gorgeous pool couldn’t tempt us! We relaxed all afternoon anticipating but one more meeting - a quick dinner with Jeff and Barbi David, along with their daughter, Caressa. Instead of going to their home, we invited them to join us in the dining room at 5:30. What’s the saying about the best-laid plans of men…?
Our enjoyment of an afternoon deep sleep was interrupted at 4:30 by the phone. The Davids were downstairs…an hour early. We hustled to get presentable and met them in the bar where we sat and drank cokes until dinner. We though we could eat at 5:30, but ha to wait until 6:00. The girls went walking and Jeff and Steve talked seminary education the entire time. Jeff splits his time between ESEPA (the seminary) and PROMETA, the online master’s program. Jeff gave Steve a complete history of the two ministries and how they have and haven’t interacted over the last few years. His heart is in both ministries and he has an interesting mix of vision and desire for the hands-on teaching work. The two guys hit it off! Steve is sure that, after what he has seen and heard these last 12 days, that theological education will have to be a major focus for LAM in the near future. We have the history, the reputation, the relationships and the facilities to perhaps become the premier provider of future Latin leaders through theological preparation.
The dinner hour came and went quickly with another wonderful culinary experience. A quick glance at the 8:15 being displayed on Steve’s iPhone was both hard to believe and too much! The Davids excused themselves and left for home and the Johnsons enjoyed a glass of wine before finding their (our) way to the room. A short conversation on the patio overlooking the gardens was followed by the packing of our bags, a little television, some facebooking, and then some serious pillow time!
This has been one incredible journey for the two of us. As we look back on it, the real value of these Presidential Visits probably cannot be adequately estimated. We developed real relationships with just about everyone. We were able to get a clear picture of our many different ministries in Costa Rica. We have learned valuable history from many different perspectives. Most, if not all, opened their hearts and lives and really shared. We were able to listen, comfort, encourage and pray. Steve comes back with a list of items for discussion and decision that is long, but in no way disheartening…just the opposite. We also have a list of suggestions for the next trip to Mexico in May that will hopefully make that experience less of a “killer.”
The processing will continue for weeks. But we must also say that so much more was gained by the two of us being together, listening, watching and debriefing from our individual perspectives. This will help greatly in the decisions to come in the future.
Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to the LAM Board and the Management Team for your initial encouragement and continued support of our traveling together.
To God be the glory in the Costa Rica Chapter of our journey…
Day 11 in Costa Rica
Two more days to go…and we’re spending most of them at the Bougainvillea Hotel in Santo Domingo (a suburb of San José). That’s how we started this Monday morning (after reading our daily passages in “Jesus Calling” first).
The schedules for today and tomorrow have been shortened as we are almost completely spent. We wanted very much to meet our remaining missionaries but have lost a bit of interest in seeing every building and barrio in which they work. God went before us as Steve talked with those still on the docket. Amazingly enough, they were feeling worn out for us after looking at the schedule. So today was, and hopefully tomorrow will be, compacted. Well, at least that was the plan…
We jumped into a cab about 7:45, and rode the 30 minutes down to the AMCA house in order to upload blogs, make phone calls and send some emails. Paul Pretiz, a veteran missionary and now retiree was to pick us up at 9:00 and take us to his house for coffee. At 9:20, Steve got a bit worried and called him. Somehow wires had gotten crossed (Steve thinks it was probably his “bad”), and Paul had instead driven up to Mike’s which was closer and would have saved a $15.00 cab ride! He said he would come down and get us, so we had another half hour to work - and we needed it. At the same time, the hour delay was setting everything back, including our arrival at the hotel!
We had a wonderful ride back to Pretiz’ home which was simple and yet comfortable for them. Ruth had a stroke several years ago so her body wasn’t working like most do, but she was completely alert and quite conversational. She is a prayer warrior and has spent a lot of time in prayer for Shellie and me. They, like the other retirees, have been in Costa Rica for decades, have family now in Costa Rica, and are content to live the rest of their earthly sojourn in Costa Rica. Paul is a writer and has authored many articles and co-authored several books about the ministry of LAM. He and Ruth came to Central America to work as radio station managers with HCJB, on loan from LAM. We enjoyed a spot of tea, fresh fruit and some short but meaningful vignettes of their ministries over the years. It was too short! We had only been sitting for about 20 minutes when Paul abruptly said that we needed to get going if we were going to make the right connection with our next family, the Meyers’. After a brief, but precious time of prayer, Paul drove around the north side of city, past the HCJB towers (Faro del Caribe actually), and guided us to a mall!!!
Josh and Christy Meyers and their two cute kids were waiting for us at the entrance of the mall and we selected a hamburger joint in which to sit and eat. Not having had too much luck with meat, Steve had very low expectations. To our surprise, the burgers and fries were great (almost like home). It was a special treat for the Meyers. Josh and Christy are teaching at Palabra de Vida, our very first stop of the trip, with Matt and Lisa Befus. Matt was actually their youth pastor at College Church in Wheaton many moons ago. Josh left a growing career with Capital One to join the Befus’ on a limited term mission (2-3 years). The more we listened to what God had already done in and through them in the U.S. and here, Steve’s brain kicked into vision gear. They have enjoyed teaching, but it’s not what they want to do to for the long term. This is the kind of guy who could help us grow the mission from within. Steve hesitated saying anything directly to Josh about the possibility of working with us in the MSO
until we were saying goodbye to them. Josh sent Steve an email later that night with a copy of resume and is quite interested. Due to our desire to shorten the schedule, we only had an hour with them and then they drove us down to the Clinica Biblica for our grand tour of this huge hospital.
The Clinica Biblica could very well be the crowning achievement to the memory of Harry and Susan Strachan, the founders. The Clinica was started in the 1920’s in a small building and has grown to cover several city blocks with multiple-story buildings. It is one of the very few state-of-the-art hospitals in Latin America, and most likely one of the largest! The buildings are strewn pictures and dedications and verses that make clear the biblical foundation and ongoing christian values upon which the hospital operates.
Upon arriving, we were met by Bev Cook and her two sons. They essentially run the international insurance and travel programs for the hospital. Apparently, thousands of dollars are spent each year to entice North Americans to come to the Clinica for every type of surgery and cosmetic alteration, which can be had for a fraction of the U.S. cost in facilities which, quite honestly, rival any hospital we’ve seen in the U.S. The Cooks escorted us to a quiet conference room where we heard of their programs and how they have been serving at the Clinica, now well into the second generation.
We stopped for a bit to sit and drink some water at their very modern coffee bar, when Esthela, one of our hosts on Sunday, came to get us. Esthela not only leads a church with Verna, but she also serves as the Chaplain for the Clinica. Everywhere we went in the hospital it was abundantly clear that, not only was she doing her job, she was doing very well! She took a break from her duties to give us a comprehensive tour of the hospital facilities. We were able to receive a tour of the original building, which is still being used though the patient rooms are now converted into offices, and we saw almost every floor in every building. Esthela knows this place well!
2:30 came quite quickly and Steve had hopes of getting to the hotel by 3:00. Sensitive to the exhaustion that must have been on our faces by that time, Esthela hailed a cab for us and we were off to the AMCA house first, to get our bags, and then to the hotel. Steve figured it would take almost an hour to do it all. But God’s grace was to be found yet again, as we learned that the AMCA house was less than five minutes from the hospital, and that the hotel was only ten minutes from there. We were checking into Room 207 at 3:10. We barely made it onto the beds and napped for a couple of hours, looking out our room window over the beautiful gardens we described earlier.
Tonight brought us a quite table for two in the dining room, reminiscent of a 1960’s artsy retreat center, once again overlooking beautiful flowers and trees. The linen tablecloths, fused-glass lamps and numerous paintings on the walls made it all seem so distant from the heat and bustle of ministry we have been experiencing for almost two weeks. The decision to move here was right and it didn’t take too long to being to feel like we had actually found rest and retreat in the midst of such a trip! Our evening as made even more special by the quietness of the hotel - we hit during Semana Santa. There were only a few people at the hotel.
Falling to sleep tonight won’t be hard, and we so look forward to waking up to the birds in the gardens tomorrow morning. Only the Lord could make a day so packed with people and places melt away in the midst of His beauty…
Day 10 in Costa Rica
This is the day the Lord has made; let us us rejoice and be glad in it! Today’s schedule was a full one and I can’t help how more difficult it would have been were it not for Mike’s graciousness. To remind you, his house is about 15 kilometers, or 10 miles from downtown San José. Traffic limits speed to an average of about 20 mph, so you can imagine what a trip into town means for someone. We got up, got ready and Mike drove us into downtown San José and dropped us off at the Clínica Bíblica Hospital, the major downtown hospital, which just happens to have been founded by the original Strachan’s in the 1920’s (more on tomorrow’s blog). He then went home, cooked breakfast for Jonathan and four of his friends who stayed the night, got cleaned up and made it back into town for his own church (where we were last Sunday) by 10:00 - He’s crazy!!!!!
We waited curbside for about 5 minutes and then were picked up by Verna Brenamen and Esthela Corvallos, two single gals who have worked here with LAM for over 45 years, primarily with the Clínica Bíblica. They took us on a 30-minute drive on a hot morning to the church they help to start 30 years ago, Templo Bíblico Peniel in a suburb of San José, las Pavas. As we drove up to the church, we were taken back by the evident poverty and the piles of uncollected garbage lining the streets of the church’s neighborhood. The girls pointed out where the old church building was and then parked in front of the “new church”, a combo concrete and corrugated aluminum structure, badly in the need of painting. We could hear the worship team practicing from the street, and I even recognized a couple of them. We waked up a set of stairs from the street to a relatively small sanctuary with a small stage in front, ceiling and window fans everywhere. We were warmly greeted by the Nicaraguan pastor(s), who take all of their cues from Vera and Esthela (who are both in their mid-late seventies). Although church was supposed to start, there were but a few women and young people in the church. But like every church I’ve been in and even pastored, by 10 minutes into the service the place was relatively full and diverse.
Worship lasted almost an hour and it was interesting. The worship team consisted of a drummer, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and two singers. One was actually quite good, while her teammate was, well let’s just say she struggled to find the pitch. The worship was lively and, yet, hard for us to enter into because they had no way for us to follow along - no screens, no powerpoint, no nothing. How can these people survive?!?!??!
After about 45 minutes, the worship team sat down and one of the pastors invited Esthela to come up and help us to continue to worship. She pulled out what looked like a flannel graph book (oversized) from the sixties and shared the Palm Sunday story very quickly using the pictures. Then she passed out a sheet of paper that had several hymns on it and proceeded to lead us in all five verses of every hymn on the sheet a capella! It’s not my cup of tea, but boy the people sang!!!
After an offering and prayer, the pastor turned it over to me and I preached for the 40 minutes they had asked for. You know how hard that was for me… After I closed in prayer, they paraded the little kids first, followed by the youth group, onto the platform and they shared the verse they had learned for the day. A song and a prayer later the service was over. Most of the church came up and hugged us and then filed out rather quickly to head to their homes. We had to wait a bit for Esthela to finish up, but within 10 minutes we were off to a nice restaurant in their area for a “langosta” (small lobster) feast. At lunch we heard about the many years Esthela and Verna have served with the LAM and about their upcoming two-month whirlwind furlough around the U.S. After lunch we traveled with them back to their apartment, which they have been renting for 35 years for tea, apple cobbler, pictures of the last thirty years and more history. I cannot re-emphasize enough the extent of both commitment and sacrifice that our long-term missionaries have given to the Lord and to LAM.
Around 1:30, Mike and his son Jonathan came by to pick us up and take us back to their home to get some much needed rest before getting ready to preach again at Escazú Christian Fellowship on the far opposite side of town. We arrived hot and tired at about 2:00, expecting to get a couple of hours of downtime. What we didn’t know at that time was that the main freeway from downtown San José to Escazú was closed for paving, which would mean that we would have to take a much longer ‘round about way to get to church. At 2:45, about the time I was finally dozing off, Mike shouted in from the front door that we only had about fifteen minutes to get ready. We would have to leave around 3:00 to drive into town to meet the Rice’s who would then take us to Escazú (their church).
We met the Rice’s at 3:15, and they took the long way around which still got us to the church at about 4:00, one full hour before service was to start. We took advantage of the time to meet the pastor, a presbyterian in his third year as pastor of the interdenominational Escazú Christian Fellowship. We listened as the Worship Team rehearsed mostly songs and hymns we knew or guessed were very presbyterian. They were are acoustic and quite appropriate for the service.
As the service was beginning we were greeted by Suzanne Emory, Matt and Lisa Befus and the Sabeans, all LAMers we had spent time with this past week. In order to adapt to the 25-minute framework for the message I consolidated a lot from the am message and it was a tad bit easier to preach in English (though not a whole lot so). We participated after the message in the Lord’s Supper by intinction (look it up!), and I was asked to give the benediction and then walked out in true liturgical style with the Pastor (Stacey). We had to wait quite a while for Shelley Rice to finish up with all her duties and communications and then we were off to dinner together.
A short drive and we arrived at RostiPollo, a Costa Rican answer to Boston Market. We had great charbroiled chicken with all the trimmings and enjoyed more conversation with Craig and Shelley. By the time we had eaten the last bite, I was already fading, and the Rice’s could see it. So we hurried off to the downtown bus station where we caught a taxi back to Mike’s. We had a brief conversation with Mike, who was heading up north with his pastor the next morning, packed most of our nags in order to head for the Bougainvillea tomorrow morning, talked with Stefi, and then fell asleep pretty quickly.
Another long, hot, wonderful day in the Lord was added to our memories…
Day 9 in Costa Rica
It’s Saturday and we have had a wonderful and restful day in many ways. We woke up a little later than usual to Mike’s call to join him for breakfast. Instead he and I drove over to a little “pulpería” or mini-market to grab some milk, etc. On the way back we stopped off at one of his favorite hangouts - a small bakery run by a Colombian couple. We picked up some fresh baked bread and had it cut, and we added a cream cheese-filled twist loaf and a cinnamon roll for extra measure and returned to the house to enjoy it with Shellie.
After a bite, we started in what seems to be normal Saturday chores - washing clothes and straightening things up. Shellie got caught up on her part of the blogging and I began to review my notes for tomorrow’s sermons. I was going to do my sermon on Jabez, but at the last minute felt led to focus on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), so I switched to Matthew 21:1-10.
After a couple of quiet hours, Mike needed to take his son Jonathan, a sophomore at a boarding high school in Southern California, to their Korean church to meet friends. I offered to go with them, so I left Shellie to rest and drove the 25 minutes down to the church. What another culture shock! As soon as we got to the gate people’s heads were bowing a mile a minute. I don’t think I’ve given my neck such a workout in years! The people were very warm, gracious and kind, even though I couldn’t understand one single word of the Korean in which they were speaking. Mike introduced me to the new pastor, a nice guy who, again, couldn’t speak english or spanish, so we were left to bows, smiles and Mike’s interpretation. It is obvious that Mike is highly respected among all these people!
It was great to watch Jonathan’s reunion with friends after a semester away. All the kids in the youth group ran and bowed first, then grabbed and hugged him. After leaving Jonathan off at the church, Mike and I decided to eat lunch at a very non-traditional Costa Rican restaurant, Los Arcos Dorados (McDonald’s). Like every other McDonald’s in the world on Saturday I suppose, it was crowded! The food however was completely predictable and the conversation even better. We began talking about what’s next for Mike in ministry. We talked over several interesting options for him to carry in prayer on his upcoming 3-week trip to the U.S., then japan, followed by Korea (to stop off at his small 40,000 member church), and then on to China to see his sister. I look forward to talking when he returns.
Saturday afternoon brought both Shellie and me much needed naps! At around 5:00, Mike again came to the door and invited us to join him for dinner. We went into San José to one of his favorite Chinese places and we had a decent meal. It seems like the meal however took a back seat to our conversation about love, potential wives for Mike and his future ministry. It occurred to Shellie in the day that a gal we love and who served on staff with me in Monterey might be a pretty good match for Mike. We’re going to work on that one!
We didn’t stay too long at dinner and returned to the house to get ready for tomorrow morning. I made a few phone calls to arrange for tomorrow’s transportation all over town and to alleviate our schedules a bit on Monday and Tuesday, still allowing us to meet and spend a bit of time with all. Everyone is so understanding!!! If I haven’t said it enough yet, we have great people in Costa Rica!!!
Our evening ended with “The Three Musketeers,” a Disney film, which energized me for tomorrow. It is so beautiful right now, that our french door and windows stayed open all night to let the breeze caress us to sleep. Thank you Lord for a day of rest and friendship!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Day 8 in Costa Rica
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.” That’s the theme of our daily prayers and meditations now a full week into our first of several Presidential visits to the fields of LAM. It is 9:00 pm and we just got back to Mike’s where we instantly find peace and calm…normally! Not tonight however. Today starts the Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations and there is a huge party going on down the road with full amps and speakers, an emcee, loud music and a pretty decent subwoofer system. Looks like we’re in for a long night. I guess the Lord wants us to leave every drop on the altar of dependence today!We left the house this morning at 7:55, headed for the AMCA house where we stayed the first two nights. It has been the central meeting place for all of our trips around San José and beyond. Steve had some time to publish a couple more days of our journal on the blog and made a couple of calls to the home office while waiting for Craig and Christina Burch to pick us up and take us to ESEPA, one of the two seminaries started by LAM. Greg is a professor of missions and finishing up his Ph.D. in missions at Fuller Seminary. God has given him a special call - to train pastors and workers in developing ministry to street kids at risk. He is currently developing a fully orbed curriculum to be used in seminaries throughout Latin America. Greg and Christina have logged ten years with LAM but have all the enthusiasm and energy of new recruits. I think they encouraged Steve more than he could encourage them!
After a brief cafecito and conversation with the Burchs, Paul Mauger, another LAM missionary who just happens to be sent from Phil and Cindi’s church in Pennsylvania, brought two students in to the sitting room where we had been talking with Craig and Christina. To our surprise, neither was a true latino. One of the students, Stefán was a North American, ex-marine from Kansas City who chose to study in Costa Rica over the U.S. to help pave the way language-wise and culturally for future ministry in Latin America. The other student I was to find out at the end of our conversation is Robby Richard, the son of Dr. Ramesh Richard, a professor at Dallas Seminary, evangelist and preacher. It was amazing to hear how he chose to be at ESEPA instead of Dallas because he loves Costa Rica…so much so that he has married a “Tica” (so did Stefán)! These two young men began to ask questions about LAM and missions and that was like throwing raw meat to a lion for Steve. He switched into recruitment mode and really connected with the students. He hopes to stay in contact with them and help them find their future through LAM.
We then met for a while with the new Rector (president) of the seminary and learned about the ups and downs, as well as the current vision for the seminary. Steve really feels that LAM has to do more to support the seminary and the finding and training of future theologians, especially in light of the proliferation of so many megachurch pastors who have little or no theological training. Robby Richard told us of an evangelical conservative church they attended in the interior of Costa Rica that teaches a man can have seven wives, according to the Bible?!?!? There is such a lack of serious theological reflection in Latin America today and ESEPA holds the real promise of develop and providing platform for the next generation of theological leaders.
After a while with the Rector, Mark Padgett, Paul Mauger rushed us over to his house for homemade pizza (yummy!) and great conversation with him and Nancy. They were sent to the field by Westshore EV Free Church, which Shellie’s brother Phil pastors.
Aside from teaching at the seminary, Paul helps with admin at ESEPA and is actively involved in helping the growing Latin Missions movement (Latins going out as missionaries to the world). Nancy started a discipleship through baking group 15 years ago and they’re still going strong! Paul and Daniel, their son, of course appreciate the physical fruits of the group’s baking labors! As we have found with almost every missionary, Paul and Nancy opened their hearts and their lives to us in a short amount of time and we are deeply grateful. LAM has incredibly wonderful people!
No sooner did we finish our pizza then Bob Sabean (he’s the crazy driver from last Saturday) came by to whisk us off on an hour-long trip back up to Camp Roblealto to see the actual camp and meet the new director, a LAM missionary. Bob spoke nonstop the entire time about Christian Camping International, the group he has worked with for over 30 years. At times, Shellie had to start giving Steve a back rub or head rub because lunch and the heat had him falling asleep as Bob continued on. We were greeted at the camp by the Director, Robert Bruneau, and his wife Nina. They are a wonderful couple from Panama who have been with LAM for nine years in camping ministries. We took a quick tour of the camp and then sat for several hours and talked Christian Camping International, Argentine soccer, what it is like to be a Latin and a LAM missionary at the same time. The conversation spilled over into a wonderful homemade lasagna dinner in the midst of a torrential rain. Once again, their transparency and honesty is so encouraging to us.
7:00 came quickly and we needed to get back to the other side of San José (Mike’s house). We jumped into the camp truck and Robert and Steve proceeded to get lost somewhere in northeast San José. After finally doing what most men won’t - stop and ask directions- we got on the right road, only to come to a complete halt after a kilometer or two. We thought we had come up on an accident because traffic wasn’t moving in either direction. So being the brainiacs that Steve and Robert thought they were, they tried a detour…that fifteen minutes later only led us right back to where we tried to detour. Traffic was moving slowly, but moving by this time. After a few minutes we came up on what was slowing everything - a two-block long catholic procession celebrating the beginning of Semana Santa. There was no traffic control, nothing. The parade simply took over the road and we had to do what we could to go around them.
The trip took almost two hours. It should have taken 25 minutes. But the Lord meant for us to spend more time with Robert on the road and it was good quality conversation.
We’re sure that we’ve left some details out, but we’re so tired we can hardly keep our eyes on the screen. A great, long, hard, fruitful, tiring, hot, and encouraging day! Steve just got off the phone with the Gaults, a couple we were to go to La Cumbre Camp with tomorrow morning. He canceled us out of the 8-hour drive up into the mountains tomorrow so that we can sleep in, rest and prepare for a long Sunday. We love and miss you all and thank you for praying us through these days!
Day 6 Addendum
Here's a quick picture of us in the middle of the jungle of Costa Rica…well, not really. It's in the middle of the lush gardens at the Hotel Bougainvillea. It's as close as we'll get this trip to the jungle!
Day 7 in Costa Rica
Okay, so sometimes I go too fast and hard! Shellie hit the wall yesterday and so I made the decision to have her stay here at Mike’s and enjoy the cool, the quiet, and the beauty. I have to admit that I am pretty tired too; tired of all the travel in traffic, tired of the heat, and tired of going from one meaningful conversation to another and not being able to “fix” everything right away. But He knows much better than I do what I can and cannot handle. And I apologize that I have no pictures for today! I guess I'm hitting the wall too...
Of all the days for Shellie to stay home, I write this a bit disappointed that she couldn’t be with me. Steve Mean came and got me and then dropped me off at the AMCA house at about 8:00. I spent some time on the computer and calling the states, awaiting the arrival of Craig and Shelley Rice, who have been here with LAM for almost 25 years! Craig is a quiet but lovable guy who works with IINDEF, our Evangelism in Depth ministry here in Costa Rica (If you want to know more about Evangelism in Depth, google it). we walked to the IINDEF office and he showed me a database that he is building that will hopefully one day have every Christian organization and missions agency listed in it - a huge project!
After some brief conversation, Shelly came by and picked me to go to the RAHAB foundation, a ministry dedicated to helping prostitutes find Christ, get off the streets for good, and work for better lives. I have to admit I was not looking too forward to the visit and “sitting in on a small group meeting.” Shelley talks faster than a Venezuelan, looks and even has gestures like my sister Cindy, and yet has learned all the different “tico” gestures and tones in her voice. I was quite impressed. We travelled a short distance to downtown San José to what is considered one of the main “red light” districts. We stopped in front of a gate that looked like it opened into a junk yard. To my surprise, as the gate rolled back, I was looking at a beautiful 3-story building in the final phases of construction. I am sorry that I didn’t take any pictures. I just totally spaced on pictures all day! The building is the new center for the foundation. It houses classrooms, a fully commercial kitchen, a sewing center, a computer center, meeting rooms and offices. It perhaps is the most american-like building I’ve seen. Shelley took me on a tour of the entire property and showed me everything; and I mean everything! I saw closets, I heard the stories of individual doors and ovens. I was beginning to feel that I might be held captive all day and night until I knew every nook and cranny and every piece of equipment they had! Fortunately, the director of the center showed up with some coffee and we talked for a while about the ministry of the foundation. I couldn’t help but think of the days when Cara was working with gals at risk and a couple of afternoon drives to the secured shelters to help her find protection for a couple of young moms. I am going to try and put them in contact, because I think Cara has a lot to offer them. They are a relatively young ministry and have the vision to not only help prostitutes, but all victims of sexual commerce, including the very large population of transvestite men here in San José.
At about 10:30, the director received a call and she ushered me up to the second floor where we walked into a small group in progress. You can probably well imagine how I should have felt - a pastor walking into a room filled with prostitutes. But the Lord had somehow prepared me to “let go” of preconceptions and discomfort, so I actually felt quite relaxed. The director introduced me and had each gal introduce herself, how many kids she had and a little about her life. There were, I think, twelve women from 22 to 40 something. Most had at least two, if not three kids. Their stories were enough to fill several “60 Minutes” programs. They were a bit tense and quiet when the director asked if they had questions for me. After some awkward silence, one of the gals asked what she should do about her relationship with her mom who stood by and watched as she was abused by her father and uncles and others. She left home, hit the streets and is now trying to straighten up her life. With tears in her eyes she desperately wanted some hope for restoration with her mother. I shared with her that often we have to make the decision to follow Christ, even in the face of rejection, but that God would most likely give her the opportunity in time to reconcile with her mom. Somehow that broke the ice and one-by-one, all the gals opened their hearts and shared some of their stories. As I write these next few lines I am tearing up when I think of the desperation mixed with faith. One of the gals looked me in the eye and said that the night before (Wednesday), she was standing in front of “Rey” (the Hotel Rey in downtown) ready to slip back because she didn’t have any money with which to feed her three kids breakfast this morning. A man offered her 1,000 Colones - about $1.80…yes, that’s one dollar and eighty cents, for her services. She said that at that instant she recognized what the staff at Rahab had been telling her for weeks; “You are extremely valuable to God!” She turned, walked away and found herself going home and loving her kids. I was left wondering if God had not only spoken to her, but if He had also provided breakfast for her.
I spent about an hour with the gals and we finished the time standing in a circle, holding hands and praying. I can’t help but think that, as a result of my time this morning, I won;t be able to look at these women with disdain or judgement, but as younger sisters who are desperately in need of the unconditional love of Christ and His followers. I take a risk in saying this, but this associate ministry of ours may be on of the most strategic we have!
The director and Shelley thanked me and by that time, Craig had driven to meet us at the center. We walked a couple of blocks to a health food restaurant and enjoyed fresh fruit drinks, healthy chalupas and some great conversation. After lunch I said goodbye to Shelley and Craig drove me a few blocks to the stained glass studio of Jaime Cabezas, the second generation son of missionaries. Jaime speaks perfect english but really is “tico.” He is a member of the LAM board and knows just about every influential person in San José. He is most proud of his business, which helps people learn how to do stained glass, mosaics and glass fusion. He has just received word that the University of Costa Rica (the largest) is finishing up the details on an agreement that will give students university credit for studying at Jaime’s shop! His mother walked in on our conversation and I got yet another perspective of the high times of the LAM in Costa Rica. I am so impressed with this generation of missionaries.
Jaime took me by car to the Roblealto headquarters, where I met up with Steve Mean and we travelled to the Lincoln School, an international American school that Steve and Gay’s son attends. It was beyond belief! Millions been spent on this school which is state of the art in every way. Getting into the parking lot is as difficult as entering an embassy I would think and, as a matter of fact, I was told that the Department of Homeland Security had just installed high voltage wiring above the beautiful stone walls and dozens of security cameras all over campus. It was not too far from Mike’s house and the trip with Steve saved me money and gave me some wonderful “filter” time with Steve. We called a taxi from the school soccer field where Steve’s boy was playing and fifteen minutes later I arrived at Mike’s to find a completely refreshed and relaxed Shellie!
I had about an hour of down time before having to get ready for dinner with the grandson of the founders of LAM, Harry Strachan and his wife Sandy. We called a cab and rode to the extreme opposite side of San José to Escazú, which is in essence little America. The streets are lined with every chain restaurant you could name, including the high end ones. After getting a bit lost, the taxista dropped us off in front of a five-story building up on the hill overlooking the entire valley. We were warmly greeted by Harry and Sandy in their fifth-story penthouse that had almost an entire glass front with a view beyond description. We sat for a half of an hour and learned each other’s stories. Harry did begin to follow the family call to missions. After being raised here in San José, he attended Wheaton College and then began to question the faith of his parents and the call in his life. He ended up at Harvard and ultimately graduated with an M.B.A.
He quickly rose up in the investment world and began teaching at Harvard, while serving as one of the founders of the Baine Capital group out of Boston. Needless to say, he has found great wealth. Sandy is his second wife of almost 15 years and they appear to be quite content with their lives here in San José and on the road (they travel several months a year). They have formed several foundations that keep them busy doing compassion kind of work. While they have had some involvement with Camp Robelalto, they have had essentially no relationship with the LAM for many years.
Harry drove us to a beautiful upper end hotel in San José called the Grano de Oro, where the four of us enjoyed a dinner that would rival the best of restaurants in every way. I asked Harry to share his journey and he spent the majority of our dinner time confirming what many had already told me. His journey has led him away from the Lord into an agnostic life, looking for the divine in every potential religion or philosophy. My heart sank as I heard him describe how he had become so successful in business, yet so confused spiritually (my words). We did share some moments discussing LAM, it’s history and vision and there is no question it has been a big part of his life - just not now.
After a couple of hours, we said our goodbyes and Shellie and I took a taxi back to Mike’s grateful for a wonderful dinner with new friends, but sad with the realization that all three of Kenneth Strachan’s children (The founder’s son) are not walking with the Lord. There’s a word from the Lord in all this for those of us who consciously or unconsciously put ministry before our relationships with our families!
A bit awed, sad and disturbed by the days events, I prayed and then “escaped” to “the Greatest Game Ever Played,” one of my favorite feel-good movies.
Of all the days for Shellie to stay home, I write this a bit disappointed that she couldn’t be with me. Steve Mean came and got me and then dropped me off at the AMCA house at about 8:00. I spent some time on the computer and calling the states, awaiting the arrival of Craig and Shelley Rice, who have been here with LAM for almost 25 years! Craig is a quiet but lovable guy who works with IINDEF, our Evangelism in Depth ministry here in Costa Rica (If you want to know more about Evangelism in Depth, google it). we walked to the IINDEF office and he showed me a database that he is building that will hopefully one day have every Christian organization and missions agency listed in it - a huge project!
After some brief conversation, Shelly came by and picked me to go to the RAHAB foundation, a ministry dedicated to helping prostitutes find Christ, get off the streets for good, and work for better lives. I have to admit I was not looking too forward to the visit and “sitting in on a small group meeting.” Shelley talks faster than a Venezuelan, looks and even has gestures like my sister Cindy, and yet has learned all the different “tico” gestures and tones in her voice. I was quite impressed. We travelled a short distance to downtown San José to what is considered one of the main “red light” districts. We stopped in front of a gate that looked like it opened into a junk yard. To my surprise, as the gate rolled back, I was looking at a beautiful 3-story building in the final phases of construction. I am sorry that I didn’t take any pictures. I just totally spaced on pictures all day! The building is the new center for the foundation. It houses classrooms, a fully commercial kitchen, a sewing center, a computer center, meeting rooms and offices. It perhaps is the most american-like building I’ve seen. Shelley took me on a tour of the entire property and showed me everything; and I mean everything! I saw closets, I heard the stories of individual doors and ovens. I was beginning to feel that I might be held captive all day and night until I knew every nook and cranny and every piece of equipment they had! Fortunately, the director of the center showed up with some coffee and we talked for a while about the ministry of the foundation. I couldn’t help but think of the days when Cara was working with gals at risk and a couple of afternoon drives to the secured shelters to help her find protection for a couple of young moms. I am going to try and put them in contact, because I think Cara has a lot to offer them. They are a relatively young ministry and have the vision to not only help prostitutes, but all victims of sexual commerce, including the very large population of transvestite men here in San José.
At about 10:30, the director received a call and she ushered me up to the second floor where we walked into a small group in progress. You can probably well imagine how I should have felt - a pastor walking into a room filled with prostitutes. But the Lord had somehow prepared me to “let go” of preconceptions and discomfort, so I actually felt quite relaxed. The director introduced me and had each gal introduce herself, how many kids she had and a little about her life. There were, I think, twelve women from 22 to 40 something. Most had at least two, if not three kids. Their stories were enough to fill several “60 Minutes” programs. They were a bit tense and quiet when the director asked if they had questions for me. After some awkward silence, one of the gals asked what she should do about her relationship with her mom who stood by and watched as she was abused by her father and uncles and others. She left home, hit the streets and is now trying to straighten up her life. With tears in her eyes she desperately wanted some hope for restoration with her mother. I shared with her that often we have to make the decision to follow Christ, even in the face of rejection, but that God would most likely give her the opportunity in time to reconcile with her mom. Somehow that broke the ice and one-by-one, all the gals opened their hearts and shared some of their stories. As I write these next few lines I am tearing up when I think of the desperation mixed with faith. One of the gals looked me in the eye and said that the night before (Wednesday), she was standing in front of “Rey” (the Hotel Rey in downtown) ready to slip back because she didn’t have any money with which to feed her three kids breakfast this morning. A man offered her 1,000 Colones - about $1.80…yes, that’s one dollar and eighty cents, for her services. She said that at that instant she recognized what the staff at Rahab had been telling her for weeks; “You are extremely valuable to God!” She turned, walked away and found herself going home and loving her kids. I was left wondering if God had not only spoken to her, but if He had also provided breakfast for her.
I spent about an hour with the gals and we finished the time standing in a circle, holding hands and praying. I can’t help but think that, as a result of my time this morning, I won;t be able to look at these women with disdain or judgement, but as younger sisters who are desperately in need of the unconditional love of Christ and His followers. I take a risk in saying this, but this associate ministry of ours may be on of the most strategic we have!
The director and Shelley thanked me and by that time, Craig had driven to meet us at the center. We walked a couple of blocks to a health food restaurant and enjoyed fresh fruit drinks, healthy chalupas and some great conversation. After lunch I said goodbye to Shelley and Craig drove me a few blocks to the stained glass studio of Jaime Cabezas, the second generation son of missionaries. Jaime speaks perfect english but really is “tico.” He is a member of the LAM board and knows just about every influential person in San José. He is most proud of his business, which helps people learn how to do stained glass, mosaics and glass fusion. He has just received word that the University of Costa Rica (the largest) is finishing up the details on an agreement that will give students university credit for studying at Jaime’s shop! His mother walked in on our conversation and I got yet another perspective of the high times of the LAM in Costa Rica. I am so impressed with this generation of missionaries.
Jaime took me by car to the Roblealto headquarters, where I met up with Steve Mean and we travelled to the Lincoln School, an international American school that Steve and Gay’s son attends. It was beyond belief! Millions been spent on this school which is state of the art in every way. Getting into the parking lot is as difficult as entering an embassy I would think and, as a matter of fact, I was told that the Department of Homeland Security had just installed high voltage wiring above the beautiful stone walls and dozens of security cameras all over campus. It was not too far from Mike’s house and the trip with Steve saved me money and gave me some wonderful “filter” time with Steve. We called a taxi from the school soccer field where Steve’s boy was playing and fifteen minutes later I arrived at Mike’s to find a completely refreshed and relaxed Shellie!
I had about an hour of down time before having to get ready for dinner with the grandson of the founders of LAM, Harry Strachan and his wife Sandy. We called a cab and rode to the extreme opposite side of San José to Escazú, which is in essence little America. The streets are lined with every chain restaurant you could name, including the high end ones. After getting a bit lost, the taxista dropped us off in front of a five-story building up on the hill overlooking the entire valley. We were warmly greeted by Harry and Sandy in their fifth-story penthouse that had almost an entire glass front with a view beyond description. We sat for a half of an hour and learned each other’s stories. Harry did begin to follow the family call to missions. After being raised here in San José, he attended Wheaton College and then began to question the faith of his parents and the call in his life. He ended up at Harvard and ultimately graduated with an M.B.A.
He quickly rose up in the investment world and began teaching at Harvard, while serving as one of the founders of the Baine Capital group out of Boston. Needless to say, he has found great wealth. Sandy is his second wife of almost 15 years and they appear to be quite content with their lives here in San José and on the road (they travel several months a year). They have formed several foundations that keep them busy doing compassion kind of work. While they have had some involvement with Camp Robelalto, they have had essentially no relationship with the LAM for many years.
Harry drove us to a beautiful upper end hotel in San José called the Grano de Oro, where the four of us enjoyed a dinner that would rival the best of restaurants in every way. I asked Harry to share his journey and he spent the majority of our dinner time confirming what many had already told me. His journey has led him away from the Lord into an agnostic life, looking for the divine in every potential religion or philosophy. My heart sank as I heard him describe how he had become so successful in business, yet so confused spiritually (my words). We did share some moments discussing LAM, it’s history and vision and there is no question it has been a big part of his life - just not now.
After a couple of hours, we said our goodbyes and Shellie and I took a taxi back to Mike’s grateful for a wonderful dinner with new friends, but sad with the realization that all three of Kenneth Strachan’s children (The founder’s son) are not walking with the Lord. There’s a word from the Lord in all this for those of us who consciously or unconsciously put ministry before our relationships with our families!
A bit awed, sad and disturbed by the days events, I prayed and then “escaped” to “the Greatest Game Ever Played,” one of my favorite feel-good movies.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Day 6 in Costa Rica
We awoke to a beautiful, clear day after the rain of yesterday. It is hard to believe that we are still in the city here at Mike’s house, because when you are on the grounds, all you hear are roosters in the distance and chirping birds. It truly is ‘park like”. While Steve was getting ready for the day, I sat outside and took it all in. To quietly think and pray in this environment is so refreshing. It is the rare moment of the day when I don’t feel that I must be “on”.
Steve Mean picked us up and drove us to the AMCA house where we were to participate in the ESL classes that they teach everyday, as well as a graduation, as this is the end of a trimester. The upstairs of the AMCA house is where we stayed the first couple of days, so we went there after our greetings to re-connect with family. (No internet connection at Mike’s house!) Today I “hit the wall” as it were, and just felt like I had very little to offer anyone. I stayed upstairs talking with our kids by phone while Steve handled the visit downstairs. I even had a few minutes to rest…
We took a taxi over to meet with Carrie Smith, a brand new LAM missionary. She is 22 years old and has committed 3 years to Centro Cristiano International and Pastor Rolando Soto to assist this organization in expanding their global missions. She is serving as the assistant to the director of the global missions arm of CCI. CCI started 12 years ago when a couple of pastors got together in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and asked God to help them form a church that would truly be missionary. They first met as a church in an international school in Tegucipgalpa and hence the name – Centro Cristiano International.
We took Carrie to lunch and learned from her how the last 3 weeks of being in the country have been. This is really a return for her since she did some of her college studies here. She seems to be adjusting well. We walked back to the church, and Pastor Rolando invited us into his office to talk about his ministry. Interestingly enough, he is a product of LAM ministry! He attended the Henry Strachan School at Camp Roblealto as a boy, graduated from the Seminario Biblico and pastored one of the churches of the denomination that LAM started here in Costa Rica (AIBC)! The CCI church here in San Joaquín de Flores (a suburb of San José) and the CCI movement, while only 12 years old, has over 100 churches in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa. He showed us around his church, which is very much under construction in parts, but the auditorium reminded both Steve and me of Mosaic when it was meeting in the upstairs of the building at 8010 McDowell. There was an immediate heart connection with Rolando and I know that we have made a friend for life. He invited Steve to come and preach Sunday but Steve will be preaching morning and evening at different churches this week. He then asked if Steve would come next April and lead the Missions Conference for the CCI movement. Steve agreed so it looks like we will be back here a year from now.
We then grabbed a taxi and met Steve Mean at a McDonald’s to get into his 20 year-old Land Rover, with me in the back, to go to a lovely hotel that he had been telling us about that has a beautiful garden area. It is called the Bougainvillea, and when we actually got there and began to see and explore the gardens, I was in total awe. It has acres of gorgeous plants and well-manicured lawns. We walked for probably an hour, taking pictures and just taking it all in. If you recall from an earlier blog, Steve Mean is a master gardener and this is one of his retreat places. I sent my brother Gordon some of the pictures knowing that this is a place he needs to come when he visits Costa Rica.
We then went to Steve’s home where I was able to meet Gay, his wife and eventually in the evening, their 17 year-old son Samuel. With internet connection there, we did some work, then had a wonderful meal around their kitchen table. The meat brochettes somehow were overcooked, so our meal became a meatless one, but was tasty and filling none the less. Originally we were going to stay there for two days, but with my “hitting the wall”, and needing privacy and rest, we returned to Mike’s house and I made the decision to stay there Thursday, letting Steve go and meet with everyone without me. I need a day to recuperate and I am hoping that people will understand. We ended the evening with some of the fresh fruit that is so wonderful here in Costa Rica and watched a movie on the computer as we laid in bed. Another great day in Costa Rica.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Day 5 Addendum
After reading the post for Day 5, it was clear that we forgot to mention that on our way down from Stevens' to the restaurant, we stopped by El Día Glorioso, a home for boys who have "graduated" from the Hogar Bíblico or are placed there by other institutions. Most of these guys (12-17 years old) have come from abusive or troubled homes. David Longworth is on the Board of the home, which has about 9 boys in residence right now. The ministry is led by a visionary and loving couple, Stanford and Ana, who live with the young men. We got to the home, not too far from Roblealto, just in time to celebrate David's 16th birthday. We stayed and talked for about a half hour, ding which Steve shared his testimony with the guys. It was quick but impactful!
Day 5 in Costa Rica
The day began very early. Steve Mean picked us up at Mike Yoon’s about 6:45 and took us to a lovely hotel that was tucked away behind a gate and tall walls inside the city. You would never know it was there were you not ushered in behind the gate that closed tightly behind you. Another unsafe part of town we are told. Steve met with the president of the Board of the Roblealto Foundation, Mike Garrett (an associate ministry of LAM), while Steve Mean showed me around the hotel. I learned that Steve is a master gardener among his many other gifts. He and his wife Gay, lived (and still do have a home) in Washington State where he was a businessman. They have been here 3 years and he is passionate about the Camp and the sister ministries of Roblealto. They live not far from Mike, and since Mike is going to the States for 3 days, and we do not have Internet connection here, upon Steve’s invitation, we are moving to the Mean home. I don’t believe that is a literal translation! Steve is a charismatic, sensitive, intelligent person who has wonderful people skills. I am looking forward to getting to know Gay since I have spent no time with her while being in Costa Rica.
The LAM Roblealto team met around the pool for a buffet breakfast, and Steve and I were able to hear (in Spanish) how each person was ministering. Margarita Weir appears to be an elderly, frail woman. She has been in C.R. with Roblealto for almost 40 years. She is a great prayer warrior and has the energy of a young woman. I am learning that many of the “older” LAM missionaries are still going strong. More about that later! Margarita runs up and down the hills of the camp like she most likely did 40 years ago. Vera Brenneman, who MC’d our time with the missionaries last Saturday, is another older lady. But once again, the passion for the ministry and the Lord Himself, have kept these two going strong. Also at the table were Susana, a single, Southern woman about 40, who is the medical supervisor over all the nurses, etc. for the Foundation. She has been there 20 years! She adopted 2 “Tico” (Costa Rican’s) boys who are now 7 and 9. Also at the table was Senia, the Director of Programming at the Roblealto Camp. So with Steve and myself that made 8 of us at the table. After a short, but sweet time in prayer, we said goodbye and Vera took us by car to see several of the Roblealto ministries.
To help you understand better, Roblealto is really a conglomerate of ministries that stretches back 77 years – a series of daycare centers that minister to at risk kids around downtown San José; el Hogar Bíblico Roblealto (the Roblealto Bible Home) that is a resident program (on the property of Camp Roblealto) that ministers to about 150 children with all sorts of serious home and psychological challenges (60% that come to the Hogar are medicated); Camp Roblealto a 200-acre, fully functioning campground able to serve several hundred; and a farm that focuses primarily on raising and selling chickens. The incubators that we will see on Friday alone are under a roof that is almost the size of a football field!!!
One of the Daycare centers, a preschool that we only drove by, is located in a poor part of the city, underneath the headquarters of the foundation that runs all of the Roblealto ministries. Interestingly enough, the property was donated by the Costa Rican government and is sandwiched between the main police academy of San José and the offices of the CR Ministry of Defense. Like the other centers, it is a ministry to parents and single parents that need to work but can not afford childcare. Vera then took us past the largest center, serving 250 kids preschool-5th grade, and then actually gave us a tour of the third for ages toddler through third grade. We walked through this center, meeting children and workers, even sitting in on a class where the children “performed” for us by singing several songs. Pictures to come! Once again, it is located in a poor part of town where there is much drug trafficking and prostitution. Vera pointed out a white cross on top of a hill overlooking the city. She told us that many bad things happen beneath that cross, things that she would not even speak with words. But she said that cross is symbolic for her. Few people notice it unless pointed out, but it is always there. Like Christ, always there, watching over the city, mostly ignored while defiant and ugly sin is practiced all around, His presence unnoticed but always there. My stomach turned as I thought of what must go on just feet from that cross, but really how different is that than when any of us defiantly act out our sin . . . . even those of us that know Christ and His very Presence is within us! A sobering visual.
I was humbled as everywhere we have gone we are treated like “traveling dignitaries”, always introduced with respect as “ El presidente del LAM y su esposa”, a title that still feels uncomfortable. But as you can imagine, Steve takes every opportunity to make people feel comfortable and relates to them on a peer level; in action saying “ I don’t take myself too seriously, so please, you do not need to either.”
Vera then took us the 45-minute drive to the Roblealto camp. This camp is 77 years old, birthed by the Strachans themselves (founders of LAM). There are 200 acres and it consists of old and new buildings, as well as a “hatchery”, where thousands of eggs are hatched and then sold for profit in the city. There are several homes on the property that house 7 – 10 children each, with house parents. These children have at best difficult home lives and live during the week at the camp. 60 – 70 % of the children that enter the program are on one or more psychiatric drugs. By the time they leave the program many of them are off ALL drugs! Love, consistent boundaries, good nutrition, not to forget the Good News of Jesus Christ given, have helped to bring immeasurable healing to these children. There is a school on campus where they are taught and they share lunch in the great cafeteria while having breakfast and dinner with their “family” every day. There are thousands of children that have passed through over the decades and it is impossible to humanly factor how many lives of children and even families that have been positively affected by this ministry.
Steve and I ate lunch in the camp mess hall with several of the missionaries then took about 45 minutes to rest our weary bodies on couches in a ‘departamento”. The storm clouds moved in and by the time that Dave and Marilyn Longworth (a second generation LAM missionary couple) came to escort us to our afternoon events, it was torrential rain. The Longworths took us to see David’s parents who are retired LAM missionaries that began in the 40’s . . . they are now 90 years old! We heard the story of how Dave’s mom died of encephalitis when he was just 8 years old and how difficult that was for them. 3 years later Donald married his present wife, and they have been married almost 60 years. It was such a privilege to visit with them and hear some of the stories and also for Steve, on behalf of the LAM family, to express to them how grateful we are for their many years of service and sacrifice. We gathered in a circle and prayed together before leaving. I couldn’t help but tear up as I thought of this amazing couple and how they represent what has been termed as “the greatest generation”, and for good reason!
We ran to the car, balancing umbrellas, but still getting significantly wet. Our next trip was to Doris and Steve Stevens’ lovely home in the hills overlooking Camp Roblealto. Like almost everyone else we’ve met of the former generation, they both graduated from Wheaton College when Billy Graham was there. Ruth is John (Juan) Stam’s sister and has every bit as much fire and intelligence as her brother. They served the LAM for fifty years in many different ways. She was a teacher and supervisor at the school at Roblealto, he started the farm and hatchery. We drank tea and ate goodies for a while, once again hearing the almost miraculous stories of God’s provision for the mission and it’s family in years past.
Darkness was setting in and we had a long drive back to Mike’s, so we prayed holding hands and then once again darted out through the torrential rain into our limousine – a 1972 Nissan Pulsar with 220,000 miles. As we headed down the mountain into San José, I began to really fell the cold and wet of the rain – the rear window seal was gone and water was dripping down the back of my shirt. That gave a good excuse to move over and cuddle Shellie for the rest of the 45-minute drive into town.
We were supposed to meet Mike on the outskirts and have dinner, but he couldn’t get his electric gate opened because of the rain, so he sent Steve Mean who met the Longworths and us at Doña Loleta’s, a Costa Rican knock-off of Rain Forest Café. We sat, ate and talked for about an hour drying off and allowing the rain to finally subside. The food was, well, let’s just say we’ve eaten better. After a twenty-minute drive back to Mike’s, who had finally been able to open the gate, and fifteen minutes of great conversation with Mike, Shellie and I fell into bed and quickly asleep. We really don’t know how much we can keep up with the itinerary. Shellie is wearing out physically. And yet, every stop and every conversation has been both a great blessing and a great help to Steve in understanding the inner workings of LAM. One more thing…we miss our kids and grandkids!!!
The LAM Roblealto team met around the pool for a buffet breakfast, and Steve and I were able to hear (in Spanish) how each person was ministering. Margarita Weir appears to be an elderly, frail woman. She has been in C.R. with Roblealto for almost 40 years. She is a great prayer warrior and has the energy of a young woman. I am learning that many of the “older” LAM missionaries are still going strong. More about that later! Margarita runs up and down the hills of the camp like she most likely did 40 years ago. Vera Brenneman, who MC’d our time with the missionaries last Saturday, is another older lady. But once again, the passion for the ministry and the Lord Himself, have kept these two going strong. Also at the table were Susana, a single, Southern woman about 40, who is the medical supervisor over all the nurses, etc. for the Foundation. She has been there 20 years! She adopted 2 “Tico” (Costa Rican’s) boys who are now 7 and 9. Also at the table was Senia, the Director of Programming at the Roblealto Camp. So with Steve and myself that made 8 of us at the table. After a short, but sweet time in prayer, we said goodbye and Vera took us by car to see several of the Roblealto ministries.
To help you understand better, Roblealto is really a conglomerate of ministries that stretches back 77 years – a series of daycare centers that minister to at risk kids around downtown San José; el Hogar Bíblico Roblealto (the Roblealto Bible Home) that is a resident program (on the property of Camp Roblealto) that ministers to about 150 children with all sorts of serious home and psychological challenges (60% that come to the Hogar are medicated); Camp Roblealto a 200-acre, fully functioning campground able to serve several hundred; and a farm that focuses primarily on raising and selling chickens. The incubators that we will see on Friday alone are under a roof that is almost the size of a football field!!!
One of the Daycare centers, a preschool that we only drove by, is located in a poor part of the city, underneath the headquarters of the foundation that runs all of the Roblealto ministries. Interestingly enough, the property was donated by the Costa Rican government and is sandwiched between the main police academy of San José and the offices of the CR Ministry of Defense. Like the other centers, it is a ministry to parents and single parents that need to work but can not afford childcare. Vera then took us past the largest center, serving 250 kids preschool-5th grade, and then actually gave us a tour of the third for ages toddler through third grade. We walked through this center, meeting children and workers, even sitting in on a class where the children “performed” for us by singing several songs. Pictures to come! Once again, it is located in a poor part of town where there is much drug trafficking and prostitution. Vera pointed out a white cross on top of a hill overlooking the city. She told us that many bad things happen beneath that cross, things that she would not even speak with words. But she said that cross is symbolic for her. Few people notice it unless pointed out, but it is always there. Like Christ, always there, watching over the city, mostly ignored while defiant and ugly sin is practiced all around, His presence unnoticed but always there. My stomach turned as I thought of what must go on just feet from that cross, but really how different is that than when any of us defiantly act out our sin . . . . even those of us that know Christ and His very Presence is within us! A sobering visual.
I was humbled as everywhere we have gone we are treated like “traveling dignitaries”, always introduced with respect as “ El presidente del LAM y su esposa”, a title that still feels uncomfortable. But as you can imagine, Steve takes every opportunity to make people feel comfortable and relates to them on a peer level; in action saying “ I don’t take myself too seriously, so please, you do not need to either.”
Vera then took us the 45-minute drive to the Roblealto camp. This camp is 77 years old, birthed by the Strachans themselves (founders of LAM). There are 200 acres and it consists of old and new buildings, as well as a “hatchery”, where thousands of eggs are hatched and then sold for profit in the city. There are several homes on the property that house 7 – 10 children each, with house parents. These children have at best difficult home lives and live during the week at the camp. 60 – 70 % of the children that enter the program are on one or more psychiatric drugs. By the time they leave the program many of them are off ALL drugs! Love, consistent boundaries, good nutrition, not to forget the Good News of Jesus Christ given, have helped to bring immeasurable healing to these children. There is a school on campus where they are taught and they share lunch in the great cafeteria while having breakfast and dinner with their “family” every day. There are thousands of children that have passed through over the decades and it is impossible to humanly factor how many lives of children and even families that have been positively affected by this ministry.
Steve and I ate lunch in the camp mess hall with several of the missionaries then took about 45 minutes to rest our weary bodies on couches in a ‘departamento”. The storm clouds moved in and by the time that Dave and Marilyn Longworth (a second generation LAM missionary couple) came to escort us to our afternoon events, it was torrential rain. The Longworths took us to see David’s parents who are retired LAM missionaries that began in the 40’s . . . they are now 90 years old! We heard the story of how Dave’s mom died of encephalitis when he was just 8 years old and how difficult that was for them. 3 years later Donald married his present wife, and they have been married almost 60 years. It was such a privilege to visit with them and hear some of the stories and also for Steve, on behalf of the LAM family, to express to them how grateful we are for their many years of service and sacrifice. We gathered in a circle and prayed together before leaving. I couldn’t help but tear up as I thought of this amazing couple and how they represent what has been termed as “the greatest generation”, and for good reason!
We ran to the car, balancing umbrellas, but still getting significantly wet. Our next trip was to Doris and Steve Stevens’ lovely home in the hills overlooking Camp Roblealto. Like almost everyone else we’ve met of the former generation, they both graduated from Wheaton College when Billy Graham was there. Ruth is John (Juan) Stam’s sister and has every bit as much fire and intelligence as her brother. They served the LAM for fifty years in many different ways. She was a teacher and supervisor at the school at Roblealto, he started the farm and hatchery. We drank tea and ate goodies for a while, once again hearing the almost miraculous stories of God’s provision for the mission and it’s family in years past.
Darkness was setting in and we had a long drive back to Mike’s, so we prayed holding hands and then once again darted out through the torrential rain into our limousine – a 1972 Nissan Pulsar with 220,000 miles. As we headed down the mountain into San José, I began to really fell the cold and wet of the rain – the rear window seal was gone and water was dripping down the back of my shirt. That gave a good excuse to move over and cuddle Shellie for the rest of the 45-minute drive into town.
We were supposed to meet Mike on the outskirts and have dinner, but he couldn’t get his electric gate opened because of the rain, so he sent Steve Mean who met the Longworths and us at Doña Loleta’s, a Costa Rican knock-off of Rain Forest Café. We sat, ate and talked for about an hour drying off and allowing the rain to finally subside. The food was, well, let’s just say we’ve eaten better. After a twenty-minute drive back to Mike’s, who had finally been able to open the gate, and fifteen minutes of great conversation with Mike, Shellie and I fell into bed and quickly asleep. We really don’t know how much we can keep up with the itinerary. Shellie is wearing out physically. And yet, every stop and every conversation has been both a great blessing and a great help to Steve in understanding the inner workings of LAM. One more thing…we miss our kids and grandkids!!!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Day 4 in Costa Rica
Today was a killer!
We woke up this morning greeted by clear skies and a view out the french door to the mountains north of the city of San José. Birds were chirping, our two german shepherd guard dogs, Buddy and Beyoncé (yes, after the singer) were standing over the wrought iron patio fence looking for some much needed people attention, and a cool breeze made the heat of yesterday seem a million miles away.
We left Mike Yoon’s, the place that others in the mission affectionately call the “Mini-Marriott”, at about 7:30 a.m. for the one hour trip into the city (which should only take 20 minutes at a normal speed - this is worse than L.A. at rush hour!) The time was well spent as we got to know Rodrigo Chavarría, a Costa Rican who studied with Juancito Terranova, the son of my co-pastor in Argentina, at Columbia Bible College and then at Wheaton. He is incredeibly articulate and we could sense right away that he was as much affected by his time in the U.S. as I was in Argentina. There was that sense of having almost a dual heart. He has been with the mission for a long time and has had a tough journey, but is excited about the future.
We arrived at the headquarters of PROMETA, a Latin online seminary offering accredited M.A.’s in Christian Leadership and Biblical Studies. There are more Ph.D’s and D.Min’s in that converted house than in most seminaries. Along with Rodrigo, who is handling the admin for PROMETA right now, we were able to sit for a couple of hours with Jeff David, another long time LAMer who writes curriculum and oversees students and their projects. While the time was supposed to be centered on the ministry of PROMETA, we quickly passed to discussing LAM and MSO issues. Shellie and I were amazed at their transparency and their honesty. I am humbled by their trust placed in us through the conversation. They care about their ministries, but they care as much for the sense of family in LAM, and are anxious to see what God will do in the days ahead with the mission. PROMETA is now in the process of being designated as the school of theology for the National University of Guatemala, to which over 50,000 students attend. This is a huge opportunity and honor. One other quick note: In 1990, I traveled from Buenos Aires to Guatemala City for a few days to spend with a family that was to soon join the OC team in Argentina. While there, we were guided around the city, to church and even to Antigua by a young pastor named Enrique Fernandez. To my surprise, I encountered him again today, Ph.D. and all, as one of the leaders of PROMETA. What a small world and isn’t it interesting how He brings people back around into our lives?!
After what was a great conversation, we prayed together and walked out of the conference room to find Mike Day, another LAMer waiting for us. We stepped into his Hyundai Van (I think every LAM mssionary has a Hyundai), and set off on another one hour trip, this time towards Irazú Volcano and the little town of Pacayas, where Mike and his Costa Rican wife, Noribette, have just purchased two acres of land that look over a beautiful valley filled with farmlands from a retiring LAM couple. The sun had given way to clouds and a significant breeze at 5,000 feet. Mike and Noribette are the Costa Rican Directors for AWANA. Having pastored two churches in the last fifteen years where AWANA was huge, it didn’t take a lot to get up to speed on ministry. That allowed us much more time to talk about the Days. Mike graduated from high school ion Wheaton, Il. and came straight down to San José to work, with the intention of going to language school at ILE (you’ll hear about that next). For a year or so, he would try to work and sutdy, then go back to the states to earn real money to come back down and study at ILE. After studying at ILE, he entered our LAM seminary, ESEPA, and there found Noribette in the library. Yes, she was the librarian. They got married young and are celebrating 19 years of marriage in 2009. Mike is one of those “can fix anything” kind of guys. They have four wonderful kids who love the Lord and their parents and even participate with their parents in the AWANA training that they do all over the country. They raise four bulls, two dogs, and a lone hen who has yet to lay an egg…I wish I could say that! We were a bit pressed for time, so we sat down right away to a typical arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) dish with chips and fresh pineapple jiuce. Dessert brought us “tres leches”, a cake that is made and saturated with three differenet kinds of milk. It was all awesomely good! Around the tabel we talked mostly about kids, history, AWANA, etc. After a quick picture, a time of prayer and saying good-bye to the family, Shellie, Mike, Josh (their youngest) and I headed back through Cartago a reasonably large town with a beautiful and old basilica. On the road back to San José, Mike shared some of his experiences and suggestions for LAM in general. Again, I was amazed at the candor. These people down here really love LAM and have a desire to see it become even greater than it has been.
We were soon out of the clouds and back into the heat and traffic. We made our way to the Insituto de Lengua Española (ILE), the premier Spanish language institute for missionaries in all of Central and South America. We were met at the gate by Barbi David (Jeff from PROMETA’s wife), who is a teacher in the Sojourn Academy, the elementary school on the campus of ILE. A quick tour of the elementary campus was followed by an introduction to Julie Chamberlain, the Director of the ILE and an almost twenty year LAM missionary. We had never really heard of her and were pleasantly surprised b y her warmth and candor. We sat outside on a patio overlooking the school campus with a view to the mountains south of San José and heard her story. She is one focused lady! When I asked her how she was doing, she launched us into a conversation regarding a leadership issue facing her that is almost exactly what Shellie and I faced in San Gabriel 13 years ago. I was taken back by the similarities and felt that God had ordained the theme so we could be of some very practical help. I wont bore you with the details, but I do feel she is encouraged to “take the bull by the horns” and act in a way that will provide the best leadership for the ILE and the Sojourn Academy, while allowing her to retain overall direction for the ministry. I am excited to hear how it all turns out.
Our one hour conversation lasted almost two, and we were late for dinner at Dick and Sheila Dudney’s, 22-year LAM veterans who are working as the Student Life Directors at ILE with Julie and Barbi. We stopped by and got a quick tour of Julie’s home and then arrived at Dudney’s to find dinner on the table and Dick and Sheila as hungry as Shellie and me. The actual dinner conversation was surprisingly diverse - our kids, Dudney’s kids, Julie’s journey, LAM retirees, and policies and procedures that we thought could use some review and/or revision. Julie blessed us with a couple of “pieces” - old time elocutionary vignettes shared at early 20th century dinner tables. They were the kind of thing you’d hear in Lake Wobegon.
I could see that by this time, Shellie was worn out from the heat, from the travel, from the emotional expenditure of the day, and so we called a taxi for our 25 minute ride back to our place of lodging. Notice I said twenty-five minutes? The same trip took us an hour this morning. We arrived exhausted, worn out, wanting to talk to our kids, and just generally not excited about being ready to go at 6:50 tomorrow a.m.
We made a quick call to Cara and found out the awesome news that she is coming to Miami the end of April for a conference and can spend a couple of days with us! The news only got better when Shellie opened the refrigerator to find it stocked with freshly sliced watermelon, cantelope and the sweetest mango I’ve ever tasted. There was also coke to feed my bad habit! As I sat down to write thie entry, our host Mike came to the door quite surprisingly. He missed his plane to Philadelphia this am and had arranged all the goodies for us. He’s also arranged for our laundry to be taken care of…what can I say, they don’t come more disposed to serve than Mike. We talked for a few minutes about life, love and his son and then decided to hit the sack. So here it is, 11:00 p.m straight up, 17 packed, precious, and purposeful hours after waking up - I’m toast!
May God multiply the sleep in fewer hours…Amen! And amen!
We woke up this morning greeted by clear skies and a view out the french door to the mountains north of the city of San José. Birds were chirping, our two german shepherd guard dogs, Buddy and Beyoncé (yes, after the singer) were standing over the wrought iron patio fence looking for some much needed people attention, and a cool breeze made the heat of yesterday seem a million miles away.
We left Mike Yoon’s, the place that others in the mission affectionately call the “Mini-Marriott”, at about 7:30 a.m. for the one hour trip into the city (which should only take 20 minutes at a normal speed - this is worse than L.A. at rush hour!) The time was well spent as we got to know Rodrigo Chavarría, a Costa Rican who studied with Juancito Terranova, the son of my co-pastor in Argentina, at Columbia Bible College and then at Wheaton. He is incredeibly articulate and we could sense right away that he was as much affected by his time in the U.S. as I was in Argentina. There was that sense of having almost a dual heart. He has been with the mission for a long time and has had a tough journey, but is excited about the future.
We arrived at the headquarters of PROMETA, a Latin online seminary offering accredited M.A.’s in Christian Leadership and Biblical Studies. There are more Ph.D’s and D.Min’s in that converted house than in most seminaries. Along with Rodrigo, who is handling the admin for PROMETA right now, we were able to sit for a couple of hours with Jeff David, another long time LAMer who writes curriculum and oversees students and their projects. While the time was supposed to be centered on the ministry of PROMETA, we quickly passed to discussing LAM and MSO issues. Shellie and I were amazed at their transparency and their honesty. I am humbled by their trust placed in us through the conversation. They care about their ministries, but they care as much for the sense of family in LAM, and are anxious to see what God will do in the days ahead with the mission. PROMETA is now in the process of being designated as the school of theology for the National University of Guatemala, to which over 50,000 students attend. This is a huge opportunity and honor. One other quick note: In 1990, I traveled from Buenos Aires to Guatemala City for a few days to spend with a family that was to soon join the OC team in Argentina. While there, we were guided around the city, to church and even to Antigua by a young pastor named Enrique Fernandez. To my surprise, I encountered him again today, Ph.D. and all, as one of the leaders of PROMETA. What a small world and isn’t it interesting how He brings people back around into our lives?!
After what was a great conversation, we prayed together and walked out of the conference room to find Mike Day, another LAMer waiting for us. We stepped into his Hyundai Van (I think every LAM mssionary has a Hyundai), and set off on another one hour trip, this time towards Irazú Volcano and the little town of Pacayas, where Mike and his Costa Rican wife, Noribette, have just purchased two acres of land that look over a beautiful valley filled with farmlands from a retiring LAM couple. The sun had given way to clouds and a significant breeze at 5,000 feet. Mike and Noribette are the Costa Rican Directors for AWANA. Having pastored two churches in the last fifteen years where AWANA was huge, it didn’t take a lot to get up to speed on ministry. That allowed us much more time to talk about the Days. Mike graduated from high school ion Wheaton, Il. and came straight down to San José to work, with the intention of going to language school at ILE (you’ll hear about that next). For a year or so, he would try to work and sutdy, then go back to the states to earn real money to come back down and study at ILE. After studying at ILE, he entered our LAM seminary, ESEPA, and there found Noribette in the library. Yes, she was the librarian. They got married young and are celebrating 19 years of marriage in 2009. Mike is one of those “can fix anything” kind of guys. They have four wonderful kids who love the Lord and their parents and even participate with their parents in the AWANA training that they do all over the country. They raise four bulls, two dogs, and a lone hen who has yet to lay an egg…I wish I could say that! We were a bit pressed for time, so we sat down right away to a typical arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) dish with chips and fresh pineapple jiuce. Dessert brought us “tres leches”, a cake that is made and saturated with three differenet kinds of milk. It was all awesomely good! Around the tabel we talked mostly about kids, history, AWANA, etc. After a quick picture, a time of prayer and saying good-bye to the family, Shellie, Mike, Josh (their youngest) and I headed back through Cartago a reasonably large town with a beautiful and old basilica. On the road back to San José, Mike shared some of his experiences and suggestions for LAM in general. Again, I was amazed at the candor. These people down here really love LAM and have a desire to see it become even greater than it has been.
We were soon out of the clouds and back into the heat and traffic. We made our way to the Insituto de Lengua Española (ILE), the premier Spanish language institute for missionaries in all of Central and South America. We were met at the gate by Barbi David (Jeff from PROMETA’s wife), who is a teacher in the Sojourn Academy, the elementary school on the campus of ILE. A quick tour of the elementary campus was followed by an introduction to Julie Chamberlain, the Director of the ILE and an almost twenty year LAM missionary. We had never really heard of her and were pleasantly surprised b y her warmth and candor. We sat outside on a patio overlooking the school campus with a view to the mountains south of San José and heard her story. She is one focused lady! When I asked her how she was doing, she launched us into a conversation regarding a leadership issue facing her that is almost exactly what Shellie and I faced in San Gabriel 13 years ago. I was taken back by the similarities and felt that God had ordained the theme so we could be of some very practical help. I wont bore you with the details, but I do feel she is encouraged to “take the bull by the horns” and act in a way that will provide the best leadership for the ILE and the Sojourn Academy, while allowing her to retain overall direction for the ministry. I am excited to hear how it all turns out.
Our one hour conversation lasted almost two, and we were late for dinner at Dick and Sheila Dudney’s, 22-year LAM veterans who are working as the Student Life Directors at ILE with Julie and Barbi. We stopped by and got a quick tour of Julie’s home and then arrived at Dudney’s to find dinner on the table and Dick and Sheila as hungry as Shellie and me. The actual dinner conversation was surprisingly diverse - our kids, Dudney’s kids, Julie’s journey, LAM retirees, and policies and procedures that we thought could use some review and/or revision. Julie blessed us with a couple of “pieces” - old time elocutionary vignettes shared at early 20th century dinner tables. They were the kind of thing you’d hear in Lake Wobegon.
I could see that by this time, Shellie was worn out from the heat, from the travel, from the emotional expenditure of the day, and so we called a taxi for our 25 minute ride back to our place of lodging. Notice I said twenty-five minutes? The same trip took us an hour this morning. We arrived exhausted, worn out, wanting to talk to our kids, and just generally not excited about being ready to go at 6:50 tomorrow a.m.
We made a quick call to Cara and found out the awesome news that she is coming to Miami the end of April for a conference and can spend a couple of days with us! The news only got better when Shellie opened the refrigerator to find it stocked with freshly sliced watermelon, cantelope and the sweetest mango I’ve ever tasted. There was also coke to feed my bad habit! As I sat down to write thie entry, our host Mike came to the door quite surprisingly. He missed his plane to Philadelphia this am and had arranged all the goodies for us. He’s also arranged for our laundry to be taken care of…what can I say, they don’t come more disposed to serve than Mike. We talked for a few minutes about life, love and his son and then decided to hit the sack. So here it is, 11:00 p.m straight up, 17 packed, precious, and purposeful hours after waking up - I’m toast!
May God multiply the sleep in fewer hours…Amen! And amen!
Day 3 in Costa Rica
I awoke at 6 am and unable to go back to sleep, I stole away to the living area of the AMCA house to to write the blog for yesterday and to have my ‘lectivo divina’. Time always goes so quickly when reading, writing and praying. I asked the Lord for a special word from Him today and by the end of the blog, you will see that he most likely answered. . . .
It is Sunday and Mike Yoon picked us up at 9:45 to take us to his church that he planted; the 3rd of 3. It meets at ESEPA, the Seminary that LAM started and then turned over to the nationals. LAM missionaries are assisting in teaching and administrating it now. The church meets in one of the classrooms and there were about 50 people in attendance. This morning John Stam taught and he spoke on Chapter 8 of Revelations, emphasizing how the prayers of the Saints went up as a fragrance to the Lord. He talked about how beautiful prayer is to the Lord and how it is one of, if not the most imortant thing we can do as christians.
We then went to John and Doris Stams home for lunch where we had one of the most memorable afternoons of our lives. John and Doris are in their 80’s and have been LAM missionaries for over 50 years. John’s uncle and aunt, John and Betty Stam, are the famous missionaries who were martered in China in the 1930‘s. They were drug through the street and then beheaded. You might want to Google them and read about it. Anyway, John is a Biblical scholar having received his doctorate in Theology at Basil University. Doris is a Greek scholar and taught at the university in Nicuragua for some years. Their home is at least 150 years old and very primitive and ruggedly beautiful. Everywhere you look in their home you will find a primitive antique or an amazing piece of sculpter or painting. They have 2 or 3 pre Columbian pieces of stonework just ‘laying around’! The floor in their dining and living room is all 150 year old hand painted tiles. I kept thinking through out our afternoon with them “Christa would be in heaven right now” ! We asked questions and gleaned as much as we could in the short time we had with them. John’s eyes are beginning to give out but he is determined to finish the 4th volume of his book on Revelations that he is in the midst of wrinting. At this moment Steve is beside me ready John’s book on Prophecy and Missions.
One of the memorable stories that John and Doris told us about was when he was in Cuba in 2002, one of the 20 or so times he has been there for ministry. He was with some other christian leaders meeting on Revelations and Biblical prophecy when they received word that Fidel Castro wanted to meet with them from 11 pm - 2 am. They were shocked but incredibly excited to go. For 3 hours these men interacted with and answered questions from the Cuban dictator. At the end of their time with them he asked the question “what does it mean to be an Evangelical, just in case I am one?”
One of the men there gave a very clear presentation of the Gospel. Who do you know has had the opportunity to be with Fidel Castro or any other leader of a country and give them the Good News of Jesus Christ? John and Doris have lived controversial lives at times, such as during the 80’s when they ministered to the Sandanista’s. He has debated with the best scholars of the day on Liberation Theology and written a number of published papers on the subject. It is such an honor to know and glean from a couple with such a deep and meaningful life experience. It begs the question though, are we raising up a new generation of missionaries with an equal committment to the Lord, the Word, and sacrifical giving to those around them? The Stam’s generation sent “the best of the best” to foreign fields . . . where are the best of the best of this generation?
That was only half of our incredible day. Mike Yoon, a missionary here in Costa Rica for 7 years, was formerly a pastor who ministered in a church of 40,000 in Korea. He was one of the 20,000 that stood up in an URBANA meeting in the 80’s and committed his life to missions. Just 1 1/2 years ago Mikes wife, Grace, suddenly and unexpectedly died of a brain anuism. They have 2 sons, both studying premed to be medical missionaries. One is in L.A. and the other at Berkley. Mike is at a crossroads in his life and ministry and Steve and I had the privilege tonight to interact with him about this over dinner. He is seriously considering leaving the mission for many good reasons, but decided to wait until the new LAM president came to see if there was direction from God to stay. The conversation that we had tonight inspired Steve with fresh vision for the Mission and he wants to pray and think about bringing Mike on to start a whole new arm of ministry bridging Korea with Latin America. The church in Korea has the vision and the resources to see the Gospel taken throughout the world, and unlike the American church, has not given up on Latin America. Mike’s church funded the building of the most beautiful home and retreat house on park like grounds, ( I will get pictures!) and anything that Mike needs to buy or do is completely funded. He doesn’t understand why so many North American missionaries are having such trouble staying funded! But most important is the vision . . . the Korean church is there. So friday, after Mike returns from a trip to visit his doctor in the U.S., Steve and Mike will sit down to talk about the possibilities.
Mike has hepatitis and diabetes, so he knows realistically that his days are numbered . . as are all of ours! But he is a visionary, an evangelist, and a dedicated, committed missionary. Pray with us about what God might do with this potential union.
Mike invited us to stay here at his home so we are in “the big house”, where there are 13 bedrooms! Our private bath has a jacuzzi and a balcony that opens up looking out over the palacial grounds. I have the windows open and it is all quiet except the singing of a bird outside our window.
What an amazing day!!
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