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…
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