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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