This picture above comes from Google Earth, which has to be one of the coolest (free!) programs out there. You can spin the entire globe and then zoom in to see satelite images of specific cities. My brother-in-law was even able to see his car in the church parking lot!
This brings up a discussion about the missionary and technology. How should we use technology? Should we even care about it as missionaries? Should we wait until a technology is so tried-and-true that we're forced to use it?
I tend to want to try new technologies before many other people. Not for any other reason than that I enjoy it, and I've actually found some good uses for it. Someone may suggest that each mission agency should tell its missionaries what technology to use. The problem is that it's changing so fast that they could never keep up sufficiently. Instead, if various missionaries innovate and then share, we can all learn.
How could Google Earth be used in missions? Well, it certainly makes a country's geography come alive. I was looking through the streets of Paris, Tokyo, and Lima just last night. Imagine using images from it in a missions conference. Imagine having students explore your country of ministry. Or missionaries could just use it to get a bird's eye view of the next church they're visiting.
Until next time, keep innovating!
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I've been confronted with a very real cultural difference. Perhaps I should say "personal arrogance." I was expecting that we would easily receive our Colombian visas because "why wouldn't they want us in their country?" But isn't that how we tend to look at things? But I've heard what it's like on the other side, at least in Costa Rica.
Costa Ricans have to set up an appointment at the U.S. embassy at least a year in advance, sometimes more. Then they pay $100 just for the opportunity to present their need for a visa. If they don't receive it, they lose the money. And a hundred bucks is not small change.
The Ticos also mentioned that the atmosphere was anything but "light" or "fun" at the U.S. embassy. Now, that's a good thing for national security purposes. But contrast that with my attitude towards the Colombian embassy. I expected them to just give me the visas without any trouble at all. But God wanted to teach me a lesson about humility and understanding that He is in control. Not me.
We have this coming week to receive the documents we need from Bogota, which requires faith and patience. Then we need to go to the Colombian consulate here in Chicago to apply for the visas.
But, God is in control.
I was typing this on our laptop the night before we left Costa Rica. Unfortunately, our Internet service provider shut off our service at 12 midnight about five minutes before I finished. I'm going to leave it just as I wrote it. We're in MN right now, enjoying time with family.
December 19, 2005
Wow, it's almost midnight here, and we're putting the final touches on a change of country. The bad news is we'll be leaving at about 5 a.m. tomorrow, and the good news is that we'll be getting back to Iowa about 3:15 p.m., si Dios quiere (if God wills).
Quick updates. Just a few quick thoughts before I get back to helping Holly finish the packing. First, my last weeks of school went well. I was asked to give a testimony at the graduation (in Spanish of course), and it went well. Also, my exams were relatively enjoyable.
To borrow the words of another missionary, the Colombian consulate took round one in the battle for religious visas. We didn't have the right authentification on two documents, so we'll have to wait until we get to Chicago to see how round two goes. It's possible that some government offices may be closed in Bogota, which would slow the process. Please pray! We already have tickets for January 10th, but without the visas we'll probably have to delay our flights. By the way, this whole process has taught us to trust God more. "Why Lord?!?" "Oh, that's right, You're the sovereign Lord of the universe . . . a couple of stamps on a piece of paper don't thwart Your plan."
Special thanks. We've had to say goodbye to many good friends in Costa Rica, and we're very thankful to God for His faithful servants here. We're also thankful for each of you who plays a vital role in God's ministry through us. More than anything, we're thankful for Jesus Christ who died in our place and rose again.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jonathan, Holly, Lucas, and Eliana
P,S. We plan on being in Iowa, Minnesota, and Chicago for the three weeks we'll be in the U.S. We'll be updating our blogs on a regular basis when we get to Colombia, so we invite you to follow the first steps of our transition to the country.
Yesterday I went with another missionary to "los Guido," a marginalized barrio on the outskirts of San Jose. We walked down an embankment littered with garbage. We saw houses (shacks) built with scrap metal and wood. Little kids playing in the garbage. A little stream of filth. You get the idea. The majority of these homes don't have a father or husband. The missionary introduced me to a young girl of probably nine years old who acts as the mother to her four younger siblings while her mom works. This is life in los Guido.
This leads me to ponder something. What is the relationship between a person's physical and spiritual needs? Or another question: Can we minister to someone's spiritual needs without caring about their physical needs?
Now, I know that many organizations have gone the way of the "social gospel," in other words they forget about the spiritual needs of people to focus only on the physical needs. Obviously, God's Word teaches that is wrong. The need for salvation is infinitely more important than any physical need.
But what about Jesus? In my Bible it says: "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick" (Mt. 14:14). In the next chapter Jesus says, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way" (15:32). Jesus was not indifferent to the physical needs of the people. How can we see the needs and not be moved to compassion?
This missionary does not speak Spanish very well at this point. But as we walked everyone greeted him with smiles and kisses. Why? Because he has shown love to them. Many children had fallen down the side of the embankment when it would rain. Keith knows how to build, so he built over 300 steps going up and down the steep hill. He had a missionary team come and help him build a bridge over the stream because young children had drowned there before. Hundreds of people use these projects every day, reading the letters in the concrete "Un regalo de Dios" (a gift from God). Has this missionary sold out to the social gospel? Hardly! With every project, more people have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. This missionary works under the umbrella of a church in San Jose, and they have started a church in los Guido. When we went, there were about 200 people at the service, the majority of whom have been touched by this missionary's ministry.
This morning we went to Cartago to see the basilica. Cartago has been the center of Catholicism in Costa Rica for years. Supposedly, a black image of the "Virgin Mary" appeared to a a lady here in 1635. Three times she took the image home and each time it reappeared in the exact same spot she had found it. The basilica shows some of the interesting contradictions in Catholicism. Below you can see a depiction of the coronation of Mary as "Queen of Heaven" by God the Father and Jesus. We asked a man outside if he could ask God to answer his peticions. "Oh sure," he said, "but we also ask the Virgin. She's healed me of various infirmities. You just have to have faith in her." Below are several pictures from my experience. You can see people walking on their knees to the front of the building . . . whether out of gratitude or in hopes of receiving a favor from the Virgin I don't know. There's also a photo of the holy water, which the Virgin supposedly supplies. We saw several people come down and wash different parts of their body with the water.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to watch 90% of all movies with either subtitles or dubbed voices? If you don't speak English, that's what you have to deal with. Now I'm no defender of Hollywood, but I think this example illustrates a larger point about culture from a Latin American perspective.
How would you feel if you had to buy toys or computer software whose packaging is in a language you didn't understand (German, French, English, etc.)?
This is life in Costa Rica. Now, I can think of at least two advantages to this situation. First, it encourages people to learn another language, usually English. In Iowa and Minnesota, I didn't have much daily motivation to learn another language (except my Greek and Hebrew professors). Another positive is that the translation from English to Spanish usually makes for better dialogues in the movies. In other words, the translators usually don't translate all of the utterly useless and predictable swear words of Hollywood. I'm not sure if there are less swear words in Spanish, or just that they are looked down upon more here, but most movies soften the crude language from American movies.
Costa Ricans probably live a more "globalized" life than many Americans (note: they are actually Americans too . . . in Spanish, there is only one continent here--America, whereas in English we differentiate North and South America). You can take a 10 minute bus ride from my house to San Jose center and see Germans, French, Chinese, and gringos any day of the week. And when we've gone on trips around the country the tourist locations are even more international. They don't just know about people from other countries from books or movies. They rub shoulders with them on the way to work each day. Now that's no different from Ames, IA, but it's a lot different than Hibbing, MN, where I grew up.
I tend to think that La Nacion (the most respected paper here) has more articles about international events than most papers in the States.
What does this have to do with missions? Understanding the motivations of the people helps immensely. In order to more effectively minister, I have to begin to understand the differences in thinking. I even have to open up enough to allow my own thinking to be changed on some things that I'd never personally seen or experienced.
One quick example: I'd never thought about what it would be like to need a pair of glasses to see but not be able to buy them. Or to need 50 cents for the bus to get home but not have it. These are eye-opening experiences.
Why should a missionary have a blog anyway? I've been thinking about that a bit and have changed the name of the blog to match a slight shift in purpose. From "The Boyds to Colombia Weblog" (very boring sounding) to something that expresses my experience in Latin America, "Lost in Translation."
Here are a couple of possible uses for a missionary weblog I can think of:
1) Inform people about their ministry
2) Journal about experiences in order to have written record of what has happened
3) Put ads on the site in the hopes of getting rich through Google's Adsense program
4) Write stories about life in order to entertain people
5) Explain things from the host country in the hopes of spurring on the readers to greater faithfulness to Jesus Christ where they're at
Obviously #3 is out! I want my blog to be a mixture of some of the other elements, but I'm most interested in how a person living in another culture gains a new perspective on his own culture and his own life.
We talked about this in my class on culture at the language school. A person who doesn't have any influence from people in the process of growing up (there was one case of a boy who grew up without any influence from people in France years ago) becomes severely limited in his ability to interact culturally. I postulate that a person who knows two cultures would have more understanding of his native culture than the person who has never experienced more than one.
What's this mean? I hope to share things from my experiences in Latina America from a missionary's perspective. How often we take the blessings we have for granted! How often we don't see the need around us! May God give us eyes to see the need of our neighbors, our coworkers, our country, and that of other countries and cultures in this world!
Not too much unusual or exciting has been happening in our lives lately. Studies continue, and they're going well. I taught a lesson last week on Bible translations in Spanish. Interesting stuff. The Reina-Valera 1960 Bible is the most common Bible used by non-Catholics in Latin America. I personally tend to prefer the 1995 update to that Bible because it's essentially the same Bible without as many archaic words and with better Spanish grammar. I was floored to hear that some people (King James only people) say that pastors who use the Reina-Valera 1960 are heretics. Wow, these issues make no sense to me. While we argue about what translation is best, more people die without knowing Christ as Savior.
We purchased tickets to return to the States on Dec. 20 and fly to Bogota Jan. 10.
I've been trying to think of a new name for this blog; probably something in Spanish that gives the essence of the blog. Nada se me ocurre en este momento (Nothing occurs to me right now).
Here's a nice meditation on Proverbs 18:13 for anyone interested:
Ten Reasons to Listen to Questions Before You Answer.
We spent an hour of class today analyzing condolences sent to La Nacion (the paper of middle/upper class Costa Rica) for people who have died. How interesting!
Apparently, it's a "social obligation" to publish a note of condolence in the paper. Some companies use it for advertising (obviously they wouldn't put it that way). For example, Dole (the fruit company) had a note of condolence for the sister of a coworker. Never mind that the Dole logo was bigger than the headline.
For Catholics, they use these notes to tell people about the masses that will be held for the deceased. The more people that come, the more indulgences are acquired. Thus, the person's time in purgatory is shortened. Did I mention that the Church receives money for each mass? Interesting how that works.
I've had the great privilege of being one of Roberth's students this trimester. In many ways he reminds me of myself . . . well, okay in one or two ways. He has a love for learning, reading, the Bible, the ministry, and teaching. We've talked about things in his class as diverse as the rise of gangs in Central America to the nature of prayer according to the Bible.
On Wednesday, I went with him to his ministry in a poorer neighborhood of Cartago, which is about 30 minutes from San Jose. As we pulled into the neighborhood, which lay at the beginnings of the mountains, the roads became ravines, mitigated by the occasional boulder. We walked around on a muddy path to reach a house, constructed from corrugated metal. The washer, sink, fridge, table, and stove were all situated in the main room of the house, leaving just enough space to navigate through the room. A mother and her three children lived there. She made us some fresh tortillas and some agua dulce (hot sugar water), while Roberth talked with the kids. I tried to give any input I could, but I obviously don't have the social skills of a native speaker yet. I noticed the fourteen year-old girl looking at me shyly, probably because she found my blue eyes different than what she was used to.
Roberth told me that he makes a special effort to affirm young girls like that one in front of their mothers. He made several comments about how smart she was, etc. He told me that many girls her age end up pregnant. They don't have many godly male role models in their lives, so they don't know how men and women can relate in a good way.
Later the four of this family squeezed into the back seat, and we drove to another house to study the Bible. Roberth talked about prayer. It was excellent! He's never studied the Bible or the ministry formally, but obviously God has taught him a lot. The whole trip brought me back to the south of Bogota. The sights and sounds were very similar, as well as the people. I could get used to ministering in a context like this.
I just received my copy of the latest Evangelical Missions Quarterly journal. It's my favorite journal because it keeps me up-to-date with what's going on in the field of missions, stretches my thinking, and convicts me. Here are a few convicting quotes and questions from an article I just read about the culture of the cross:
"Is Jesus the center of my thoughts and conversations?"
"What percentage of my personal life and my ministry is a work of the Spirit?"
"Our action-oriented culture conditions us to be disinclined to spend significant time surrendering our needs and concerns to God in prayer."
"Do I follow him [Christ] to the boundary of suffering and then hold back?"
God has really been working on me lately through a Bible study I've been doing and also through extra reading such as this.
We ran into a slight snag this last week, since the Ashbys are scheduled to arrive today, but their house won't be ready until the 5th of September. We've been praying faithfully for their arrival and knew that God would provide housing for the interim. We just didn't know how incredibly He would provide!
The landlord feels really bad about the whole deal, so he has offered to house them in El Apartotel & Suites Casa Conde until the house is ready! I still can't believe it, but I went with him to reserve the room, which comes with washer, dryer, full kitchen, etc.
God is good!
This week's discipleship lessons deal with the daily aspect of our salvation. We've been saved from the penalty of sin, we're being saved from the power of sin, and some day we'll be saved from the very presence of sin. But what does that daily outworking of salvation look like? To use another word that is often misused, what does a "successful" Christian look like on Monday afternoon at 3 p.m.?
I've been very challenged and encouraged by Colossians 1:9-14, which I believe answers this question, at least in outline form.
1) The successful Christian is permeated with a desire to know and follow God's will.
2) The successful Christian is growing in wisdom and spiritual understanding (read "understanding directed by the Spirit") and personal knowledge of the Lord Himself.
3) The successful Christian focuses on his or her walk with the Lord. Every aspect of his or her life is scrutinized in light of the Word.
4) The successful Christian bears fruit (and prays about bearing fruit too . . . how often do we neglect to ask God for fruit?).
5) Although the successful Christian feels discouraged or tired, he or she drinks from the unlimited fountain of God's power, displaying God-forged patience and longsuffering.
6) The successful Christian gives thanks in every circumstance . . . how could we not? The kingdom of darkness is a thing of our past . . . we are part of the kingdom of His Son . . . we have forgiveness of sins!
May God help us to be successful in the Colossians 1 sense!
A quick introduction for all of you non-Spanish readers. I wrote this essay for my conversation class . . . Holly and Mecbelle helped me some with the grammar. I'm posting this to give you an example of my work in Spanish (for what it's worth). I've also been thinking about the future, when I will probably have a Spanish website for my students in Colombia. The Internet has really leveled the educational playing field, as anyone within reach of an Internet cafe can access millions of pages of information. O that we use technology to train people for God's glory!
Últimamente he estado pensando en la importancia de la iglesia local. En la vida hay grandes preguntas, y a veces nos preguntamos el por qué de las cosas que Dios hace. Específicamente, ¿Por qué diseñó la iglesia local tal como es? ¿No habría una mejor manera de difundir las buenas nuevas por el mundo? ¿No podrían, tal vez, los ángeles hacer lo que hacemos nosotros, pero aun mejor?
Primero que nada, quiero decirles que este ensayo es una meditación de mi corazón. Podría escribir un ensayo técnico si me tocara, pero prefiero reflexionar sobre el fenómeno de este organismo y organización que llamamos la iglesia local.
Obviamente Dios sabe como hace sus cosas, pero a veces nos frustran las realidades de la vida, y especialmente en la iglesia local. Leemos la Biblia y vemos una iglesia viva -- con comunión, enseñanza penetrante, pasión por alabanza y una proyección en el mundo que nos sorprende. Después, vamos a nuestra iglesia y a veces la realidad es diferente. Podemos ver los defectos. El misionero se comunica, pero a veces se confunde, o el pastor no predica como los predicadores de la televisión y la radio. La gente habla de vida nueva, pero no parecen tenerla. Se escuchan las mismas cosas en la iglesia que en cualquier pulpería, y nos quedamos con la pregunta ¿Dónde están la gloria y el temor del Señor? ¿Dónde está el ejército de Dios?
De hecho, hacer preguntas de esta manera nos hace considerar nuestra vida. ¿Será verdad que yo tengo defectos también? ¿Es tan ardiente mi pasión por Jesucristo como parece? ¿Cuántas veces he fallado hoy mismo? Si fuéramos muy honestos, encontraríamos que tenemos que admitir como Pablo que no hemos alcanzado la meta. Todavía necesitamos el toque de Dios para cambiarnos, y lo necesitamos diariamente. Queremos vivir cerca de Jesús, pero a veces no lo logramos. Nos esforzamos pero recaemos.
Así que, uno puede acabar deprimido, pero Dios no quiere eso. Yo creo que nuestra debilidad nos dirige a Jesucristo. Si pudiéramos vivir una vida casi perfecta, no tendríamos que fijar nuestra mirada tanto en el autor y consumador de nuestra fe, Jesucristo. Dios quiere que nos gloriemos solamente en Jesús, no en nuestros logros. Entonces, cuando fracasemos, corramos a Él y hundámonos en su abrazo incondicional. En vez de caer en depresión, alcemos los ojos para ver su perfección, misericordia, y abundante gracia. Podemos ver nuestra condición a través de ojos sanados por gracia.
¿Qué tiene que ver esto con la iglesia local? Al igual que nuestra vida, la iglesia debe dirigirnos a Jesucristo. Cuando la iglesia perezca perfecta, disfrutemos el momento, porque la ilusión va a pasar. Cuando haya problemas en la iglesia, volteemos la cabeza para apreciar la gracia de Jesucristo de nuevo. Dios ha elegido usar la iglesia aun con sus defectos, es decir, con nosotros. Si ponemos más énfasis en la maravilla del amor y la gracia de Dios, podremos servirle con gozo, a pesar de los problemas que haya en la iglesia.
A decir verdad, muchas veces vamos al culto con expectativas de lo que vamos a recibir. ¡Mejor vamos con el anhelo de ver como Dios nos va a usar para estimular a los demás al amor y a las buenas obras! Si vamos con esta perspectiva, no vamos a salir decepcionados porque siempre habrá alguien que necesite de un abrazo, una palabra a tiempo, o en general, nuestra comunión. Como dice Pablo, somos un solo cuerpo. Si el ojo estuviera desilusionado con el resto del cuerpo, no sería bueno que se fuera. Al igual que el cuerpo normal, cada miembro de la iglesia tiene un lugar basado en el designio del Espíritu Santo, y cada uno debe contribuir con lo que tenga, estimando a los demás como superiores a él mismo.
Además de tener una buena actitud, nos es importante poseer un concepto bíblico de la iglesia local. Por ejemplo, ¿Qué quiere decir “comunión”? No significa solamente que nos guste pasar tiempo juntos, sino que somos unidos en Jesucristo y dedicados a un mismo propósito. Nos preocupamos por la salud espiritual de nuestros hermanos en Cristo. Oramos juntos, trabajamos juntos, alabamos juntos, nos regocijamos juntos, y sufrimos juntos. Somos soldados en la guerra espiritual y nos necesitamos. Sin esta perspectiva, la iglesia tan solo se vuelve una cita en nuestra agenda, un club social, o un lugar en el cual nuestros hijos pueden divertirse. ¡Qué concepto tan pobre! La iglesia no es un lugar, ni un culto, sino el cuerpo de Cristo que funciona bajo la autoridad de nuestra Cabeza, Jesucristo. Él nos dio las instrucciones cuando dijo, “Id y haced discípulos.” En resumen, la iglesia local es la clave del programa de Dios en esta época. ¡Qué Dios nos ayude con esta aventura de hacer discípulos y funcionar como una iglesia que le agrada a Él!
This week in conversation we talked about Catholicism all week. Our teacher brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, since she is the only evangelical in her entire family and she has been discussing this topic with her students for 13 years.
We each had to interview a Catholic person and a converted Catholic. I went to the big Catholic church here in our neighborhood looking for someone to talk to. Thankfully, a cleaning lady was kind enough to put her work down and talk for about 20 minutes. When we were done, she gave me a copy of the liturgy for Easter week and two Catholic newspapers. The liturgy book contains everything the priest would say, including notes on how to arrange the different ceremonies.
I learned a ton this week about Catholicism. Here are just a couple of things. First, Catholics here are theologically conservative (with respect to their theology). In the U.S. there's a huge divide between liberals and conservatives. Not so here, because most of the priests come from Spain.
Another interesting point is that we can't just say that Catholics need a "relationship" with Christ. They have a "relationship" (from their perspective) with Him . . . they pray regularly, they think about trying to please God on a regular basis, etc. We have to probe deeper to understand what saving faith is biblically. This is where the Catholic church goes astray. Salvation comes through faith alone, in Christ alone. Justification is God declaring us righteous in Christ Jesus, not a process of making us righteous.
In my interview, the woman was very careful to explain that Catholics do not worship Mary or the saints. She seemed to have a good knowledge of the Bible. For that reason, her passing comment about the very body and blood of Jesus being in a box over in the corner was very shocking to me. It's one thing to think about their theology abstractly . . . it's another thing to have a person point to the very "body" of Christ over in the corner.
Are Catholics our enemies? Definitely not. Satan is our enemy, and he has used Catholicism to make many people think that they're doing okay before God. And that is simply not the case. Another interesting point that our teacher brought up was that Catholics have only been reading the Bible for about 40 years. Before Vatican II reading the Bible wasn't allowed. In contrast, the U.S. has a history of having read the Bible for about 400 years.
This week has been a time of spiritual renewal for me. We're having a spiritual emphasis week at the langague institute. Our speaker, Dr. Vern Steiner, www.miqra.net, has been teaching through the book of Ruth. I've gained numerous insights into the text, and God has been encouraging me to "listen" more to the text of His Word.
Here is one new thing I've learned. Did you know about the curse against the Moabite people (Deut. 23:3-6)? When read in light of that curse, the book of Ruth gains new depth. Fourteen times the author mentions that she was a Moabitess or from Moab. All the while, we're left wondering how God will deal with her in light of His curse. How will the people deal with her? Boaz' grace becomes all the more striking in light of how he could have treated her.
The other thing that Dr. Steiner does so well is point out the tension in the narrative. Sometimes we miss that because we're thinking about the outcome of the book. But if we would stop . . . and think about the unanswered questions the narrator is leaving us . . . we would really enter into the story and feel its power in a greater way.
I also really like the overarching theme that he's drawing from the book. That God often works in quiet, hidden ways through the faithful lives of His people. In Ruth we see "Calvinistic luck" as Dr. Steiner put it. God is in control of the seemingly chance encounters of life. He is working His plan. We need to be faithful.
Good question. This semester's class is shaping up to be excellent. I want to just briefly share what a week of class looks like.
We have two hours of conversation class per day. We spend one hour per week going through the Bible chronologically. This is very helpful, since almost all of the proper names are different in Spanish (e.g. Elijah is Elias, and Elisha is Eliseo).
Each week we read different newspaper articles, writing down all of the new words. Then in class we explain the article and the new words.
This week we're doing an hour-long Bible study. I chose a topic (justification) that will be very useful in my day-to-day ministry, since it's at the heart of the gospel.
We often have to watch a TV show and report on our findings (like the newspaper articles).
Our teacher also likes us to use the subjunctive mood (desires, influence, wishes, etc.) to share our opinions about these different topics.
All in all, the class is very enjoyable and helpful. Oh, I think I just heard the bell . . . gotta run.
I was just thinking about what a great support team we have. And I'm not just talking about money.
In the last week, we've recieved probably ten e-mails from people wondering how we're doing. We received phone calls from family members. We've received packages from family members and churches.
To be honest, it doesn't seem like we're living very far away from Iowa. Just wanted to give a thank you to each of you who upholds us in so many ways . . . and to give a thank you to the Lord for his provision.
I just ran across a website with free Powerpoint backgrounds. For you pastors and fellow missionaries who use that program, check it out at: www.brainybetty.com
Here's a little something I've been pondering. Why don't we see very much discussion in the NT about baptism? Why don't we hear of new believers struggling with the step of baptism? Why didn't anyone hesitate in being baptized after they were saved?
Granted, there may have been some people that had difficulty with baptism, but the NT doesn't give any such hint.
In constrast, many new believers seem to struggle with baptism today. Our friend James has struggled with this step for two months. Praise the Lord that he's finally convinced that he needs to go ahead with it.
Here are a few thoughts I've had: First, I'm thinking that baptism was more of a "normal" event in ancient times to mark a major transition than it is today. No one questioned John the Baptist about why he was baptizing people. I haven't researched it much, but I think that certain baptisms were a part of Judaism (let me know if I'm wrong).
Another thought is that being buried into the death of Christ had more significance for the first Christians than for many of us today. When they accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, they were going against the grain in a big way. Jewish people were in hot water because they were supposedly rejecting a major tenet of their religion ("Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is one"). Gentiles were in hot water too because they were rejecting the pantheon of gods, thus reverting to almost an "atheism." For these reasons, I think that the early Christians already knew that they were going to be considered "rejects." For this reason, they gladly embraced their new community of faith and its initiation rite--baptism.
I also like how Peter "commanded" that the people be baptized (Acts 10:48). And they didn't argue at all! If anyone has any additional thoughts on this matter, let me know.
Latin culture is definitely different from American culture. The other day I was talking to one of James' Colombian coworkers. She mentioned missing her husband. "Oh, he must be in Colombia, right?" "No," she said, "my husband is so-and-so here in Costa Rica." The funny thing is that the wife is 23 years old, and the husband must be in his middle forties. I asked James about it later. "Oh, that's normal in Latin culture," he said.
I´m sitting in an international call center, which is soon going to be James´ business. He´s going to take over next week, Lord-willing. This will be a great change for him, as he´s been working a lot of hours with his other job. It´s pretty cool to see his initiative. Well, I´m going to try to help James fix a problem on the computer (all of the instructions are in English).
Yesterday was the last day of the trimester in language school. Holly graduated, and the kids had their last day of school. Where's my Spanish at now? That's a good question. I've undoubtedly learned a ton. As our grammar teacher put it, we used to have more "fluency," whereas we now balk at more difficult constructions instead of saying them wrong with impunity. Actually I have more fluency now than four months ago. I don't make mistakes too often with basic verb conjugations, and I can explain even more abstract concepts with effort.
James went with me to pick up our bus tickets for our first vacation, which will be to Manuel Antonio beach. It should be very fun for the kids, as their is a national park with many wild animals. To get a brief idea you could look at Manuel Antonio.
I've always loved ministry to international students. Here in San Jose we're starting to feel almost like we're back in Campus Baptist's int'l student ministry in Iowa. Our friend James has befriended Marco, who is Haitian, and Marcos came to church today and then over to our house for lunch. He speaks French, Creole, some English, and has picked up an amazing amount of Spanish in just four months here in Costa Rica. It's pretty exciting to see James ministering to others.
I went alone to La Casa de MANA (Ministerio A Nuestros Adictos) because Kevin was sick. I didn't have a lesson prepared, since he was slated to teach, so I just opened the time up with an invitation for questions. Que bueno! The guys had some good questions, like "What about those who haven't heard the gospel?" Every time I leave MANA I marvel at God's grace to me. Why aren't I in a drug rehab center? Only God's grace. Why did God bless me with the family I have? Only God's grace.
Spanish update: Well, learning a different language is a humbling experience. Sometimes I feel like I'm going backwards, like today in conversation class. Every time I tried to say something my mind went blank. Then I went to MANA, and I felt pretty good with my Spanish. At any rate, I'm making some progress.
Learning another language is a huge challenge. Lately we've been studying the subjunctive mode in Spanish, which involves the realm of desire, possibility, influence , etc. In English we just use the word "would" . . . I pray that you "would" do something Lord. Or, I wish I "were" a millionaire (only an example). But in Spanish we use a whole different verb conjugation for this kind of thing. It's actually pretty cool.
The only problem lies in the fact that the most useful things for a missionary to say (counseling, preaching, etc.) use a lot of the subjunctive mode. This can get interesting. Like the other day I was trying to counsel a guy named Alfonso, but my Spanish gave out (as one of my teachers says, "a linguistic collapse"). Or in conversation class we got into a great discussion of eternal security and election. I had to admit that my Spanish didn't quite reach far enough to finish my thought.
Hmmm . . . one other tidbit. Your English suffers when you're learning another language. I guess I'll never be a novelist in either English or Spanish.
Last week I purchased my first novel in Spanish. It's about a Chilean family . . . so far it's been excellent. Nothing like checking my dictionary every three sentences, but it'll get easier as I go. I've got over 400 pages to practice! Honestly, Spanish is a beautiful language and this writer, Isabel Allende, knows how to use it with the best of them.
I kept forgetting to take a picture of James, but this week I remembered. He's become a great friend, as he usually spends Sunday afternoon with us, and I have a Bible study with him on Thursdays. We laughed about the picture . . . Colombian coffee and American milk (okay, it sounds better in Spanish, but you get the idea). I'm pretty excited about our new prayer update site. If you want to pray for us intelligently on a weekly basis, check it out!
Yep, Holly has joined the ranks of the bloggers. You can check out her beautiful site at Boyd Bear Tracks.
We have two days of vacation this week, so I'm working on redesigning our website. I just added a new prayer update site. You can visit it now at Prayer Update.
We're in Semana Santa ("Holy Week") here. During this week half of San Jose leave for the beach and the other half get together with relatives. We had classes Monday through Wednesday but have the rest of the week off.
Our two paseos last weekend were excellent. Costa Rica truly is a tierra bendita ("blessed land"). The volcano we saw was interesting, although the botanical garden was even more incredible. Picture about fifty acres of every conceivable plantlife . . . a bamboo forest, leaves the size of Lucas, drop-dead gorgeous flowers of every color. I always praise God when I see his creation!
We also visited a nice restaurant with our group. Costa Ricans know how to cook!
The kids have still been sick, but we're praying that things are getting better.
Tomorrow we go on our first paseo (outing) outside of the San Jose area since we arrived in Costa Rica. We're gong to visit a volcano and see some other tourist sites with a group of 10 other people from the language school. Then on Sunday our church is going on an all-day paseo. There'll be food, games (soccer of course), an evangelistic message, swimming, etc. I think that the church often does baptisms on their paseos as well.
Speaking of which, it looks like I'll get the privilege of baptizing James in the near future. He said that he would be blessed to have me baptize him, and of course I would be very blessed to do so.
If you've been praying for James, thank you! He's doing very well in his walk with God. We've started memorizing some verses together during our weekly discipleship time. He just finished memorizing the books of the NT. Please pray for his work. He's designed a magazine that will serve as a restaurant guide for San Jose, and now he's busy selling advertising space in the magazine. As you can imagine, this is a ton of work, and we're praying that it comes out very well for him.
I notice that it's been a while since I posted anything to our blog. This last week was pretty busy, especially for Holly. She had a one-hour Bible lesson and a two-hour presentation on Colombia. I taught our grammar class on Friday, leading a discussion of the preposition "a" in Spanish. Hmmm . . . it's amazing that you need an hour lecture just to begin to grapple with the uses of a one-letter preposition.
We bought a small rabbit for the kids yesterday. He's grey and white. Maybe I'll upload a picture in the near future. Holly asked Lucas what we should call him. He instantly answered, "Stockings." I'm constantly amazed at his ability to communicate.
My discipleship time with James this week was excellent. I've been very pleased with his progress and desire to learn the Word and apply it in his life. What a blessing!
It was a blessing to talk to our new senior pastor at Campus Baptist yesterday--Pastor Will Hatfield. I praise God leading Will to the position. I've been praying more for our church now than I did when I was in the U.S.
Not much on the docket for today. Maybe we'll take a trip into San Jose to a Christian bookstore. I really need to get a new stash of tracts. I ran out of them a week or two ago.
I shared the word "precoz" today with my Spanish class in reference to Lucas. Can you guess what it means? Yep, precocious. That little guy can be pretty funny. His newest line when I'm leaving is, "Daddy, be a good boy and play nice with James." He also enjoys talking about his Bible story each night (when he's not so tired that he can't function). He often has an extended commentary on whatever topic we may be reading about. I think that he's been a little frustrated by his lack of ability in Spanish, but today he touched my hand smoothly and said, "suave," then he hit me (playfully) and said "duro!"
Thanks for your prayers. My discipleship time with James today was another huge blessing. We talked about assurance of salvation and eternal security, and he understood it very well.
Yesterday we had a gettogether with the "jovenes mayors" (older youth--18 to 30 year-olds). This was a huge blessing as James came with me and shared his testimony of salvation from the previous Sunday. Each joven also shared some advice for James in his new life in Christ. I know that he was blessed by the time in a big way too. Thanks for your prayers.
On a different note, please pray for my pronunciation of the Spanish "r" or "rr." We worked on it today in conversation class, and I was the only one who couldn't do it correctly. That was discouraging!
Just wanted to share two quick notes. First, James and I met this week for discipleship. It was a huge blessing to see his desire to learn God's Word. If you didn't hear about James, read our February Prayer Letter to hear an incredible story of God's goodness. I am excited to see how James grows in his walk with God.
Another ABWE missionary pointed me to www.ObreroFiel.com for the discipleship course "Nueva Vida en Cristo." I haven't extensively checked out the site, but if you're looking for Spanish material it may have what you're looking for.
I just uploaded our February prayer letter. Check it out for some exciting news!
February Prayer Letter
What is the best and worst part of being down here? I absolutely love the feeling of being able to communicate in another language and learn another culture (notice I didn't say "well" with either verb). I met a young Colombian man on the street today (talk about providence . . . He asked me, "Do know if there's a Colombian restaurant around here?") Anyway, he said he wants to come to church with us on Sunday. He's already a Christian but hasn't found a good church yet. I thought that was pretty cool.
The worst part: definitely the kids' behavior and mood swings. They are sleep-deprived at times, and they struggle with being in their classes for five hours (where the discipline is undoubtedly different than at home) and then at home. Other than that, life is good.
Holly and I went out last night because the singles from school offered to watch all of the kids of the married students. We took a taxi down to a little Colombian restaurante in San Jose. Colombian food is excellent! We both had the Ajiaco (a potato and chicken soup), and I had a fig dessert.
On the way back, we had our first bad experience with a taxi. The taxi was in bad shape (loud brakes, smoke-saturated, etc.), but we were just watching the buzz of activity on a Friday night downtown. I started watching his meter (they call them Marias here), and noticed that it was clicking way too fast. We kindly told the driver we wanted out and caught a legitimate taxi. It always pays to be alert here . . . we've seen some pretty good con men.
I haven't been writing lately because we've been pretty busy. Being in language school seems to take more time than the 5 hours we are at school each day. For those who read our blog on a regular basis, I'll try to post something at least once per week.
Our maid who has been with us for a month has decided not to sign a contract since she found a better job. We're happy for her. We had an interview with Marina today. She seems like she'll be a great fit (Nos conviene tener una empleada -- para los que hablan espanol). Our first maid was working 6 hours on Wednesdays. Marina, who could be my grandma, is going to work for 8 hours, of which 1-2 hours will be language practice with me. This will be excellent!
I've felt like the most important thing I'm missing is continual practice in Spanish. Right now Carlos and I get together one night per week for a trade of English and Spanish. A fellow ABWE missionary and I attend a Bible study with recovering drug addicts on Tuesdays (soon I'll be teaching the Bible lessons). Thursday nights I go to prayer meeting (think small group Bible study/prayer time), etc.
Classes are going well. I learn something new every day in grammar class. Holly has learned a lot too. Her Spanish is going to be almost perfect after this trimester, plus she can now throw around Costa Rican words for things.
The kids are surviving. At time prospering, at times floundering. Asi es la vida. They seem to like their classes more every day. I think it's time to take them on a walk now. Gotta run!
We've started to make a few Tico friends, or at least acquaintances. My conversation partner Carlos and I have had fun the last two Wednesdays. We talk English for one hour, then Spanish for one hour. He's helped me with some cultural things also.
Lucas and Eliana just got back from a job. I enjoy hearing the comments from people we pass. The call blondies "machos" here; different from Colombia where they are "monos" (monkeys). We just met a family on the other side of the soccer field behind our house. They were very gracious and said they'd known two other students from the Spanish Language Institute. I think I'll head down there when I'm looking for some conversation.
I've heard a question here a few times, "What can you give me?" (I would write it in Spanish, but I'm still figuring out how to use the Spanish keyboard layout). Yesterday a group of four boys came to our door. "What can you give us?" they wanted to know. Well, we don't give strangers money, but I decided we could give them some lemonade. I then had a chance to tell them about the best gift ever, salvation in Jesus Christ. I read them a tract while they drank their lemonade and munched on a piece of bread I had also given them. They may have struggled to understand my less than perfect Spanish, but I was able to share the gospel with them nonetheless. Pray that we would have more chances like this.
My conversation class has been almost as much about culture as conversation. Today we talked about how Ticos can live on a $300/month salary and whether we should or shouldn't have mission agencies.
The short answer to the first point: Ticos often have to live together with other family members (brothers, etc.) to make ends meet. In that case, each family member would be responsible for paying one of the bills (water, power, rent, etc.). Our teacher started working when she was 11 years old. She worked from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. as a maid, then went to school from 6-10 p.m. After that she did homework, went to sleep, and woke up to do it again.
She now has her first car, for which she prayed twenty years. These discussions definitly cause we to feel humbled.
The Spanish word "pobrecito" is used to refer to people who are to be pitied. When you child is sick, you may call him "pobrecito."
This idea also has a place in Latin American culture. It's not uncommon for someone to just ask you for money on the street. They'll give you a story about their child being sick or their back hurting.
On Saturday we had the funniest experience of someone wanting money. We got on a bus and sat down. The last guy on looked very suspicious. His eyes shifted, and his gestures were jerky. Suddenly he started yelling that "God bless all of you and all the world." Then he started singing Latin songs at the top of his lungs. The hilarious thing is that he produced all of the rythmns with a clicking sound of his teeth and lips. He'd interupt his singing with the beat . . . it was pretty interesting. When he was finished with several songs, he walked the bus looking for money. Pobrecito.
Today was encouraging in a strange way. Eliana has been sick, and Lucas started the day at school by howling when we left him in his class. That was hard. In the afternoon we decided to take Eliana to Clinica Biblica for a checkup. We got there and had her checkup. When I saw the bill I realized that I didn't have enough money, nor did I have my credit card (I try to only carry what is essential here). So, Holly and Eliana waited while Lucas and I hailed another cab back home to get money and a credit card.
How is this encouraging? Well, I was able to have a good conversation with the taxi driver, talking to him about the gospel some. Meanwhile, Holly met a young woman named Karol, who used to attend a Baptist church but no longer goes anywhere. Holly said that she may come to our church with us in the future . . . God obviously uses our weaknesses to show His strength.
Today has been an informative day to say the least. It started at 3:30 a.m. with two gun shots being fired outside on our street. Holly thought they were firecrackers, and I wasn't sure. I kept wondering why someone would be shooting off two solitary firecrackers at such an hour. Adrenaline began pumping, and I don't think that I fell back asleep. On the walk to school, we learned that our neighbors across the street had someone up on top of their roof, trying to climb into their backyard. Our freelance guard took two shots (presumably warning shots) at the thief and he raced across the top of the roofs to safety.
This afternoon I went to Hipermas, which is a big grocery store. I felt pretty proud of myself because I thought I'd gotten everything on Holly's list. Unfortunately I'd made some mistakes (e.g. I didn't know "Shout" makes a product to get rid of odors . . . I was supposed to get the spot remover--sorry Holly!). Anyway, I had a nice conversation with the taxi driver on the way home. Young guy, asking about my family, etc. Then he helped me unpack the groceries into our little garage. I believed him when he told me we'd gotten everything. Later we realized that he'd taken a whole bag of stuff. Thankfully it wasn't anything high-priced. He got our avocados, sausage, cilantro, and mints. Chock that up to naivete on my part, and it's a historical day--the first time I've ever had anything stolen from me. What a sheltered life!
This pains me to say, but in Latin American a little healthy distrust never hurts.
What does it mean to say, "I speak Spanish"? Good question. As the people at the Spanish Language Institute have pointed out, it's not about simply ability to communicate. Almost anyone can communicate basic needs, through gestures, acting, drawing, etc. Or you can communicate by using simple nouns or phrases. "Bathroom," to mean "Where is the bathroom?" Or you can string subjects, verbs, etc. together, without correctly relating them grammatically. I know someone who does this. This person has a huge Spanish vocabulary but cannot conjugate a Spanish verb (their spelling changes based on mood, tense, and person)to save their life. Then of course ability with the language increases to the point of being able to clearly understand and articulate any idea in a grammatically pleasant way.
This is a huge job for anyone! I'm working on vocabulary, conjugating of verbs, grammar, listening skills, and pronunciation all at once. I think that my initial expectations were a little high for myself. Don't worry, I'm still going to get there, but it will more painful than expected.
Take today's sermon for example. I got the basic idea. I was challenged spiritually. But I missed most of the illustrations. I do best when the preacher reads a verse and then comments on it. I do worst when he says, "Now that reminds me of this time when . . ."
Pray that I'll find some good Tico language helpers. I talked to a guard down the street for about 30 minutes today--that was good. But I need to find more people like that. As the guard, Virgilio, told me, "People in San Jose only want to talk if they want you to do something for them." That's an exaggeration, but it will take time to find more good language helpers.
The Costa Ricans have a phrase they use for many things . . . "Pura vida," which literally means "pure life." How's your day? Pura vida. How's your car running? Pura vida (okay, I haven't heard that one because we don't have a car, but I've heard it's really used).
But the funny thing is that "pura vida" isn't all that pure. I was talking to our neighbor tonight, and he told me to be very careful around here. He said the houses are like jails, which is true. We need four keys to get through the front door, and our gate has barbed wire fit for a war zone.
The economy here has major cracks in it. Inflation is at 13%, and scandals abound. Something like two or three ex-presidents are in jail for corruption.
The weather has been strange here too, so they tell me. Limon, a city on the Carribean coast has had horrific flooding, leaving thousands of people without shelter.
This reminds me that we live in a fallen world. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," as Scripture says. Even though Ticos may say "pura vida," they need the forgiveness and new life offered in Jesus Christ as much as any other people.
These difficulties are actually good for us. The transition to Colombia will be easier. We'll be used to watching our backs and locking numerous locks and carrying a hidden billfold. God is good!
Our classes started yesterday in the language school. Holly and I are in the same grammar class for two hours, then we split apart for our conversation and pronunciation classes.
Holly has (moderately) struggled with the language for the simple fact that Costa Rican (they say Tico for the adjective) Spanish is different than Colombian Spanish. This has caused her some confusion. For example, the word for "grass" and "pacifier" are different. But she'll adjust. I told her it's a good experience for her to understand what most of us missionaries deal with on a regular basis. She looked at the paradigm of the Spanish verb and said, "Wow, I can't imagine memorizing that!" Well, I can.
Actually, Spanish has been going pretty well. I can understand virtually everything the teachers say, which is all in Spanish. They put me in the highest grammar class for our trimester and the second highest for conversation (Holly of course is in the most advanced for both).
The kids have been struggling with different aspects of living here. Lucas found an anthill at his Kinder class yesterday. I'm not sure why he let a bunch of them bite him, but he did. The kids have been waking up really early and not going to sleep very easily either. Oh well, what can we expect? They have enjoyed their Tica teachers and classmates.
Well, I better sign off for now. We have Internet at our house now, so updating and communicating will be easier.
This week at language school is orientation week. We´re really enjoying the sessions each day. The most fascinating session today dealt with the political and economic situation here in Costa Rica. According to the businessman who did the session, Costa Rica cannot produce anything cheaper than they can import, except Costa Rican babies.
For this reason, they have begun to focus primarily on tourism and service industries. 95% of Intel processors are put together here in San Jose.
Social security here is also very comprehensive. We´re learning about that because we´ll become employers when we hire a maid. We plan on having her work only one day per week, but it will really help. House work takes longer because we don´t have all of the same amenities (e.g. we don´t have a dryer).
Well, gotta run back to class.
We safely arrived in San José on Monday evening. The Carters picked us up at the airport, and we arrived at our new home.
Addresses are very interesting here because they don´t use street addresses but instead mark meters from a landmark (note: the landmark may no longer exist). Our house is a nice two bedroom located about 10 minutes walk from the language school. The interior is very nice; picture light orange and white stucco, blue ceramic tiles on some of the counters, and brown tile floors. We have a cute little backyard, probably about 25 feet by 10 feet. The first morning I took a cold shower . . . thankfully we figured out how the shower-head heater works, so I had a moderately hot shower today.
We´ve already had a few interesting cultural experiences. You put your trash out on the sidewalk twice per week. I didn´t want wild dogs to get the trash so I put it on our enclosed entryway. That was a mistake as the big black dog next door (somehow) pushed his body in enough to grab the bag and rip its contents out. Sorry next door neighbors! Then another stray dog made our neighbor dog angry at 4 a.m. this morning, causing him to bark angrily for about 40 minutes.
Holly, Scott, his brother, and I went to a big store for major purchases last night. Things are expensive here, so the bill came to $330. I pulled out my trusty Visa, and heard an angry beep. It said something like, ¨Your card has been rejected.¨ Thankfully Scott and I had enough cash between the two of us to cover the bill! That would have been very embarrassing as Holly and Scott´s brother had already taken the carts out to a taxi.
We had our first day of orientation today. I´m really going to enjoy the year of Spanish. The people at the language school are very gracious. Lucas and Eliana had a great first day of Kinder (like a preschool).
Climate note: I hate to say it, but we left an ice storm in Iowa to come to 70 degree, sunny weather, surrounded by green mountains on every side. Oh, our backyard also has bright pink and orange flowers.
Thanks for your prayers--God has blessed in our first days here.
Today is the big day. We'll be leaving shortly for the Des Moines Int'l Airport to leave for Costa Rica. Right now freezing rain is falling in Ames, but hey, that never stopped us before (I'm from Minnesota).
We'll try to keep you updated as we have a chance. May the Lord bless each and every one of you who prays for us--as Christ said, "apart from Me you can do nothing."
We'll be leaving Des Moines at 12:05 to Houston, then on to San Jose, Costa Rica, arriving at 9:17 p.m. (if the Lord allows us to get out of Iowa).