My experience in Costa Rica was amazing. I went with Edge Outreach; a ministry based in Louisville. A group of college students from Depauw University were part of the main group. Steve and Annette from Crescent Hill Baptist were also there doing a documentary on the water in Costa Rica for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
We stayed in the Mission House (La Case de Agua Pura) in San Francisco de Dos Rios (outside of San Jose). Edgar and Julie are the Missionaries stationed there at the Mission House. Anna and Lucy were the cooks and they were amazing!
We worked in two slum areas outside of San Jose -- La Carpio and La Tabla. While ministering in these barrios I met the most amazing people. First, I met Steve (from Texas) and Antonio. These two guys are in charge of ministering to the children of La Carpio. The kids love them and they show the love of Christ in amazing ways. We were able to install a water purification system in La Carpio. Steve has started a soccer team in the slum and they won a big championship game this year. Steve prays with the guys before each game. He also shares the eternal love of Christ with them on a daily basis. I asked Steve what his strategy was with the soccer team and he said, "My strategy is no strategy. I just let the guys play."
Pastora Bella Flor and her husband minister in La Tabla. She has developed a feeding program with Food for the Hungry for almost 100 children. She has sought justice for many women in abuse cases. Almost 15 churches have come and gone in the last 10 years in La Tabla but the church - Jehovah Shama (God is Here) has remained a lighthouse for 10 years in La Tabla. I greatly admire these ministers of the Gospel. Their compassion for the poor and downtrodden and their search for justice seemed to have no limits. If you are reading this now, stop and pray for Steve, Antonio and Pastora Bella Flor! Ask God's protection and full Armor of God (Ephesians 6) to be hovering over them.
We were also able to install a water purifier at a church in El Colorado - a fishing village in the Guanacaste area. We had the privilege of hooking up the purifier to a well so the church and community members don't have to spend more money on city water. The Pastor and his wife were extremely grateful and are excited about the opportunities that pure water will enable them to share the pure love of Jesus Christ.
God also gave us the opportunity to minister at an Orphanage in El Coronado. We added another tank to their water purifier so that they can drink clean water, cook in clean water and take showers in clean water. The director of the orphanage informed our group that since the children have been able to drink clean water - they no longer have to take parasite medicine and they go to the doctor much less.
I once read that Mother Teresa believed that there is a unique spirituality that comes to us through the poor. Matthew 25 tells us that we find God's presence among the poor. Through the friendships I built with the poor and downtrodden in Costa Rica, I experienced God and the scriptures in a new way. Through fellowship with the children in La Carpio, I learned things about God that I believe cannot be learned in any other way. I understand Mark 10 much better now. There is no wonder Jesus commanded the rich young ruler in Mark 10 to sell all he had and give it to the poor....Jesus knew what would happen when that rich young ruler would encounter the poor. It is not just that the poor need help but I discovered that the poor are in touch with spiritual realities that self-sufficient rich folks can never know (hence the story of the Rich young Ruler.) As I listened to the testimonies of the poor, the Holy Spirit taught me a great many things about the Scriptures that middle class people like me often fail to grasp.
I am grateful that I am now able to see the scriptures through the eyes of the oppressed because the Bible is a story of a God who hears the cries of the oppressed both spiritually and socially. My God is a God who provides deliverance not only from sin and guilt but also from poverty and racial discrimination.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and Christian, once said when Jesus calls a man, he calls him to come and die. Jesus calls all of us and it requires the death of personal and nationalistic self interests, the sacrifice of material possession, and ego in response to the poor and downtrodden.
If you are reading this and you are frustrated with God or the church, I pray that you will commit to take a mission trip somewhere where you'll be in fellowship with the poor. God will restore your faith and your worldview.
BLESSINGS!
