Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Trouble in the Jungle

It is not an easy life to work here in the Costa Rica. Sure there are bugs and snakes, and no electricity, but these are easy difficulties. The challenges come with people. It is very hard to know who to trust, and who is genuine. I see a lot of breakdowns in communication all around me. Many relationships are strained, and I am not a part of this world enough to be able to see the whole picture.

I wonder why it is that G-d does not make things more obvious. Things like which decision is most compatible with his plan, or how to live a life. I know that he has a plan, but it is much harder to follow a plan and be bought into it without very open communication.

I think that part of my problem is that my communication with G-d is not very good. I do not pray enough, and I do not read the scripture enough, and even though I spend much time thinking about G-d, I do not spend enough time resting in his presence. For me to say that the communication problem is on his end would be like me saying that the instructions were not clear when I did not even read the instruction book.

I Am More of a Mountains Person

Today we travelled to Puerto Viejo via a very bumpy ride in the Land Rover, and tomorrow we travel by truck and by boat to the Delta property. I will try to post pictures when I can. Hopefully we will be able to go to Cauita next week, but that is still up in the air at this point because of some paperwork that needs to be done. I don’t really understand it myself, but it is none of my business, so that is okay.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

This is Serious

Decisions, decisions, decisions…


I have been talking with Ana Moshenek about my commitment to work with the mission at the Delta Property, and she has asked me to consider something. She wants me to consider coming down as soon as July, and postponing my road trip until I have finished six months of work at the Delta, helping Juan to get started in ministry there. She believes that I will have a bigger impact in 6 months now, than in many more months, later on.

On the one hand, It would be a good thing to help the mission by coming down sooner to support Juan, but on the other hand, I am afraid that if I come, I will have another reason to put off my trip in 6 months and will never get around to traveling the U.S.A. This is something that I will be praying about, and I invite your advice on the topic as well. I plan to talk to my dad and some other men that I respect when I get home.

Monday, June 15, 2009

O-B-E-Y Obey Your Mom and Dad

“Hey man, do you mind if I take a turn on the tire?”

The spare tire provided some small relief as we bounced along the rocky roads of Costa Rica in a trailer. Ahead of us, the 1969 Land Rover chugged grumpily onward. We had been riding for about 45 minutes, and we were almost to the house where Umparo lives. Umparo is a short, almost toothless lady that loves the L-rd passionately. She moved out into the country after her son caught brain fever, and luckily, she was able to nurse him back to health. In her home today, we held the first meeting of a small church plant in her area.

Pastor Franklin, the new pastor of the congregation at Media Vuelta, preached a strong message about how the L-rd will protect us from spiritual attacks when we submit to him. It reminded me of how parents and children relate. A child is underneath the protection and care of his parents, but when he refuses to obey and submit to them, he removes himself from their protection. The big difference between submitting to G-d and submitting to your parents is that there comes a point in your life when you no longer need the protection of your parents and you are no longer required to submit to them, but we always need to submit to G-d.

I Already Took a Bath

I fell in the river for the first time today. I was carrying the first load of supplies to the boat, and I slipped on the muddy bottom step. Luckily I only went in thigh deep, so my cloths and bags were reasonably dry. I will have to wash my cloths now, but that is okay because we are traveling to Puerto Viejo soon, where Ana has a washing machine.

Seeing how everyone relates around here has me somewhat nervous about coming down in November. I don’t like how easy it is to talk about people when they are not around. I am also worried because I want to make sure that when I am down here, I am able to take care of myself and get the rest that I need. It is important to me that I establish a relationship with Ana in which I am a partner and contributor, not a peon worker. Please pray for this.