Cultural Quagmire

I've mentioned it before, but one of the big problems of working with people in Latin America is that their "religion" is so ingrained in their culture and social life. Here's an example.

Last week one of our missionary couples, Brent and Savannah Sorrels, scheduled a baptism service for several new believers...a happy occasion...They knew that some of the people were still moderately attending the Catholic church, while at the same time, attending our Bible study group. They had accepted Christ and the Sorrels really believe they are saved, but leaving the very center of your cultural and social life is hard.

What they didn't know was that one of the young girls who was to be baptized was going to be "confirmed" in the Catholic church the very same day. What do you do? How do you deal with this? This young girl doesn't see the dichotomy in the issue. She doesn't know much about Catholic doctrine. All she really knows is the Catholic youth group, which is fun and where all her friends are. Every young person is confirmed. She says mass is boring and she doesn't understand it, but youth group is contemporary and fun. (Does this sound familiar?)

Such are the ongoing problems of a missionary.

Pray for these pastors

Pastors in Costa Rica often have the same type of problems that pastors have anywhere...with a few more added due to culture and economy. Being a pastor in a country where another religion is dominant is hard. It's not the respected and accepted position that it is in the U. S.

Permit me to introduce you to three pastors who need your prayers. Of course there are more, but these three have come to my attention lately.

First, there is Rigoberto. Rigoberto lives in Quesada and is pastor of a small church which is about 6 years old. It was growing well until lately. Then what happened? A couple of people got upset about something. It doesn't matter what it was really. Their immaturity caused a disruption of fellowship and several families left the church. Understandably, Rigoberto is discouraged, and when pastors get discouraged, the church suffers too. Often they all begin to focus on problems instead of blessings and there is just a lack of joy. Rigoberto shared that they are struggling to have good music, a common problem for all small churches, especially in Latin America. Pray for Rigoberto to be encouraged and for God to work in the church to bring a fresh wind of joy and accord.

Gilberto is a fairly new Christian. He is not officially a pastor...hasn't been ordained or licensed or any of those official things, but he is leading a group of new believers in weekly Bible study and will take over full leadership of the group when one of our missionaries leaves in a couple of weeks. (Sounds kind of New Testament, doesn't it?) Gilberto came out of a pretty bad lifestyle. He used to drive a taxi and got in to all kinds of stuff. But he gave up his taxi because it presented too many temptations. For a while he had a small bakery, but that has proven unprofitable, so he shut it down. About the same time that happened, he lost his house. No, it wasn't repossessed. In a quasi-legal maneuver, the man from whom he was buying the house sold it to someone else and made Gilberto and his family move out. They had lived there and made payments for 14 years. Those kinds of things happen down here. Basically, they now have nothing. But Gilberto wants to stay in the town where they have been living and continue to lead the group. He needs your prayers.

One last pastor...thankfully, more positive, but still needing prayer. Leandro is pastor of a church in a rural area in northern Costa Rica. He lives very simply, as most do in the area. (We would view it as very poor, but to them it's normal.) Leandro is a progressive thinker and is very mission minded. He has several cell Bible study groups going in closeby villages and is looking for ways to start more. Leandro is training people to be leaders of these groups and has a view to reach as many as he can in the area. Pray that God will continue to give him vision.

Costa Rican Neighbors

Last Tuesday, September 21, eight of our neighbors entertained us in one of their homes as a welcome time. They were delightful, and we feel so blessed to finally get to meet them. Remember how desperate I was to know the Mexico City neighbors?

These 8 folks are all about our age and middle-class people who have lived in this neighborhood 30 years or so and raised their children here.

We spent three house snacking on chips and dip and talking about the country, books they'd read, neighborhood traffic problems, etc. Does this sound soooooooooooo normal?!

They gave us a cactus dish garden, toasted us and prayed for us (that we would feel welcome, etc). They also told us that they didn't see much of each other but that each knew that the others are available in times of need and we believe it.

Thankfully they talked to each other most of the time as we sat and smiled and nodded. We knew the subject matter but didn't get the specifics. When they talked directly to us, the ladies especially slowed down and faced us so we could understand. Socializing is tough in a new language.

Also last Saturday I saw the man across the stree outside with his twin grandbabies. I'd never met him but without thinking (which is normal for me and the best way in Spanish) I ran over there to see the 8 month old babies and meet him and his two adult daughters. They were also very nice people and I'm pleased to have met them.

This Saturday we are having our new friends from Grecia for lunch. They own the B&B we visited a few weeks back. Costa Rica is a beautiful place to retire so attacts many Americans.

These Costa Ricans dress like we do and have the same interests and concerns - what a small world we live in!

Independence Day in Costa Rica

Yesterday, September 15, was Independence Day here in Costa Rica (in Mexico too for that matter). For over a week, the school children have been practicing marching nearly every day in front of our house. Our subdivision is called "Los Colegios" because there are so many schools in the area. Remember many children in Latin America go to private schools - more than in the U.S. First through sixth grade is "escuela" and seventh through twelve is "colegio".

Our neighbor children leave home about 6:20 a.m. for school. Since the sun rises at 5:30 a.m. everyone gets up and gets started very early down here. All children wear school uniforms too.

Anyway, they have been marching to drums with some of the girls wearing long, tiered skirts which they twirled and others carrying flag poles without flags. (They got flags for the real parade)

The culmination of all this practicing was yesterday. On the night of the 14th they have a parade of lanterns and on the morning of the 15th there are long parades in every area of town.

We went to the parade which started at 9 a.m. about 3 blocks from our house. Some of the children were dressed in the costumes of the old farmers, some as religious figures, etc. There was lots of loud drumming; baton twirling and so on.

There were thousands of folk watching. All of the groups had parents walking along side of the "bands" with mothers taking drinks of water and Gatorade out to the children periodically.

We heard a few firecrackers but didn't see anything. It isn't really a very big holiday here but we missionaries know how to celebrate Independence Day so got together in the afternoon for a cookout and homemade ice cream.

You may or may not know that Costa Rica has no military and is a very peaceful, prosperous country - for Latin America. The people are very modern and "in the know". You will find few Costa Ricans in the U.S. as they have no good reason to leave home - life is good here.

Last night we visited in the home of Oscar and Zeidy (Sadie) Brenes. In the move to Costa Rica a leg on a chair was broken and Oscar, being adept in wood work, repaired the chair. We went to their house to pick up the chair.

Oscar is 42 years old...a humble man who loves the Lord, as does his wife, Zeidy. Several years ago Oscar and Zeidy moved to Boquerón, managed to buy a small lot and began building a very modest house. Oscar has a notebook containing drawings of the house in some detail. Each page is marked with a date and time, and sometimes, a scripture. He says God gave him the vision and plan for the house, because each idea came during or after much prayer for God's leadership. That's the significance of the dates and times. Each indicates the time God gave him the idea for that part of the house.

As I said, it's a modest house...nothing really unusual or in the least fancy except that the wood work displays the craft an artist. What captures your attention is the front part of the house. Oscar and Zeidy have built a small worship center, what we might call a chapel. They have turned the garage into a meeting place for believers. Being a worker of wood, Oscar built very nice, but not fancy, pews and a small pulpit. The wall behind the pulpit is painted with a very pretty mountain scene.

Oscar is the pastor of a small congregation of believers who come each Sunday to this little chapel. The children learn of the love of Jesus and the adults join in worship and prayer. Talk about a "house church."

Oscar does his wood crafting and sells what he can. Zeidy could work outside the home at a job, but she says that often ladies come to the house for her advice, encouragement, and counseling so she doesn't want to be away. Besides , she wants to be with her girls, 8 and 6. They receive no pay from the church members. Oscar and Zeidy struggle financially, but they believe they are in the will of the Lord, and, as those who are sure of their place in the Lord, are happy.

For those of us who are used to big buildings, big budgets, and professional staffs, this seems unusual, maybe even "quaint." Some would say silly. But where evangelicals are in the minority and believers are few, this type of situation is more the norm than large congregations and nice buildings. No, every little group doesn't have an Oscar and Zeidy who turn part of their house into a chapel. But more often than not, groups are meeting in houses until there is not enough room, then struggling to find a place big enough to hold them.

Pray for Oscar and Zeidy. But also pray for all the other small groups of believers that are so in the minority in this, and other countries. They don't have the luxury of having many churches to choose from (if that is indeed a blessing). They do the best they can and don't worry too much about competing with the church down the road.

Oscar & Zeidy Brenes