Below is a picture of the Llano Grande Bible study group, minus the two oldest daughters of the Marin family and Roy, Teresita's husband, who have been a little inconsistent in the study.
Gilberth leads the study and all but the youngest children participate in the discussion and prayers.
Please pray for these two families to have a strong witness in their small town, and pray for similar Bible studies that are going on in many areas of Costa Rica. It is often hard for them to be very outgoing with their witness because it bucks the culture and tradition of their friends and family that they have to live with.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Christmas,family, and other thoughts
Thursday we leave Costa Rica for Knoxville, TN to spend Christmas with our family. It will be our first Christmas with them in 6 years. Of course, I'm speaking of our immediate family...children, grandchildren, sister and family, and my mother. My first thought was to describe them as "blood relatives", but then I remembered that we are "blood" kin to all true Christians. The shed blood of Jesus unites all believers into one family.
We have found it difficult to shift the thinking of people here from a ritualistic, works oriented religion to a grace-filled, completed sacrifice relationship. However, there is one practice that seems kind of appropriate. Often in manger scenes, the baby Jesus isn't put into the crib until the last hour before Christmas day...thus completing the scene. I'm not sure that the symbolism is the same as my interpretation, but for sure, Christmas isn't really Christmas without Christ.
Can you imagine a holiday called, "mas"? Although, as I think about it, that might be appropriate for how we too often view Christmas. A little Spanish lesson..."Mas" means "more" in Spanish. Too often that's what Christmas has become to many...as in, "Give me more."
But then, on the other hand, "more" is what you get when you truly put "Christ" in Christmas. Not more stuff, but rather more peace, more life, more love.
Hope you all have a great Christmas...not just "mas cosas" (more things) but filled with Christ.
We have found it difficult to shift the thinking of people here from a ritualistic, works oriented religion to a grace-filled, completed sacrifice relationship. However, there is one practice that seems kind of appropriate. Often in manger scenes, the baby Jesus isn't put into the crib until the last hour before Christmas day...thus completing the scene. I'm not sure that the symbolism is the same as my interpretation, but for sure, Christmas isn't really Christmas without Christ.
Can you imagine a holiday called, "mas"? Although, as I think about it, that might be appropriate for how we too often view Christmas. A little Spanish lesson..."Mas" means "more" in Spanish. Too often that's what Christmas has become to many...as in, "Give me more."
But then, on the other hand, "more" is what you get when you truly put "Christ" in Christmas. Not more stuff, but rather more peace, more life, more love.
Hope you all have a great Christmas...not just "mas cosas" (more things) but filled with Christ.
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