Sunday, October 29, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Up in Upala
We were UP in Upala, near the Nicarauga border...the temperature was up; the work was up; the activities were up...
A group of volunteers from Mississippi worked all week distributing the gospel, promoting videos that were shown in various places, and making new friends. It was a full week. We showed videos in two schools, twice in a small rural church, and on Friday night, in the central park of the little town of Upala.
I have to admit, I was skeptical about getting to show the Jesus movie in the park. Not that I thought we wouldn't get permission, but more that it would all come together. There was a large kiosk, or gazebo, type structure in the center of the park. It was covered and large enough for a big crowd...only one problem,there was no power. There were connections and outlets, just no power. A resident and a pastor who worked with us were assured by the city officials that they would get the power on in time for the movie, which was at 7 p.m. By 6 they still hadn't turned it on. I already had been figuring out alternatives, oh me of little faith. Sure enough, shortly after 6 we had power. Over 250 people watched the movie and several (8 or 10) accepted Christ afterwards.
Another "power" situation occurred earlier in the week. We were to show a video to school children in a sort of recreation area. Same deal kind of...there was power sources, but not hooked up. The group decided to gather and pray for the situation and just as they finished the prayer, the man got it hooked up, and we had electricity. Coincidence?
The group distributed 1100 copies of the gospel of John. Seed was sown, and our prayer is that a harvest will come.
A group of volunteers from Mississippi worked all week distributing the gospel, promoting videos that were shown in various places, and making new friends. It was a full week. We showed videos in two schools, twice in a small rural church, and on Friday night, in the central park of the little town of Upala.
I have to admit, I was skeptical about getting to show the Jesus movie in the park. Not that I thought we wouldn't get permission, but more that it would all come together. There was a large kiosk, or gazebo, type structure in the center of the park. It was covered and large enough for a big crowd...only one problem,there was no power. There were connections and outlets, just no power. A resident and a pastor who worked with us were assured by the city officials that they would get the power on in time for the movie, which was at 7 p.m. By 6 they still hadn't turned it on. I already had been figuring out alternatives, oh me of little faith. Sure enough, shortly after 6 we had power. Over 250 people watched the movie and several (8 or 10) accepted Christ afterwards.
Another "power" situation occurred earlier in the week. We were to show a video to school children in a sort of recreation area. Same deal kind of...there was power sources, but not hooked up. The group decided to gather and pray for the situation and just as they finished the prayer, the man got it hooked up, and we had electricity. Coincidence?
The group distributed 1100 copies of the gospel of John. Seed was sown, and our prayer is that a harvest will come.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Monday, October 02, 2006
Gangs and the Gospel
First Baptist Church of Middleton, Tennessee sent five super folks to work with us last week. We spent the week working in San Francisco de Coronado in the shadow of an interesting old Gothic style Catholic church and in a rough area with the unlikely name of Eden. Working with some members of a Baptist church located a few barrios away, we spent the week going door to door, chatting with people, and distributing the gospel of John to each family. In all, 1930 copies were given out.
The first morning was spent prayer walking (just what it sounds like...walking down every street and praying for the families and asking God to bless them and our work). Being the rainy season, we quickly changed our schedule when the first afternoon was washed out by torrential rain. The rest of the week we started earlier and worked through the noon hour. By the time we had finished lunch each day, around 2:30-3:00, the rain started, and we were pretty much through for the day. It worked out fine.
It's always interesting to talk with the people.Very seldom are they antagonistic or discourteous. Like everywhere, they are busy, but after we explain who we are and what we are doing, they seem to appreciate it. A few want to chat and a few want to have a real discussion. Most, of course, take the little book, thank us, and return to the house. Getting the attention of people is something people from the states aren't used to. Most houses don't have door bells, but virtually all houses have iron fences. You have to tap on the fence with a coin or key and say, "Upe"(oo-pay) or "Buenas" loud enough for them to hear. (Hearing "upe" in the various American accents can be comical at times. Southerners can actually make the two syllable word into 4 syllables.)
People aren't ignorant of various groups. Quite a few ask if we are of a couple of particular groups. When we assure them we aren't, they seem to relax a bit and are more willing to talk. My spiel is to assure a person we aren't of those groups, but that we are Christians, evangelicos (evangelicals), Baptists, and that our purpose is that every person know Jesus as Savior and read the Bible.
Eden is a poor barrio with a lot of drug related problems. Teen-age boys in groups (gangs?) hang around the streets with their head rags on and are a little intimidating. Before we began working in that area, the Ticos (Costa Ricans) warned us not to get separated from them. They were afraid that gringos would be sure targets for the local elements. Some of them were a little hesitant as well, but they were determined to work the area. We were all impressed that after prayer-walking the area, we didn't have a single incident of harrasment or threat. In fact, we had a pretty good opportunity to talk with some of the boys and give them the gospel.
One somewhat amusing incident...One afternoon I took the group from Tennessee to see the old Gothic Catholic church. Of course, in front of every Catholic church there is a park. We were in the park and there was a group of young men, older teens, who were playing "hac-a-sac" (probably not spelled right). One of our group, a young adult decided he wanted to play with them, so he joined the group...did pretty well too. They seemed to accept him, at least as a curiosity. After he finished playing, I informed him that he needed to get himself a head rag, because he had just crashed the game of one of the local gangs. At first he was a little shaken that he had done it, then, I think, a little proud. It did give us the opportunity to give them each a copy of the gospel.
It was a good week, and at least 10 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior. I don't know how many indicated that they were interested in more information, but quite a few. The pastor of the church will follow up on those.
The first morning was spent prayer walking (just what it sounds like...walking down every street and praying for the families and asking God to bless them and our work). Being the rainy season, we quickly changed our schedule when the first afternoon was washed out by torrential rain. The rest of the week we started earlier and worked through the noon hour. By the time we had finished lunch each day, around 2:30-3:00, the rain started, and we were pretty much through for the day. It worked out fine.
It's always interesting to talk with the people.Very seldom are they antagonistic or discourteous. Like everywhere, they are busy, but after we explain who we are and what we are doing, they seem to appreciate it. A few want to chat and a few want to have a real discussion. Most, of course, take the little book, thank us, and return to the house. Getting the attention of people is something people from the states aren't used to. Most houses don't have door bells, but virtually all houses have iron fences. You have to tap on the fence with a coin or key and say, "Upe"(oo-pay) or "Buenas" loud enough for them to hear. (Hearing "upe" in the various American accents can be comical at times. Southerners can actually make the two syllable word into 4 syllables.)
People aren't ignorant of various groups. Quite a few ask if we are of a couple of particular groups. When we assure them we aren't, they seem to relax a bit and are more willing to talk. My spiel is to assure a person we aren't of those groups, but that we are Christians, evangelicos (evangelicals), Baptists, and that our purpose is that every person know Jesus as Savior and read the Bible.
Eden is a poor barrio with a lot of drug related problems. Teen-age boys in groups (gangs?) hang around the streets with their head rags on and are a little intimidating. Before we began working in that area, the Ticos (Costa Ricans) warned us not to get separated from them. They were afraid that gringos would be sure targets for the local elements. Some of them were a little hesitant as well, but they were determined to work the area. We were all impressed that after prayer-walking the area, we didn't have a single incident of harrasment or threat. In fact, we had a pretty good opportunity to talk with some of the boys and give them the gospel.
One somewhat amusing incident...One afternoon I took the group from Tennessee to see the old Gothic Catholic church. Of course, in front of every Catholic church there is a park. We were in the park and there was a group of young men, older teens, who were playing "hac-a-sac" (probably not spelled right). One of our group, a young adult decided he wanted to play with them, so he joined the group...did pretty well too. They seemed to accept him, at least as a curiosity. After he finished playing, I informed him that he needed to get himself a head rag, because he had just crashed the game of one of the local gangs. At first he was a little shaken that he had done it, then, I think, a little proud. It did give us the opportunity to give them each a copy of the gospel.
It was a good week, and at least 10 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior. I don't know how many indicated that they were interested in more information, but quite a few. The pastor of the church will follow up on those.
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