Have a Seat

"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night."

(Piper, John. A Hunger for God. Crossway, 1997.)

Costa Rica - Day 2

Maybe I'll end up making blog posts a higher priority after all. It's an effective way for me to accomplish multiple things at once: telling my family/friends about what I'm doing, journaling (I know...I know), and documenting what I do each day. It's a win for everyone right, as long as my posts aren't lame?

We went to the church building today and met with the senior pastor. He told us about his long term plans for the church and how they really want to start changing the culture of Ticos. People live paycheck to paycheck and are hesitant to invest in their futures, which causes them to be stuck in the rut of living paycheck to paycheck. Interest rates are so high, they can't afford to get loans to start a business or purchase a home. A loan to start a business requires a detailed business plan and collateral. If they can even get those things they are looking at interest rates of 25%. Credit card interest rates are 45%.

The church is also struggling financially. Talk about putting things into perspective. They have come up with some innovative ways to keep their building though! They have given up their classroom space in the basement of the church to allow a bakery to move in. The bakery is not affiliated with the church, so they collect a fair rent. But still provides an opportunity to witness to the business owners and patrons of the paneria. You'll never guess what else they're doing to provide cash flow and job training for a few church members. Seriously, you'll never guess. They use their sanctuary as an automobile repair shop. Yea, I know! A few guys from the church work on cars in the sanctuary and divide the income among themselves, church staff and the building costs. Leaving a small portion to be reinvested into the business for tools, etc. Would you do that with your sanctuary? Last time I checked, most churches in the US don't even allow food or beverages into the sanctuary.

A Church Sanctuary?

We also took some time driving around San Jose to see the varying lifestyles: lower class, middle class, and upper class. There is quite a contrast even with minimal separation. One road had squatters (people who just built a home on some vacant land) on one side and middle class, decent looking homes on the other. I also discovered the United States' greatest global export: materialism. We walked through a mall where we saw signs advertising financing....at a Payless Shoesource. Ticos will get store financing, with a very high interest rate, just to keep up with trendy fashions.

After dinner at a parishioner's home we headed to the school to start our training. It got off to a slow start but in the end we had a great time. This evening I met with about 10 teenagers to discuss technology today. Our intention is to get them excited about using technology for ministry. More specifically, supplementing their church. They all have Facebook pages and use Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube. One young lady is evening training to be Cisco certified. We played a fun game that maybe I can share with my Sunday School class someday. Tomorrow we meet with our classes again in the evening. The team will also be available at the church all afternoon for participants to ask individual questions and dig deeper.

My Class

When I woke up this morning God was laying on my heart some Scripture that I needed to share with the students. It was about how we all spend our time online. What we say. Pictures we post. Do they represent us as Christians? First I shared what God commands us not to do in Ecclesiastes 5:2-3 and Ephesians 4:29. Then what He commands us to do in Colossians 4:6, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." I explained to them that what you say online needs to reflect the life of a Christian. We must not allow non-Believers to call us hypocrites based on how we treat others online anymore than how we treat others in person. Prayerfully consider what you have representing yourself on the web, if God was looking at your Facebook page would he approve? Because he is.

Buenas noches! Hopefully we can do this again tomorrow night.

The Visitor

So we (me, Jack, Wesley, and Elise) were doing our nightly Bible devotions. The story that we were studying was the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her that she was going to become pregnant and have a boy that she was to name Jesus. The devotional suggested asking the kids about visitors that had been by that day or that were going to come by the next day. There were also instructions for a short game where the parent gives clues about a person that visits the children so that they can try to guess who Mom or Dad are thinking of.

I thought of a person and started giving the kids clues. My first clue was, “This person always gets a ride when they come to visit.” This resulted in blank stares from all the children so I gave the next clue, “This person is a woman, a female. It’s a girl who always gets a ride to our house when she visits.” More blank stares so I moved on to my next clue, “This person is very old. I’m thinking of a woman that is very old and always gets rides to our house when she visits. Any guesses now?”

I looked at Jack and he shouted, “Debbie!”

I said, trying really hard not to laugh, “That’s not who I’m thinking of. It’s a good guess but I’m thinking of someone that is really old.”

Wesley says, with a facial expression that only Wesley can have, “Debbie’s pretty old.”

“She’s not that old, the person I’m thinking of is much older,” I said.

Wesley responds, “But she’s old.”

It was time to move on from Debbie. “Good guess, Jack, but that’s not who I was thinking of. The person I’m thinking of is Grandpa’s mom,” I said.

Wesley shouts, “Grandma!”

“No, Grandma is not Grandpa’s mom, Wesley,” I respond.

“But Grandpa always calls her ‘mom,’” Wesley says.

“Yes he does,” I said, “but she’s not his mom.”

“Why does he call her that then?” Wesley asks.

I answered, “It’s a nickname from when your mommy was a kid. That’s definitely not who I was thinking of. Ok, the visitor that I’m thinking of is a girl who always gets a ride to our house and is Grandpa’s mom. Any more guesses?”

“Great Grandma!?” asks Jack.

“Yes! Great Grandma.”