Wow. Finally in Costa Rica!! Que fino! We arrived here on Friday afternoon and it's been a blast ever since. Saturday we had a youth get together with a couple of the other churches around and after singing (off-key), eating (rice and beans for breakfast, noodles for lunch) we played a ton of ping-pong. Me and Wade came so close to beating the best team out there...Sunday has been awesome so far. Church was so different from back home. (Granted for me church back home is house church and thus still non-traditional, it was still different from many of the services I've been to.) The prayers were different, communion had a solemness to it that was far from the same, the songs focused on different aspects, and boy was it formal! On my first time to this church I served communion and prayed in the adults class. This is going to be an interesting summer since I really don't like being in front of crowds. But it'll be good. At four we are going to a church plant about twenty minutes away where there are only two members who are baptized. I'm pretty excited cause it sounds so new and I don't feel like I've seen a brand new group of Christians in so long. At home, Christianity feels so stale but here it is far from. It's awesome. My host family is about the best ever. Nora is a great cook. Esteban is almost 17 and a real goofy guy. Adrianna and Alejandra are 19 and 22 and real cool too. Ronald is probably the most humble man I have ever met and a great teacher. The way he deals with people is so awesome, he's so personal. It is truly inspiring.
The last couple of days I was thinking about why I had come or was brought here. I can't really think of a particular need I'm filling. I'm not loving on orphans, I'm not ministering to street kids dejected by society, I'm not running a camp, I'm not even in charge of the youth group. I'm not here to teach. So why am I here? I realize that I am very much a person who tries to do things and knows alot about things but not always understands intimately. It slowly (very slowly) came to me that maybe God did not bring me here to do anything in particular. The church is fine when I got here and will be fine when I leave. I'm not going to convert dozens in my time here. While we are here, we will also be going to a language school. Maybe this whole time here is "school". Maybe God is trying to tell me that I need to stop doing and planning but figure out how to live out his message where I am, when I am. Maybe I am just here to learn, to soak, to watch, to listen, to mull things over. I am not here to actively teach, campaign, or correct. I am here to learn how to embody Christ where I am. While I do feel a sense of comfort realizing there is a point to me being in Desamparados, Costa Rica, embodying Christ is a real daunting task especially without the benefits of being distracted by task that I usually fill my life with.
So that is what I want to really practice these next two months. I challenge you to do so with me. Inevitably we will have task and actions to do that have a specific purpose but over all, let's just be. I guess the Beatles did speak words of wisdom, "let it be."
"Be still, and know that I am God" Psalms 46:10
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey Travis, great to hear that you're there and soaking it all in! I'm a little stubborn...proud...assertive...pick whatever word you want, so I often forget how much I need to learn. I think God is going to teach you so much this summer! And I have not forgotten the picture, I took it last week and will email it to your school email soon. Maybe tonight, who knows?
ReplyDelete