The Random Family

What exactly do you mean by, “The Random Family?” Good question – I’m so glad you asked! Me explico – Let me explain. We have had 3 people living with us for quite a few months. Because of the dynamics of the group, we have different dinner times, but typically we share breakfast and morning devotions. We are living in community, as Les and I continue to gear up for VAYA, starting in January 2015 (almost here!). Together, we form a very diverse “family.” You see, there is something in us all that longs for family. We have a longing for this that God built into us. And so, Les is the Dad, I am the Mom, we have Tito, Amy and Dayis. We are in a large house, but can frequently be found together in the small office. Additionally, we have a whole host of other people who come to various things at our house; everything from morning devotions, to English tutoring, to mentoring to weekly Vineyard prayer meetings to monthly Vineyard (Viña) Spanish worship nights. We’re not dormitory residents, we’re a family. It’s not always easy, but it is often entertaining!

We are not people from similar backgrounds – you couldn’t get much more diverse. Two of us are Spanish speakers with English as a second language and 3 of us are English speakers, with Spanish as a 2nd language. David, who is the Assistant Pastor now is often found at our house -for worship team music practice, meals, movies and just plain life.

Together, we form a family – it’s just a very “random” family, so named by Amy, a missionary from S. Dakota serving in the Los Anonos community. But because of our language challenges, we often speak Spanglish – the Ticos are trying to improve their English and we Gringos are trying to improve our Spanish. And it can be crazy! So following is a snippet of a recent conversation. I have not changed the names to protect anyone.

I was making Sopa Negra (a yummy black bean soup, served with minced onions, cilantro, grated cheese, Costa Rica sour cream which just tastes better and finally, hard boiled eggs). Que rico! (delicious!)

Diana to Amy, “You can help me peel the eggs, it’s almost ready.” We finished and Amy served first.
Dayis: “No! hay cáscara!
Me: – wait Amy, she thinks there’s shell in your soup. (Note: Amy speaks Spanish, but it just wasn’t registering.)
Dayis: “No! cáscara!”
Me: yes, shell (i.e. eggshell)
Dayis: Diana, do you know what cáscara is?
Me: yes, shell.
David: yes, it’s shelf
Me: no, not shelf, shell.
David: Shelf?
Me: no, David, it’s shell – with an “L.” Shelf is like un estante (shelf in Spanish)
David: oh, shelf?
Me: no! shellllll
David: oh, shell

Yup – I canot tell you how many times a day we have this type of discussion. Tito wasn’t home, but when he is, he joins in as well – even if he’s calling the word out from another room.  The more the merrier!  So, we switch back and forth, from language to language, trying spelling in one language and then the other … charades … whatever works!

It’s funny, we laugh, we get frustrated and when it happens throughout our day, we just get plain tired! We rub against each other, we have presonality conflicts, confrontations, forgiveness and even when angry, we love and care about each other. We’re a random family. Add into that a heaping dose of spiritual warfare that is continual when you serve here as a missionary, as we engage with friends in the community and come against the enemy and sometimes our random family has to combat even crazier things, like the most deadly snake in Costa Rica, which Tito

Deadly Terciopelo Snake

found outside our kitchen during weekly Viña (Vineyard) prayer time. The snake, a Terciopelo (a type of fer-de-lance or bothrops asper) is not normally found at our altitude and when it is, it’s by the river … not in someone’s house up a hill!  This was the day after getting stung by a venomous caterpillar (which I’m still reacting to on my leg and fingers),

Spiky Black Venemous Caterpillar

while praying in someone’s house in the community. You see, we’d been coming against a spirit of death and a spirit of depression.

Together, we form “The Random Family.”

Please keep praying for us, for our protection, for next steps and for VAYA and for breakthroughs in the community. We really do rely on everyone’s prayers!

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

~ Proverbs 27: 17

I saw this video and thought of the following verses.

Psalm 137: 7-10

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

What a marvelous and comforting thought! To know that absolutely everywhere God’s presence is with us and He will lead us and lay hold of us.

Les and I are continuing to work on VAYA, the Bible institute that will start in our home in January 2015. It continues to be a daunting task, starting a new Bible School to prepare leaders … in another culture and in another language.  In other words, it is a God-sized task! And would we want it any other way? Absolutely not! After all, what can Les and Di do that has any lasting Kingdom value? The answer is so simple – nothing apart from God. And so, in this we rest.

Meanwhile, we are continuing to develop relationships with pastors in Costa Rica, Central America and the US.  Daily we are talking to people in all of these places. Weekly we are visiting pastors and pushing the ball forward.

We have great support from Carlos Chacon (the Director of the Vineyard Federation in Central America), Elmer Rojas (in charge of church planting and a member of VAYA’s official Board) and other pastors in Costa Rica and a few other countries as well. We currently have 3-4 students whose pastors want to send them and we’re still looking for 2 Spanish speaking students.

The hurdle we are facing is having the students complete the paperwork; jumping off the cliff, so to speak. Culturally, to stop working or delay more education is very difficult. What will your Mom do if you stop contributing finances to her? Will you have the perseverance to go on to University if you take 9 months to do Bible School? There is always a cost to discipleship. And God is ALWAYS faithful.

Luke 14: 25-33

25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

It was hard when Jesus said these things. Many turned away. It is still hard today!  Please join us in praying that those who are feeling God tug at their hearts to be a part of VAYA, will respond with a strong “YES,” and experience God’s grace, as they pursue His calling.

 (Old song – great words)

2013 has been and continues to be a year of change.  Perhaps the 2 biggest changes are:

1. Empty nest syndrome – our interns Jessie and Shannon returned home and our assistant Lindsay goes home in December (which is coming up fast!) and we sent Tito off to Vida 220 (a great training program run by DeLynn Hoover).

2. We’ve decided to delay the launch of the VAYA program until January 2015. This is after numerous conversations and meetings with pastors here, much prayer and the realization that we need to make some changes.

So we’re running hard after God and His plans. We know that faith is spelled R-I-S-K and right now it feels very risky!

Summary of What We’ve Done

• Designed, written and printed print materials in Spanish (flyer, application, pastoral recomendations, welcome letter to pastors, typical daily schedule, course scope & sequence)
• Lowered the educational requirements for the program to make it more accessible to Latin America – but with a strong recommendation that they finish colegio (High School) first
• Formed an official Vineyard Association, as requested by Carolo Chacón, director of the Federation of Vineyard churches in Central America. This was a long and difficult process in another language, working with a lawyer who graciously volunteered her time. Just last week we “published” the name in the newspapter. We have a working board, which requires more Ticos than Gringos (we actually have 4 Gringos).
• Recognized the need to lower the cost for the students, again to make VAYA within their reach (wise words from our fried and pastor, Arthur –
  

  «You can’t bend the culture and the economy to fit your program. You need to bend the program to fit the culture and economy.»

What We Yet Have To Do

• Build relationships with North American churches working in Latin America – cast the vision and bring them along with us on this journey, finding ways to include them.
• Build relationships with Vineyard pastors and Friends of the Vineyard pastors in Costa Rica – again, cast the vision – help them see why they want to send someone to this program.
• Raise more funds – this is the only way we can lower the program cost and make it within reach of students
• Write, design “marketing materials” for the North American churches and the Central American pastors – Jon (our son) has done some AMAZING work on this and we’re well on our way!
• Travel in 2014 to raise awareness and support – both in the states and in Central America,or at least Costa Rica this year
• Find a ministry assistant for 2015 who speaks at least some Spanish and can share the vision and work load for the program
• Present VAYA at the Costa Rican / Central American Vineyard conference in March 2014 … in Spanish of Course
• Continue to become more and more fluent in our 2nd language
• Purchase a van before 2015, to transport students
• Putting together an English and a Spanish 1 to  1-1/2 minute video clip (could REALLY use help on this one!)

All of the above takes huge amounts of time and emotional energy, followed by more time. It also requires money. Those of you who have known us for a long time, know that we’ve never had a lot of money – but what we have is His. Right now, we have a short-fall of finances every month and are looking at every possible way to address this. This adds a significant amount of stress to our lives. In the last several weeks, 1 of our furnaces back in NH broke, a hot water heater broke as well … 1 tenant is always behind on the rent and the other tenant gave notice. So we are really fixing our eyes on God for His provision and asking Him to open up new opportunities for additional support and build new relationships. We continue to be SO thankful for each of you who already supports the ministry. It is the only way we can do what we’re doing.

And while we’re working and preparing for all of the above, we continue to be leaders in Viña Anonos, supporting the work that goes on there. I am still very involved in ladies ministry, Les is mentoring 4 young men from the community and 1 other (several of them refer to him as their father), we have 2 young men from the community who join us each morning for devotions and prayer for the community and we are involved in the church leadership team and are part of a worship team (of course!). And Les has been giving guitar lessons as well. We are also part of the team from Los Anonos and friends of Los Anonos going on the annual mission trip to Tipitapa Nicaragua in December, just before we come home for the holidays.

So – Missio Dei Costa Rica by turn  is excited, exhausted, discouraged, animated, engaged and involved, full of hope and expectation and overall … chasing hard after God.  Here’s a recent song expressing our heart. It’s called Chasing You.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGJUcor30M[/youtube]

Life does not always follow the path you expect or even the course you’ve charted.  Following after Jesus is an incredible adventure – hard, always; exciting, often; full of R-I-S-K, yup, that is how you spell faith.

All I can say is that this new part of our adventure, called VAYA, has been stretching us in many directions.  Talking the other day I (Diana) told Les, “I feel like in the Chronicles of Narnia I’ve been called to step off the cliff.

Edmund’s eyes went wide as he looked out over the cliff and then stared at Aslan as if he were nutters. “You …want me to just – step off the cliff?” C. S Lewis

So the cloud that we’re currently standing on feels fairly insubstantial.

And then God says: ‘Take another step, you’re doing great!’

and I respond, ‘Did you notice that we’ve already stepped off the cliff and this cloud is NOT feeling very comfortable … and you want us to take ANOTHER step?!’

And He responds, ‘Exactly! Take another step. You’re doing great.’

It doesn’t matter that I KNOW He will catch us. It makes no difference that we’ve lived our whole lives in this way. It just doesn’t FEEL very good right now! So many questions roll through our heads about starting a Leadership Training community living school in Latin America – (How do we pay for this? How do the students pay for this? Why do we want 6 strangers living with us? How will we have enough energy for this? Why us God!! Who are we to do something like this … ad nauseum ….) Hmm – Jason Upton wrote a song quite a few years ago that comes to my mind …. You’re the God and I’m the man is just 1 of the lines: Gideon.

We’re walking the journey, even when it’s spelled R-I-S-K and fighting for all we’re worth to KEEP our eyes on Jesus. Yes, we stumble occasionally (after all, doing presentations in front of a church in Spanish is still not easy for us). We wonder how everything will all come together and yet we are convinced we are on the right path.  Sometimes, we appear quite foolish or at least feel that way on the inside.

There are tons of spreadsheets, book lists – it’s a business plan in many ways.  We almost have all the papers signed to be a legal Costa Rica Viña Association (1 member had unexpected work issues and had to withdraw, another has been in the hospital with a raging infection – you get the picture. We’ve had challenge after challenge – and all the while we’re up against a deadline.  We’ve carried on most of the legal discussion with our lawyer … in Spanish – she’s such a blessing to us. We are so thankful that she has been donating all her time. And the people who have been excited and responding to God’s call are not who we have expected, but are God’s choices and so we are excited about them! This causes us to stretch yet again and even to reevaluate some of our approach.

And then there’s the money – we still need to make up what we lost when Jessie and Shannon (2 of our/Rodney & Cindy’s interns left – yes, we have a shortfall every month at this point) and we have to figure out how our students can afford to pay for this – just at our cost. In Costa Rica, housing is not cheap, food, electric and water are not cheap either (contrary to what you may have heard). There are teachers to pay, transportation costs, books and materials, beds, bedding, larger cooking pans, the need for Dining Room tables.  We’re praying that God will do some miracles here. So, we keep our eyes fixed on the author and finisher of our faith.

But we remember that God is all about the journey and changing US in the process.  He knows the beginning, the end and all of the steps in-between. We’ve been reading Radical by David Platt and Do What Jesus Did by Robby Dawkins. Both are pulling and stretching us.

Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One who promised it to us is faithful.24 Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds… Hebrews 10: 23-24

Through all of this, I’m reminded of John Wimber’s testimony:  I’m A Fool For Jesus. If you have never watched this or if it has been a long time since you watched it, we want to encourage you to watch it again, to be inspired and to be encouraged. And while you’re at it, read the above 2 books – you’ll be in for a lot of stretching!

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/40600736[/vimeo]

The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes. 2 Corinthians 5: 7

We have been praying for all the million and one things that have to take place for the VAYA program Missio Dei Costa Rica will be doing starting next January.  This is a HUGE step of faith for us.  Following God’s leading, we designed a program – including all the nuts and bolts (you can look on the VAYA tab, but it’s all in Spanish!).  Questions had to be answered:

What’s the mission / goal?What curriculum will be used?How will core Vineyard Values be taught?Who will teach – 5 days a week?How much will it cost?Who will take care of day to day details?What does a typical day look like? … hour by hour …. for 9 monthsForm a legal Vineyard Association as part of La Viña FederationFind students – 6 young men with a passion to be pastors/missionaries/equipped leadersLook for a ministry assistant

You get the idea.  Lots of work, lots of details … and lots of faith.

Everything is moving along, but no students.  We’ve been praying, Carlos Chacon (Director for the Federation in Central America sent out an email to all the pastors with an electronic copy of the brochure to all the pastors.  No response. Hmmmm. Did we miss you on this Lord?  Do we just keep walking and taking the next step of faith?

So, we prayed together together last Thursday. Suddenly, we had interest from pastors – We had appointments to meet with 5 pastors, including 2 from Honduras.  We continue to cast the vision and share the excitement. We continue to gather all the necessary information for the lawyer and get commitments for Board members.  We prepare to speak to 2 different church groups.  Most importantly,  we continue to walk by faith.

Please continue to pray for (you can refer to previous posts for more details):

• Manpower needs (intensive teachers, day to day instructors, assistant)
• Financial needs (for us, now that 2 interns are gone and Tito leaves in a month AND for the students)
• Legal needs (lots of red tape and time)
• Material needs (school supplies, add’l towels, sheets, dining table, etc.)
• STUDENTS

And we will keep walking in faith, by grace.

Reach

As we continue to take care of the million and one details necessary to put together VAYA, the community living Bible Institute in our house, that will start in January 2014, we realize just how much of a God sized task this is … and quite frankly, at times, it is rather overwhelming!

Yesterday we had a 2 hour meeting with Carlos Chacón, the Director of the Federation of Vineyard churches in Central America.  He graciously always makes time for us and is encouraging and supportive. We are so thankful for this.  2 things happened recently that made me (Diana) realize how big this is.

1. I realized that I had let fears creep in and though I was working on all of the details and was even excited about what we were doing, my fear was running hand in hand with unbelief. Needless to say, when God showed me this, I had to repent.

Vivir Aprender Y Amar

2. As I showed the final brochure to a friend last night, along with the in-depth student application, pastoral recommendation forms, the 9 month school year day-to-day calendar, which included work projects, missional projects, prayer walks, theology courses, a typical day-to-day household/family schedule, a letter of introduction to pastors …. she looked at me in amazement and asked, “Do you mean that you are not IMPLEMENTING this program, but that you’ve ‘dreamed’ it up?!” And I realized, that is exactly what we’ve done!  She commented , that is a huge amount of work.  And I responded, I did things like this in the business world all the time. And I realized, yet again, that God prepared me!

Together, Les & I have worked through the details (project management), the finances (accounting – guess who did that?!), the overall flavor and design (marketing).  John Wimber often said (as does Arthur Butt) that faith is spelled R.I.S.K.  And we are very aware of how that feels right now.

Did I mention that everything, every detail has to be done in Spanish. Challenging!  A TRULY God sized task!

Step-By-Step

Upcoming Steps

1. Product development / support – Carlos is emailing a digital version of the brochure to the Central America Vineyard pastors with a letter of introduction and recommendation

 

2. We have to get before several Vineyard Pastors in Costa Rica and present / promote / share our excitement at the vision

 

3. Tuesday we meet with the Lawyer,  who has blessed us immensely by working on this project for free! We need to form a legal association under the Costa Rica Vineyards, with a Board of 10 people (at least half Ticos), put together 2 more documents for the student packages on Visa solicitation and Health Insurance, as well as review the different requirements for all of the Central American countries.

 

4. Find a mature ministry assistant for next year who has at least rudimentary Spanish skills

 

5. Complete a huge list of projects to be completed before we start (and believe for the finances to do them)

 

6. Purchase a Micro-bus for transporting the students (we pray that God will provide this financially)

 

7. Have 6 students apply and be accepted into the program

 

8. Open a Bank Account for the Association

RISK – TRUST – RISK – TRUST

Finally, we keep surrendering the vision, the needs (including finances), the details and the journey itself into His hands.  Ultimately, we know that He is more interested in the journey and our hearts than the actual outcome. Will VAYA happen? It is in His hands and His control. We cannot make it happen, nor do we want to.  We just keep saying, Yes and taking the next step.

One final request. Some of these young men, future pastors, leaders, church planters and missionaries, will not be able to participate in the program without financial help. Just so you can understand, a university educated professional teacher in Nicaragua earns about $50 per month.  We will not be in the business of fund-raising for them. We received wise counsel about this.  What we do want to do, is give you the opportunity to support/help support a student in need.  If you want more information about how you can do this, please email us at:

[email protected]

[email protected]

We need saints who are IN the world, but not OF the world!  I’ve heard Arthur Butt say this time and time again. So true!  Recently, Pope Francisco said, “We need saints who are in the world and who can taste things pure and good in the world, but without them being worldly. “And

I remember Ray Ciervo saying to the church in NJ, more than 30 years ago – “It’s hard to be humble, when you think you’re so right.”  Humility is a heart condition that God loves – it is part of His purpose and desire for us.  Psalm 25: 9 says –

He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way.

Yet, this is the very thing that we, His people fight against.  Part of our sin nature make us want to be right, feel right and be proud when we are right. 1 Peter 5: 5 says –

God opposes the proud but favors the humble.

Foot Washing

Living and serving in Costa Rica is a constant reminder that there are cultural differences between those of us from the United States (Gringos) and those from Costa Rica (Ticos). When you visit Costa Rica, if you’re only a tourist or an ex-pat spending your retirement here, you see the deep and profound beauty of Costa Rica.  You enjoy the richness of what can often look and feel like a tropical paradise.  If you work here as a missionary, you are often confronted by a different side of the culture – a poorer side.  It’s not that these places don’t exist in the United States, because they do. But the poverty here is, in many cases, more extreme.

Historically, missionaries have gone to different countries – all different branches of Christianity have gone to the ends of the earth, in response to a call from God. Sometimes, we bring OUR culture though, instead of HIS culture.  It’s often hard to discern, because it’s usually a mix of both.  And short-term missionaries come, sacrificing to raise funds to come, surrendering precious vacation time with their families and working hard to raise the funds necessary for them to “go into all the earth to preach the Good News.”   They pray and are prayed for. They serve when they arrive and go home with testimonies to encourage the church back home. They are dedicated to one purpose for a week, 10 days, maybe 2 weeks. And God uses them.

There is however, one thing that all missionaries have to remind themselves, all the time – they are just God’s hands and feet, with the privilege of joining Him in work that He is already doing.  We are just ordinary, everyday people, we missionaries – serving an extraordinary God! Our words are not greater, our prayers are not somehow more powerful and we are nothing super-human, super-spiritual or special in any way.  If we start to feel that we are, then we’ve missed the whole point. That is when the danger comes and we can feel proud.  Proverbs 11: 2 says –

Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Our cultures are different, but one is not better than the other.  Just different.  We are part of the same kingdom, because we have the same kingdom. There are no 2nd class citizens in His reign. God does not play favorites.  Time to adorn ourselves with humility. Time to remember that God gives good gifts to ALL His children. We may be in a different stage in our journey, but we’re all on the same journey.  If you haven’t read this book, we highly recommend it:

Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot – And Cold – Climate Cultures 

When you serve on the mission field – be that in your home town, your work place, with your children … or as a missionary, either short-term or long-term, be excited at where God has you and fix your eyes firmly on Him; be more IN the world an not so much OF the world.

How can you tell whether you are being IN the world or OF it? Here’s a simple little test – when the Bible tells you something – do you find reasons that exist in your culture that help you to excuse what He says and go in a different way and explain why you shouldn’t do what His Word says, or do you recognize that His Word is our plumb line and that when we don’t agree, or it’s hard or we want to find another way, WE are the ones that need to change.

In case you’re wondering as you read this – I’m not writing “at” you or “for” you, but “for” all of us, including every missionary I know and me as well.  I often sing to myself an old song written by Judi Harwood, for those of you who know her – one line says, “Please don’t let me ever forget, that I am nothing on my own.”

Missionaries come to share God’s love and His words – His Truth. We come to share the things God has invested in us. We

Every Tongue, Every Nation

come to show mercy and grace. But we must be careful not to confuse our culture with the Gospel. When we do that, this is where we get ourselves into trouble. Don’t get me wrong – I love my country. I’m a huge patriot. BUT this is temporary and God’s kingdom is eternal. HIS culture is the only one worth sharing. And one day, we’ll all be worshiping together at the throne of God. Revelation 7: 9 says –

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb.

We are members of Christ’s body – and the US members are not more or less.  I laugh at myself when some of this diversity comes out in unique and interesting ways.  I remember a small group (some of your were there!) where everyone argued over which Bible version was best and why it was the most accurate.  Then we arrived in Costa Rica, only to find that the Bible Versions they have often ALL interpret a particular word completely differently.  Makes you stop and think! I can use a good concordance and research the original meaning of a word, but I’m no Greek or Hebrew scholar.

Anyway, just some thoughts on culture, diversity, unity in Christ, humility.  It’s always good to stop and examine our own hearts.  In the world, not of the world, living in humility (including cultural humility).  Next January, as Les and I begin VAYA, the Biblical Training Institute with community living in our house, we will have 6 young men from several different Latin American cultures (and NO, they are NOT all the same!). But together, with our diverse cultures, our at time still stumbling Spanish, with the combination of accents and backgrounds, we will grow in God, serving, loving and learning together.   The following version of Revelation Song blessed me and gave me a little taste of being before the throne of God with every nation, tribe and people – I know nothing about the church that this comes from, just appreciated the incorporation of the diverse languages and culture.

Please remember to pray for us and the many needs and changes that are coming up, as we embark on this next stage of Missio Dei Costa Rica. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFvgIjOv-rA&list=PLqAXagl8SsI8aU_TsN19gs_iMNh1dhsGe[/youtube]