This morning was our first class, and it was very interesting.  We studied the geography of Israel and where Jesus spent his time during his life.  I never had really thought about the symbolism of Israel, but after hearing Mark, our instructor talk about it, it was very interesting.  He was explaining that the Dead Sea is the lowest body of water in the world (almost 1200 ft below sea level!) and that nothing lives in it because it doesn’t have life.  Around this is desert and then to the north is Galilee where the sea of Galilee is.  The Sea of Galilee is much smaller and the water runs out of it into the Jordan river and south to the Dead Sea.  Unlike the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee is abundant with life and fish because there is water coming out of it to keep it clean and fresh all the time.   Mark was telling us that this illustration is much like our lives as Christians, that some of us are “dead”, only receiving weekly sermons, but not really impacting the communities where we live, while others who constantly pour out their efforts into other people see growth and better spiritual life.   He also said it was interesting that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, one of the lowest towns in the world elevation wise.  He came to be a servant and chose to enter near the lowest point in this world.

The other thing that I often forget that Mark mentioned was how Jesus was 100% man AND 100% God.  He felt all of the same emotions, struggles and temptations that we face, yet because He was also God incarnate, He was able to be obedient.  Mark told us that if we read the Gospel a bit closer, we even see Jesus pleading in the Garden of Gethsemane to not let him die . . . this was his human self struggling with the prospect of brutal pain and suffering.  But Jesus was obedient and gave His life for us.  As followers of Him, we must do the same, die to ourselves – give up our plans, our dreams, sometimes even family and friends and ask God to do His will in us.   He challenged us to daily pray to God and declare our surrender, our death and ask Him to do His work in us.  As we talked about the implications this really hit me hard as I realize lately I have been a bit lax and a bit selfish, clinging to some things in my life that I know I need to let go of.  I invite you to make this same commitment of dying to yourself daily and pray to God to do His work and make you new.  It’s painful, it’s not easy at all, but the transformation I’ve experienced in my life in the past 9 years since I started following Christ has been remarkable.

Who are you living for and dying for this day?

Wednesday at the guys discipleship group a few more wished me a happy birthday and then Thursday on my actual birthday I had a youth group meeting in the evening at the home of one of our congregation members.  It was neat and all of the Costa Ricans were excited to wish me a happy birthday and I think thrilled that I was with them on my special day.

Friday, I had plans to go to the movies and have dinner with a few of my teammates and another Costa Rican friend.  We went and had pizza at this local pizza place at the mall in Heredia called La Fabbrica and then afterwards went and saw Inception (which was an excellent movie).

It was a great week and I’m blessed to have such great friends here.  Things are hectic right now with  training starting soon for the Latin missionaries-to-be and I’m going to be participating in part of the training that is an in-depth study of the life of Jesus.  Should be really neat, but very time consuming.  The leaders of the team want me to do this though, as they say it will help me to understand more about what the focus is here of the team, although I already am getting a good idea.

The rain continues and we are now moving into the monsoon season when we will have longer rains.  This will last until about late November when we will transition into dry season.   Well, that’s all for now, just wanted to let you know I was still alive and well!

The first three months anywhere are always crucial in developing community.  I believe I’ve done that well and that I have made some new friends.  I have also found a church that is very Christ-centered and a youth group that is on fire for the Lord (I am excited about both of these things).  I have established my home in my own apartment and am beginning to think about the long term.  I know I don’t have to answer all of the questions at once or even soon, but it never hurts to contemplate and try to catch a glimpse of what might lie ahead.

I wasn’t sure how I’d like having lots of Americans around, lots of American products, etc.  On the one hand it feels nice to have some comforts from the States to make living abroad easier, but on the other hand, it also can make it difficult to integrate into the culture.  But I definitely am happy that Costa Rica has quality health care and education.  Most of Latin America is severely lacking in these areas, but Costa Rica although still not quite the caliber of the US is one of the standouts in the region.  This makes the idea of someday having a family here easier to stomach, if the Lord so blesses me.   I’m quite tired of moving around so much and am ready to put down roots somewhere and really invest in a community.  With the plans I have to launch a new training program, and the potential I see of getting involved in ministries here in Latin America from a distance with my computer skills as well as the opportunities to disciple youth it seems like an ideal synergy of my skills and passions.   We’ll have to see how all of these roles develop, but if they go well, I could see myself being in Costa Rica a long time (5-10 years).

Thanks so much for your prayers and support, all of you are invaluable.