We are slowly starting to accept the differences in what we expected and what is reality. Our expectations were not better, but they were different, so adjusting those expectations has been a real thing to deal with as we processed this new life.
When I pulled out my phone to take the picture below I was trying to capture the mountains in the distance. It wasn't until I was looking at the pictures later that I realized that I captured the house in the lower right corner. This picture is such a reflection of Costa Rica: the beauty of the natural landscape, the humble homes made of all sorts of materials, and the pride and care put into their homes and lives.
When I first noticed this picture, it was a couple of weeks ago. My perspective then is not the same as it is even now...and I suppose that as each week passes by I will learn more about the intricacies of this country.
I think this is why God uses foreign missions...it such a common sentiment to hear well meaning people say, "why go so far? we have hurting people in need here in our own backyard!". And there is so much truth to that...God needs us all to be looking for the places we can be serving and loving right where we are...but I also, obviously, believe that God calls people into foreign missions.
Sometimes, when we are in our own cirumstances, we are either too focused on the beauty in the distance or too focused on the current situation.
However, if we are not careful, when we come into a situation that is not our own we may only see the mountains in the distance or the banana truck house in the foreground...that is dangerous because we make assumptions based on just one perspective.
There are several places within the Bible where God speaks of the importance of missions...one obvious example is the Great Commission where we are instructed to go and make disciples of ALL nations...but the verse that has come to my mind so much since being here in Costa Rica is, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him on whose feet bring the good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" (Isaiah 52:7) I love to think of the mountains that we cross carrying the message of God's love & the fact that He not only has called us but also empowered us to do this work...
Foreign missions is about exactly that..
It is about taking your perspective and my perspective and every perspective in between and learning the truth of how we are all created to be His...
The moment that I no longer ignore the banana truck to admire the mountain...I've made a step.
The moment that I no longer focus only on the banana truck...I've taken another.
The moment when I no longer pity the people who live in the banana truck...I've taken even more.
The moment when I see beauty in the care made to make the banana truck a home...I've taken more.
The moment I am willing to live life alongside the occupants of the banana truck...I've understood what it means to see people as He sees them.
I've had a very difficult time explaining what life here has been like. We visited an orphanage last week (which will be a post all its own!)...we've moved into a home in a mountain community just 10 miles south of the biggest city in southern CR...we have many conversations, in our limited spanish, with as many people as we can....we have watched birds and sloths and iguanas play in the trees...we have eaten fruits that would have never dared tried...I have driven by houses and marveled at how the ticos keep their floors so perfectly polished ( I am most definitely bringing the neighborhood down )...and the more we live here, the more I am worried that conveying life here back home will only present a limited perspective.
I've learned that this country is not just a vacation spot...
but I also don't want to create pity.
This country is amazing. The people are amazing. And just like people in our own backyard, there are people that need to know and feel and see the love of God. God just wanted our backyard to change :)
1 Corinthians 12:
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."
One body...In God's body the hand does not only look out for the hand or care for the hand; each part of the body cares and thrives based on the other parts wellness...
my prayer is that others will fall in love with Costa Rica as we share our experiences here but also, through that love, want to serve and meet their needs...because their needs are our needs.
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