November 3,2008
Greetings to you all, I am privileged to be able to update you once again on our progress in Costa Rica. As you may remember, our family returned to the US in September after six months in Bribri. The year has been much wetter than normal and has caused difficulties and delays in some of our work. But as you know, difficulties are opportunities to test our resolve. They allow us to look into ourselves and see if we really believe in what we are doing. Difficulties are the means by which our faith is tested. Difficulties are ever present and necessary, for I’m not sure that a faith untested is, a faith that truly exist.
The news is full of economic woes. The gloomy picture of disaster that is portrayed begins to affect even the believer that confesses God is in control of all things. We are drawn into the kind of thinking that says, be careful, hunker down and guard what you have because you don’t know when you might need it. Make sure that you lay up plenty for tomorrow. You don’t know what tragedy lies in wait around the corner. Build bigger barns if need be, your current ones may not store sufficient quantities. Well, I want to express my gratitude to those of you who remain generous in your giving to this ministry in spite of the incessant bombardment by the world that ruin is close at hand.
I think that we make a mistake when we ask God to use what He has given us. We say, God has given me this thing or that, but I want Him to use it in the building up of His kingdom. Maybe you have a special talent and you say, I want God to use the talent He gave me. Perhaps you are gifted at making money and you say, God use the money I make to expedite the spreading of the Gospel. The problem with allowing some one to “use something” is we retain actual ownership and control, with only the appearance of ownership by the one who is granted use. If in fact, we have retained control in ownership, as soon as God’s usage of the thing we have granted Him becomes uncomfortable or contrary to how we think it should be employed, we are prone to withdrawal the “permission” we gave God to use it. That includes our very lives, not just our possessions. God, don’t ask me to give that, don’t ask me to do that, don’t ask me to go there. These are all evidences of our retaining ownership of what we see as being ours.
Scripture talks of us losing our life, not simply allowing Christ to use our life. Matthew 16:25 say,” For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” Paul speaks of becoming a slave for Christ, which to me implies a complete lack of ownership and an understanding that everything is God’s. If we embrace the idea that God is the owner of what we have and who we are, then we must be willing to lose it, to give it up completely to God’s control. Scripture has a startling example of what can happen when that is not the case.
The story and the demise of Ananias and Sapphira as told in Acts chapter 5 should get our undivided attention. They had a possession. It belonged entirely to them. They sold it and scripture maintains that the money they received remained their own. The problem arose when they let it be known that they had given it all to God. They wanted their supposed testimony to reflect a deep relationship with God and commitment to God that was not actually the case. They sold the property and told their fellow believer, “Here is all the money from the sell. Take it. It is for God to use.” The fact that they misrepresented the real ownership is what brought about the untimely death of both of them. It behooves us to be prudent in our declaration that the things we have are really God’s. Reason would dictate that we speak with caution when we say that our desire is for God to “use” what we posses.
I’d like to share with you a couple of our current projects. You might remember from past newsletters seeing pictures of our lot on the river where we are building the hanger. We have had a problem with large chunks of land shearing off and falling towards the river. Early in the year we planted 500 trees and built a long drainage canal which we hoped would cure the problem by carrying the large volume of surface water during the rainy season away from the steep slope along the river. The canal succeeded in diverting the surface water for a while, but it did not stop the falling away of land. Eventually, the canal itself succumbed to the falling away.
The beginning of October I drilled test holes on both sides of the landing pad. At a depth of about 9 ft., I hit water. Twenty-four hours later, the water level in the 4 inch diameter hole was within 2 feet of the surface. As I was drilling, the soil type the entire depth of the hole was clay. Clay that is practically impermeable. Because water could not filter through the clay, it absorbed more and more water until it became fluid. Though the viscosity was high, the fluid clay was actually flowing beneath the surface toward the river bank. This was causing the soil above to shear and collapse.
To correct the problem, I hired a backhoe to dig a ditch 9 feet deep from the river to the bank behind the hanger. In the ditch, we placed gravel, pipe, river sand and rock to provide subsurface drainage. The ground immediately began to dry out as a constant stream of water flowed from the pipe. Water continues to flow from the pipe after more than a month. This has hopefully solved the problem and will allow us to once again begin to concentrate on construction of the hanger.
There is a large banana plantation located near Bribri. Based on the plantation is a helicopter that is rigged and used for spraying the bananas. The pilot is a friend of mine and we have had several conversations in regard to our desire to base a helicopter in Bribri for ministry. He has told his boss and owner of the hanger where the helicopter is housed about our efforts. His boss has offered to sell us fuel from the tank at his hanger until we get our tank in operation. He, like Carlos ( the owner of AeroDiva), has been very gracious to offer whatever assistance we might need in getting our base operational.
We are working as hard as we possibly can to get a helicopter in Bribri as soon as possible. The helicopter is key to opening many areas of ministry. One thing that impacts me deeply, having young children of my own, is the unnecessary death of children. In July, yet another young boy, died of dehydration. Word came that two kids in Alto Telire were sick. Attempts were made to get a helicopter from San Jose to make an extraction. It was almost 48 hours before a helicopter could respond. When it did arrive at the village, one of the children had died and the other was critically ill. We are hopeful that we can greatly reduce that kind of tragedy in the near future.
I spent 10 days in October in the village of Bajo Bley. Actually, we were camped about 45 minutes upstream of Bajo Bley along the Telire River. We carried a team to the site to begin building a bridge that would connect the villages of Bajo Bley and Alto Bley. The bridge is also on the only path from villages of Alto Telire some 3 days walk upstream of the Telire River. Several years ago we did a medical clinic in Bajo Bley and it was a three day walk from where the truck dropped us off at the small town of Vesta. Vesta, by the way, is about an hour and a half drive from Bribri.
The Telire River is both wide and fast when it passes by the village of Bajo Bley. During the rainy season, the river is completely impassable. Any sickness or injury in villages upstream, require a helicopter for treatment or extraction. With the bridge in place, there is at least a chance to walk out regardless of the weather. Also, there is a school in Bajo Bley where the kids from Alto Bley can attend once the bridge is constructed.
During our 10 days by the river, we made good progress towards the completion of the bridge. Naturally, the first step was to completely clear the jungle from the proposed column sites on both sides of the river. On the North side of the river, we found several very large rocks that could serve as anchors for both the upper and lower bridge cables. The South side of the river would require that we pour a cement column and anchor. In addition, we hung a cable and car with which we could more easily more back and forth across the river.
Before we could make the required pours, we sawed the boards necessary for the column forms from downed trees. While the boards were being cut, we tied reinforcing bars into cages that would be used to strengthen the concrete. Then came the task of digging the footing for the column and the hole that would become the anchor.
Once all the preparations were completed to satisfaction, we drilled the anchor holes on the North side of the river and poured the column and anchor on the South side of the river.
A lot of the work was accomplished in the rain, which we were blessed with every afternoon. This was not all bad however. Our only source for drinking water in the area was the Telire River. Because of the rain upstream, the river was muddy requiring multiple filtering before it was drinkable. So we caught the rain water as it ran off the tarp covering the kitchen. The clean, clear, cool water was a welcome blessing.
The best part of our time by the river was the opportunity to demonstrate and give testimony to the love of God. Our desire is that the bridge above all else will be the bridge between darkness and light, between eternal life and death for some Indian. Building the bridges is not in and of itself very important. They have lived for hundred of years without them. Having the helicopter in Bribri as soon as possible is not in and of itself very important. What is important above all else, is reaching as many of the Indians as we possible can, as soon as we possible can. Much more important than a bridge or a dozen bridges is one Indian soul. Much more important than a helicopter or a fleet of helicopters is one Indian soul. But just as you can harvest more wheat with a combine than you can with a scythe, our belief is that we will harvest many more souls with the helicopter and the opportunities it will afford to demonstrate and teach God’s love and salvation.
My priority is seeing individuals convicted of personal sin, understanding their separation from God, accepting Christ as the propitiation for their sin, entering into life eternal and living out the remainder of their earthly existence reflecting the light of Christ. You may disagree with my methodology. You may be of the opinion that my current emphasis on building is displaced and a waste of resources. You could be right and if you were in my shoes, you may do things completely different. But I want you to know, I do my best to remain faithful to the previously stated priority. From my first step in Talamanca it has been and continues to be my priority. Everything I do is with that priority in mind.
I want to say thanks to those who accompanied me to the jungle. Also equally important, thanks to those of you who finance what we do. I have no money and if it were not for your willingness to share in the work, the ministry today would look very different. Special thanks to my family who support me in a myriad of ways, especially to my wife and boys who have been my greatest blessing since beginning this ministry. Lastly, I want to praise God for granting me the privilege of working in His kingdom. The honor of taking His name and demonstrating His love to the lost surpasses all others.
We are going back to Bajo Bley December 1 to finish the bridge. Please continue to pray for us.
God is always faithful.
Drainage ditch at hanger. Notice subsurface water.
Construction team in front of Bajo Bley bridge column
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