March 16, 2002
Hello to you all from here in Bribri, Costa Rica.
We thank God for His mercy and grace, and the way He faithfully provides for us daily. We have been here in Costa Rica for a little more than two months and God has blessed us greatly. First of all, we are privileged to have the opportunity to share the Gospel here in this place. We are privileged to be supported by you in this effort and we are blessed by the way God cares for us.
Shortly after arriving in Bribri, both Daisy and JP contracted some sort of skin disorder. It spread over the majority of their bodies rather quickly and produced large sores that itched constantly. At first we believed they simply had a large number of insect bites, but when it continued to spread, we discovered it was actually a skin infection common to tropical jungle regions. We obtained the antibiotic appropriate for the infection and I’m happy to report that both are recovered and doing fine.
The high point of January was our Vacation Bible School held at the church in Bribri, directed by Daisy. Ladies from churches in Golfito and San Jose came to Bribri to serve as teachers for the Bible School. We had an average of 120 kids each day. We spent approximately $1800.00 in providing the materials and food for the kids and teachers. Which works out to be about $3.00 per child per day. About half the kids regularly attend the church, the other half were opportunities to evangelize for the first time.
February was highlighted by a medical clinic held in the village of San Jose Cabecar. We had a small team, which consisted of Dr. Dean Lohse, his son Adam, John Armenta, Porfilio (an Indian from the village of Bajo Coen) and myself. The last time I made the trip to San Jose Cabecar it took three days. This time we were blessed with perfect weather, the trail was in as good a condition as it ever gets and we were helped along by the memory of our failed attempt to reach the village last July.
As we started out from Bribri with 10 full backpacks toward the Sixaola River, where we planned to get a dugout canoe for the first leg of the trip, John Armenta ask if we were getting horses upriver to help with all the gear. In my usual verbose manner I responded, “no”. Wanting to find out if I was suffering from a lack of funds or if there were just no horses available that day, he asked “why not”. I told him we weren’t getting horses because the trail was impassable by horse. They just couldn’t make it. His response to that news revealed that he believed I was suffering from something other than a lack of funds, “If a horse can’t make it over the trail to the village, just why are we trying.” Several days later he discovered why.
San Jose Cabecar is a remote village where the way of life hasn’t really changed much over the last several hundred years. Please check our web site, www.aguavivaministries.com and you will find some pictures of the area. It was a joy to share in their way of life for a short while and God blessed our time there. The first day we were there a man crossed to our side of the river and asked if we could go to his home to see his mother. He said she was very sick and had not been up out of her hammock for several months. Now, for short periods of time a hammock is generally pretty comfortable, but I would not want to be in one for several months without getting up. Neither Dr. Lohse nor I were eager to cross the river again and hike up another hill on blistered feet and sore legs. But we told him the next afternoon we would take a break from seeing patients and come to see her.
When we got to the hut and he showed us the hammock where his mother was laying, it was hard to believe a person was in there. If you had hurriedly walked by it, you would have thought it empty. After a brief exam and a few questions, Dr Lohse came to a conclusion about which medicines we had available that might help her. Her son followed us back to our hut and returned home with the medicine. I explained to her son that the medicine was not anything magic. His mother was very sick and weak. But I also told him that nothing was impossible for God. It was God that made the medicine and had provided it for his mother. God could use the medicine to heal her or He could simply touch her by His Spirit and heal her. The next day the old lady’s two sons and two daughters all came across the river to visit. We asked why they had come. They said they had come to ask us to pray for them. I was, frankly, very surprised. The last time I had been in this village and started talking about God, I had been asked to leave as soon as possible. And though one of this lady’s sons didn’t remember, he had been the one to ask me to leave. Now, he was asking me to pray for him. Naturally, I wanted to know why. They told us that the day after our visit, the first day after their mother began taking the medicine, she got up out of the hammock. On her own, for the first time in four months and they believed God had it possible. So now they wanted us to pray for them. Not only that, everyday after, people would come and ask for prayer. We were able to share with eagerly listening hearts just who Jesus is.
Every night one or two families would show up at the hut and spend the night. The next morning as it was getting light they would leave. We thought this very strange! The morning we left to return to Bribri, half the village must have come to tell us good-bye and come back soon. This was a new experience for me. I later found out that it is a very old custom in this village. If a stranger comes to the village and is accepted by the villagers because he has brought a blessing to them, they do not leave him alone. So that he will not feel lonely, someone stays with him until he leaves. This gave us the opportunity to share the Gospel of Christ with someone almost constantly.
We continue to have new people join the congregation at the church in Bribri. On March 10, we baptized 8 new Christian. Already we have 3 more preparing for baptism next month. Last month we started services in another one of the outlying communities, which brings the number of house churches to 4.
In January, we purchased a lot adjoining our property the church is located on. The purchase increases our monthly expenses about $600 for the next 8 months, but the value it will add to our property is much greater. It will not only allow for future expansion, which is definitely going to be necessary, it will also give us an entrance into the church property from the main plaza in town. We have also made some improvements to the church by adding and outside kitchen. This will allow adequate room for preparing congregational and special event meals, such as weddings and holidays.
As always, I want to thank you for your support of this ministry. As I sit here in Bribri and look around me, I am aware of the fact, all I see has been made possible by God through you. It would not matter how dedicated I am or how talented I might be, if it were not for the fact that you have been moved by God to help us none of what I see would exist. I am a bless man. I am blessed by the wife God has given me, by the son He has given me, by the family He has given me, by the friends He has given me, by the work He has given me and the opportunities He has given me.
I want to share a brief testimony with you. Last year, I was given a very nice knife by a dear friend of mine, which proved very useful during my trips into the jungle. I somehow lost that knife while hiking back from Bajo Coen. Another dear friend of mine was aware that I had lost the knife. As we were parting company, he gave me his knife and flashlight and said,” Here you need this more than I.” Both of these friends knew I could use the knife and that it would be helpful, but neither one is aware of just how much they blessed me.
You see God knew that I needed a knife. I didn’t know how I was going to get one, but God knew how he was going to supply it. And not only did He get me a knife, but He also supplied me a flashlight that I really like. As I was thinking, what a blessing to see God supply what I need, I had another thought. What did the people who supplied my need feel? Did they feel the same sense of being blessed that I did? Did they have that same feeling of “Man, look at what God has just done.”
Whenever I find myself in need, I’m quick to pray “God please send this thing or that thing to me.” But how often do I pray, ”God, please send me someone who needs something I have so that I might bless them.” We have all heard and can quote, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” But do we really live thinking that way or is it something just to say on Sunday morning or to get our kids to share their toys. I pray that as you help this ministry, as you support your local congregation, in whatever manner God gives you opportunity to give to the building of His kingdom, you will say with a grateful heart, “Thank you God for sending that need to me so that I might meet it.” I pray that you will feel the joy of being blessed as you give.
Let me remind you to please keep the purchase of the helicopter in your prayers. Some of the parts have been purchased and we’ll begin assembly in May when I return to the U.S. We need to have that tool available to us as soon as possible. I wish I had the ability, but there is no way for me to adequately explain to you how much it will increase our opportunities to minister. There are people God wants us to reach and people He wants to bless by the use of this vehicle. We are trusting God that He even now has the details worked out and knows how the purchase will be made.
Thank you for your help.
May God bless you, may you be a blessing and may there be fruit for the Kingdom because of each.
John, Daisy & J P