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Thankful for the Feria

October 9, 2010 in CostaRica, Culture, Day2Day by Dave | Permalink

Life in San José is expensive, and nothing seems as acutely expensive as the food. Going grocery shopping for the first time gave us an extreme case of sticker shock, and the problem naturally compounds itself because, eventually, we would have to eat again. Thankfully, we found out about the Feria in Guadalupe.

The feria is a Saturday morning ritual in San José. “Ticos” are keenly aware of the high supermarket prices. Because of it, they routinely skip the produce aisle and bring their shopping lists and the carts to the feria. The lot, vacant during the week, is teeming with life from early in the morning to late in the afternoon. There are vendors by the dozens selling fruits and vegetables, cheeses and baked goods, all at prices below grocery store “ofertas.”

Our trip began at 7:30 with the 10 minute taxi trip from our house in San Pedro north to the feria site. We sat down to a traditional Costa Rican breakfast, complete with “gallo pinto” and coffee before heading to the stalls.Â Green peppers at 40 cents a piece, strawberries at a $1.00 a pound and granadas at 20 cents a piece were some of the bargains we found. Even better, we were through with our shopping by 9:30, early enough to enjoy the Saturday at home.

Life continues to be expensive in Costa Rica, but fortunately, when it comes to produce, we’ve found a repreive and a possible Saturday morning tradition for the few weeks that remain in our stay in Costa Rica.

Tags: Costa Rica, feria, produce

Why Costa Rica?

September 22, 2010 in CostaRica, Culture, Progress by Dave | Permalink

At least we can say we have quiet neighbors...

By now, youÂ´ve probably read our most recent newletter recording the next steps that we will be taking having departed from the States. Knowing our current location, in here in San José, you may have asked, “Why Costa Rica? Why travel thousands of miles past your destination when your calling would seem to take you elsewhere, especially after already having served for three years in Mexico?” As we were deciding whether or not to take this six-week refresher course, I found myself asking the same questions, and here are some of the answers that I arrived at:

Because Costa Rica is the where CINCEL is located.

Quite simply, if as A/G missionaries, we desire to study the Spanish language, CINCEL, the Spanish language institute of Assemblies of God World Missions in Costa Rica is the place to do it. It is the only A/G facility of its kind in all of Latin America. But more than that, the staff faculty and facilities are designed so that we can successfully immerse ourselves into the study and practice of the Spanish language. We are corrected and challenged in ways that we would be unable to attain in another setting, especially in Mexico, where, out of politeness or respect, we might get stuck in bad habits.
Because clear communication is essential to what we do as missionaries.

With a calling to “preach the Word”, we carry a burden to communicate clearly GodÂ´s message, calling a people, whose language is not our own, into reconciliation with Him. In order to do this we must dedicate ourselves to a profound study of the language, doing our best to ensure that we do not serve to confuse what God has called us to make clear.
Because competence builds confidence.

As we move out to do GodÂ´s work, there is a need to convey with confidence the message that we communicate. If we are more concerned with the language than we are the message, our self-doubt about how we say what we are trying to say may communicate to our listeners an uncertainty about the actual message that we share. An uneasiness about our competence in the language may even tempt us to keep our mouths shut when the need or the Spirit would have us do otherwise. Confidence, therefore, so that we might boldy declare our message can be built as we gain a competence in the language through our studies here.
Because we work better together

In a context like CINCEL, where A/G missionaries gather from all over Latin America, we find incredible opportunities to mix with other missionaries, to exchange our burdens and ideas with one another, and to sharpen one another as we study together. For example, I sat with David Isabelli, a fellow missionary to Mexico, recently during a break in the library. He shared with me insight into several ministry ideas that I had contemplated incorporating when we returned to Mérida. Without this opportunity, I might not have been able to have this interaction.

So as we move through these six weeks in Costa Rica, we’re looking forward to maximizing these benefits, understanding that because of them, we’ll be better missionaries.

How Big?

January 22, 2009 in Culture by Dave | 1 comment

I remember our road trips to New York when I was young. We had a family of five, so there were three of us in the back of a Mazda GLC and lots of territorial fighting; “That’s my space you’re in!” we would cry, or “Why do I have to sit on the hump?” would be a frequent complaint. I vowed then and there that I would never have a family of five. Time, though, has a way of softening our youthful vows, and here I am the father of three in a family of five, a decent group by American standards and certainly when it comes to the limits of my patience.

What would I do with one more? Two? How about 8 more? I can’t event imagine. Yet LARGE families seem to be a standard, especially when we head outside of Mérida. The picture above can be translated, “The Store of the 11 Brothers.” Imagine the situations that a family of that size could get into! The kicker was what happened as I was trying to get the photo. One of my students, unimpressed, said, “I come from a family of 13 brothers and sisters.”

Speaking of heading out of Mérida, say a prayer for us this weekend as I lead a group of students from the Bible Institute for a two-day campaign in the city of Tekax (Teh-cash).

Tags: Culture, Family

We get to Play Baseball

January 17, 2009 in Culture, Devotional, Ministry, Missions, Prayer by Dave | 3 comments

Teaching in Opichen

Around this time of the year, I start to get anxious. It’s been almost three months since the end of the World Series, and we’ve got only a few short weeks until pitchers and catchers report to start the 2009 baseball season. I’m looking forward to the date with anticipation, knowing that soon they’ll be playing baseball, and hoping that this will be the season that the Yankees win it all again.

In order to prepare, I start to watch baseball movies. One such movie is The Rookie , that Disney released some years ago. It’s the story of a high school science teacher who gets another shot at playing in the majors. In one scene, travailing in the minor leagues, traveling the lonely miles and feeling the pressure of his responsibilities at home, he decides to throw in the towel. “I’m just wasting my time,” he says to his wife over the phone. She asks back, referring the the game, “Do you still love it?”

He hangs up the phone and goes for a walk to think it over once again. Along the way, he encounters a night little league game, and in it he finds the joy and the hope in the game that he played as a child and had been given a chance to return to as an adult. With a renewed outlook, he heads back to the locker room. As he enters he asks another player, “Do you know what we get to do today?” Then, answering his own question he says, “We get to play baseball.”

Why am I waxing eloquent about baseball? Because I’ve been thinking about our job as missionaries. Lately, we’ve been really busy, rushing from place to place. I celebrated my daughter’s birthday on Saturday and directly after I was teaching our first session of the District Stewardship conferences that I had been invited to teach. Since that time, I’ve been on the road 3 of the past 4 nights, getting to bed later each night. When this finishes, I’ll be on the road again, this time to help in an evangelistic campaign that will take place two hours outside of Merida, where we have our home.

At times like these, I find myself missing my family, looking forward to getting home, and sometimes wishing that the events would be over. But then I have to ask myself what it is that I am actually doing. I received the call to missions when I was 15 years old, and since that time, my life had been centered around making it to the field. We prepared ourselves, obtained the necessary approvals, and raised funds for the purpose of becoming missionaries. Now, we’re doing it. How many times have I hoped, prayed, and dreamed of the day that God would allow us to make it to the field, and now it’s a reality.

Thinking about it again I’d have to say that, sure there are times when we find it hard, but we’re doing what we’re called to do. God’s fulfilled our dream, and every moment that we have here is another moment that we get to step out into another adventure with our Lord.

So I want to say thanks to all of you who have had a part in helping us to get here and stay here. I’d also like to ask you to pray for us. Pray that the words that we say would be what God would ask us to share, and pray that these events will reach the people that He’s preparing. And while you’re doing that, stop for a moment and thank God for the journey that you’re on with Him. After all, “We get to play baseball!”

Thumbnail appearing on the excerpt of this article from B Tal’s photostream on Flickr.com

Tags: Baseball, fulfillment, Missions

After Christmas Blues?

December 26, 2008 in Culture, Media, Misc by Dave | 1 comment

Here’s something to cheer you up:

Piñatas are a common site these days, cropping up in kid’s parties almost as often in the US as they do in Mexico. But what happens when the piñata is for adults? Take a look at this video from Mérida and see how piñatas have the tendency to bring out the kid, and the competition in everyone of us.

Can’t see the video. Check it out here.

Coming Near Through Language Study

October 24, 2008 in Culture, Language, Maya, Missions, Progress by Dave | Permalink

Maya Language School Itzamná

Ma’alob k’iin. Bix a beel’ex. Having trouble responding? That’s because what my greeting was written in Maya. It reads, “Good morning. How are you?” (There are no question marks in Maya)

Here in the Yucatán the official language is Spanish. For this reason, we spent our first year of this term in Costa Rica learning Spanish so that we could live and work here in Mérida. Nevertheless, there are times, like this past month when we journeyed to the town of Tekax, that even speaking in perfect Spanish isn’t enough. That is because, in several towns in the state of Yucatán, many still speak the traditional indigenous language which has changed only slightly from the time of the pyramid builders of Chichen Itza to the present. Others are bilingual, having learned Spanish in school, but clearly function better in their native language.

So how do we respond to this fact? Well, we could rely upon those who are bilingual to translate for us, hoping that they will correctly interpret the meaning of our message. But what does this teach the Maya speakers? I feel it teaches them that the gospel is something foreign. Something that requires special abilities in order to understand, and that salvation is reserved for those who earn it by learning this foreign system. I don’t believe that our God is like that.

From the beginning, with the question, “Adam, where are you?”, we know that God initiated his plan of salvation. Romans 5:8 says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And John 1:14 says that Jesus, the very Word of God came near, and lived among us. We are not those who search for Him says Romans 3:10-11, He comes after us.

How does this translate then as a reaction to the situation of the Maya here in Yucatan? Years ago, before archeology became the force that it is today, many thought that the Koine Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written was a sacred tongue. This was thought because the texts available to the scholars at the time, that of Classical Greek was different from what they saw in Bible. However, as more research came to light, they found that the New Testament Greek was not a sacred language after all. In fact, it was the common speech–that which the housewives used to write out their shopping lists. So, in fact, we see that the very Bible that we read is another aspect of God “coming near” to us. He didn’t speak through the elite of the society or through a priestly class, He instead spoke through the common tongue of the merchants, the peasants, and the slaves.

Understanding this, if we are to “come near” as Christ’s ambassadors and show the Maya that this message is in fact for them, that Christ came to save every, tribe, tongue and nation, then we in turn should take the steps to learn to share this salvation in their native tongue.

So that in fact is what we are doing. Every Monday and Wednesday for two hours, I am traveling to the “Ermita”, a plaza south of town, to learn to speak and write the Maya language. (The picture in this post is a shot of the entrance to the building.) The municipal government has established a course in which they teach citizens and foreigners at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels for only $5 a month. Having extended for a year, and having scheduled outreaches into these Maya speaking regions, this was an offer that we couldn’t refuse.

So here I am again learning anew how to function in another language, struggling to come up with the words to respond to the teacher. However, when I consider what Christ did for us, coming to us as a baby, unable to speak, to function on His own, in order to live among us, I say that my struggle is worth it if it allows me to live among this people and reveal to them the God that we serve, the God who came near.

By the way, a fellow Mexico Missionary just sent us a link to an example of the power of “coming near” to an unreached people group. You can check out the video on You Tube

Tags: Incarnation, Maya language, Salvation

Year End Wrap-up

December 28, 2007 in Culture, Ministry, Missions by Dave | Permalink

With the close of the year comes the barrage of top fives, tens, twenties… and while most of the lists are the best of (insert item here). I thought that you’d might enjoy another look at some of our favorite posts over the last year. They may not be the most popular, but they’re definitely worth another look:

In the personal reflection category among my favorites are:

Oh the Humanity: This personal reflection on the mystery of God’s involvement with our humanness came through a time of prolonged sickness. It’s words continue to ring true especially during this season as we celebrate the incarnation of our Lord.

Topes: With insight into Mexican culture, and cross-cultural ministry in general, this post reminds me that God is in control.

From the out of the ordinary category I would have to note:

A Visit From the Tooth Mouse: This tongue-in-cheek post presents the Latin alternative to the tooth fairy as well as some of the difficulties we face as we live in the city of Mérida.

Coincidence or Confirmation: This post takes you through some of the “coincidences” that we’ve experienced in the journey to the mission field.

In the final missions category three of my favorites include:

Conversations: is a reflection on what missions means to this missionary. It’s received a bit of attention, and I hope that it serves to help us, as Byron Klaus says: “Keep the main thing the main thing.”

Dia de la Virgen and Our Missionary Methods: just happens to be one of my latest offerings. It’s a wondering post, asking questions and providing little in the way of answers, but more than that, it’s an invitation to open discussion about what we’ve done and what we should plan to do as missionaries.

Back with a Story to Tell: is the first in a series of posts that details, day-by-day, the impact of a short term missions trip.

We hope these posts will serve as a representative look back on our year in ministry, while they inspire you to dream, pray, and get involved in what God is doing in you, in your community, and in the world.

Prospero Año Nuevo!

Tags: Missions, Reflection, Year end review

Día de la Virgen and our Missionary Methods

December 17, 2007 in Culture, Mexico, Missions by Dave | 1 comment

Antorchista We were driving back from a planning meeting in Muna last Tuesday, where we’ll be hosting my brother and his Chi Alpha team, when I noticed, all along the roadway, bikers, runners with torches, and support vehicles flashing their lights and honking their horns. There were hundreds of people in the hour long stretch that we traveled.

It resembled some kind of Olympic procession. It was as if this group was ushering in the torch to light the first ever Yucatan Games, but looking closer I noticed that each one was wearing a t-shirt displaying the symbol of Mexican religious devotion, image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Researching further, I learned from YucatanLiving.com that these “antorchistas” are youth that have made a personal vow to the Virgin, and last week on December 12th, the Day of the Virgin, they ran or biked in order to complete their vow. The trek is a point to point journey, with more favor bestowed for greater distances. Apparently, the bicycle was introduced as a way for the working devotee to cover more ground in a shorter amount of time. (Read fewer days off from the job.)

Of course, we have the tendency to dismiss all of this as a misguided devotion, a practice to abandon as pure paganism. Still, one has to admire the determination, the organization, and the passion of those who would exert themselves for their faith. We evangelicals, a group lacking the presence of young men in our congregations, can’t help but ask, “How do we instill this type of enthusiasm, this type of devotion in our faithful?”

I would suggest that the answer lies within the pages of the Bible in the example of our Lord. It would seem that we are more famous for what we don’t do (drinking, smoking, dancing) than for what we do, for what we are against, than what we are for, but Jesus didn’t seem to be this way. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them,” was the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes. What I see from Jesus isn’t a prohibition type religion. I see a radical redefinition of religious and social symbols.

To Peter and Andrew, fishermen by trade, Jesus says follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men. To the woman at the well, Jesus says I am the one who gives living water. At the Last Supper, Jesus redefines the traditional passing of the cup and bread during the Passover meal into a remembrance of his sacrifice on the cross and celebration of the unity that we now have in the Church, the body of Christ on the earth. In other words, Jesus doesn’t seem to separate a person from his or her culture, rather he transforms the culture in much the same way that he transforms the individual.

This to me says that we as missionaries have a need for wisdom and God-given creativity when it comes to engaging a culture. What is truly anti-Christian, and what is simply an expression of culture? How can we contextualize, not just the presentation of the message of the gospel, but also its expression in worship and everyday life?

One case in point of an interesting attempt to accomplish this redemption of culture was in the Chota Valley, a culture of Ecuadorians of African descent. This people group had a dance that utilized a bottle, worn on the head and, if I remember correctly, filled with alcohol. In the bottle would be placed items that represented the pain and suffering that the person experienced in life. Missionary Joe Castleberry and his team, instead of prohibiting this cultural expression, redefined it. Gone was the alcohol and in the place of the symbols of pain and suffering was a flower to represent the new life the Christ brings.

I’ve not had the opportunity to see the “Freedom Valley” project first-hand, but I feel that it touches on an area that all missionaries need to consider. Did we do a disservice in our clothes-line style holiness of the 1900s? Have we relegated ourselves to the fringes of society though our lists of rules and prohibitions? How does it come across in the 21st century? On the flip-side, how does this redefinition of culture look, in Africa, in Mexico, in the US? Also, how do we know that we are truly redefining culture and not just compromising for convenience?

Granted, this task is not something that a simple post can solve, nor the work of one individual, but I think discussion is necessary and helpful if we are truly seeking to change the world.

Note: Picture was taken from YucatanLiving.com. (It’s kind of hard to drive and take pictures at the same time.)

Tags: Antorchistas, cross-cultural ministry, Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe, Missions

Birthday Surprise

November 22, 2007 in Culture, Mexico, Progress by Dave | 2 comments

Jonathan Birthday About two weeks ago, (yes, the events of our lives and ministry have taken a toll on my blogging) we celebrated the birthday of our youngest, Jonathan. It was filled with parties–one at school and another here at the house, as well as a mountain of presents, many of which have already made their way to the black hole that our boys call their closet. Of course, all of these things came as no surprise. After celebrating the 19 kids’ parties that we have, from Princess to Bob the Builder to Spider Man to Jungle themes, we’ve come to expect the anticipation, celebration, and sugar withdrawal cycle that each party brings. However, after all of the celebration was over, and Jonathan had time to reflect, he did something unexpected: he decided to testify. In fact it was such a surprise that we didn’t have our camera. The blurry picture was taken with my cell phone.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, testimony night has gone the way of Sunday morning prayer requests in most churches, they’re just not done, but here in Mexico, testimony night is alive and well, and two weeks ago last Sunday a certain recently turned 5 year-old decided to step forward and thank God for another year that God had allowed him to complete.* Not only did he testify, he also sang “Open the Eyes of My Heart” (“Abre mis Ojos, Oh Cristo”) in Spanish.

To me, this is the sign of two things happening:

that our son is rapidly acculturating: Testifying is expected of church members when they celebrate their birthday. That Jonathan noticed this and wanted to do it tells me that he’s becoming more “Mexican.”
that our son is recognizing God as part of his life: It was hard for me to choke back the tears as I listened to our “baby” asking Jesus to help him to truly see Him as he is. It’s my desire as a father to be a part of the the answer to that prayer.

*Spanish idea: We don’t “turn” years old as we celebrate birthdays, we complete years or “cumplemos años” hence the Spanish salutation “Feliz Cumpleaños”

Tags: birthday, celebrate, Spanish, testify

A Year in Review

October 6, 2007 in Culture, Devotional, Ministry, Progress by Dave | Permalink

September marked for us the end of one year of ministry here in the Yucatán, and to celebrate, we brought back a best of disciplemexico.org so that you could revisit some of the highlights of our journey thus far:

Dead of the Dead Thumbnail 1. Day of the Dead–Written as a response to a request of an friend, this post is by far our most popular post of the past year, and, with the celebration of this event less than a month away the hits are building again. This piece reveals the difficulty that we have as we try to understand the culture of the Yucatán and their ancient traditions.

Bicentennial Man 2. Oh the Humanity!–is a piece I wrote about how God uses our humanness, something very evident to me as I suffered through a prolonged sinus infection, to reveal his perfect power.

Bike Lesson Thumbnail 3. Like riding a bicycle–is a family update/reflection on what it is that we do as missionaries. By the way, mastery of the bicycle is something that our kids are still working on. Come to think of it, we’ve still got a lot to learn about missions as well.

Tope Thumbnail 4. Topes–Life has a way of springing surprises on you, much like speed bumps that seem to appear when you least expect them on roads here in Mexico, but, as this post suggests, the jolts bring with them valuable learning experiences.

Erie Merida Connection 5. Coincidence or Confirmation?–This post about our providential guidance on the way to Mérida generated some lively if not completely related discussion.

As I look through these posts, one thing becomes increasingly clear. The job that we have been called to is not an easy one, but the God that has called us continues to guide and form us so that we can accomplish His work.

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