Equip Disciples

Reflections on the Privilege of Ministering

By Paul Dawkins

For those of you who don't know already, I just went to Costa Rica for 8 days over spring break on a mission trip to teach basic theology to Christians among the Cabécar Indians.

I have been processing the trip for a few days now and trying to share stories and have realized that this was a very different trip from what I have done in the past. The beauty of the rainforest was overwhelming and the people were so kind and beautiful. I just kept looking around and thinking, “how on earth am I able to be here doing this in such a wonderful place?” The words humbling and overwhelming kept coming to mind.

I spent the first day alone in San Jose because some of the rest of my group missed their flight. It was my first experience taking care of myself in a foreign place and it went very well. Only met a few people, but I did eat some good food including my first experience with cow tongue (arroz con lingua). It was very good, but then I would think of a cow sticking its tongue out and I would feel sick to my stomach. I found an English bookshop where I bought a bird book of Costa Rican birds. I ended up doing a lot of bird watching which was very fun and some of the birds were absolutely stunning.

The next day we spent mostly in transit out to Grano de Oro where the missionary had a farm. We spent two nights there getting ready and helping out around the place. It was a gorgeous home out in the mountains. We drank milk they had milked, we ate cheese they had made, the eggs were from their chickens, the fruit was fresh and wonderful. The missionary had a really nice family with incredibly cute and precocious children. Three of them ended up accompanying us into the mountains (including a 4 and 7 year old!).

On Thursday we drove up a bumpy dirt road further into the mountains to the trailhead and began our descent into the valley where the village was. We hiked for several hours on steep trails, but praise be to God for the dry season that the mud was minimal. Usually you slide down the trail, but we got to hike. We took it slowly, and I kept looking around in wonder at the life growing everywhere. It seemed like plants were growing on top of plants and life was truly everywhere. We drank and filled our bottles at cool springs. Eventually we made our way down to the river.

There were schools on both sides of the river because during the rainy season, even the natives can’t cross it. It was relatively low at this point and we had to let an Indian lead each of us across and they carried our packs for us. It didn’t look that bad, but it was so swift and powerful, I was glad for a strong arm to hold onto. In the words of the missionary, “The River is Death.” It reminded me of the Biblical image of the Jordan and showed me how rich this place could be in its own right with spiritual images. Just as the ark of the covenant entered the river ahead of the Israelites, I had a native walk upstream from me breaking some of the current and lending me strength and steadiness.

After we crossed the river, we swam and cleaned up a bit in a mountain stream. Leaning into the strong current with two feet planted on rocks beneath, looking up at the lush jungle around me, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the place and what a privilege I had to be there. I was surrounded by the wonders of creation and getting to declare the One who created it all.
Getting to the village, it was strange not being able to talk with them, but they gave me food which as you probably know is one of the best ways to show me that you love me, so I felt welcome. Most meals consisted of rice, black beans, a few pieces of the pig they killed for the weekend, and a boiled green banana. They also made some amazing flat bread, noodles, and some really sweet tiny bananas (almost like candy). They also consistently offered us weak coffee with lots of sugar (which they only had because we brought it for the conference).

There was a wooden church building and a wooden house both with concrete foundation where we were teaching. It is called a village, but you could only see one or two other houses from where we were since they are spread around the contiguous valleys. In front of the house there was a really nice vista of the valley through which we had just hiked and I used that spot for a lot of my bird watching over the next few days.

We started the first night giving several lessons per evening and some in the morning as well. The materials we were teaching use pictures to communicate theology about God, right living, the spiritual and physical creation, spiritual warfare, how God speaks to us, and the like. I was in charge of 3 lessons over the weekend. Each day thus consisted of something like breakfast, teaching, lunch, swimming, hiking, dinner, teaching, maybe more dinner, sleeping. I also tried to help with some of the chores around like moving horses for new grass, sweeping, and the like. This was the first time I learned that you could sweep a dirt floor in a non-trivial way. Even the brooms were pretty cool since they were just weeds held together with cloth, but they worked extremely well.

I was encouraged by how interested they were to learn and how attentive they were. A lot of night sessions would go for 3 or more hours, but when Timothy the missionary asked them if they were tired, they would just tell us to keep going. It made me see how much our overstimulation here in the US strongly affects our ability to pay attention for a long time. I am sure they faded out at times, but they pushed through it even though they had been working all day because they wanted to learn. There was a mix of new Christians, stronger believers who knew the Bible well, and lots and lots of children. In the afternoons, the teenagers on our trip taught sessions for the children which Timothy also translated.

One of the things we did was bring in some new Bibles. Timothy’s family has translated the New Testament, some Psalms, Genesis, and Exodus into Cabécar, and so this Bible included that with a strong revision of much of the New Testament material. It was neat that the preacher there could quickly see changes that were made because he knew the old version so well. Timothy and the pastor gave great care to deciding who would be the best people to receive the new Bibles to build up the congregation there. We also gave them the pictures that we had drawn for them to use both to remember what we taught and to teach others these concepts.

I don’t have a lot of stories about specific interactions because I didn’t get to hear much from them. Timothy was so overworked in translation that we didn’t have many idle conversations with the Indians. At the end the pastor Abelardo and his wife Rojelia talked with us extensively about what has been going on with them. She said they had come to the end of their strength because many have been falling away and going back to drinking and they had faced strong persecution even from family members in the community. Because the Christians refuse to practice the traditional rituals of cleanliness which honor the native god Sibu, they are treated very badly.

Rojelia told us she had been praying that God would send someone to encourage them and strengthen them, and that we were the answer to her prayers (humbling to say the least). I was encouraged and challenged by their clear knowledge of the Word and their commitment to follow God’s calling on their lives and to maintain his standards in the church even when it is hard and compromise would make it easier for them. We spent a long time praying over this couple and over the mountains. I also got to have a really good prayer time with Timothy for his ministry and his encouragement.

We taught from Thurs through Sunday morning and then hiked out on Monday. It was a very nice day and we took our time because some of the adults were hurting and the kids under 10 were tired. I was especially impressed with little Abigail who is a kindergartner because she kept on trucking and made it all the way up the mountain. We woke up really early the next morning to meet a van that drove us back to the airport to catch our early afternoon flights. We all made it back on time and in good shape.

I came away though reflecting on how little I knew of what went on. I think it was good to show me how little of mission work is really there for our eyes to see. Even as you read this, the real value of our trip is being determined as God continues to minister to those people and bring to mind the things that we taught from his Word. Like seeds germinating under the ground, I don’t get to see what all God did that weekend and what all will come of it, but I have sown in faith and I continue to pray for God to establish the work of our hands.

God taught me many things on the trip as I did have much time to think, reflect, and pray. I am still mining my experiences for insight and understanding, but I am thankful and humbled most of all for the opportunity to serve such wonderful people.

I would encourage you to pray for the following things:

• Pray for the kingdom to grow among the Cabécar people
• Pray for encouragement and renewed faith for Abelardo and Rojelia
• Pray that the Bibles we gave out will not sit idle
• Pray especially for the children we taught that God would raise up a new generation of

 Cabécar people who will live for Yahweh instead of Sibu and who would be a vehicle for the transformation of that culture.