despues de

Now that I am home, I have had the chance to reflect quite a bit on our missionary expedition in Central America. Here are some thoughts I’ve had.

1) The people we worked alongside of in Costa Rica are amazing. They have literally sold out for the sake of the Gospel and it shows. From their countenance to the fruit of their labor, it is clear that God honors their radical obedience. This was true from Bishop Palomo to the Zirkels to the interns.

2) More than ever, I am convinced that there is a Movement of God’s Spirit restoring and renewing the Methodist Church. This Movement is inspired and fueled by the Will of the One. The fundamental dissatisfaction with the state of the world is found in all corners of the globe. People of all ages – but particularly young people are sensing that something is profoundly wrong with the world.

3) I believe that the message of Christ and his Revolution is universal. There is no language barrier or cultural limitation on the strength of the Gospel. My cute stories and personal anecdotes cannot change lives, but the Word of God does. It is a sword that is piercing the heart of people everywhere. It breaks the chains of oppression. Where the Scriptures are shared, lives change. My preaching has to be strong, researched, and the best God has for me to give – each time – every time.

4) The call to join in Kingdom building work is supposed to be challenging and life changing. Small alterations in our life patterns is not what Christ demands. He wants it all. If you want part of him, you must take it all. People know intuitively that the Gospel is a call to die – not just clean up a little. I must sell out to press the cause of Christ. My preaching is to be a fearless call to holiness that makes everyone uncomfortable. Necessarily, this will include me as again and again I am reminded of my own sin and love of comfort.

5) University may well be the epicenter of God’s renewal of the Methodist Church. I don’t say this lightly, I know it seems self-serving. Yet, revival begins somewhere – this I know. Why not here? Why not here? If we are a committed congregation of obedient people practicing radical sacrifice and ceaseless prayer, will God not delight in answering our prayer for regeneration? University is my home. The strength and gifts that God has placed in our sweet church are beyond the norm. Where much has been given, much is due. If we truly believe that God is willing to begin a Worldwide Methodist Movement from within our walls, then perhaps he will.

6) Finally, I am certain that there is no such thing as going deeper in our discipleship without growing wider in our witness. There is a subtle Christian lie that is quite popular. It states that we can concentrate on growing deeper while neglecting our evangelistic calling. The disciples were sent before they knew it all, before even the words of the New Testament were recorded and collected. Going deeper in our discipleship and faith is impossible unless we are reaching out with our witness and invitation. To this end, we can never stop going, never stop sending, never stop growing.

Segundo Domingo

We awoke bright and early Sunday morning with a full agenda. First, we traveled out to the sight where Ray, Lydia, and the Methodist Church is building a children’s home.

This is a project being supported by University. In response to overcrowded orphanages, Ray & Lydia are spearheading the construction of a campus where children will have their lives forever changed. Several years ago, the church was able to purchase seven acres just outside of San Jose. It is a stunning piece of property that is bordered by a river that cuts through the area. The first of several homes is now under construction. When completed, the campus will have a number of homes – each housing 10-12 orphaned children. Each home will have a permanent set of “house parents.” In addition, a large building will be constructed to serve as a rainy-day play place for the community. It is a huge undertaking that will take years to complete. When finished, children without hope and without a family will find opportunity beyond imagination.

On our scouting trip, Mark and I had visited the sight and taken in the vision. Together, we decided that we would use every opportunity we had to help support the construction. Thus, Sunday morning we filmed on the sight and are preparing a video to show everywhere we go this coming year. Mark and I get invitations all year long to lead worship and preach. Part of our “yes” this year will include the opportunity to show the video and take a love offering to support the children’s home in Costa Rica.

We finished filming and drove on to Puerta Viejo which is a couple of hours outside San Jose. We attended the Methodist Church there and thoroughly enjoyed worship. We met on an open air slab covered by a tin roof. Just across from us a permanent church building is being built. It will include a sanctuary, office for the pastor, free clinic, and an apartment for a missionary nurse from the states who will run the clinic.

As it happened, it was “Missionary Sunday” at the church. Pastor Fernando preaching one of the best sermons on outreach I have ever heard. I was seriously impressed and hope that someday I can invite him to University to share the message. More impressive than his sermon though, was the work of his church. Though they are meeting under a tin roof with an incomplete church building, this little congregation had already planted two others. Representatives from both churches planted in the last two years were there to report on their progress. As if that weren’t enough, Pastor Fernando then told the congregation that they would now start making plans to support a church plant in neighboring Nicaragua.

I was humbled by the entire experience. I was in the midst of a people who out of their poverty were planting churches and reaching beyond themselves while work on their own church slowly progressed.

After church, we had lunch in town and then took off for a little fun. The whole team zip-lined from tree top to tree top. It was an exhilarating experience that we all greatly enjoyed. The final zip line took us across a big river. Wow.

That night, we closed out our time together with some sharing and final worship. We sat around a little circle and shared, 1) what we learned about someone else on the team; 2) what we learned about ourselves; and 3) what we learned about worship that would enrich our community life back home at University.

All told, it was an incredible time of learning for us all. We slept well that night and in the morning the team headed for home.

Sabado

Saturday morning we rose early in the morning and after a quick breakfast set out for a dormant volcano. It was our first time leaving the city of San Jose. We didn’t have to go far outside the city to become surrounded by some of God’s most stunning handiwork. We climbed into the mountains until we topped the clouds. Looking down into the valleys shrouded by the low hanging clouds quieted us all.

We arrived on the top of the volcano excited to see what we could. I think we all paused a bit when Javier (our driver) backed into a parking space and explained why. Everyone is expected to back in to their spot . . . just in case. Yes, just in case the volcano begins to erupt. We were all so cold by that point that we reasoned that if it did go off, at least we would warm up a bit!

It was an incredible walk out to the crater. The clouds moved in all around us. You could barely see ten feet in any direction. Occasional clear patches would drift by and we would catch a glimpse of a barren lava field. We arrived at the rim of the crater and almost on cue the clouds gave way and we peered deep inside the mountain into a crystal blue pool. It was tranquil and stunning. Of course, the pool was a lie – hiding the fiery chaos underneath.

We retuned from the mountaintop into the city to see Costa Rica flags flying everywhere. The national team was playing Mexico in San Jose that night.

We led worship for a final time that night. The collective youth groups of San Jose had been invited for a worship celebration. We were led musically by two different local youth praise teams and our own team. Songs were sung in English, Spanish, and sometimes both at once. We danced before the Lord until sweat poured from us all.

My sermon that night was, “Stand Up.” Through Ray who interpreted for me that night, I exhorted the young people to stand up for Christ. I commissioned them to take the authority God had given them to build his Church and bring about a great spiritual awakening in their country. I concluded by inviting all the pastors to come down and pray with kids who were ready to lead. Again, hundreds came for prayer and renewal.

After the service, we joined with a team recently arrived from Alabama to watch both the soccer match – and the Alabama football game. Our team was wiped out and didn’t make it through the whole match, instead retiring to the seminary for the night.

Viernes

Added to our schedule during the week, we began Friday with a service for the 600 plus kids in the elementary school. Mark and the team sang and led them in worship. The little ones worshiped as kids do – without restraint or worrying about “being cool.”

As those of you who know me, I like kids a lot. I really like them when they toddle and again when they enter adolescence. I mean, it’s not as if I dislike them in between those time, I just don’t have a lot of experience relating or speaking to elementary age kiddos. So, I was a little at a loss as to what I would do.

The Lord really saved me with a distant memory of the one other time I was in front of small children. I stood before them and without words turned them into my orchestra. I used a drumstick (thanks, Callen!) to lead them in clapping on cue. The kids were really funny. At the end, I just spoke a few words about allowing God to be the conductor of our lives. In the end, it worked out alright – though I can’t claim to have thought it up on my own. As a good preacher who is in over his head is want to do, I totally stole the idea from someone else!

Toward the end of our time with the little guys, it started to rain – and I mean it started to rain in absolute earnest. It was as if the Lord poured out all the water in the sea right over us. In our metal building the sound was a roar! This delayed the entrance of the high school students somewhat – and when they did enter they were pretty wet!

Nevertheless, it was our final time with these students we had come to love and we wanted to celebrate! Once again we had the whole high school together. Friday I spoke about, “Spreading the Revolution.” I explained that discipleship and following Jesus demands a response the grows the Kingdom. We are each called to witness to the power of God in our lives in our schools, home towns, nations, and around the world.

I concluded the message with a call to action. Each of the kids was given a post-it note to place on one of two giant maps of the world with a commitment to carry the Movement to that place. By the end of the response time, the maps were beautifully adorned with multicolored post-it notes indicating which student would be responsible for each corner of our globe. In addition, kids were invited to respond by signing up to be a student leader, responsible for leading the Movement at the school and/or respond to a call to pastoral ministry. Ray and I prayed with the kids called to ministry. It was powerful to see these gifted young men and women make a promise to serve the Church.

We finished up with some pictures and lots of hugs. We had a little time off that afternoon, then we went to Ray & Lydia’s home for dinner. It was amazing. If you are looking for the best meal available in Costa Rica, you will have to secure an invitation to the Zirkel’s home.

After dinner, we had a time of worship with the Zirkel’s and some of the missionary interns who had been with us throughout our time in country. Mark led as we sang and I shared some scripture. It was a holy and powerful time as several people sought a baptism of the Spirit and we all prayed over them. Our time concluded as we all spread out around the Zirkel home (inside and out) and blanketed the place in prayer.

We returned to the seminary for bed and to get ready for Saturday.

Jueves

Exhaustion set in on Thursday. We were carted off to the school once again where we would see first the Jr. High, then the Sr. High. This time, it was a little later in the morning. I spoke Thursday about, “Enduring in the Revolution.” I shared God’s desire for his revolutionaries to remain steadfast and vigilant. The Movement requires people who are not set back by set back. There is little room for casual Christians who expect things to get easier when joining ranks with Jesus. So, I invited the kids to be baptized with the Holy Spirit that day. Once again, we spread ourselves out down front and invited any who were in need of the Spirit to come down. In addition, I told the kids to just wave one of us up if they needed prayer, but couldn’t/wouldn’t come down.

It was important to me on Wednesday that the kids come down front. There is something important about physically moving toward God. (I know, God is in the bleachers and pews too, that isn’t my point.) Given the skepticism we found in those first days at the school, I truly felt that it was the kids’ move to make. Thursday was different. I wanted those who were still struggling to know that God finds them right where they are – if only they are willing to be found. So, over the course of the morning, we prayed with hundreds of more kids who were seeking blessing, healing, anointing, wisdom, freedom, and life. We prayed down front and we prayed in the stands. We prayed with individuals, pairs, and groups.

At one point, I looked up to see around 40 kids in a tight circle. RT had begun praying with three kids which multiplied again and again. By the end, RT was spinning in a circle laying hands on the kids praying blessing down upon them. As he said, “Amen,” the kids broke into tears and shouts of joy all at once. A mighty cry went up before the Lord from that corner of the room – let me assure you.

After services were over, I met with a young man who would become a real friend. Jose came and with tears expressed his joy at what he had found during the course of the week. He told me he wasn’t sure about this on Monday, but thought it was a good presentation. He said by Wednesday he had been found by the Lord and cried, Abba Pappa. Jose said he thought we were angels from heaven for sure.

I thought about that a lot. The word angel and messenger are the same in Hebrew. The angels were messengers who brought word from God to his people in their time of need. They played a role in the revelation of the person of God. Though I am certain we came from Texas and not heaven (though it is easy to confuse the two), I think Jose was right in the end. This week in Costa Rica, God used our little team to be messengers of His Word for His children.

That night was friend and family night for the kids of the school. We had a large group there that night for worship. I preached one of my favorite sermons, “Outrageous Ridiculousness” with the translating help of my friend Luis Palomo. Once again, Luis did a great job following me around as I preached, sang, and danced! I pointed out that God is in the habit of doing outrageous things – most notably in the person of Jesus Christ.

Alison broke out in “Oh How He Loves” and I invited all who would be saved by God’s outrageous and ridiculous grace to come forward for prayer as our team came forward. Once again, hundreds poured out of the stands to give their life to Christ. We were amazed by the number of young children who came to follow in the footsteps of their older siblings.

As Thursday drew to a close, we were full of God’s Spirit, but completely poured out. It was with a thankful heart that we laid down that night.

Miercoles

Wednesday had the earliest wake up calls for the week. The early breakfast time was exacerbated by my sleeplessness during the night. When I finally lay down the night before, I was troubled by cramps in my legs and an overall restlessness. I was painfully aware of how important Wednesday would be and was frustrated by my inability to rest. I knew from the start it was a feeble attempt to weaken me. Though my body did pay the price for the attack from Satan, my heart was in line with the Master and his strength was made perfect in my weakness.

We arrived at the school for an 8:00 a.m. start with the Jr. High kids. That morning I preached about: “How to join the Revolution.” I shared with them my experience in a Rwandan orphanage and the child who simply wanted to leave that place. I recounted him saying, “Go, Papa, Go.” I shared with the kids Paul’s assertion that by the Spirit of Christ within us we are the adopted children of the Most High God – and by that same Spirit we cry “Papa, Father.” In what I believe is the finest sermon I have ever been privileged to deliver, I shared the fundamental truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I concluded by inviting the kids to come forward if they want to accept Christ as their Savior and commit to following him as their Lord.

Before the service began, I had asked the team to prepare themselves to pray with the kids. I instructed them to simply come forward and spread out along the floor down front. After my invitation, the team came down and Mark began to sing. He (Mark) would later recount for us, “I was just praying that even one kid would come down. You know how people always say, even if it was just for that one.”

There was quite a pause after the sermon ended and the music began. I looked up to the kids sitting in the bleachers only once or twice. There was more than one child weeping already, but no one moved. Exhausted and poured out, I sat down on the floor. I knew they would come – I had seen their sweet faces while I shared Christ with them. I knew they were living in a spiritual orphanage and were desperate to cry Abba, Father.

Two girls finally rose together and made their way to Alison. They were the first to receive salvation that day, but not the last. They came as individuals and they came in groups. They surrounded every person standing down front waiting for them. Life began that morning for hundreds of young people as their hurt and sin poured out and grace proved triumphant. A group of ten kids would come and surround one of us and we would ask “how can we pray for you?” and a confused look would spread across their faces. Then we would ask, “who wants to receive salvation and make Jesus their Lord?” and ten hands would go up into the air. We would ask their name and one by one lead them in prayer. They confessed their sins and claimed the love of Christ as their very own.

It was the same with the older kids later that morning. I read Acts sometimes and wonder at the power of God’s Spirit to add thousands to his flock when Peter preaches the Gospel. In San Jose, I got a glimpse into what is otherwise words on a page as hundreds entered eternal life that morning.

As if that wasn’t enough for one day, we went back to the seminary where we led worship for the pastors during their chapel time. I spoke there about the enduring nature of God’s promise. Bishop Palomo rose after I spoke to bless the Communion meal. I had the benefit of Ray Zirkel translating the Bishop’s words. Once again, I found myself awed by the depth of this man’s understanding of the things of God. At one point, he prayed that God would bless our taking of the holy meal, “not because of our merits” and he paused, then said, “mostly because we don’t have any.” So simple, yet such an important truth.

Since I was the preacher, I was sitting in the front row and therefore one of the first to receive communion. I wasn’t sure of their practice, but given the events of the morning, I went to the front of the room and simply knelt on the floor. I intended to just stay in my crumpled position, but I hadn’t been their long when the Lord called me to my feet to pray for the other pastors positioned around me. I rose and prayed as instructed. Somehow, the Spirit moved through me as I prayed clearly and specifically for each pastor. For one I prayed direction in their new endeavor. For another I prayed for healing in his family. Again and again I prayed for the pastors kneeling and standing around me. I came to a young pastor standing with his arms raised. I put one hand over his heart and began to pray as the Lord led. After a few moments the Bishop was standing behind the man and motioned for me to bless him with a touch to his forehead.

In that moment, I breathed a prayer of peace over him and laid my hand on his head. He fell back into the Bishop’s waiting arms. The Bishop gently laid him on the ground and gave me a long look. Finally, he slowly nodded his head without breaking that penetrating stare. Not knowing what else to do, I sat down next to the pastor sprawled out on the floor. I covered his heart with my hand and rested. Sometime later he would slowly stir and rise up – the picture of a man who has laid in green pastures (Psalm 23) – and give me a warm smile and gentle hug.

While I was there on the floor, the Bishop called for those who needed to give testimony. Many shared, but one pastor in particular stood out for me. He said that he had recently planted two churches each of which was far from his home church. Through his tears, he said that he had been weary, but this week with the other pastors had strengthened him. Planted two churches each far from his home church. Oh, God, who am I and what am I doing?

That night we had a meaningful team meeting followed by a precious time of worship and prayer. As a group, we lifted up the names of the kids we had prayed with that day. Hearing each name was like a drop of rain in the desert.

We finished the night with a mean game of charades. It really was a riot, though Alison took the cake as both the best at the game and the most competitive. FYI: If you ever play with her, you definitely want her on your team!!!

Martes

As the week went on, our nights got later and the mornings got progressively earlier. Tuesday was the beginning of a three day run of non-stop worship events. After breakfast, we loaded up and headed over to the school.

My topic for the day was, “Arming for the Revolution.” At one point, I looked up and saw Bishop Palomo seated high on the steps near the rafters. I thought, “What am I doing? Am I really in Central America preaching to a group of Latin kids to join a revolution? This is either going to be very good or I’m going to be in a small cell well south of the border.”

Our reception Tuesday was definitely warmer. A couple of things helped. First, the kids knew what was going on – Monday had been a mystery and now they had had a chance to process some. Second, I had the band fling themselves out amongst the students during the message. They were spread around the room with the task of praying over their area while I preached. Third, we had two services – one for the lower grades and one for the upper. The smaller numbers made things slightly more manageable. Nevertheless, we still weren’t sure which way they were going to break.

I spoke to the kids about preparation for God’s revolution – one not of flesh and blood, but for eternity itself. I encouraged them to take up the belt of Truth that is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. I reminded them that without a belt your pants are likely to fall off – a most embarrassing situation (though I was careful not to use the Spanish false-cognitive embarrassado – which means pregnant). God sends the Truth so that we are neither ashamed or embarrassed on the final day, rather we can stand in the confidence of our salvation.

Two services and some hang out time with the kids later we were back at our home resting and preparing for our evening service. I was surprised by God’s provision when my interpreter for the week walked into the house. It was Luis Palomo – the Bishop’s son and my classmate from Asbury Seminary! He was down visiting his father and working on a new ministry venture to financially boost the long term goals of the Costa Rican Methodist Church. Luis is a gifted preacher in his own right and I gave him permission to preach whatever sermon he wanted – regardless of what I was talking about! He assured me that he would say and do whatever I said and did. His words, “You jump, I jump.” That night, I put him to the test.

Tuesday night worship was held for the churches of San Jose. The Bishop had invited his people to come in for this special event – and come they did. I spoke that night about, “Living up to your name.” I started by telling them about my first experience with a certain Costa Rican cookie named, “Yippy.” I shared that in English, “Yippy!” is an expression of surprising joy. This is exactly what a Yippy is too. A wonderfully flavorful bar of joyous goodness. As I repeatedly shouted, “Yippy!” in my best falsetto voice, Luis followed right along. This phase became a word I heard throughout the rest of the trip. Young and old alike would speak the one word of English we shared – “Yippy!” It never failed to bring a smile to my face and theirs.

I exhorted the church to live into their name, Christian – to be the kind of church that causes others in their community to be surprised by joy. I shared the urgency of the work of the church to redeem their communities, their cities, their nations, and ultimately their world.

At the end of the sermon I took a cue from the Holy Spirit and deviated from our program. Though the Bishop was scheduled to have some words following my sermon (how to strike fear into the heart of a Methodist preacher: Tell him the Bishop will be addressing the group when you have finished). I begged the Bishop’s pardon and shared that I was feeling led to invite the people to pray over the room. I explained that we were engaged in a great spiritual work in this very space with 550 young people. I told them that in the morning I would be offering an invitation to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. I asked them to get up and pray over the seats and floor where the kids would be seated. I told them, I know you don’t know the name of the kid who will be sitting where you are, but God does. Pray for them.

After about 5 minutes of this prayer time, Bishop Palomo rose to take the mic. I thought that perhaps prayer time was over and it was time to go on with the program. Instead, he began to encourage the people. He declared freedom in the name of Jesus. He called down the blessing of God’s Holy Spirit. I’m not sure how else to say this to you, dear reader. He was invited and He came.

The prayers of the saints grew increasingly louder as intercession began in earnest. Bishop Palomo continued to speak blessings and words of power over the people and the place. Soon people were weeping and kneeling as they moved onto the spiritual battlefield and began to push back the darkness.

After some time – I don’t know if it was 10 minutes or an hour – the Bishop began calling for our team to come and kneel. As we did so, they people of the church prayed mighty blessings over us. The Bishop called for us to rise as he blessed and anointed us. With arms raised, I stood before this man of God as he spoke Spanish words of blessing over me – words whispered in my ear by my friend, Luis. At the end of the blessing, the Bishop blew into my face. I have never experienced this before and it was powerful. The wind of the Spirit, the ruah (breath) of God filled me. At once, both peace and power filled my limbs.

I won’t share the other members of our team’s experience as he blessed them – that is their story to tell. Needless to say, we were each equally blessed and humbled by the experience.
We left that night and went home to unwind. We talked very little about our experience during our team meeting that night. I think it was just too close and raw for words.

So, after a brief talk, we decided to play Catch Phrase (yep, there is an app for that!). By the end our sides were hurting from laughing so hard. Oh, did I mentioned we played where you had to give your clues in either an accent or sing them in an operatic voice? I highly recommend this form of play. It adds a whole new level of fun.