Costa Rica? But God….!

Back in the early 1980’s while we were investing ourselves in planting the Crossroads Community Church in Camarillo , California, we committed to the Lord that we would go anywhere He called us to do evangelism and church planting. We assumed that meant anywhere in Southern California (little did we know!) -- and we embarked on our reasonable and appropriate 10-year plan to prepare for fulltime ministry. In July of 1986 we went on a short term mission to Europe and God surprised us with a different 10-year plan! On the last day of our stay there, God called us to return to Europe fulltime. He spoke to our hearts and called us out of our comfort zone.

We responded, “But God….!” as humans so often do. “We don’t know the language, we don’t know the people, we’re not prepared, we’re not eloquent!” But God said, “You’re available and I will glorify myself.” So we waited for six months for the calling to “go away” but it didn’t and finally we said, “Okay, God.” It didn’t seem reasonable, some said it wasn’t “appropriate”, but it was God’s idea, so we obeyed.

In our first ten years, we helped establish the Crossroads in Amsterdam, Holland, now a thriving church of more than 1000 in attendance, and we trained, equipped and coached teams and leaders that established several other churches in Europe. And always we reached out personally to touch individual lives with the message of hope and grace that had been entrusted to us – doing both evangelism and church planting.

Just when we were getting comfortable the Lord began to shake things up for us again! It was almost ten years to the day from our original call to missions that He landed us in Brussels, Belgium. In July of 1996, we began planting and leading the Cornerstone International Church, and it has become a beautiful community composed of 30 different nationalities – people from all over the world, worshipping together, loving one another and reaching out in the name of Jesus. We made a ten year commitment to the work and that commitment came to a close in the summer of 2006. The church gradually became able to sustain itself as an independent entity. We were enjoying life in the comfort zone at last when God began to shake things up for us once again!

In the summer of 2005 we travelled to Costa Rica and it was once again on the last day of our stay that God called us to return there fulltime! Here we were thinking we would just stay in Brussels for the next ten years! Rick would expand his coaching role, Judith would expand her counseling role and we would just live out the next ten years in our comfort zone… But once again, God had another 10-year plan! Did we say, “Okay, God”? No. We said, “But, God…” and told Him all the reasons why His idea didn’t seem “reasonable and appropriate.” We went back to Belgium and waited six months for the calling to “go away” but God said, “You’re available and I will glorify myself.” And finally we said, “Okay, God.” It seemed unreasonable, but it was God’s idea, so we obeyed.

Last year we had the privilege of hearing Max Lucado speak from his book “Cure for the Common Life”. He talked about finding your “sweet spot” – that place where it all comes together for you – “a zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made by God to dwell… and life makes sweet sense when you find your spot.”

We have been so blessed throughout the last quarter of a century to be continually living in our “sweet spot.” God made us for evangelism and church planting – He designed us to be reaching out to those who don’t yet know Him. Reaching out with His grace, with His Word, with His hope, and in so doing, forming communities that do the same. What a joyful adventure it has been so far. We have worked hard but it has never felt like hard work! We have been in our sweet spot and when you stay in your sweet spot you can move out of your comfort zone and, from time-to-time, you need to! If it’s God’s idea, ya gotta obey, right?

So here we are – we landed in Costa Rica on September 1, 2006. It’s a new language, a new culture, a new life! Out of our comfort zone? Yes! But not out of our sweet spot! We are doing evangelism and church planting in the Orosi Valley, 45 minutes outside of the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. There’s so much to tell about how we got here and all that has happened since landed. Watch for our next blog entry to hear more! In the meantime, in order for us to follow this calling from the Lord, we need your continued prayers and support more than ever before. As we move forward together in this mission, our prayer for you is that you will stay in your sweet spot and be willing to move out of your comfort zone as we serve our surprising and glorious God together!

Prayer points for this week:

1. Pray for our residency to be approved.
2. Pray for Flor and Rodolfo, Roni, Frank and Tiffany, Gabriella, Margarita, Sondra and Greivin, Rosa Elena, Doug and Inez, Marcella, Ariana and Sandra – all people we are reaching out to in the name of Jesus.
3. Pray for the bi-lingual Friday night gatherings we are having in our home for Potluck and Praise to be fruitful for the Kingdom.
4. Pray for our language learning to accelerate miraculously.
5. Pray for our grandson Justice (5) as he learns the language and culture.

Muchas gracias! Dios le bendiga!