Forces
Gathering at the End of the Road
“What
is the Kingdom of Heaven like? It is like a
mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his
garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds
of the air perched in its branches.” Luke
13:18-19
Rising
at the end of the roads in Costa Rica are the dark
tropical forests, steep mountains and rushing rivers
of Talamanca. On many maps the area in marked as the
“Indigenous Reserve,” or as part of the
province of Limon. On any road map it is easy to locate
simply by looking for the Caribbean side, just north
of the Panamanian border, and noting where the roads
end.
Where
the road ends, electricity ends, healthcare facilities
end, plumbing ends. There is no public transportation,
there is no established church, there is no telephone,
there is no Internet connection. There are 20,000
to 40,000 people who live there whose primary language
is neither English nor Spanish; it is Bribri or Cabecar.
Where
the road ends, Western languages and culture end,
most of the technology advances of the last two hundred
years end, and the CrossRoad begins. It is a place
of spiritual darkness, a people enslaved to a primitive
superstition and held at the mercy of the local shamen.
It is a place of poverty and ignorance. It is a place
that has been exploited in the past by conquistadors
and banana companies. It is a place that is now exploited
by drug dealers using native fields in remote areas
to grow marijuana, and a place where neophyte churches
have been swayed by the heretical preaching of the
“Prosperity Gospel.” (Worship here, donate
here, and God wants you to be rich.)
Talamanca is where the road ends, and someone planted
a mustard seed.
I
have in the past related a witness to my journeys
to remote jungle villages and the amazing workings
of God in those places and with those people. This
trip to Costa Rica I was granted a bigger view of
the mission and a broader exposure to the mustard
seed planters.
On
January 29-30th John Whited was experiencing part
of what Jesus prophesied for his missionaries in Matt.
10: 16-20. Instead of packing medicines and camp supplies
we were meeting with attorneys and planning strategy
and seeking the Lord’s will over a split in
the church at Bribri and a serious attack on the mission
by Pastor Miguel. I fear Pastor Miguel has been tempted
successfully by the spirit of this world and has taken
to preaching a Prosperity Gospel and has been faithless
in his time and finances. On February 5th, the day
I returned to Jacksonville, John was in court in Limon
with Miguel settling a claim by Miguel for $7,000
(plus $5,000 in attorney fees and court costs), which
was a painful loss of ministry funds. It was another
example of the administration of law at the expense
of justice, and a reminder of the admonishment that
we are sent out like sheep amongst the wolves, and
we should be innocent as a dove and shrewd as the
serpent. John did well with the innocent as a dove
part. The shrewd as a serpent----not quite so good
at that yet.
The
whole process was painful in terms of betrayal and
loss of ministry time and resources, and could have
been frustrating in the change of our plans. Yet,
the good news is that God remains in charge and works
all things for the good of those who love Him. The
unexpected blessing of the trip was the opportunity
to witness the amazing gathering of heaven’s
forces around the stronghold of Talamanca.
On
January 31st, we met Tom Kennedy and followed him
to his clinic construction site at Paso Marcos. The
roads got narrower and rougher, the bridges became
scary, and finally we arrived at the site. The clinic/missions
building is at the edge of the Rio Pacuare and at
the beginning of the trail that leads into the Cabecar
Indian reservation. A team from Access at CrossRoad
were helping construction last summer, and they will
be happy to know that there are now floors and a roof
and framing, and even a flush toilet!
For
me, the joy of the clinic tour was my host, Alekcey
Murilla. I had heard of Alekcey and his wife Judith
for the past 4 to 5 years. I had heard of them as
they were medical students who would volunteer their
time and skills to Christian medical missions in Talamanca.
I had heard of their plan to do their Family Practice
residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and then
return to Costa Rica to do missions. I had heard of
them bringing teams of medical personnel to Talamanca
during the time of the floods in 2005. I had heard
from Tom Kennedy that they were back in Costa Rica
ready to begin missions.
I
had heard of them, and I appreciated their great hearts
without ever having met them. But, to tell the truth,
I had my doubts about their plans. Somewhere around
90% of the foreign physicians who do their residencies
in the United States end up staying here to practice.
The temptations are too great: better pay, better
care system for their patients, better academic and
research opportunities. Plus, the idealism of youth
gives way to the realities of family life and planning
for children and retirement. Most idealists put their
mission on hold, or turn it into part-time work (like
me).
But
not Alekcey and Judith. They continued to heed the
call of the Holy Spirit in their lives. So I appreciated
the excitement and vision that Alekcey had as he showed
me the clinic rooms, and the medical office, and the
pharmacy. I was a little surprised at the space devoted
to mission team meeting space and sleeping quarters.
Then he showed me another room overlooking the river.
He showed me where the trail came from the Cabecar
reservation, where people came in and out of their
land to ford the stream. I asked the purpose of that
room. He said, “Oh, this is where Judith and
I will be living.”
I
saw Alekcey again a few days later in San Jose and
met his wife Judith. The next day as I was getting
on a plane to come back to the USA, that bright, beautiful,
educated physician couple was camping out by the Rio
Pacuare laying tile for the clinic floor at the end
of the road at Paso Marcos. Praise God!
Leaving
Paso Marcos, John and I continued to Bribri. It is
only 50 miles away as the crow (or helicopter) flies,
but it was about a five-hour drive through the mountains
to the coast and then over the awful roads. We spent
the next three days on a building project. The project
itself was remodeling the interior of the worship
center into living space and meeting rooms for new
permanent mission staff.
Yes,
new mission staff for AguaViva Ministries. A man named
Darryl has spent his adult life flying, testing, and
maintaining helicopters and has now been called into
missions. On faith he is planning on moving his family
to Bribri to be ready when the helicopter arrives
to begin serving the people and missions in Talamanca.
Granted, we are still a long way from the financing
of a helicopter, but it would seem that helicopters
are in greater supply than missionaries with the skills
needed to establish the specific aviation program
needed.
Taking
a break from the construction work, we were invited
to lunch at David Jones home a few miles outside Bribri.
David, for those of you new to these chronicles, is
a second generation missionary to Talamanca. His family
was responsible for the first translation of the New
Testament into the Cabecar language, and David and
his brothers Timothy and Phillip are continuing to
work on an updated version.
The
big project at David’s home, however, was not
Cabecar, but Bribri. Paul Williams is a Wycliffe Bible
translator who has spent the last 25 years translating
the New Testament into Bribri. The translation is
complete and at the publisher and a dedication ceremony
is scheduled for August. But the Bribri don’t
usually read books. They listen. So…the project
at David’s house is the dramatic reading of
the newly translated Bribri New Testament into DVD/CD
format to take to the people. It is quite the high
tech operation in a low tech environment. David’s
house is in the middle of the jungle, and built on
stilts. Under the house is the open-air work space
and a newly constructed sound-proof room where a team
of Central Americans, Paul, and the Bribri readers
were diligently pressing ahead with the oral translation.
That
evening we had another invitation for dinner with
Dr Mauricio Urena, the local physician employed by
the government in the public health clinic and the
clinic for the Indians. Mauricio has been a great
friend to the ministry over the years and went with
on the difficult trip to Bajo Bley three years ago.
This evening he shared his plans for the future.
He
is 35 years old and is planning on retiring from government
service this April. He has some savings and has invested
in a local store (“The Old Harbour Super Mercado”
in Puerto Viejo del Carib) and is planning on spending
a couple months in the US perfecting his English before
beginning the six month YWAM missionary training course
in Hawaii. Next year he plans on returning to Talamanca
as a full time medical missionary. Wow.
So,
I would like to report that at the end of the road,
there are men and women planting mustard seeds, and
those seeds are growing like crazy. I can’t
tell you how excited I am to see God working in Talamanca
and how He has invited such spectacular people --
physicians, helicopter pilots, translators -- to join
Him. There is great work to do, and many dark days
and obstacles ahead, but God is faithful to his purpose
of salvation and it is hard to believe that we will
not be a witness to a great spiritual awakening in
Talamanca.
For
more information on ministry opportunities and specific
prayer needs contact:
John
Whited
john@aguavivaministries.com
www.aguavivaministries.com
Contributions
to the ministry or the helicopter fund can be made
to:
AguaViva Ministries
71 Byrd Rd.
Mebane, NC 27302
Tom Kennedy: costaken@racsa.co.cr
Contributions
to the ministry can be made to:
Calvary International
PO Box 10305
Jacksonville, FL 32247
For
ministry of the Kennedy family #224 on byline
For the clinic #903 on byline of check
David Jones: dljones@racsa.co.cr
Contributions
to the ministry can be made to:
River of God, Inc.
PO Box 406
Zionsville, IN 46077-0406
