Summary: It Is Well
This may feel formaller than usual, but i'm in brain mode right now more than heart mode:
The 2019 Short Term Trip (STT) to
Costa Rica affected me in a way that no other trip I’ve previously taken has. Coming
out of the trip, I feel a change in the deep places of myself, which are not
always easy for me to access. It isn’t an emotional change though; it’s a structural
one. I view myself as brackets with personality, emotions, perspectives,
opinions and the like all inside of the bracket. [sam] The changes that usually happen in my life are changes to the
things inside. This trip feels like it has changed the brackets somehow. I am
unable to tell in what way at this point. Perhaps it will be a function of time
to get the distance to see clearly.
To my understanding, the trip originally
had two expressed purposes from Fellowship’s Global Team. 1. Assist the church
in the city ministry work they are doing, 2. Assess if we believe a longer-term
partnership with Fellowship is practical. The trip ended up slightly more
multifaceted however as we added helping the church’s campus ministry to the
mix, were asked to provide feedback on our view of the health of the church’s
ministries, and had a second team from Ohio there at the same time.
The GCLA Campus ministry at the Universidad Nacional (UNA) is called H@ngout. Their model is
fascinating in its differences from existing models we’ve worked with. Rather
than start multiple small groups, the church has started one on-campus meeting
at the same time and place every week. This allows them to focus on outreach
instead of follow-up and fits in very well with the Costa Rican culture and style
of life (so frequently expressed as “Pura
Vida”). I am unsure if their longer-term plan includes starting multiple
small groups or not. I hope so, because there is so much power in that type of
community, but if they do, I also hope that they keep the weekly H@ngout
meeting on campus.
The method of outreach we employed
this week was also unique. Rather than pair up and go “fishing,” Carlos Lagos (overseeing
the campus ministry) has received permission from an English teacher (who is
not a believer, but understands the church’s vision and desires) to bring our gringos into his classroom that week to
talk about language and culture and also have time to talk about whatever we
want. Carlos Lagos encouraged us to be very open and up front about the fact
that we were from a church, with a church and desiring to tell people about
Jesus. That way no one would feel tricked or manipulated. It is beautiful in
its simplicity. We met students, built relationships, shared about God’s power
in our lives, and invited them to hangout with the church. It was simple,
powerful, effective.
The city side of the church’s
ministry is far more complex and is overseen by Carlos Gomez, the pastor of the
church. After spending the mornings on campus, our team would part from the
Ohio team (who stayed on campus until 5 PM or so). We would leave around 2 and
help with the city ministry until 9 or 10 PM. The city ministry involves
outreach to people living in the streets and to ladies who are hoping to leave
prostitution. The majority of our work was with the former, though the latter
is a big part of the church’s future plans.
There is a vicious cycle of
addiction connected to life in the streets. Many ticos (people from Costa Rica) ended up in the street because they
lost jobs or left their families because of addiction. Many internationals –
both legal and illegal, refugees and immigrants – are unable to get work due to
immigration status (if there illegally) or discrimination (if there legally).
This discouragement, combined with separation from family and easy availability
often lead people to use drugs or alcohol to cope. Thus, the cycle: can’t get
out of addiction while on the streets / can’t get off the streets while
addicted. The majority of the work we did was to meet and talk with the people
in this cycle to help the church determine what kind of help is needed. Our
role was to ask the questions and take the risk of being ill-received so that
the church could learn how to help without being perceived negatively. Many of
the stories we heard were deeply tragic. There were deep-rooted identity issues
in everyone we talked to. The same poverty of self was present that all people
wrestle with, but amplified and twisted specifically to this circumstance. The
answer to that is gospel community. The two men who were our guides are members
of the GCLA church who have left addiction but are struggling to find and keep
jobs. The connection to the church was a large part of how they escaped their
addictions. The plan that the church has is to start a church service in their
building (conveniently right in the middle of downtown) for the people living
in the street. The separate service is not so that the other church members don’t
have to interact with the people from the street, but rather to allow the culture
of this “urban tribe” to stay intact and for the gospel to flourish in it.
In order to avoid sleeping in the
street and the risks and dangers that come with it, many women (who face an
entirely different set of risks, difficulties, and dangers) will turn to prostitution.
Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, but only in certain ways and places. After
the women are past the age where this is an option for them, many turn to the
more dangerous and less lucrative world of illegal prostitution. The church’s
goal (both for women trying to leave prostitution and for those trying to avoid
it) is to start a shelter that can provide a safe community and dignified way
to sleep in a bed. This is non-existent in the city; the shelters that exist
are for men only or are for mixed (but with 85% of the beds slotted for men).
The female community in the streets is also incredibly competitive and not
cooperative. Women are culturally viewed as too problematic to be worth opening
a shelter. The church believes the power of gospel community has the power to
change this. In the same way that women from the street bring a unique set of
issues and challenges, the church firmly believes they bring a unique set of
strengths and giftings that are deeply needed.
In my opinion, Fellowship Church
is well-positioned to partner long-term with the church in Costa Rica. I
believe we can do a lot to help with their ministries and we can learn a lot
from their ministries. Iglesia Gran
Comisión has many creative
takes on student ministry and Fellowship has a lot of strong experience in this
area. There is a trip every year from Ohio doing that work however, so our
partnership there would be helpful and good, but not crucial. If we continue to
help in this area, I would suggest splitting into multiple teams, maybe even
having one, smaller team stay in the church building downtown rather than in
the hostel near the university.
In the area of city ministry, I
would want to be incredibly selective in the people that are part of the team.
It was a difficult ministry requiring tact and emotional fortitude and maturity.
The team that came this year did an amazing job, but even the least emotionally-centered
of us (that’s me I think) shed some tears during our team debriefs (which were
late, lengthy, and daily (and I think absolutely necessary)). I would also like
to include people from Fellowship’s 10:01 service (though not make it
exclusively one or the other). I think that the depth and stability needed for
effective ministry would be easier to find there and I think that the 10:01
service’s members have the stability and consistency in their lives to learn
from Iglesia Gran Comisión and apply
some of the principles to our own situation in Bryan/College Station.
The idea of future partnership
with this church has me very excited and I would greatly desire to lead or be
part of the leadership team for any future trips. Overall, the work happening is God's work and he is in charge of it, which is why we are able to have peace in the chaos and not be overwhelmed by the intensity of the need.
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Hola