After a slow start to the carpentry program, we've really got some momentum. Five young men showed up this week each day and participated in the program--we studied the first chapter of the gospel of John, worked our way through a couple of pages of a carpentry book, built some cabinets, did some painting and even studied a little English, too.
This week I really felt like we turned a corner relationally, too. Alex is almost 16 years-old and was assaulted by a group of boys last year. His mother told us that he quit going to school and rarely left the house due to fear of the same happening again. Somehow, he overcame these fears to show up the last two weeks and participate. Although very timid the first week, during Bible study Wednesday, he responded to a question about how God has blessed him by saying the carpentry program and our growing relationships have been a real blessing to him!
Two other exciting bits of news this week are that Gustavo, the director of New Horizons, the outreach that the carpentry program is a part of, found some money in the budget so we can buy some wood to begin creating some pilot products to sell in the neighborhood. This will be an initial effort to determine what we want to begin building and how it might sell in La Carpio.
In addition, Andrea and I have been invited to co-lead a couples' Bible study in La Carpio with Cesar and his wife, Carmen, two residents of La Carpio that are volunteers with Christ For the City and are involved in starting a church in the neighborhood. The second week that Cesar and Carmen and others gathered for Sunday morning Bible studies, nearly 150 people showed up. Clearly there is a real hunger for the Lord in this desperate place!
Please pray with us that we'd have wisdom and discernment to determine which additional ministry opportunities to become involved in as they present themselves as we try to be good stewards of our time and energy. Please also continue to pray for Alex, Rener, Harold, Mychall and Jonathan to continue to be consistent and respond to what the Lord is doing in their hearts through the carpentry program.
Peace,
Seth
In my last post I'd optimistically estimated starting class with eight interested young men. The designated Tuesday for starting, one young man named Harold showed up. The next day, we had two more young, but eager-to-learn boys.
Over the last couple of weeks, we've done repair work around the property, salvaging wood from discarded pallets, and I've begun to build a relationship with some of these young men. After another week, a 17-year-old named, Micah showed up. He liked what we did and brought a friend with him the next day.
Last Friday we sat in the shade and talked for awhile and I shared my vision for the program with them. I also asked them what they hoped to learn and achieve. Later, one boy went out to the street and bought a couple bags of Tamarindo-flavored ice (about 10-cents a pop). We bit the tip off the bags and sucked the flavored water and hung out. It was good to be accepted on their turf.
Later that afternoon, I visited a wood-crafting factory and thanks to a conversation I struck up with a resident artist, I was shown into the office. I spoke with the owner's son about my vision for the program in La Carpio and told him I'd like to supply him with trained workers if he could put them to work. He was eager to see such young men and provide employment.
Please pray with me that God would bring more interested young men and that we'd come together and form the right team to launch this program at the right time!
Expectantly,
Seth
I found this used book recently, that's titled, "Duty, Honor, Vietnam." It's about 12 men who graduated from West Point and then served our country during the Vietnam War. Howard Boone, who retired as a colonel, described the value of the military college in this way, "West Point turns out a very dedicated product, but the difficulty is that he's not only seen very little of the world, but he's so controlled that he's emotionally and socially insecure."
I've been thinking of this statement as it pertains to the young men of La Carpio, the slum where I'll be teaching carpentry, and much more, in a week. Right now, these boys are dedicated to nothing more than finding something to eat and playing soccer. In addition, most of them are emotionally and socially insecure, not because of too much control in their lives, but from the complete absence of any authority or controlling/guiding influence, such as a father.
Can I teach and inspire these kids to be dedicated enough to learn a skill and become responsible enough to hold a job and provide for themselves? More importantly, will they recognize me as an ambassador for Christ, teaching reconciliation, restoration and hope--words that right now might hold as much meaning to them as duty and honor?
Tuesday, we expect that eight boys will start this program with us. I've been asking God to give me at least three boys that will stick with the program (and me) so that I can become a friend, mentor and discipler to them. I'm really excited to begin the process of building into their lives and seeing what God has in store for them. And I look forward to sharing more about His grace and faithfulness during this season.
Prayerfully,
Seth
Happy New Year! I happened to be listening to Sara Groves' song Add to the Beauty on New Year's Day as I was thinking about what this year has in store for us, and what I'd like to accomplish.
For those of you who aren't familiar with it, here are some of the lyrics:
It comes in small inspirations
It brings redemption to life and work
To our lives and our work
It comes in loving community
It comes in helping a soul find its worth
Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are
And I want to add to the beauty
I want to tell a better story
Shine with a light, that's burning up inside
I admit that sometimes the messed up nature of the world weighs me down and makes being a part of God's plan to redeem it seem like an impossible and unwieldy task. Where to begin?
This song reminded me of the small and beautiful things that we see each day that are part of the process of redemption. It struck me that "adding to the beauty" should be the sum total of my New Year's resolution this year. If I am blessed enough to help one soul find its worth this year by reflecting Christ's beauty, that will be enough. No matter how small my contributions, if I've added to the beauty accounts and helped to tell a better story to some who need to hear it, it will be enough. Here's to New Year's perspective!
Reflectively,
Andrea
Wow, it's been over a month since we updated our blog! It's been a great one, filled with visits from friends in the States who have been a tremendous blessing to us and to our missionary student community at language school.
First, David Beisiegel, a chiropractor friend of ours, came down for a medical mission to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. He offered to do free chiropractic adjustments for fellow missionary students, and 35 people took him up on it! We hadn't really thought about it, but lugging books back and forth to school, sitting in hard desks all day, sleeping on strange beds, and being stressed out about language and culture shock can take it's toll on one's spine. There were many happy students around campus after David came by!
Next, Jonathan and Joy Klee arrived to do a ministry check-in and help us make a video to capture our lives and ministry here in Costa Rica. Jonathan has his own fundraising ministry in Kansas City, and was a great help to us in preparing financially to come to the field. He has generously offered to be an ongoing support to us on the field by making this video. We took advantage of Jonathan's visit to bless the missionary student body again with a fundraising workshop. It was a great encouragement to about 25 missionaries who participated, all of whom are faced with raising financial support during a time of unprecedented financial strain in the U.S. and needed some fresh assurance that God continues to provide for all of our needs in his own creative ways.
Anyway, Jonathan and Joy have shadowed us for the better part of a week, filming as we go. We are very excited to share the final product with you all soon, and hope that it will be a good visual summary of our lives here so that you can see with your own eyes what we're up to!
Blessings,
Andrea
Hearts, Minds and Spirits Being Restored
Posted by Seth and Andrea Sears on Tuesday, October 6, 2009I thought I'd write a bit about my experiences so far at Restoration House, a recovery home for women with addictions who have been living on the street.
What an amazing and receptive group of women! They are strong -- they've seen horrible circumstances and survived them. They are spiritually hungry -- they have no illusions about their "goodness" and are seeking God because they are desperate for Him. They are welcoming -- willing to share and invite myself and other women from the language school into their lives. There are about 15 to 20 of them living in the house at any given time, and they are wide-ranging in age (ranging from high teens to over 50). I had apprehensively wondered if they would be sullen or unfriendly because of their life situation, but have found that most of them want to learn about the Bible, read it and contribute to the discussions. Thank God that their terrible circumstances have gotten them focused on what's important!
Isabel's story is a common one in the house. She did drugs when she was younger, but stopped when she got married and had children. She had 3 children, and then her husband left her. In the ensuing depression, she again turned to drugs to relieve the pain. She was out of control, lost her kids, and ended up living on the street. She now knows that her lifestyle did nothing to ease the pain, but rather caused her more and more pain. She is putting her life back together and looks forward to getting her kids back, and now knows that Christ is the only thing that will fill her and sustain her when she has problems to deal with.
We are alternating between studying through the book of Romans to go over a sound and progressive presentation of the gospel, and studying themes of interest to the group. We have covered the first 3 chapters of Romans and this week will be studying on the topic of Self-Esteem: Who Does the Bible Say We Are? Understandably, many of these woman feel worthless and used up. I pray that they will be encouraged and equipped to fight the lies of Satan and rely on God for their worth when we discuss that they are the bride of Christ, friends of God, adopted daughters given an inheritance, wives pursued by her lover even when they are faithless, and conquerors with the power of the Holy Spirit. Please join me in praying that they will grab hold of these identities and claim the love that Christ has for them each day.
Since my time with these ladies, I've seen and felt (and been somewhat surprised by the strength of) very real spiritual warfare. First, I was prevented from visiting them to start the bible study for nearly a month when I was ill. Ironically, Paul starts the book of Romans by talking about how many times he has been prevented from visiting Rome despite his heart's desire: "I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you." Romans 1:13 I don't think that's a coincidence. I believe God plans to make a harvest among these women who are so thirsty for his Word, and He WILL change their lives!
Next, a new resident shared a chilling dream she had on her second night in the home. In the dream, she could see a small group of believers worshipping God, and a large group of people worshipping Satan. She was in a neverland between the two groups of people, and knew she had a choice to make. She felt that she wanted to join the smaller group of Christians, but felt the strong pull of "the known" with the group of worldly people who followed Satan. When she tried to move in the direction of the Christians, she was confronted by Satan, who told her, "You must worship ME! We had a deal, you can't be with them! You won't be accepted!" She expressed a desire to leave him and he taunted her, saying, "I'll be waiting for you on the street; I know you'll be back." I believe these woman are regularly fighting these types of mental and emotional persecutions as they attempt to break the oppression and bondage in their lives. And how brave they are for persevering!
Finally, I've felt personally attacked this week. As I've prepared a study on self-esteem, I've experienced unexplained feelings of worthlessness myself, and found myself taking comments made by others to reinforce this view. This is not a normal preoccupation for me, and finally I realized on Sunday (at church during worship) that it is the enemy trying to distract and disable me from teaching strongly on the subject! After praying and asking God to bind these efforts, the feelings have begun to subside. I'm not one to "over-spiritualize" things (if that is really possible, that's for another blog post), but it's been made clear to me that the source of this oppression was not natural.
Please join me in praying that God would heal all of the many wounds that these women have accumulated in their lives, and specifically for the following women:
- Lorlly, who went home to return to her 8-year-old daughter after only one month in the home. This is a short time, and she was anxious about the strength of her ability to withstand temptation, but had to resume care of her daughter. We prayed fervently together before she left the home that God would protect her and strengthen her, and enable her to be a good parent to her daughter.
- Mari-Paz, who is young and lively and always contributes to the discussions. She has been in the home for about 9 months, so she is preparing to evaluate her readiness for the outside world as well.
- Jerilyn, who shows interest in learning about God's Word and actively participates in the study, but is shy about it and seems unsure of her faith.
- Isabel, mentioned above, that God would heal her wounds from divorce and life on the street and continue to grow her as she walks steadily while leaning on Him.
- Maria, who is young, pregnant, and so wants her child to be healthy and not affected by her former habits.
And please lift up all of us, including my co-teachers Helen, Sandra, and Tiffany, and ask for protection as we fight this battle (spiritual and earthly) together!
For the King,
Andrea
The title of this post has several layers of meaning for Andrea and I. She's back in action after more than two weeks sick with flu, and the pneumonia that landed her in the hospital for four days. While she was on her "vacation" as the kids and I jokingly referred to it, we had a ton of support from the States and also from our new community here. Our church, La Iglesia Berea, lifted her up in prayer throughout the illness. And our friends and fellow missionaries at the language institute fixed us meals, cared for the kids, visited her in the hospital and prayed for us, too.
All of this love and support really demonstrated the love of God for us and confirmed that He is, "... the Father of compassion, and the God of all comfort," (2 Corinthians 1:3). So, thank you for all of your love and prayer and support of us!
Andrea also had another "back in action" moment, when she and our new good friend Helen (she and her husband Steve, and daughter Nisha, are missionaries from England) went to the "Restoration House" and led the women there in a Bible Study. The women in this house are voluntarily living in a home together as they try and overcome drug addiction and life on the street. Andrea reports that all of the women were very eager to participate in the study and engage. It was a real encouragement to her to be back in the game and feeling better physically and spiritually by sharing scripture and discipling women who've known real hardship.
Finally, I've been able to go up to La Carpio several times a week and begun to engage in ministry there. While I've been making some cabinets for the offices above the shop, several young men wandered in and began hanging out, asking if they could help. What a blessing it has been to be back in action in ministry and beginning relational outreach with these young men. Please join me in praying for William, Jeffrey and Ricardo. I'm praying that we'll connect relationally and that by God's grace I'll be able to share my skills, but more importantly my faith and love for Jesus.
