Most of the 22 people planning on going on the church's June mission trip to Costa Rica gathered at the church Saturday morning, 2 February. After a brief introduction to the intent of the meetings we will be having, Matt led us in a reflection on God, God's mission, and our mission. He structured his discussion around three passages from the Gospel of John -
1: 1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
En el principio ya existia la
Palabra; y aquel que es la Palabra estaba con Dios y era Dios. Él estaba en el
principio con Dios. Pro medio de él, Dios hizo todas las cosas; nada de lo que
existe fue echo sin él. En él estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de la
humanidad.
3: 16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, god did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Pues Dios amó tanto al mundo,
que dio a su Hijo único, pare que todo aquel que cree en él no muera, sino que tenga vida eterna. Porque
Dios no envió a su Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para salvarlo.
1: 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.
Aquel que es la Palabra se hizo hombre y vivió entre nosotros, lleno de amor y verdad. Y hemos visto su gloria, la Gloria que come Hijo único recibió del Padre.
We closed out our reflection with a look at some of the denomination's recent writings on the place and central meaning of mission in our church.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is to be shared with the whole world. As disciples of
Jesus Christ each of us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sent into the world to
join God's mission. As individuals and as a church we are called to be faithful to this
discipleship. Our mission is centered in the triune God. Our mission is God-called,
Christ-centered, and Spirit-led. Our mission is both proclamation and service. It is
the reason the church exists....
The church is part of God's plan. We are called into the community of the church,
and we call new disciples into that community. With Christ as our head, the church
community exists for the sake of God's mission. We learn to serve in mission in a
way that is faithful to the triune God. We are to model the kind of community God
intends for all humanity. To be the church is to be one large mission society.
Matt left us with two ideas to ponder:
How is my faith the story of
God's mission to me?
How is my participation in this trip a part of God's continuing mission to the world?
During the rest of the morning we were provided an introduction to some aspects of culture as they may be reflected in the behavior of people "different" from us, we had a short Spanish lesson, we had a chance to sample some tipico Tico food, discussed some of the
social justice challenges in Costa Rica, and discussed how we would organize to get ready for the trip. There will be three on-going planning groups: fundraising, interpretation, and logistical planning. Following the meeting we adjourned downstairs to build the sub sandwiches to be sold the next day - our first fundraising event!
On March 1st we gathered together for our second pre trip training session and we really enjoyed the event. Matthew continued leading us through a biblical reflection of our mission trip with the question “How?” How we go about our mission trip is just as important as our first topic of the “Why” behind our trip. Fortunately we have a wonderful model given to us by Jesus. Jesus demonstrated to us respect, compassion and humility during his missionary travels. As we move forward and begin to set the stage for our mission trip we were challenged to reflect on these attributes in our current lives, and also how they might be demonstrated as we establish our relationship with the larger Church in Costa Rica. Next we had a guest language instructor Chris Yanatelli, who came to us through her friendship with Bob Grant. Chris is an experienced high school Spanish teacher and led us through a fun scenario of ordering in a restaurant! Her energy and enthusiasm was contagious and I believe everyone learned another important skill to enhance our mission trip. Amy continued our discussion of Social Justice issues in Costa Rica by leading a discussion on “At Risk Children in Costa Rica.” One of the largest risks for children in Costa Rica is sexual exploitation. A disturbing topic, but unfortunately, many children are used to support a sex tourism network supported by US and European tourists. It is prevalent throughout the country of Costa Rica and despite some recent efforts to halt these practices, the government has not fully developed the capacity to enforce the laws and the demand from the US and Europe has not subsided.
I covered another aspect of Cultural awareness referred to as the “The concept of Self.” E learned about the differences between a culture that has an individualist approach (focuses on the needs of the individual) and a culture that is collectivist (focuses on the individuals identity as a member of a larger group). Most of us found out through a short quiz that we are predominately individualist, but many in the group were equally split in their views, a sign that they will be able to quickly relate to the collectivist culture in Costa Rica. Finally, Gretchen took us on an awesome tour of Costa Rican Art. She showed us the historical influences of the indigenous population in the development of an artistic legacy in the region. We saw many great examples of the various types of Costa Rican art both old and new and it will a great connection if we are able to see some of these treasures in person on our trip! Here are the links to the website that Gretchen used for her presentation if anyone is interested in further study:
www.precolumbiangold.com
www.precolumbianjade.com
www.prehispanicpottery.com/costarica
www.precolumbianstone.com/costarica.htm
www.peterlanger.com/Countries/Latinamerica/CostaRica/index.htm