On our first Sunday in Costa Rica, we worshipped at a United Methodist Church in San Jose. The church was called Mount Olivet Iglesia Evangelica Metodista. We knew it was home because it had the Cross and Flame on the sign. We also knew it was home because it had a screen and projector. The words of all the hymns were on the screen (in Spanish) where we could follow them.

The people of Mount Olivet also did everything possible to make us feel welcome. We experienced radical hospitality. One teenaged girl helped translate our conversation. The preacher, who was a guest preacher, stopped in the middle of his sermon when he saw we were leaving and said something like "thanks for coming, we know it is time for you to get back to your team." The pastor gave us a small gift and we exchanged business cards. With today’s technology we can continue to be connected. In the name of Jesus Christ, we were warmly welcomed by our Costa Rican sisters and brothers. Of course, we know we will do the same when we have Hispanic guests.

At the University (Universidad Biblica Latinoamericana or UBL) we were also warmly welcomed. The University provided a student to serve as a host and to assist in translating. They also provided Emma, an excellent cook, who provided the meals. Students were there from Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. They were both male and female and from many denominations (including Pentacostal, Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic.) It appeared that they were all learning together without fear of sharing from different cultures, different theologies, different genders, different races, different ages, etc. It even appeared that they could value their differences and discuss them while remaining friends! Maybe we could learn something from them.

It was also evident that people can enjoy life with a lot less affluence than we enjoy. One of our recurring nightmares is that the stock market drops and with it our pension. We could retire to a lower standard of living. Maybe those seminary students and the Costa Rican people could teach us how to do that (live with less) more gracefully and enable us also to be more generous in the process.

Costa Rica is a wonderfully diverse culture both in nature and in its people. It was often stated that they wanted to do things "in harmony with nature". An interesting fact and concept is that they do not have an army. After experiencing military coups, the Costa Rican people had an election. Their new president abolished the armed forces and made the army headquarters into a national museum. The Costa Rican people are committed, both internally and internationally, to the peaceful settlement of conflicts. Comments were heard here and there that we might follow that example.

We worked as a VIM team. That means that we did what UBL wanted us to do and we worked together. Jim Mills led the 15 of us, let us know what to expect and helped us work together to accomplish the tasks assigned. We did that and enjoyed it. We did not get to interact as much with the students and faculty as we might have hoped. However our lack of Spanish language skills was most of the barrier.

God is alive and well in Costa Rica. We heard several times that God is the champion of the poor. Christians, following God’s example, should do likewise. We hear so often, in our media, that wealthy have become wealthy because of being chosen by God. I wonder if there is some dissonance in that thinking?

Thanks for encouraging us to take this trip. We learned a good deal and enjoyed it immensely.

Roger and Susan Jespersen