New Beginnings

Since arriving here in Costa Rica to study Spanish I have had the privilege to be a part of a ministry began by one of my colleagues who has since passed the baton on to others, who have in turn passed it on to us. The place is called House of Restoration for Men. There is also a women's house that you can read about on this site where Kirsten serves as well.

Visiting the House of Restoration has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone, as least what was left of it after uprooting our family and moving to a foreign land with a most-foreign language. Here, men are struggling to leave a life on the street, a life of substance abuse, violence, and despair. It is not the typical recovery center you would find in the States. There are no counselors or professional treatment programs. There is simply no money. What is there is a commitment to the use of Biblical principles to teach faith and reliance on God to overcome life's challenges.

That is where we come in. Each Monday, a few of us language students come to share a time of fellowship and study in God's Word. We are welcome and one of several teams from various ministries that come in during the week. This week was a particularly uncomfortable one for me as I had finally stepped up to lead the Bible study after struggling just to communicate and understand others for months. The meetings are held entirely in Spanish so the anxiety factor was high. Anyone here can tell you I am not very functional in Spanish, but the need is great and our God is greater.

There are a lot of new faces at the house since the Christmas break, so I thought I would share a basic evangelistic message that I thought would be a shame to take for granted that all have heard. I began the time together asking the men why they were there. This drew, as you can imagine, a few blank stares. I clarified by asking them not why they were in this house or this program, but rather why are they here on this planet. What were they created for? More blank stares.

I lead the men through the story of creation and how God created us in his image. Why? A relationship with Him. I showed them the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22 - "...love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind..." How can we do this if we do not have that relationship with Him. What hope is there for any of us?

We then began to search through the text of Romans. What is God's purpose for us? What prevents us from having that relationship? How did God remedy that problem? And lastly, what will our response be to God's provision for us through Jesus Christ?

Now, my Spanish is atrocious. It was all I could do to read my pre-written comments. I told the men up front that I would be asking them a lot of questions but would most likely not understand their replies. They assured me that it did not matter. They are a very patient group and used to putting up with us gringo language students. So, with a sense of impending embarrassment and humiliation I pressed on.

God showed me something that day. He showed me just how powerful His Word is and how sovereign He is. He showed me that the Gospel was His and His alone. It did not come in the door with me. It was there with Him when I got there. When we came to the end of the "lesson plan" I asked the men to consider what they had heard. I asked if there was anyone present who would be willing to put their trust in that provision alone and turn from all other attempts to be acceptable to God, to please God, and to earn what they were looking for. Who wants to have that relationship, that forgiveness, and that assurance? To my amazement, at least 15 men bowed and prayed to receive Christ as Lord and Savior of their life.

The man in me wants to analyze what happened and ask myself if they really meant it. Were they just going through the motions to make the Missionary Man look good on his Spanish debut. I don't think so. I think God showed Himself real that day and I cannot wait to get back to hear how he is working in their lives already. I think He showed us in no uncertain terms that when you speak to people about their Creator, the language is universal and very personal.

Please pray for these men and others who will be coming through the house in the weeks and months to come. Pray that God will show them just how much they mean to Him and that He has already won the victory they so desperately seek. For the men who are now my brothers in Christ, pray that they will grow in their desire to know Him more, that they will know what it means to overcome through faith in the Overcomer.

For us, pray that we will be able to begin a discipleship of these men and that more students will join in the work. We only have a few short weeks or months to spend with the men as they pass through the house. May our time with them count. May this place indeed be a place of new beginnings.