a letter from somewhere

Written by Eric

Since I first heard about Lifetree Adventures, I was intrigued. Sponsored by the same organization, Group Workcamps Foundation, with which I work in the summers doing the Indianapolis Week of Hope and my construction camps, Lifetree Adventures is half mission trip and half vacation. They have international mission locations all around the world. Since I have done so much with Group and had heard so much about LTA, I decided that we should try it as one of our missions on my sabbatical. Costa Rica with Lifetree Adventures was our choice.

We arrived in Costa Rica this past Monday night and have been staying in San Jose at a Torch Bearers’ retreat center. Torch Bearers is an international Bible teaching school. Students who have finished high school come here for two years before college to learn the Bible and to experience mission work for the needy of San Jose.

Costa Rica is lush green, the temperatures have been cool during the day and surprisingly chilly at nighttime. This is the rainy season, so every afternoon we get a huge storm and every morning we wake up to a perfectly clear day. We are told that it is not unusual for it to be like this during their rainy season, which is May through October. Rice and beans and tortillas have been a part of most of our meals with some fruits and meats added.

We have done a variety of service since we arrived. Yesterday we served lunch to neighborhood children in the most under-resourced area of San Jose. The 3 meals a day that this church serves are the only meals many of the children of the neighborhood will get. We visited the church sponsored addiction rehab centers for men and women. At each of these the residents, while in recovery, are taught to use their abilities to serve the community. For instance, if a man comes in who needs treatment and who knows how to bake, he must use his baking ability to make baked goods to sell to the community to help support his recovery.

Our main work this week is working at a children’s home on the outside of the city. The home is for children without parents. Children stay there under the care of house parents as well as go to school in the building next door. We are painting the girls’ home Texas Longhorn orange and spending time teaching and playing with the children.

As I finish, let me close with a story that reminds me of the goodness and grace of the awesome God we serve:

At the men’s rehab center that we visited yesterday is a man who is now part of the drug/alcohol rehab program. Soon he will be turning 40 years old. Upon his being admitted to the program, he was asked when was the last time someone celebrated his birthday. He replied, “When I was 14 years old. Since then no one has cared about me.”

His story: He left home when he was 14 because he felt no support and love at home. For the next 26 years he lived on the streets of San Jose seeking to find meaning in life but drifted into heavy drug and alcohol usage. Only recently did he seek out the church rehab center and become part of the program.

With his 40th birthday approaching the residents of the center decided they needed to do something to celebrate his birthday. They made a strategic decision. What does a guy need who has not had a birthday party in 26 years? A big party. A really big party. A really big party that will make up for 26 missed birthdays.

His friends are now really motivated - motivated to make sure that he stays in the program long enough so they can all have this big bash. But more importantly, they want to make sure that he knows one thing - that he is cared about more than he can ever imagine - cared enough to make up for 26 years of feeling no love by anyone.

To me, there are few things that speak more of the good news of Jesus than a big blowout party given by a bunch of recovering addicts to show God’s love for someone who has not known love for 26 years. That is grace. That is love. That is the perfect care of our Father in heaven.

That is what God’s Kingdom needs to look like on earth!