Well, the time came to move out from Costa Rica, the base of operations for five and a half years. After teaching hundreds of classes and distributing more than 10,000 taped Bible classes and untold publications, I concluded that the hour had arrived for planting seed in other parts of Central America. Therefore, after making sure that the students had all the necessary printed material and tapes, I was off.

Next stop, Nicaragua!

With my baggage full of publications, cassettes and my own personal study materials and my whiteboard over my shoulder, I boarded my Tica Bus for Granada, Nicaragua. Don’t ask me why. That was just my first stop. Granada is a beautiful town, preserved in its 19^th century style and freshly painted in pure pastels – very much a tourist town. Unfortunately, what I did not find was positive volition toward the truth, at least not for the moment.

After three days, I took a bus to Rivas, Nicaragua.   In Rivas, most of the people are on foot or ride bicycles.  Even the taxis, in addition to autos, are bicycles with a passenger seat in front or horse drawn carriages.

When I arrived in Rivas and was checking into a boarding house, the whole town was up in arms. A young man had grabbed a girl’s purse and everyone was yelling. People started converging on foot, bicycle and car to corner the thief. They pinned him to the ground until the authorities arrived.

With this as my introduction and backdrop to Rivas, I left my things at the boarding house, shouldered my whiteboard and with Bible in hand, I headed to the park. I arrived about noon. Normally I arrive to a park, hang my whiteboard on a tree, and having written some saying like, “Everything is paid,” I sit on a bench or on the ground and listen to a tape or read something interesting, waiting for the “hearers” to arrive. This day, with my whiteboard still in hand, I approached a small group of young men and asked if they would like a Bible class, a “spicy” Bible class. Without hesitation, they responded, “Sure.” This was the beginning of the beginning. Rivas will never be the same, as people have been exposed and responded to the salvation provided by Jesus Christ and to the “milk” of the Word of God! The initial response came from the young people, 18 to 25 years old. After responding to the Gospel, they were hungry for the Word, wanting a Bible class daily and sometimes twice a day.   So, every afternoon at five, I would arrive to the park, hang my board and wait for the positive to arrive to eat – the young men, the fruit man, the ice cream vendor with his car, and those just passing by gathered to hear.

During this trip I also traveled to San Jorge, a small town on the shore of Lake Nicaragua, about 5 kilometers from Rivas, and to the volcanic Island of Ometepe which, by ferry or small boat, is an hour trip.  In San Jorge, I located the park, found a shady spot, and hung my board.  Having seen a young man on a bench close by, I asked him if he would like a Bible class and thus originated another Bible class every day at eight in the morning with another man who was the gardener of the park. 

On the following Sunday, I took the ferry to Ometepe. There was no public park, so I just set up my board on the side of the street by a sidewalk. I ended up giving the “good news” of salvation to a group of young boys, ages 8 to 12, remembering when I used to teach children in Prep School at Berachah Church in Houston some years ago.   While walking the island, I came upon a small evangelical church that is part of a mission originally founded by C. I. Scofield to evangelize and teach the Word in Central America. Having found the pastor on a baseball field, serving as umpire, I introduced myself and left him with enough written and recorded information to open his appetite.   I visited him again the day before I returned to Costa Rica. I found him reading one of the publications I had left, Prayer. He conveyed his positive volition in two words, “How tremendous!” I left him whatever I had on hand, which was not much by now, and told him that I would return with more in a few weeks.

On this trip, I found a positive response everywhere I went.  The vast majority were unbelievers -- guards in buildings, taxi cab drivers, pedestrians on the street, passengers on the ferry to Ometepe, people in the park, street vendors.  In every imaginable circumstance I found that the seed of the “good news” took root with the resulting excitement of learning more of the Word of God.  But, I knew that some of these seeds would sprout and grow and others would not, as our Savior says in the parable of the sower.  A communicator must be constantly vigilant not to get his eyes on the hearers nor get excited with a positive response or get disillusioned with rejection, but just to keep his eyes on the King for whom he is a herald.

The last night before I returned to Costa Rica, I had the pleasure of witnessing a picture of the whole trip – God’s grace, the Gospel, God’s Word and God’s perfect plan. As I later wrote,

Looking at the big picture, in Nicaragua I see tremendous poverty and a people who have suffered a great deal, but in spite of all that, they are industrious, hardworking, persistent, clean and they have a great sense of humor.  Most of all, I find that the majority are WILLING to listen the Word of God and respond positively.

On the “Nicaragua 2” trip I was able to settle into a more comfortable schedule of “study and teach” which, by the way, is the most delicious function of this embassy. The climate was hot on my first trip, but it was sizzling on this trip. The only way I could stay reasonably cool was by taking numerous showers and having the fan directly on me.

Once settled, I went to see “La Doña,” the lady who had asked for me to teach in her home.  When she saw me, her face lit up.  With her expression I realized that she had read the publications and listened to the tapes.  So began the class on the Plan and Essence of God.  Initially I was going to teach three times a week, but they asked if I would teach every afternoon, “so they would not forget what they had learned.” 

The following morning I took off for the island to visit the pastor with whom I had made contact on my first trip and had left study material. This time I was loaded with 40 classes on cassettes. The pastor, who truly was happy and enthusiastic to receive what I had brought him, told me that he had shared the information with other pastors on the island and he had ended up with nothing.   “The other pastors plundered me,” he told me. I left him thoroughly stocked and told him that we would see each other again in five weeks.

On this trip the park at San Jorge turned out to be a children’s class. On one of my first visits to the park, a young boy ran to me with a soccer ball in his hands, and walking backwards, in front of me, he said in an excited voice, “I still remember what you told me,” and then ran back to the field to play. I had given him the news of salvation on the first trip. When I returned the next day, he was there with other children who gathered in a group. During the next days they received information about the plan of God and His marvelous grace for the human race and each one of them, in particular. They were between 9 and 12 years old. There is something quite special about teaching children. They are so fresh, so new, like sponges.

I continued my class in the park at Rivas, but I began to notice what is usually inevitable, some missed one day, others another day . . . the beginning of the end.   They kept coming sporadically and their enthusiasm was genuine, but the process of priorities had begun and only they could determine their future.  What had been the number one priority in the first days now was number two and number three in importance.  Our Lord very clearly relates this reality to us in Matthew 13, where he explains how the distractions and temptations and appetites and pressures of this life break our stride toward the high ground of resting in Him.  If we permit the pressures of this world to capture our attention, we will be witnesses of our own destruction.  If a person after salvation stays positive, perceiving and applying the Word, that person will have all the provisions necessary to maintain his pace, regardless of the temptations and adversities.  That person will scale mountains to listen to one Bible class of his communicator.  The most important thing in his life will be that moment when he is face to face with His God and Savior through the information taught by his pastor-teacher.  His life’s pleasure will be hearing him, whether in person or on cassette.   There is one thing for sure; the road of grace and truth is for very few, not because God hasn’t provided for all, but because very few are interested.  NAS Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.  For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”    This verse principally applies to salvation but has application to the life of the born again.  My function is to be always prepared to serve the banquet and let the hearers chose their “way.”

• I ended up leaving Nicaragua earlier than I had planned, on the 13^th of April instead of the 18^th, leaving the troops – the home class, the park classes and the little church in Ometepe – amply stocked with study supplies until I returned.   I was exhausted, disoriented and having difficulty concentrating. When I arrived in Costa Rica, I realized that in the intense heat, I had not been drinking enough liquid and as a result, was in a state of dehydration.

It seems like every trip to Nicaragua brings a new reality.  Rain . . . that is the new reality.  No problem with dehydration this time!  There was not even a drop of rain on my first two trips.  Now it only rains and rains and rains, and in Rivas that means the electricity comes and goes, day and night.  Normally, I communicate with my family by Internet when I am on the road, but now, due to the continual lack of electricity, they have the opportunity to faith-rest it.  Simple, when it rains, the lights go out.  Last week two adobe houses collapsed from the sheer weight of the water on their roofs.  Now I don’t have to be so concerned with taking cold showers to refresh myself but with drying my leather sandals that are frequently soaked.

But quite different from electricity, positive volition never gets rained out! At the house were I am teaching the plan and essence of God every day, the consistency is steady. It hasn’t been easy, but the provision never fails. We have our classes by the light of a small emergency flashlight that I carry in my backpack and we have had to come inside or we get soaked on the terrace. But the Word flows!

Although there are always opportunities to present the “good news” of salvation, this third trip has been characterized by consistent teaching of the Word of God, building word upon word, precept upon precept.  With each trip, some of the baby plants fade away, and the flock is reduced to the “few” who are distinguished from the masses by their insatiable desire to know what God has to say about His Plan and their lives.

What has flourished on this trip has been the interest of pastors on the Island of Ometepe, in particular, the one who has been receiving cassettes and publications. I spent a good portion of three days with him last week. I am to give a mini-conference Friday, May 28^th and again on Wednesday, June 2^nd. This is the divine design for a missionary. If pastors orient to grace and line up with the protocol plan of God, then the only thing I have to do is give them sufficient material so that I can continue to the next “seeding field,” wherever that may be.

This week I will be traveling to a new area, Masaya.   Masaya is a city of craftsmen to the north of Rivas, beyond Grenada, but not quite all the way to the capitol, Managua.  We will see what the Lord has planned!

On the 28^th of May, we had the mini pastors’ conference in Ometepe and the subject was “Spirituality as an Absolute.” This subject always provokes a lot of questions particularly in relation to Christian production and spiritual growth; questions like, “What about discipleship?” “Is it a sin to drink?” and many more. This coming Friday, June 4^th, on my return from Masaya, we will continue the subject, a subject which is so very important and critical for the believer.

The round trip by ferry from Ometepe is always very pleasant. You can sleep, read, enjoy the beautiful view or listen to a Bible class during the hour ride. Nicaragua is a beautiful country and its people do honor to that beauty!

Once in Rivas, that night we had class at the home of the Grillo family where the hunger for the Word is evident.  As some of you know, the subject that we are studying in Rivas is “The Plan and Essence of God.”  Our study that evening centered on “The Divine Decree” as an expression of the attributes of the essence of God. 

Last Saturday, May 29th, I returned to Masaya to continue evangelizing in that area.  As always, quite a few people draw near to hear the “good news” of salvation in the main park and I will continue to have the pleasure of proclaiming this “news” through this Thursday.  I never cease to be impressed with how the Lord always provides the hearers without my having to push myself into the intimacy of their little bubbles.  I have the privilege of teaching and living these verses,

On Friday, the 4th, very, very early in the morning I will be waiting on the highway for the “Rivas Express” that comes from Managua and will leave me at San Jorge where I will grab a taxi that will have to shuttle me fast to board the fast launch (30 minutes instead of an hour) to Ometepe.  Once there, we will continue studying the fascinating material related to spirituality, leaving some time for questions.  I have to leave in time to board the calm ferry at 12:30 PM, returning to the San Jorge/Rivas.

What better way to end this trip on Friday night than to study again, in the Grillo home, “The Divine Decree” – the magnificently perfect Plan the perfect provision.

The next day, on Saturday, I will again find myself on the roadside to board my luxurious Tica Bus that will return me to Costa Rica where I will again see my wife.  A little rest and then I will have the pleasure of communicating the “riches of His grace” to the Tico students.

In summary, there is no doubt that many “Nicas” believe in Christ and among them there are many who want to know more about God. Nevertheless, the question for all of us is always: How much and how often? Our Lord Jesus Christ said it very clearly in two passages:

I ended the last trip to Nicaragua on the 11^th of June, returning very early in the morning to Rivas from Masaya in a bus called “the express.” The trip was unique. As it was “the express,” supposedly it wouldn’t stop between Masaya and Rivas. Well, I guess you could say it didn’t stop; it just paused 20 times. In other words, new passengers got on and off without the bus coming to a complete stop. On these occasions ladies very well dressed would jump on the bus from the back door with bags of cilantro and other produce to sell. Those of us who were already on the bus helped them to get on while the bus kept moving and increasing speed. In my case, I was not certain of the exact location of Rivas, but I began to see a town approaching that looked familiar and I asked a lady, yelling, if this was Rivas. She yelled back, “No,” nevertheless, once the bus had accelerated again, I realized that she thought that I had asked her if she was from Rivas, and she was not. I yelled to the driver, who stopped or rather paused. His helper in the back threw my bags on the highway but the bus had already accelerated before I could reach the back door. Finally, he reduced his speed and I got off while he was still moving. I ran up the highway, trying to reach my bags of which I had lost sight. The bags were fine, sitting in the middle of the highway.

Rushing, I grabbed a taxi to San Jorge to take the ferry to Ometepe where I was going to teach the pastors.  My adventures had not ended for the day.  The ferry was not available because it had been rented for a party.  I had no alternative but to look for the little boat that also makes the crossing.  I have included a picture of this boat, which, as it rises and falls on the waves, makes one remember Paul in his crossing to Rome and use the faith-rest drill frequently.  As if that wasn’t enough, on this day the little boat was carrying beer for another party on the Island of Ometepe.  They loaded, loaded, loaded and continued loading cases of beer.  Once underway, the crossing was more interesting than normal.  With the incredible weight, the boat made noises like it was going to break in pieces any moment, but as always, when God has a plan for your life, one does arrive to his destiny.  All the obstacles of the day were understandable when I found a number of pastors hungry and ready to listen to the Word.  We continued with our study of “Spirituality as an Absolute.”  As a result of these classes with some of the pastors, they have invited me to present the same subject matter on July 24th, at the annual reunion of pastors of the Central American Mission on the island.  At noon I had the pleasure of resting in the ferry on my return to firm ground in San Jorge.

I finished the trip and the day with a special touch, teaching “The Divine Decree” in the Grillo home.

Once back in Costa Rica, I continued my regular schedule of teaching those who love the truth.  A new class opened on Wednesdays, at the Oviedo home in Tibas.  When I left Costa Rica, on Sunday, July 11, I was teaching ten hours a week in six classes.  Nothing spectacular, just the continual seeding of the Word of God in souls, mine and those of the ones positive to the Word.

As you can see, I am again in Nicaragua.  I spent Monday morning, July 12th, on the Island of Ometepe, chatting with the main pastor of the group on the island and his family.  Since I arrived, I have been teaching daily in the Grillo home and also in the Park of Rivas.  The group that I initially taught in Nicaragua, a group of young people, want doctrinal teaching in the nights, about 7:00 or 7:30.  With their schedule, nighttime is more convenient for them, so I have been teaching and will continue to teach daily between 5:45 and 8:30 at night.  In the Grillo home I just finished the series of the Plan and Essence of God and on Monday, July 19th, I began a series about the Two Circles (Position in Christ and Temporal Fellowship).  In the young people’s class I am doing close order drill on the subject of the barrier between God and man.  I have learned that if one does not understand the barrier and its removal, in other words, what happened on the cross, it is impossible to understand the spiritual life that emanates from that unique work.

I gave the class on spirituality on the Island of Ometepe, Friday, July 16^th. The only town that I know on the island is where the ferry docks—Moyogalpa. After class I crossed the island and spent the night in a town called Altagracia (“High Grace”). Because of the horrible condition of the road, it took us two hours to travel the 22 miles between the two towns. As always, I went to the park where I found the panorama of the human race . . . positive and negative. On Saturday I returned to Moyogalpa and spent another good time with the pastor. He expressed interest in deepening his studies in several subjects, namely Greek and theology. If the interest continues after the first classes, it is possible that there will be a week of intensive classes for him and some other pastors on the island and I doubt that I will arrive to Masaya or any other place on this trip. It is fascinating how the Lord brought me to this place in February when my intention was to pass it by. However, the magnet of positive volition has kept attracting me and keeping me here. It is not my function to go around exploring the jungle, looking to convert everybody, when right under my nose are believers delighting in the Word of God and in particular, positive pastors who are lacking food to feed the sheep that the Lord has given them. There is no hurry. The director of this tour is His Majesty Jesus Christ. My function is very simple, just study and serve what is studied . . . grow and grow . . . enjoy each minute of growth . . . without worries or pushing . . . only study and teach. He provides everything, the resources and the hearers.

I never liked the image of a missionary.  What’s more, I never thought that I would end up being one.  I always had the impression of an individual walking around everywhere with a smiley face, uttering saintly words, counting baptisms and looking for cash.  (If my buddies could see me now, what roars of laughter there would be).  The only one who has communicated to me the correct function of the missionary is my Colonel, my pastor.  There is not a single day that passes without my hearing a class on cassette of his teaching.  This day, almost six years since I was assigned to this honorable function, I can assure you all that I would not change it for any other.  What an incredible position is this one when you live it according to the original design.

Until the next one . . .

Over the past several months, I have changed the direction of my thrust in Nicaragua and am adding new areas for travel within Costa Rica itself.

I always have the privilege and delight of presenting the great news of our free salvation and teaching Bible doctrine where I find positive volition, as I travel on buses, go to parks, and meet people in various and sundry places.  Nevertheless, 90% of my efforts are now directed to evangelical pastors in Nicaragua. Some from Rivas have survived the onslaught of cosmic distractions and denominational pressures. Over the months however, I have extended beyond the Rivas area, visiting and speaking with more than 100 pastors in Masaya, Managua, Jinotepe, Masotepe, Nindiri, Nikinohomo, Diriamba and Tipitapa.  I use Masaya as my headquarters and each morning load my backpack with food, both spiritual and physical, for my bus trip of the day.  When I arrive to a town, depending on the layout and size, I either start walking or take a taxi in search of pastors.  If it is a taxi ride (car, horse and cart, tricycle and a motorcycle with a cabin on the back – you find them all), I ask the driver to take me to the various evangelical churches in the area.  If I can’t find out where to locate the pastor, I leave a package of publications and tapes, along with a letter or introduction, with whomever I find at the church.  If I am on foot, I ask people I encounter in my path where is the closest evangelical church.  Usually I find the pastor at his church or home and we talk for a little while or a long while.  I leave him with publications, tapes and a contact flyer of how to reach me if he wants more materials.  On the next trip, I pass by again to visit where I have left seed and where there is positive volition to the material they received on previous trips.  We can sometimes talk for hours or days at a time.  I take my laptop and we look at doctrines, going over them in depth, one at a time, and I print them to leave with the pastor.  In effect, I carry with me a traveling seminary with infinitely abundant resources for the pastor who wants to fulfill the command “feed my sheep” (Joh. 21:16).

Unfortunately, the vast majority of these pastors are mired in the slavery of legalism which is shared with their flocks and results in a loss of time spent in programs and activities that do not “edify the saints” and only distract from their own study and feeding the flock.  The key barrier which they cannot seem to surmount is eternal security.  Although they readily acknowledge their salvation is by grace and preach the gospel of grace, they think somehow God now needs for them to protect and secure their salvation.  They believe there is some sin they can commit which will cause them to lose their salvation, that they can do something that can nullify what Christ did for us on the cross!  This is indeed unfortunate as it puts the unique spiritual life of the Church Age out of their grasp or reach and the “riches of His glory” only an unattainable fantasy.  For them, it is incomprehensible that God not only saves us by grace but also, He demands that after salvation, we live by grace.  I guess that explains why they immediately mistrust me because everything I give them is free, is grace – an unconditional gift.  It is grace all the way through eternity!  How fortunate we are that only our positive volition is needed to activate first our salvation, then our forgiveness in time (by naming our sins to God the Father), then our understanding and application of His Word, and finally His infinitely bounteous blessings for us in time and eternity!  How sad to think that our God needs our help!  Fortunately He doesn’t!  He just needs our positive volition to link with His sovereignty, His sovereign plan as revealed in His Word, and the combination is nuclear!

But as the Scriptures say in NAS Matthew 7:14 For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.  Though the reference is to eternal life received at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ, the application is for the spiritual life that follows salvation.  And there are a few good men out there who love the infallible Word of God more than themselves and the security of their position and appreciate God’s endless and matchless grace.  It is an incredible privilege and pleasure to meet them and pass on the gift of doctrine that has been passed on to me by my pastor.  Then once it becomes uniquely and personally theirs, they will pass on to the sheep the Lord gives them. 

And so I keep moving from one area to another, enjoying my Lord’s thinking in the privacy of my soul and with others of like gift.

As an interesting tidbit, I have attached a photo of all I take on my trips.  It shows how much you can get in a very small space and represents a cross between a traveling seminary and a survival medicine chest for the critters and infernal heat of Nicaragua that have caused me many distractions on past trips.

Beginning this month, March 2005, I plan to start making these same kinds of trips in Costa Rica . . . starting in a park and moving on to the pastors.  Limon, on the Atlantic coast, will be my first stop.  Looking for a few good men of God!

Pursuing the high ground . . .

As most of you know, Sharon’s (my wife´s) body has not been functioning very well over the past few years. As a result, I have not been traveling as much and certainly not far from home.  I have concentrated on studying and teaching 5 hours of Bible classes per week. As Sharon´s condition has improved to the point that I felt comfortable leaving her alone, I have taken 11 days to GO TELL the Hondurans about the Awesome Grace of God.

I arrived in Tegucigalpa Friday, the 23rd of October. The plane was almost empty and the airport was deserted. There was a tremendous fear of some kind of an upheaval due to the political problems which you have probably read about, centering around the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, and Honduras’ interim president, Roberto Micheletti.  What a great opportunity for them to lift up their eyes unto the hills from whence cometh their help (Psa. 121:1).

As soon as I arrived in Tegucigalpa I looked for a hotel close to the Central Park. I installed myself in a room and took off for the park with my backpack on and my board under my arm. The park is about five blocks from the Hotel Granada.  I know from doctrine and by experience that our Lord provides the hearers (the "magnetism" of the Grace of God).  I found a very nice, big tree. The bench around the tree was full of people.  I waited for someone to move so that I could have a space to place my board.  I stood on the bench to wrap my bungie around the tree and hook it to the board. The person who was sitting next to my place stood up and helped me hang the board.  Before arriving I had already written Romans 8:32 on the board.  He started to read it and when he finished, I asked him, "How do you like that?  Isn’t that incredible?"  By the way, at the top of the board I had also written, NO TE PREOCUPES POR NADA!! ¿QUÉ TE PASA? (Do not worry about anything! What is the matter with you?).  Well, you should have seen it.  It was incredible!  People would stop and listen for long periods of time, some as much as two hours, as I paraded them through the barrier, the essence box, and all those teeny weeny details of grace that I have learned throughout the years and continue learning.  Of course, all of this adventure was in Español.  There is no way that I can explain the response. I can just tell you that it was Great!  As I looked at the crowd in front of me, I noticed an old man (probably my age, therefore, not old at all) who, though present, never faced me. When the other people left, he remained.  I approached him and he started to tell me about all of his miseries. Once he has finished, I summarized by saying, “Let’s see . . . you have lost everything; you have no job; nobody loves you; the pastor won’t help you; etc.  . . . ,”  “Sí,” he confirmed. With great enthusiasm, I seized his hand, shook it vigorously and said, “Congratulations!  What a fantastic thing has happened to you!”  He looked at me like I was crazy. “You are a perfect candidate for the grace of God,” I told him. “Because you are weak, you can rest on Divine provisions and then you will be strong.” The light dawned and he became so excited that he kept on hugging me.  I gave him all the basic doctrinal provisions he would need for the rest of his trip on this earth.  Saturday was a repeat performance of Friday.

Sunday, at noon, I planned to take a bus to a town called Comayagua.  When I arrived at the bus station, I found out that the bus that was supposed to go to Comayagua actually did not stop there.    With my two backpacks and duffle bag I walked down a hill and arrived to another bus station and still no bus that went to Comayagua.  I was told to go to another bus station that was around the block and up another hill.  I should interject here that Honduras is a mass of hills and when I make one of these trips my backpacks and duffle bag are packed with publications and CDs and not much clothing.  I was assured that the bus station up the second hill had buses that did go directly to Comayagua.  I arrived and, yes, in fact, they did have buses that went to Comayagua, so I bought a ticket.  I gave my bags to the driver and as he was putting the bags in the baggage compartment of this old, old, retired American school bus, I noticed that the front wheel had only three of the seven lugs it was supposed to have.  I observed to the driver . . . “Hey, Chief, have you noticed that your front wheel has only three lugs?  He looked at me and said, “Oh, no problema.  Don’t worry about it!”   Considering discretion to be the better part of valor, I asked for my baggage back.  I didn’t bother to get a refund, thinking the company could probably use the money for wheel lugs.

By this time I was exhausted and didn’t think I could muster another up and down the hill jaunt, so I decided to take a cabbie back to the previous bus station. I asked a tamale vendor what was the next town that had a good number of inhabitants. At that point a man interrupted and said, “MARCALA.” He said the population was 30,000, so I said, “Let’s go!” Since he was going my way or I guess, I was going his way, he grabbed my duffle bag and started to walk to another of the bus stations that I had already visited. On the way he asked me what I did. I told him that I worked for a very, very, large company, and the owner was very, very powerful and gave incredible benefits. He slowed down, looked at me and said, “I think I work for the same company. I am a pastor.” Well, we got on the bus and a three-hour trip passed like it was 20 minutes. I gave him all kinds of publications, a CD of Lo Básico (The Basics) and a “llave maya” (jump drive or thumb drive) that has all the notes of my classes and the Colonel’s doctrines – all in Spanish.

Marcala turned out to be a small village up in the mountains.  As per my regular routine, I located a hotel and went to the park with my board to spend the afternoon communicating to those who wanted to hear.  The park was full of people.  I noticed that there were some individuals organizing other people into groups while simultaneously talking on their cell phones.  They were giving instruction to bring the vehicles to pick up the people that were now grouped.   It looked like gathering workers at the time of the coffee harvest in Costa Rica, but I knew that it was not a harvest, at least not of coffee beans.  In the back of my mind I suspected activities of the La Resistencia (the Resistance).  These people were in support of ex-President Manuel Zelaya and they were organizing to resist participation in the scheduled election of a new president on November 29th.  Just to confirm my suspicions, I asked a person what was going on and he told me,  “We are part of the Resistance and we are going up into the hills where there will be organizational meetings.” Now my raw instinct was to give them a dissertation on establishment, but that was not the right moment, the right time or the right setting.  There were young women and teenagers, as well as mature, rural men. As I was talking to a small group of about seven that were waiting for the “pickups,” a young man who was “four sheets to the wind,” asked me what was I doing there.  I told him that I wanted to share Romans 8:32 – the theme of this trip.  Despite his inebriated state, he obviously had some knowledge of the Bible.  He started to talk about some passages in Revelation.  Actually, the only one that made any sense in that entire crowd was a man who had one to many Coronas the night before and then tried “the hair of the dog” in the morning. 

I began to talk to a man who was paralyzed from the waist down.  For context, you must realize that the vast majority of these people know who Jesus Christ is.  They pray to an idol of Him on a cross, though He is risen.  They also have fervently prayed to Mary, the mother of His humanity.  Some of them are born again and some are unbelievers, but all are full of a thick darkness of religion.  When the light of the Gospel, of the truth, ekes its way through, shining brightly in their spiritual and temporal darkness, the scales begin to fall off the eyes of their souls.  They hear about who and what God is; how He has loved them since eternity past; what it means to be made in the image of God; the reality of their freedom before God and the TOTAL and COMPLETE satisfaction of God with the work of His Son on the cross.  Then, with their eyes bright and their mouths half-open, they listen to all that God has done for them after the cross, all wrapped up in a personal, tailor-made plan for each of them.  Now, mind you, the relating of these incredible truths is done in their native language, with the idioms of the street, with a sense of humor and without the rigid, stilted, “beloved brethren” language of the legalistic Christendom of today.  They came - young ladies, children, old ladies, men.  They gathered.  They listened in the midst of all their adversities to RBT/aag Romanos 8:32a “Si Dios no escatimó ni a su propio hijo . . .” and Hebrews 12:2  “Puestos los ojos en Jesus, quien por la felicidad puesta delante de Él soportó la cruz” and all the other verses related to the FACT, the REALITY of propitiation, redemption, reconciliation, unlimited payment and tetelestai.  And so went the afternoon, until I ran out of voice. 

On Monday morning the park had fewer people than the day before.  One thing we can be sure of, we always have provisions for one day at a time – first for our intimacy with Him and then for our relationships with those around us and our circumstances.  While I was in the park, I noticed an evangelical church.  The plaque over the door said that it had been founded in 1933.  I went in and asked for the pastor.  They appeared to be remodeling.  A boy and a girl met me at the door and said that the pastor was not there.  When I asked, they gave me his address - 100 meters this way, turn at the fig tree, and when you arrive at the house with the black roof then you turn, etc.  With the typical Central American address instructions in hand, I went looking for the pastor.  Usually you have to stop and ask about three or four more people to get a refined fix on the location.  One of my stops was a barber shop.  The barber was sitting in his chair conversing with a man and a woman.  I asked them for directions again to the pastor’s home and the barber came out and pointed to the location of the pastor’s house.   I arrived, but nobody answered at the door.  I decided to go back to the barber shop to ask if I could leave a package of publications with a CD for the pastor.  When I arrived, the barber and the other man asked me in.  They were very curious as to what I was up to – a Mexican with a whiteboard under his arm.  They asked me if I taught the Bible.  Well that did it!  To make a very long, three-hour story short, I had the privilege to summarily communicate all that I have learned for forty some odd years.  They wanted to get something to eat and continue all night, but my voice was almost gone and it was time to go.  Sort of like Johnny Appleseed, I gave them their provisions for the road and told them I would send more upon request.  Situations like these provide me with the opportunity to savor the years of the studying and teaching by my pastor-teacher so that I, in turn, can serve it to other believers and pastors.

Tuesday morning I went to the road to catch the bus that would take me to a town close by, La Paz.  I found a B/B and spent most of the day in the park sharing the news of salvation with a small number of people.  The majority were cab drivers as I had located myself near their stand.  Since I was a cabbie in Houston for several years, it was easy to start a conversation and continue on with the realities of life, i.e. “If you die tonight where do you go?”

Wednesday morning I decided to go and visit some pastors.  I hadn’t visited any since arriving.  That task usually puts me into a state of consternation due to years of experience in talking with pastors who are phony as a lead nickel, who have no interest in the Word of God, but in programs, tithing and sacrilegious emotional madness.  I always end up doing it, because I know in the haystack there is one and that one can make a generational difference. I grabbed a cabbie and asked him to take me to some churches.  Most of the ones he knew were Pentecostals, but he named one Baptist church that interested me.  The pastor’s wife answered the door.  She asked me to come in since her husband, the pastor, would be back very soon.  He arrived in a matter of minutes.  At the beginning, he seemed rather defensive.  I suppose no one likes to come home to a total stranger sitting in his living room.  Soon we began to develop rapport where it really counts, the Word of God.  He is incredibly positive!  The pastor told me he that he is a real student, but has no tools with which to study.  I told him that I had just started giving a course of New Testament Greek via video conferencing on the Internet on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  He was so enthusiastic that I offered to send him the first of three volumes of the course so that he could get up to snuff and continue with us through the video conferences.  The Greek course is an excellent programmed course in Spanish, developed by an American woman, a graduate of Wheaton College, who teaches in a seminary here in Costa Rica.  I gave the pastor a jump drive with all of my class notes and doctrines of the Colonel in Spanish, a CD of Lo Básico, publications, and graphs.  Now he is loaded!  If he is consistent, he will know the truth and the truth will make him free and equip him to make the hearers the Lord brings him also free.  On Thursday morning, I received a call from another pastor on the Caribbean coast who had talked to the pastor in La Paz and wanted to get on the study tools bandwagon.  Before I left La Paz, I left a package of materials with the pastor in La Paz for the other pastor, because there was no way that I could get to the coast on this trip.

Wednesday afternoon I left for Comayagua, found a place to park my body and my things and went to the park.  This park is very beautiful and picturesque.  They had Spanish and American oldies piped in on a loud speaker system.  There weren’t a lot of takers in this park, but it certainly gave me the ambiance for a breather.

Thursday morning I went to visit some churches but couldn’t find any shepherds.  All the cabbies I tried only knew churches of Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. The only thing that the cabbies knew of were Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and international organizations related to the United Nations.  I asked every cabbie, “If you die today where would you go and I am not talking about your body?"  They really did not know what to answer, which gave me the privilege of communicating the Good News.   Having decided to move on I took a cab to the bus station.  I asked him the same question, but this driver turned and looked me in the face, smiling, and said,  “I am going to heaven.” When I asked him how he knew, he said “Because Jesus Christ paid for all my sins and I have believed in Him!”  Wow!!!  There was a lot of excitement in that cab on the way to the bus station.  He told me that a pastor friend that had taught him was arriving from La Paz so I filled him with provisions for himself and the pastor.  I told him to get back to me if they wanted more.  I always have to emphasize to people that everything is free.  They are so used to gimmicks and being milked that when you offer them something, they immediately think you are trying to get something in return.  By the way, in Honduras the most commonly asked question was about tithing.  I assure them that there is no tithing in our times, the Church Age.  Tithing was an income tax for Israel as a theocracy, not a spiritual offering, while giving is the privilege of commemorating God’s grace, once you understand it.  I hypothesize with them, “Can you imagine the God of the Universe interested in your miserable 10%?”

Thursday noon I arrived in Siguatepeque (seqwatepek).  The key in a new town is always the right cabbie – a pro who knows where everything is.  I found one right off the bat . and he took me to churches.  If the church was closed, he knew where the pastor lived.  We contacted a number of pastors that afternoon.   The next day, Friday, my driver-administrator and I visited a total of 12 pastors in the privacy of their homes.  Some were very excited about the information and some were very defensive.

Regardless of the attitude of any given pastor, I maintain the same level of enthusiasm with every one of them.  The issue is the importance of having information in order to teach information.  When I point out the very sad condition of the local church today due to no teaching of the Word of God and emphasis on emotion, they agree with me.  We talk about the ignorance of spirituality, because if true spirituality were understood, there would be uncontrollable hunger for the Word of God and its daily teaching.

Saturday morning I returned to Comayagua where I had been unable to do much in the park or with pastors.  It took three tries before I found a good cabbie . . . for my purposes.  We visited a number of pastors and I shared the materials that I had left for their studying and teaching.  We did visit a number of them throughout the afternoon.

I moved on to Tegucigalpa on Sunday morning.  Unable to contact any pastors because they were in services, I used that afternoon to study for the coming week of classes.  I flew back to Costa Rica on Monday morning in a virtually empty plane.

The Hondurans are suffering, but my experience says, they are positive.  This was a very positive trip and I look forward to another trip in the near future, revisiting positive people that I have met and moving on to new parts of Costa Rica. 

Despite my very favorable impressions of Nicaragua and its people and the opportunities I have had to seed the Word of God and watch the harvest, watering the seed and watching it grow, coming back to Costa Rica is always like coming home.  It takes a couple of days to reorient and rest up to get back in my daily routine of study and teach.

Initially I began teaching in jails in Costa Rica and still regularly teach at La Reforma, San Rafael and Virilla.  Some of the men have been studying with me for years now.  The weekly classes last for an hour and a half up to three hours, besides receiving taped Bible classes, publications and doctrines in Spanish to study during the week.  I always enjoy reminding them that they are much freer, through their very own Bible doctrine in their soul, than the vast majority of people loose on the street.  You can see the sparkle in their eyes when I tell them that the Bible doctrine circulating in their souls can be the basis for, not only their own prosperity, but also the preservation and prosperity of their nation, Costa Rica.  God honors His Word, no matter the vessel of clay where it is found.  Awesome!

I also teach Ephesians twice a week in a home over an automobile repair shop.  I began at the “Taller” in the spring of 2000.  How did I end up there, you ask?  In the middle of a rainstorm, while returning to our cabin on the mountain, the alternator belt on my car broke.  Unable to continue uphill, there was only one street that went downhill.  As I swung into that street, the first thing I saw on the left was the sign, “Taller Miranda” (Repair Shop Miranda).  Several of the people in the current class had been praying for someone to teach them orthodox doctrine on a regular basis . . . no frills, just teach pure doctrine!  I rolled into the shop, and one of the owners noted my whiteboard with Bible verses in the back of the car.  One alternator belt and four years later, there are some rock-solid believers taking in the Word on a regular basis, attracting others to hear the Gospel and doctrinal teaching.

Then there is Parque de la Paz where, amid soccer balls, yells, park police on horseback, children sliding down a steep hill on pieces of cardboard, bikers, joggers and vendors, in a gazebo, one hears every Sunday morning, “The Word of God is alive and powerful” (Heb 4:12).  This is the first class to also have a class for children.  Those who attend regularly have been doing so for three years.

As you can tell, I treasure and enjoy the consistent positive volition of the Ticos (Costa Ricans), being that day after day they have remained positive to God’s Word and His Plan for their lives.  I have many fond memories of hours and hours of classes with them, of their persistence, and of those twinkling eyes that signal that they just understood something for the first time.  For all of these reasons, I make sure each time I leave for Nicaragua that the troops are amply stocked with tapes and printed matter and I constantly remember them before the “Throne of Grace.”