It was an eventful year for us in Costa Rica--so eventful, in fact, that we're now in Dallas on a two-month break due to burnout! A supporting church in Dallas, Highland Park Presbyterian, has a house across the street for its missionaries to stay in when stateside, so we're taking advantage of the opportunity.
The year 2011 began with us receiving $5700 in seed money from the church here in Dallas for a construction project in Tejarcillos. More gifts from other churches and individuals would follow. We're still not finished--the cost overruns have been mind-boggling--but we do have a functioning facility for the ministry now.
A local couple named Fran and Ileana has been working with us for about six years now. Under their leadership the children's program had grown from 15 to about 50 kids. Tejarcillos is a tough place to do ministry. For a while there was a gang of teenage thugs that would wait for folks at the bus stop in front of Fran and Ileana's house and rob them when they got off the bus. When the gang was out, parents kept their children home from the kids' club. Folks would call the police, but they seldom responded. Eventually, the cops started cracking down and the gang became less brazen.
Two weeks before we came to Dallas, I was leading the adults' Bible study at the ministry center when we heard what sounded like firecrackers outside. We hoped that's what the sound was, but in vain. Another young man had been gunned down in the heart of the neighborhood. When we had our kids' program three nights later, half of the children stayed home due to the parents' fear of flying bullets.
But the news is far from all bad.
The kids' program had outgrown the space we had built for them on Fran and Ileana's back patio, and something had to be done to accomodate them. No matter how inadequate the facilities were, they just kept on coming! So we finally decided to gut the existing house, build an upstairs for the family to live in, and use the entire downstairs for the ministry.
Fran, Ileana, and their two daughters Naomi and Fiorela moved out to the back patio (it was walled and covered) in April and lived there until September while we built the upstairs. The second floor is almost finished now, and the downstairs is gradually becoming a kid-friendly ministry center.
We're down to $150 in the construction fund and hope to raise more funds and start putting the finishing touches together in March.
This was actually the second construction project we had undertaken in less than six months.
Fran's mother Norma had been in poor health and had to go live with with them. They had already taken in granddaughter Alexa, so Norma had to share a small bedroom with her, Naomi and Fiorela. First Presbyterian Church of DeLand, Florida provided the funds to build a bedroom for Norma. This was a powerful testimony to Norma of God's love and it opened the door for Ileana to lead her to Christ. The last month of Norma's life showed a marked change in her. She went to be with the Lord in January.
But the first month of 2011 left us no inkling of the workload that Martha would face...
Buen Pastor women's prison was literally falliong off a cliff, so they moved several hundred women to other prisons while they built new facilities. Martha and co-leader Barbara continued to have Celebrate Recovery classes at Buen Pastor with the women who remained. Meanwhile...
Several of the women landed at a prison called La Reforma over an hour away from our house. They asked the prison to provide a Celebrate Recovery program for them, so Martha ended up taking Celebrate Recovery to both prisons. At La Reforma, Martha co-leads Celebrate with an inmate from South Africa named Loriette. Loriette completed the program at the other prioson and is a changed woman.
2011 also saw two prison riots. Martha had the opportunity to counsel some of the women in the aftermath. One riot ensued when the roommate of one of the women in the program died due to gross negligence on the part of the prison staff.
But Martha's work didn't just double with the prison transfers. She also continued to support and mentor women who were given "half time release."
One of these women was Dana from Romania. When an inmate has served half her sentence, she becomes eligible to go live and work with a family in order to reintegrate gradually into society.
But...
the program is subject to abuse...
Dana went to a family that had her sharing a bedroom with a man and working in their restaurant thirteen hours a day, seven days a week. Martha and I went to meet with the Romanian consul (there's no Romanian embassy in Costa Rica; a local Costa rican businessman serves as consul), who promiosed to recify the situation. Dana endured two more months of exploitation by her "host family" before the consul hired her on as an administrator for his own family's farm.
Dana is thrinving in her new situation and is now supporting and helping care for other inmates at the prison.
Dana, however, was just one of many folks we tried to help in 2011 whose survival depended on being exploited.
The Nexus group faithfully made its rounds ministering to prostitutes on Wednesdays throughout the year. Most of them seemed genuinely glad to see us. Some walked the other way or said they were too busy to talk. Every night was an adventure. The year ended with a Christmas banquet for them at the church offices. We had already come to Dallas, however, and so could not attend.
Caleb turned 14 and made good grades at the rigorous Collegio Metodista (Methodist School). He served in student government and takes guitar and tuba. He attended two youth groups weekly, one in English and one in Spanish, plus a weekly Bible study. He overtook his dad in height this year.
Joseph turned six this past year. He has a knack for reading and art. A painting of his, called "El Aquario" (The Aquarium) was chosen to represent his school in a city-wide art show in October.
Martha and I tried to take a date on Mondays whenever possible. I got certified in scuba and we're now both Open Water divers.
Martha enjoyed good health and had no new signs of cancer.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow! May you have a happy and blessed new year!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
My Prison Experience
I (Martha) am often asked, "What do you do with the women in the prison?" Well, first let me say that I work with the foreign women who are incarcerated in Buen Pastor women's prison. These women are caught in Costa Rica on drug trafficking charges and some for tax evasion. Most of them are from South Africa, the US, and a few from other countries like Germany, Jamaica, and Canada.
We have a team of three leaders. One day a week, the leaders meet for training. This includes preparing lessons, setting agendas, and working through challenges we face with the inmates and the administration. We pray for the women in the program and support one another in this ministry. We have been together on this journey for well over a year now and have grown to appreciate each other's leadership styles and gifts, and recognize how they complement each other.
My mom's friend Jo Ann came recently and shared her testimony with the general prison population. Three received Christ as Lord and Savior that day, and so many came forward for prayer that we were overwhelmed and stayed long after the meeting.
The recovery group with the inmates has grown at times and shrunk at others. Some prisoners have been extradited, while others have joined, and still others dropped out. A lesson I have learned from my sponsor and that I tell everyone that comes through the recovery door is that "this program isn't for everyone." It is a hard, introspective look at oneself, and not everyone is ready for it. Those who have stuck it out have changed in incredible ways, forgiving those who have wronged them, admitting their guilt and seeking repentance, turning to God for answers and guidance, and learning to make healthier decisions. It is amazing to see the wonders that God is doing and has done in these women week after week. At the same time, some weeks are extremely difficult and draining. Fights break out, wrongs are committed, problems increase. It is only by God's mercy and goodness that anything good comes forth from any of us. So, I share this to give you a little insight as to "what I do in the prison," or, rather, "what I get to see God do in the prison." It is a challenge, but one that's well worth every minute. What a blessing to be allowed by our Lord to encourage and support these women. Wouldn't trade it for the world...
We have a team of three leaders. One day a week, the leaders meet for training. This includes preparing lessons, setting agendas, and working through challenges we face with the inmates and the administration. We pray for the women in the program and support one another in this ministry. We have been together on this journey for well over a year now and have grown to appreciate each other's leadership styles and gifts, and recognize how they complement each other.
My mom's friend Jo Ann came recently and shared her testimony with the general prison population. Three received Christ as Lord and Savior that day, and so many came forward for prayer that we were overwhelmed and stayed long after the meeting.
The recovery group with the inmates has grown at times and shrunk at others. Some prisoners have been extradited, while others have joined, and still others dropped out. A lesson I have learned from my sponsor and that I tell everyone that comes through the recovery door is that "this program isn't for everyone." It is a hard, introspective look at oneself, and not everyone is ready for it. Those who have stuck it out have changed in incredible ways, forgiving those who have wronged them, admitting their guilt and seeking repentance, turning to God for answers and guidance, and learning to make healthier decisions. It is amazing to see the wonders that God is doing and has done in these women week after week. At the same time, some weeks are extremely difficult and draining. Fights break out, wrongs are committed, problems increase. It is only by God's mercy and goodness that anything good comes forth from any of us. So, I share this to give you a little insight as to "what I do in the prison," or, rather, "what I get to see God do in the prison." It is a challenge, but one that's well worth every minute. What a blessing to be allowed by our Lord to encourage and support these women. Wouldn't trade it for the world...
Monday, December 20, 2010
26 Prostitutes Attend Christmas Dinner
The Christmas dinner for the prostitutes looked like it would go over like a lead balloon...at first. Three hundred dollars had been raised for the dinner and then was stolen out of the office of one of the pastors. The crime remains a mystery...no one knows who did it or how. More money was raised and the dinner went on anyway.
We passed out 79 invitations in the weeks leading up to the dinner. Thirty minutes after we were supposed to begin, only six had showed up. We shouldn't have been overly disappointed; the fact that six prostitutes would darken the doors of our church offices was still pretty good. But we were hoping for more--honestly, a lot more. Undaunted by the relatively low attendance, the director of the program and another person went out to the streets and invited folks once again to take a break from their work and come join us for dinner. 45 minutes later, twenty more prostitutes filed in in their "work clothes."
Before we ate, the prostitutes heard a message on God's purpose for our lives. An invitation was given for folks to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. One person accepted. Afterwards we passed out gift-wrapped copies of the book Una Vida con Proposito, a.k.a. The Purpose Driven Life.
About two thirds of the guests were men, most of whom were transvestites (don't ask me why this form of prostitution is so popular here; I'll never understand it). Martha and I sat at a table with a woman named Nuria from our church and four female prostitutes. Two were from Costa Rica and two from Nicaragua.
One of them, a young lady named Veronica, mentioned that she'd like to find other work, mainly because it keeps her out all night and she has several children. (The fact is that prostitution is a trap that snares many folks who are poor and lack job skills. It pays very well, is legal, and it's only way these folks know how make a decent living. To put it plainly, they get dependent on, if not addicted to, the money. So once you're in, it's next to impossible to get out. Understanding this, the Nexus program provides the funding for folks to live on so they can leave prostitution immediately and go get job training in another field. As you can imagine, this can take several years.)
I mentioned to Veronica that the church provides material support to folks who want to leave prostitution. She wanted to know more, so we introduced her to the directors of the program. Please pray that she'll take the next step.
After the dinner, they all filed out and, I presume, went to work. Pray that the message from the dinner and the book will take root and result in changed lives. I'll keep you posted...
We passed out 79 invitations in the weeks leading up to the dinner. Thirty minutes after we were supposed to begin, only six had showed up. We shouldn't have been overly disappointed; the fact that six prostitutes would darken the doors of our church offices was still pretty good. But we were hoping for more--honestly, a lot more. Undaunted by the relatively low attendance, the director of the program and another person went out to the streets and invited folks once again to take a break from their work and come join us for dinner. 45 minutes later, twenty more prostitutes filed in in their "work clothes."
Before we ate, the prostitutes heard a message on God's purpose for our lives. An invitation was given for folks to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. One person accepted. Afterwards we passed out gift-wrapped copies of the book Una Vida con Proposito, a.k.a. The Purpose Driven Life.
About two thirds of the guests were men, most of whom were transvestites (don't ask me why this form of prostitution is so popular here; I'll never understand it). Martha and I sat at a table with a woman named Nuria from our church and four female prostitutes. Two were from Costa Rica and two from Nicaragua.
One of them, a young lady named Veronica, mentioned that she'd like to find other work, mainly because it keeps her out all night and she has several children. (The fact is that prostitution is a trap that snares many folks who are poor and lack job skills. It pays very well, is legal, and it's only way these folks know how make a decent living. To put it plainly, they get dependent on, if not addicted to, the money. So once you're in, it's next to impossible to get out. Understanding this, the Nexus program provides the funding for folks to live on so they can leave prostitution immediately and go get job training in another field. As you can imagine, this can take several years.)
I mentioned to Veronica that the church provides material support to folks who want to leave prostitution. She wanted to know more, so we introduced her to the directors of the program. Please pray that she'll take the next step.
After the dinner, they all filed out and, I presume, went to work. Pray that the message from the dinner and the book will take root and result in changed lives. I'll keep you posted...
Saturday, November 27, 2010
A Christmas Dinner for Hookers
We Church folks are often moved when we read of the conversion of Matthew the tax collector. Soon after Matthew's decision to follow Jesus, he threw a big party for none other than his old sinner friends. The religious folks stayed away--all except Jesus and his disciples. He was vilified and criticized by the folks who lived right, to which Jesus replied that it was the sick, not the well, who need a doctor.
Fast forward two thousand years. Here in San Jose, the Nexus (prostitution outreach) team gives a Christmas dinner for the street walkers every year. We've spent the last few Wednesdays passing out invitations to the prostitutes on the streets. We have invited maybe sixty prostitutes so far, and plan to invite a total of eighty. I missed last year's dinner because our family had gone to the US for Christmas and furlough. They tell me that the dinner is traditionally well-attended. The fact that any prostitutes would attend a church dinner can be attributed to the gifts of evangelism and compassion that prevail among the outreach team. The dinner is December 8. Please pray that it would be well-attended and for changed lives!
This past Wednesday night we ran into a teenager named Fabian, with whom I had prayed to receive Christ 18 months ago at the rehab center. He was out prostituting himself. The thing that was shocking to me was that Fabian was not a drug addict. The director of the center had taken him in because he was under 18 and had no place to go, as his parents had kicked him out. Fabian was basically a good kid. He stayed at the center for about eight months and moved on when the center closed. He was looking for work at the time. This is apparently what he found. I had never known him to be effeminate at all, but when I saw him last week he had developed effeminate mannerisms (though he was not in drag).
I tried to conceal my shock. I told him how good it was to see him again, and invited him to the dinner. The folks on the team said that he seemed genuinely glad to see me. Please pray for Fabian, that he would attend the dinner and, more importantly, return to Christ.
Fast forward two thousand years. Here in San Jose, the Nexus (prostitution outreach) team gives a Christmas dinner for the street walkers every year. We've spent the last few Wednesdays passing out invitations to the prostitutes on the streets. We have invited maybe sixty prostitutes so far, and plan to invite a total of eighty. I missed last year's dinner because our family had gone to the US for Christmas and furlough. They tell me that the dinner is traditionally well-attended. The fact that any prostitutes would attend a church dinner can be attributed to the gifts of evangelism and compassion that prevail among the outreach team. The dinner is December 8. Please pray that it would be well-attended and for changed lives!
This past Wednesday night we ran into a teenager named Fabian, with whom I had prayed to receive Christ 18 months ago at the rehab center. He was out prostituting himself. The thing that was shocking to me was that Fabian was not a drug addict. The director of the center had taken him in because he was under 18 and had no place to go, as his parents had kicked him out. Fabian was basically a good kid. He stayed at the center for about eight months and moved on when the center closed. He was looking for work at the time. This is apparently what he found. I had never known him to be effeminate at all, but when I saw him last week he had developed effeminate mannerisms (though he was not in drag).
I tried to conceal my shock. I told him how good it was to see him again, and invited him to the dinner. The folks on the team said that he seemed genuinely glad to see me. Please pray for Fabian, that he would attend the dinner and, more importantly, return to Christ.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
At the Site of the Landslide
Costa Rica made international headlines nine days ago when a landslide left 27 people dead. The avalanche took place on the other side of the city from us on the opposite side of the mountains from Tejarcillos. Rock and mudslides are very common here. Mostly they're a nuisance. Occasionally they're deadly.
Last night Cristina, one of our teachers in Tejarcillos, called and said that a friend of her sister's lived in a house that had been hit. They needed help getting the rest of the mud out of the house and would I be willing to take some folks there and help out. So today four of us went out to the site. What we found was shocking even nine days afterward.
Usually landslides happen where there are cliffs or steep dropoffs. Whatever makes up the side of the mountain gets wet and comes loose. It normally falls straight down in a fairly small area. That was what I imagined had happened this time, but it was completely different. This time the landslide took place about three miles up the mountain and came rushing through a mountain pass in a torrent of mud and rocks.
This is what I saw: The house we went to clean has a four-foot wall in front of it. There were mud stains three feet high up the wall. Unfortunately, the weight of the onslaught forced open a door and broke through a metal panel of the gate, allowing the mud to rush into the house. The family had heard the noise and screams before the torrent reached them and got out of bed (it was between 2 and 3 a.m. when it hit). They ran to a neighbor's house behind them which was slightly out of the path of the onslaught. Everyone got there safely. At the house I saw a bed frame about a foot high. It was still completely covered in mud. All the appliances that were on the floor (refrigerator, stove, etc.) were destroyed. Our job was to clear away the foot-deep mud in a utility room.
In front of the house was a small river. Its banks were 15-20 apart, about eight feet high, though the water was 6-12 inches deep and maybe eight feet wide. I said to Cristina, "Now I can see what happened. This river must have flooded and become a torrent with all the rain and helped bring down all this debris from the mountain." Cristina told me, "Steve, you don't get it. That river wasn't there before." It had been created by the landslide.
The work went quickly and so we decided to hike up to where the worst of the damage had occurred. Again, the only word for it was "shocking." You could see where one house had been spared by a few feet and the house next door had been wiped out because of the whims of the twists and turns of the onslaught. We saw where there had been houses just nine days earlier, and now there was nothing. Well, almost nothing. The families were wiped out. There was twisted corrigated metal and splintered lumber. A child's backpack with Winnie-the-Pooh on it. Two blankets that had once kept someone warm on the chilly nights there. Ruined speakers from a sound system resting fifty feet apart. I wondered what songs they had played the last day they were used.
There were boulders as big as trucks. Water still shot 20-25 feet in the air from a ruptured pipe. We hiked maybe 1000 feet up the mountain. We finally reached a point where we could see the top of where the landslide started. It was maybe three quarters of a mile away and another 1000 feet up. We couldn't see below it though from our vantage point. This was another shock. There was a small bald spot way up the mountain. It looked like nothing. Apparently the little bald spot had grown and picked up speed like the proverbial snowball on the way down.
Afterward we had lunch at the house to which the family had retreated. They asked me to say the blessing. I was thankful for the food and fellowship. Thankful for all those that God spared. I trust that He was in control that night. But there's still so much I don't understand. It was hard to say thanks for this meal when so many others nearby were displaced, grieving, or dead. I prayed anyway. I hope you will too.
Last night Cristina, one of our teachers in Tejarcillos, called and said that a friend of her sister's lived in a house that had been hit. They needed help getting the rest of the mud out of the house and would I be willing to take some folks there and help out. So today four of us went out to the site. What we found was shocking even nine days afterward.
Usually landslides happen where there are cliffs or steep dropoffs. Whatever makes up the side of the mountain gets wet and comes loose. It normally falls straight down in a fairly small area. That was what I imagined had happened this time, but it was completely different. This time the landslide took place about three miles up the mountain and came rushing through a mountain pass in a torrent of mud and rocks.
This is what I saw: The house we went to clean has a four-foot wall in front of it. There were mud stains three feet high up the wall. Unfortunately, the weight of the onslaught forced open a door and broke through a metal panel of the gate, allowing the mud to rush into the house. The family had heard the noise and screams before the torrent reached them and got out of bed (it was between 2 and 3 a.m. when it hit). They ran to a neighbor's house behind them which was slightly out of the path of the onslaught. Everyone got there safely. At the house I saw a bed frame about a foot high. It was still completely covered in mud. All the appliances that were on the floor (refrigerator, stove, etc.) were destroyed. Our job was to clear away the foot-deep mud in a utility room.
In front of the house was a small river. Its banks were 15-20 apart, about eight feet high, though the water was 6-12 inches deep and maybe eight feet wide. I said to Cristina, "Now I can see what happened. This river must have flooded and become a torrent with all the rain and helped bring down all this debris from the mountain." Cristina told me, "Steve, you don't get it. That river wasn't there before." It had been created by the landslide.
The work went quickly and so we decided to hike up to where the worst of the damage had occurred. Again, the only word for it was "shocking." You could see where one house had been spared by a few feet and the house next door had been wiped out because of the whims of the twists and turns of the onslaught. We saw where there had been houses just nine days earlier, and now there was nothing. Well, almost nothing. The families were wiped out. There was twisted corrigated metal and splintered lumber. A child's backpack with Winnie-the-Pooh on it. Two blankets that had once kept someone warm on the chilly nights there. Ruined speakers from a sound system resting fifty feet apart. I wondered what songs they had played the last day they were used.
There were boulders as big as trucks. Water still shot 20-25 feet in the air from a ruptured pipe. We hiked maybe 1000 feet up the mountain. We finally reached a point where we could see the top of where the landslide started. It was maybe three quarters of a mile away and another 1000 feet up. We couldn't see below it though from our vantage point. This was another shock. There was a small bald spot way up the mountain. It looked like nothing. Apparently the little bald spot had grown and picked up speed like the proverbial snowball on the way down.
Afterward we had lunch at the house to which the family had retreated. They asked me to say the blessing. I was thankful for the food and fellowship. Thankful for all those that God spared. I trust that He was in control that night. But there's still so much I don't understand. It was hard to say thanks for this meal when so many others nearby were displaced, grieving, or dead. I prayed anyway. I hope you will too.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Why I'm Voting Republican
I (Steve) have never been a member of any political party, and I don't ever intend to join one. Why? Mainly because I have at times felt compelled to either preach or write on political issues, and I don't want to be accused of being partisan.
Having said that, however, I must confess that I have not voted for a single Democrat since 1994. There were three offices up for grabs on the Kentucky ballot that year. If you remember, that was the year of the Contract with America, which swept the Republicans back into control of the House and Senate. I voted for the Democrat for two of the three offices. The reason was that these Democrats were pro life, as were the Republicans, but the Dems seemed to understand better the nuances of other current issues, so I trusted them to make better-informed, wiser decisions.
Fast forward sixteen years. Though an independent, I have not voted for a single Democrat since that fateful mid-term election. Some would say I am a Republican dressed up in Independent's clothing. Some would say, "A rose by any other name...."
I don't see it that way. As it has turned out, every election since 1994 has been an easy choice for me. In the places I have been registered, each election has offered the option between a pro-abortion Democrat and a pro-life Republican. For me the choice has had nothing to do with whether the candidate has a D or an R next to his or her name, and everything to do with their stand on abortion. I have been called a single-issue voter. I find that term offensive. It is, I believe, an attempt to marginalize folks who have strong convictions on the abortion issue.
Almost anyone has minimum standards for who they'd vote for. Would you vote for an avowed racist? A member of the North American Man-Boy Love Association? You wouldn't? But doesn't that make you a single-issue voter? Of course not. Even if you agreed with a racist or pedophile on most other issues, you would vote for someone else because you find their stand on that one issue to be so repugnant. These are qualifying issues. To qualify for my vote, one must affirm what I'm convinced that everyone really knows, but many refuse to admit: that a baby in the womb is a real human being, created in the image of God, and deserving of legal protection. My arguments against abortion, very briefly, boil down to the indisputable biological facts concerning fetal develpment. You can't treat these facts seriously and conclude that the fetus is not a person. If it is a person, then anyone reasonable person will agree that it's wrong to take an innocent human life. In my judgment, a candidate must affirm this to be qualified for public office. For the past sixteen years all the ones who have done so happened to be Republicans; all those who have failed to qualify have been Democrats.
Of course, there are other very important issues. It's my observation that both parties have been completely out of touch with the American people. When the Republicans were in office, we went to war on a false pretense and the economy tanked due to irresponsible policies. One of these was constantly claiming to be for smaller government and fiscal restraint while habitually passing federal budgets with so much pork and waste that it boggles the mind of anyone who's not a politician. So the people ousted them.
Then the Democrats took over. My observation is that the people gave them a very limited mandate: fix the economy. Then we can talk. But the Democrats failed to fix the economy and tried to implement a radical liberal agenda that the people didn't want. This included trampling on states' rights, record deficits due to government-run-amok (which our children will have to pay back), gay marriage, self-affirming, practicing homosexuals in the military (no one is saying that gays can't serve; only that they stay out of their fellow solders' faces with it), tax-payer funding of abortion-on-demand, and government takeover of private industry (also known as socialism).
The latest polls are predicting that the GOP will take control of the House, and shrink the Dems' majority in the Senate to 52-48.* I'll be faxing in my vote to help make that happen, trusting that the GOP learned its lesson in 2008.
What will you do? Leave a comment!
*Independent senators are counted with the party with whom they tend to lean.
Having said that, however, I must confess that I have not voted for a single Democrat since 1994. There were three offices up for grabs on the Kentucky ballot that year. If you remember, that was the year of the Contract with America, which swept the Republicans back into control of the House and Senate. I voted for the Democrat for two of the three offices. The reason was that these Democrats were pro life, as were the Republicans, but the Dems seemed to understand better the nuances of other current issues, so I trusted them to make better-informed, wiser decisions.
Fast forward sixteen years. Though an independent, I have not voted for a single Democrat since that fateful mid-term election. Some would say I am a Republican dressed up in Independent's clothing. Some would say, "A rose by any other name...."
I don't see it that way. As it has turned out, every election since 1994 has been an easy choice for me. In the places I have been registered, each election has offered the option between a pro-abortion Democrat and a pro-life Republican. For me the choice has had nothing to do with whether the candidate has a D or an R next to his or her name, and everything to do with their stand on abortion. I have been called a single-issue voter. I find that term offensive. It is, I believe, an attempt to marginalize folks who have strong convictions on the abortion issue.
Almost anyone has minimum standards for who they'd vote for. Would you vote for an avowed racist? A member of the North American Man-Boy Love Association? You wouldn't? But doesn't that make you a single-issue voter? Of course not. Even if you agreed with a racist or pedophile on most other issues, you would vote for someone else because you find their stand on that one issue to be so repugnant. These are qualifying issues. To qualify for my vote, one must affirm what I'm convinced that everyone really knows, but many refuse to admit: that a baby in the womb is a real human being, created in the image of God, and deserving of legal protection. My arguments against abortion, very briefly, boil down to the indisputable biological facts concerning fetal develpment. You can't treat these facts seriously and conclude that the fetus is not a person. If it is a person, then anyone reasonable person will agree that it's wrong to take an innocent human life. In my judgment, a candidate must affirm this to be qualified for public office. For the past sixteen years all the ones who have done so happened to be Republicans; all those who have failed to qualify have been Democrats.
Of course, there are other very important issues. It's my observation that both parties have been completely out of touch with the American people. When the Republicans were in office, we went to war on a false pretense and the economy tanked due to irresponsible policies. One of these was constantly claiming to be for smaller government and fiscal restraint while habitually passing federal budgets with so much pork and waste that it boggles the mind of anyone who's not a politician. So the people ousted them.
Then the Democrats took over. My observation is that the people gave them a very limited mandate: fix the economy. Then we can talk. But the Democrats failed to fix the economy and tried to implement a radical liberal agenda that the people didn't want. This included trampling on states' rights, record deficits due to government-run-amok (which our children will have to pay back), gay marriage, self-affirming, practicing homosexuals in the military (no one is saying that gays can't serve; only that they stay out of their fellow solders' faces with it), tax-payer funding of abortion-on-demand, and government takeover of private industry (also known as socialism).
The latest polls are predicting that the GOP will take control of the House, and shrink the Dems' majority in the Senate to 52-48.* I'll be faxing in my vote to help make that happen, trusting that the GOP learned its lesson in 2008.
What will you do? Leave a comment!
*Independent senators are counted with the party with whom they tend to lean.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Martha Gets Stitches Out
Martha went to the doctor this past Wednesday and got the inner layer of her stitches out. How do they do that without opening her up again, you ask? Well, as it turns out, the stitches rise to the surface on their own and begin to poke through the skin. Ouch! She still needs to go in for a thorough checkup for hidden moles, and then will have to have checkups every two months for the next year.
The outreach by our kids in Tejarcillos was postponed a week by the rehab center we were partnering with, and Martha and I could not attend on the new date. Fran and Ileana, some adult volunteers, and the children pulled the whole thing off beautifully. The only thing Martha and I contributed was funding. This underscored Martha's and my belief that we have worked ourselves out of a job. If we should decide to restart the church it would require Martha and me to be more involved, but if we continue on as a parachurch ministry, we would feel totally comfortable turning the reigns of the ministry over to them completely, and just continue raising funds for them.
Next week we plan to build an additional bedroom onto Fran and Ileana's house, which also serves as a headquarters for the ministry there in the slums. They have recently taken in two family members to live with them. One is their granddaughter Alexa and the other is Fran's mother Norma who is in poor health and can no longer live alone. Norma is staying in a small bedroom with Alexa and two of Fran and Ileana's daughters. It has created a crowded, uncomfortable living situation for all involved, so First Presbyterian Church of DeLand, FL, and a men's interdenominational prayer group have provided the funds for us to build an extra room.
The outreach by our kids in Tejarcillos was postponed a week by the rehab center we were partnering with, and Martha and I could not attend on the new date. Fran and Ileana, some adult volunteers, and the children pulled the whole thing off beautifully. The only thing Martha and I contributed was funding. This underscored Martha's and my belief that we have worked ourselves out of a job. If we should decide to restart the church it would require Martha and me to be more involved, but if we continue on as a parachurch ministry, we would feel totally comfortable turning the reigns of the ministry over to them completely, and just continue raising funds for them.
Next week we plan to build an additional bedroom onto Fran and Ileana's house, which also serves as a headquarters for the ministry there in the slums. They have recently taken in two family members to live with them. One is their granddaughter Alexa and the other is Fran's mother Norma who is in poor health and can no longer live alone. Norma is staying in a small bedroom with Alexa and two of Fran and Ileana's daughters. It has created a crowded, uncomfortable living situation for all involved, so First Presbyterian Church of DeLand, FL, and a men's interdenominational prayer group have provided the funds for us to build an extra room.
I taught a class on development and pastoral care of preschoolers at a local seminary two weeks ago. They were trying me out as a teacher in their program for folks who need training in ministry but lack a high school diploma. It went well as far as I could tell, but I haven't heard back from them. This is not unusual in this culture, even when someone is interested in hiring you. Folks just aren't in any hurry. It's also the normal way for Ticos to let you know they're not interested. So it could be either one at this point. I'll keep you posted...
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