When we announced our new mission post back in November, we described how the Holy Spirit is known as the wild goose in Ireland. It is only through the Spirit of God that one chooses to ignore the other gods of this world and do things that the world will say are crazy and dangerous. Like Saint Paul writes, “When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them...and they will not escape.” And so in this light, we have an announcement: We moved! Ok, it’s not so crazy - we only moved 1 km down the road, closer to the ‘center’ of Coopevega. But it is still a pretty big deal for us. When our mission team found out we were joining them in Costa Rica, the Brupbacher family lovingly reserved a home for us. And both families blessed us by fully furnishing our house. It was so nice to arrive on the mission field to a house with curtains, pots, pan, a stove, beds, bedding, etc But then there was the house... As little girl, I dreamed of a log cabin in the mountains of Colorado. While this isn't Colorado, our original home here is still my dream house. It has three bedrooms, hot showers, clean reliable well water, and wood paneling, which reminds me of a log cabin. Our backyard was literally a rainforest oasis with toucans, parrots, monkeys, and fruit trees. And all this for less than 130 colones or approximately $230/month to rent. So why did we move??? The answer is simple...God! I've come to realize that most of the crazy 'Why' questions in my life can be answered with this one little word. God's ways often seem a little nutty in the eyes of the world. One of the charisms of Family Missions Company is Gospel Poverty. This means that we are called to live a simple life so we can give our excess resources to the poor. This means living in solidarity with the poor. Authentic Christians are not afraid of opening up to others, of sharing their living spaces and transforming them into places of solidarity. (Pope Francis) For the first month, we were in awe with the beauty of our home. But slowly God opened our eyes. Our neighbors were wealthy. They were land owners or work for the school. Our community was semi-gated. To get to the poor required us leaving our little community. When the poor would visit, we'd hear comments like "casa grande". While we were living simply, our house was not simple by local standards. Another factor is that this little community was a kilometer (0.6 miles for non-metric gentes) away from the center of town on a farm. For us to serve the poor, get groceries or visit Jesus at church, was a long walk in the heat or rain. We quickly realized if it was this hard for us to get groceries, how much harder was it for the poor to reach us. It is our call to live with and serve the poorest of the poor and this meant moving! So after a long month of text messaging with the landlord of Casa de Jesus, we officially moved into the apartment adjacent to it. Now it is our chance to choose Gospel Poverty to choose to live truly in solidarity with the poor. This means sleeping under mosquito nets, using a public water system that fails daily, having dust from the dirt road cover everything, listening to loud music from the American boutique across the street, and taking lots of cold showers. So is it worth it? To know and serve Jesus in the poor is always worth the cost. Luke does not speak of poverty “of spirit” but simply of those who are “poor” (cf. Lk 6:20). In this way, he too invites us to live a plain and austere life. He calls us to share in the life of those most in need, the life lived by the Apostles, and ultimately to configure ourselves to Jesus who, though rich, “made himself poor” (2 Cor 8:9). (Gaudate et exultate)
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On a MissionTwo passionate parents and their four children are excited to bring His Word to everyone in need while living a life of Gospel poverty as missionaries. They invite you to join them on a journey to encounter our global neighbors that Jesus commands us to love through works of charity and service. Archives
April 2021
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