One Month in Ecuador!

Now I’ll tell you the honest truth!  (Don’t you just love it when someone opens a subject in that way!?  What other kind of truth is there?)  Well, anyway, I just want you all to know something.  I could live in Ecuador for the rest of my life with no problem at all.  But first I need to get a few things off my chest.

Our apartment is has been nearly perfectly situated.  We are within one half mile of a Super Maxi, a grocery store that rivals any of the nicest grocery stores in the States.  One of the 3 rivers that run through Cuenca is less than a quarter mile away.  A huge “Farmer’s Market” is just over one half mile away.  What’s not to love?

I will tell you what’s not to love.  The beds in this apartment are as hard as rocks.  Those of you who know me know that I have little excess fat on my body, especially my hips.  Bony hips and hard beds are totally incompatible.  I have spent every single night in this apartment like a chicken on a rotisserie.  Though I’ve never been known as a sound sleeper, a hard bed has detracted from the overall pleasure of this trip.

Another thing to get off my chest is that Ecuadorians, at least here in Cuenca, are far more comfortable with noise than I am.  From the first night we arrived and all the way through we have been “serenaded” with fireworks, the honking of innumerable auto horns (mostly taxis) and those intolerable loud-mufflered cars.  You Nazarenes will know what I mean.  I’m saved and sanctified and on my way to heaven, but at times I have had this vision of a shoulder mounted anti-aircraft ballistic launcher and I have fantasized about incinerating those [expletive deleted…insert your own word/s here] noisy cars.

Super-collide a hard bed and noise and you have the perfect combination of pain, misery and agony on me! (For you ‘Hee-Haw’ fans!)

Enough of that, but I do want to thank you all for providing this therapy session for me!

The other side of this coin is really packed with a lot of fun, excitement and good memories.  There is no place quite like Ecuador.  Cuenca, where we’ve been these nearly five weeks, is located at about 8,200 feet above sea level.  The culture here revolves around the ancient presence of Spanish conquerors in the sixteen hundreds, the colorful flamboyance of indigenous “country folks” and the straight-forward young and dynamic culture that is the essence of entrepreneurship.  Not kidding you, it really seems like the small business to people population is exactly 1:1!  Nearly all of the downtown streets are wall-to-wall businesses.

We’ve had reason to access healthcare here in Ecuador.  Jamie had some digestive problems and needed to see a doctor.  Alexandria experienced what turned out to be gastritis and needed very specialized care.  Folks, I wish every person in the whole world could experience what we have in this regard.  The doctors we’ve encountered have all made themselves available around the clock by giving us their home phone and cell numbers.  Josh and Jamie “just happened” upon a doctor who, it turned out, was the Chief of Staff at one of the Cuenca hospitals.

Dr. visits were very professional and the fees ranged from $20 to $30.00.  Alex needed some specialty care.  Two doctors and an anesthesiologist came in on Saturday morning to perform an endoscopy.  The cost…$150.00.  The facilities are, for the most part, state-of-the-art and clean as a whistle!  We are deeply grateful for the healthcare here in Ecuador!

My personal interest in Ecuador has centered on trying to figure out if I could be helpful to a group of people, in a Christian/spiritual sense.  While there are at least a couple major evangelical churches in the city, it is quite apparent that there is significant opportunity here for a guy like me to have a ministry!  Along with the local population that “seems” quite religious (although I'm told church attendance is extremely low), there is a growing expat population that is obviously searching for Christian spiritual connections.

In fact, the first expat I met is a guy my age who is the son of a pastor from Texas.  He is separated some from his spiritual roots and expressed strong desire for friendship.  Another couple we met was from, of all places, Long Creek, Oregon.  That was one fun friendship encounter.  You could have knocked Jamie over with a straw.  Jamie was born into the Long Creek community and was raised there until she was 5 years old!  What are the odds?

My growing awareness is that English speaking expats from primarily North America are spreading out around the world.  It warms the cockles of my heart to think and believe that they will both find each other and local Christians and develop friendships and fellowship.  It is a growing thought in my mind that ministry in this regard is a major new possibility.

Not only have I been interested in Christian ministry here, but I have had a great time looking in on the local “Farmer’s Market” and hiking the area. 

Just today, I made the decision to try to scale a nearby mountain (impressive hill, at least!).  I mentioned that Cuenca is located at the 8,200 ft. level.  There is no doubt that I hiked another thousand feet above that!  Remarkable things were happening up there! There is more construction than you can shake a stick at!  The recession does not seem to have hit Ecuador.  I’m told that with the return of Ecuadorians from North America and the influx of expats that the economy here is in a definite boom cycle!

One of the things that really stood out on my trip to the top of the mountain today was the obvious clash between the old and the new.  There were scores of building projects in process.  In several cases there were brand new building projects situated exactly  next door to old-style mud brick homes.  In one such case, an elderly lady was out in front of her home feeding her puppies.  She graciously allowed me to photograph her. 

Just down the road from her home, the local school was dismissing.  Many of the kids were eager to have their picture taken.  Wishing like crazy that I was fluent in Spanish.

Right in the area of the school was the café where I stopped for lunch.  I’m positive that the ladies in the café were surprised to have a tall, skinny gringo stop in!  They served me a large bowl of soup, a plate of rice, pork and avocado, and a fried banana, all for only $2.50!  They also served a drink that I didn’t feel comfortable with.

Yesterday I hiked upstream on a nearby river and marveled at the pristine beauty of that setting.  At one point, I encountered several families doing their laundry on the bank of the river.  They saw me photographing them and seemed quite comfortable.  One young boy was playing with his baby sister on the grass.  In my “sign language” sort of way, I asked him if I could take the baby’s picture.  Not only did he give permission, but he was eager to steal a bit of the show himself!

On up the river, I encountered a dead cow in the middle of the river.  Ergh.  Couldn’t help but think of all the people downstream washing their clothes in the same river!

Then it was on to the “Farmer’s Market.”  Folks, I know of no other cultural experience that measures up to the trip to this market.  I’ve visited the market several times, but this time I approached the market from a different direction.  It seemed to me that in my first few visits to the markets that the people were a bit leery of a gringo coming in and taking pics.  Each time I have returned, I’ve gotten more smiles and even more openness to my taking pictures.  The variety of goods, the sights and smells are amazing.



Just have to say that I love Ecuador and hope to return in the future.  We have to complete and sell our home in Costa Rica first, and then we will make some decisions about where to spend the next several years.  It is our hearts’ desire to be in a place where our influence for Christ can be maximized!

God Bless You All!!!

Wes

Just had to add a pic of something I will REALLY miss about Ecuador.  Shrimp are to be had in abundance down here!

The Inside Story...

The target of this blog is...honesty and full disclosure.

But, first of all, just let me say that one of the "funnest" sporting experiences of my life happened yesterday when Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos defeated the Pittsburg Steelers in the wild card play off game.  AND, the fact that Tim threw for 316 years in passing, just delights me to no end!  Jokingly, I have predicted that he will have 320 yards against New England this coming Saturday (as in Ephesians 3:20 "God is able to do immeasurably more than we imagine!")  My  conviction is that Christianity needs a role model who will remain above the false-iscity of big time popularity.  A couple days ago I was concentrating on Mark 4 and these words stood out, Mar 4:18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19  but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. My prayer for Tim Tebow is that he will remain true to his testimony and that he will not be overcome by what I would call...the craziness of celebrity.



...................

In regards to "honesty," I just want to say that I'm convinced that this is a significant season in my life.  After serving as a pastor for over 40 years, I'm sincerely seeking for a new place and a new purpose within the context of retirement.  It amazes me that we (the Smiths) are totally comfortable with the label, "expat."  Our loyalty and kinship with the United States is strong, but, honestly, I am now driven by the goal of finding the place where Colleen and I can both maximize our retirement financially and where our faith in Jesus Christ can make the greatest difference.

So, I want to talk to/with you all about this journey.

Conversations about Costa Rica first appeared on our radar screen about 2 years ago.  At first our response was something like, "Yeh, sounds interesting, but probably could never happen."  The lynchpin in the entire conversation as far as I was concerned was Colleen.  My intent in all of our nearly 38 years of marriage has been to maximize her life and to assist her in every way possible to open doors of opportunity and fulfillment for her.  Such a move in our lives would never be possible without her agreement and participation.

Well, wonder of wonders, Colleen was not put off by the idea and actually verbalized interest and openness.  Her interest opened doors of exploration for me and the rest of the family.  But this is a good place to say that the cost of this transition has been far greater for Colleen than for any other family member (Josh, Jamie, Alex and me).  Her gigantic sacrifice was to be willing to give up on the part of her life that was nearer and dearer than I can explain or comprehend. 

Colleen had two horses and a goat that she gave up.  This was one of the areas of her life that I fully supported...we had built a major 40' x 60' barn (half of which was devoted to her animals), plumbed the barn with water, built a nice tack room and bath stall, fenced and cross fenced the paddock and pasture and further invested in training and the best health products available for her animals.

From my standpoint, the transition to the "expat" life began with significate dialogue with the Longview Church of the Nazarene Church Board, beginning in February of 2011, and culminated with my retirement on September 25, 2011.  Again, honestly, my participation in ministry had become, searching for the best word here, confusing.  I have always had a desire to lead the local church into the greatest influence for Christ in whatever community I was serving, and, to tell you the truth in my opinion, my effectiveness was suffering.  I can easily say that these months of being out of the pastorate have been healing and restorative for me. 

By the way, I am in the process of writing an "e-book."  The working title so far is, "Wesley on the Chuch of the Nazarene (Wesley Smith, that is!)"  My unique experience as a pastor, I'm pretty sure, gives me the credibility to say some things to and about the church that could be helpful to the denomination.  I am one of the few people I know who has pastored in both large and small church settings.  Not saying when the book will appear, but I'm making good progress.

Anyway, as our retirement discussions and decisions progressed, Colleen and I began a significant and severe separation from many of the material things we had accumulated over the years.  We, along with Josh and Jamie, conducted two major barn/garage sales and watched as the accumulations of 37+ years drove away in other people's cars and pickups.  Our home miraculously sold when a couple appeared in our driveway to look over our place.  They were immediately convinced our place was what they wanted and made a cash offer that we accepted within 48 hours.  Our realtor called it a "God Thing!" and informed us that our home was one of three homes in its price category that had sold within the previous 12 months in Cowlitz county.

It really is impossible to describe what it was like to have to give up things that to some extent had become a significant piece of our identity.  I had inherited my dad's rolltop desk.  He purchased it in 1947 from the estate of an attorney in DeSmit, South Dakota.  After lots of discussions and prayer, I passed that desk to my nephew, Lincoln Smith, who lives in San Diego and is a student at Point Loma Nazarene University.  Lincoln is preparing to be a Missionary Doctor, so the desk stays in "ministry!"  That is just one example of the difficulty of seeing treasured things disappear.

Dad Smith's (H. LaVern) Roll Top Desk from 1947.

We've been away from our American home and hearth for about 3 and 1/2 months now.  And, I want to say a few things about the "expat" life.

Colleen and I both feel strongly that we have cut the ties with our former way of life.  We are no longer homeowners with an intent to kick back and retire in a familiar setting.  Our talks along this line have reached very definite conclusions.  No turning back.  We believe the rest of our physical future lies outside the United States.

Okay. It is important to say about the expat life is that it is not for everyone.  I think the cost of making the move to another country would be prohibitive for many people.  It seems clear to me that many people would not be interested in the expat life simply because of their family connections.  Then there are those folks who fear change and the unknown.  There are probably other reasons that people shouldn't consider cutting the ties.  I have full understanding for those who cannot consider life outside the USA.

On the other hand, we are constantly running into realities that make the expat lifestyle more compelling!  Much of the rationale for living outside the USA revolves around the cost of living.  I am writing this from Cuenca, Ecuador, and the cost of living is simply amazing here.  Gasoline sells for $1.25 per gallon for regular ($1.05, diesel).  We have driven a VW Jetta diesel for the past five years that averaged around 42-45 miles per gallon.  This is like a throwback to many years gone by.  I cannot give you the exact reason gas is so cheap here, but it has something to do with Ecuador being an oil-rich nation and the government has made the decision to control the price in order to benefit the citizens.

We can take a taxi to nearly any part of the city for $2.00.  I had my very first experience riding a city bus a couple days ago.  We traveled to the end of route 8 that took us to one part of the city, picked up bus 7 that took us to another part of the city (mall), and then bus 13 brought us pretty close to home...for only 75 cents!  That amazes me!  By the way, senior citizens in Ecuador are quite treasured.  They receive sales tax back on a monthly basis.  They travel public transportation for 1/2 price (12.5 cents instead of 25 cents). They received free medical care and free medicines. Unrelated to the government, seniors can travel internationally for 1/2 regular fare with the three major airlines in the country.  I'm not totally informed about this last benefit, but will tell you more when I know more.

We are living for this month of January on the top floor of a four story building.  The rent for the month is $700.00.  Month!  This includes utilities and having a maid come in for six hours twice a week.  We are enjoying this home, but should we decide to re-locate to Ecuador, we would prefer to live on an acre or so.  Colleen would love to re-connect with her horse hobby.  Home prices vary, but a comfortable apartment/condominium can be had from $50K (one bedroom, one bath) to a comfortable medium of $150,000K (3 bedrooms, 3 baths), to just about any other price.  I recently looked at an ad for a mega-home priced at $2.5 million!

Typical high rise apartment/home high rise in Cuenca, Ecuador

We have found the Ecuadorians to be beautiful and friendly people!  There is, at least, no visible sign around of the illegal drug cartels.  This is a very peaceful county and, I'm convinced, a country that wants a good and prosperous future.  Colleen and I talked yesterday about the absence of vice in this city. 

Nice lady on the street who let me take her/their picture.

 

I wish you all could see the major Farmer's Markets that exist around town.  We have one about 1/2 mile from where we live.  It is a sprawling gathering of marketeers from all aspects of what it takes to make such a market!  Many of the people represent the old Ecuadorian culture and wear the outfits that make them unique!  The colors are fabulous!

Unbelievable variety and supply of fresh fruits and veggies in the local Farmer's Market.

Can you imagine tomatoes at 4 lbs. for one dollar?  I mean gorgeous, firm, red, just right tomatoes!  Can you imagine 3-4 large avocados for one dollar?  Pasta is 2 lbs for fifty cents.  Though, I tried the pasta from the market and didn't enjoy it.  The array of fruits and vegetables is mind boggling.  The seafood section is amazing.  It does have a bit of an odor (Alex took one walk through.  That was enough for her.), but the selection is out of this world.  In the meat market, you can purchase just about any piece of meat you can imagine.  Several aisles have cooked food.  Several of the aisles have raw meat.  Beyond the typical farmer's market items, various other products are for sale.  I'm not good at this kind of measurement, but I would guess that the market must cover close to 5 acres. (Basing that on the size of our 5 acres in Castle Rock.)

Imagine 5 acres, or so, of this kind of produce!

Again, I do not have the exact details, but you can deposit your money in Ecuadorian banks and receive 10.5% interest.  The interest rate is based on leaving it on deposit for one year.  There is a 20% penalty for early withdrawels.  Hm.  That would bring the interest rate down to 8%, or so.  How does even 8% sound in comparison with what is being paid in your bank?  My bank in the USA is currently paying about 1/2%.

I will give you more about ministry in my next blog.  Missionary Dwight Rich, Regional Director for the North Andean Region, Church of the Nazarene is planning a trip to Cuenca to see us while we are here.  SO looking forward to meeting him!

Trust you all are doing well.  If you have even the slightest interest in the expat life, please be in touch.  We only have around three months of answers!  But we would love to share what we have learned with you!

Time to go take my  walk.  Josh and I walked briskly for 5 miles yesterday.  I've probably done more walking in our 10 days here than I have in any other 10 period in my life.  Good stuff!

I do encourage you to check out www.nazarenesabroad.com to read another recent blog.

Much Love,

Wes Smith
www.nazarenesabroad.com
www.osamountainvillage.net
www.adventurewithwes.blogspot.com

Early Fishing In Costa Rica

One of my great hopes and longings for retirement is that successful fishing, and catching, will be standard operating experience!  This has been a common thread throughout my life and I am not eager for it to come to a close any time soon!  My earliest memories of fishing are in South Dakota where on unique occasions my father would set the Smith kids up with cane poles, hooks and bobber to catch fish in the “dams” on the ranches that surrounded our little town of White River.

I graduated to making fishing a personal experience when we moved to Moravia, Iowa.  Farm ponds dotted the countryside and you can believe that Terry Prough and I knew where we could catch bass, bluegills, bullheads and crappies on a moment’s notice.  Our best fishing days were any day (except Sunday) through the summer, but at the end and beginning of the school year our day for fishing was…Saturday!  It was nothing to roll out of bed before sunup in order to be on the bank of our targeted pond by daybreak.  It is one of life’s great mysteries, “What makes it easy for a kid to get up early to go fishing when every other day it is nearly impossible to get a kid out of bed for nearly any other reason?”

Some of my best fishing was during our five years in Alaska.  One day I fished in a city park in Soldotna during a pink salmon run.  With the Good Lord as my witness at one point I made 13 casts and 13 catches.  That’s a good day for any fisherman!  One year right after our church’s annual District Assembly, Gene Bryner and Dr. Gordon Whetmore and I fished the Cook Inlet.  We limited out on both King Salmon and Halibut.  My prize of that day was a 43 lb. King!

More recently, three years ago or so, Dean and Colleen Heath and Colleen and I enjoyed a week of luxury in Rick and Roxanne Robinson’s Hawaii home.  Rick arranged for us to have a day fishing for tuna.  We fished from daybreak until mid- afternoon before the action happened, but when it did it was like thunder and lightning combined!  It took about forty five minutes for me to land a one hundred and twenty one (121!) pound Ahi Tuna.

Just saying…I really love to fish, and, have had some success!

You may have read an earlier blog where I told of my  first Costa Rica fishing trip.  What was supposed to be a blissful one-day fishing experience turned into an amazing nightmare!  Our little boat was cast about on the gray Pacific like a cat playing with a helpless mouse.  I did something hard for me to be proud of.  I voted with the majority…to abort the trip and head for land.

My next Costa Rica fishing experience happened just down the road on a river very close to where we currently live.  This needn’t be too lengthy of an account, but in my few minutes of fishing from the bank, I had a classic encounter with…fear!  After a handful of casts, my lure got hooked on the bottom.  Lures are hard to come by down here, so I waded out knee deep and gave deeper thought to going the rest of the way to retrieve it.  Thought better and returned home to find another lure.  Upon returning I made a few more casts and then moved upstream.  The tide was coming in and what appeared to be a driftwood log surfaced maybe 15 feet in front of me.  My next thought was, “That’s not a log.  It has knarly bumps and a long nose and eyes.”  Yep.  That was my first encounter with a Costa Rican crocodile that was at least ten feet long!  The fear hit me pretty hard when my mind skipped back to wading out knee deep earlier in order to retrieve my lure.

This past Tuesday Josh and I spent an entire afternoon fishing from a charter boat.  Nothing dramatic.  I did have two great strikes, but didn’t land either.

Jamie’s parents are visiting with us and Pat really loves to fish, so we’ve been out twice.  I took him over to where the croc made his appearance.  We made several casts from a safe distance and saw two more crocodiles, one big one!

Christmas eve, we went to an area where a river dumps into the ocean.  Pat decided to fish the surf.  I was drawn upstream.  Fishing is pretty serious for me and often draws me beyond the familiar.  After a good hour of casting into the mangroves lining the shores of the river, a native Costa Rican came fishing his way back to where I was.  He could speak pretty good English and gave me some good tips about fishing for Snook.  The better advice was, “You be careful fishing back in here.  There is a very large resident croc!  Pay attention!”

Okay, so I’m alive and in good condition.  Pat and I hope to fish again this afternoon.  No fish yet, but I hope to give you a good report soon.

Ten Significant Differences...

Important Announcement...check out our new web site (after reading this blog, of course) www.nazarenesabroad.com  

Having lived abroad already for two magnificent months has created some profound responses in my psyche (not a common word with me!).  First, both Colleen and I are feeling strongly about and conversing about our commitment to this “expat” life. We love it!  I suppose that it is possible for us to change at some point in the future, but we both feel strongly that this lifestyle is what we want for the rest, the homestretch, of our lives!  That is rather amazing considering the fact that up until two years ago, retirement in our minds was totally assumed to be on our little “farm” located just outside of Castle Rock, WA. 

Our new home (under construction) in Osa Mountain Village (www.osamountainvillage.net)

With that in mind, I wanted to invite you to share some of our two-month journey.  Colleen and I have spent time talking about the differences between the expat life and life in the United States.  Here is our current “Top Ten” list:

1.     The travel system.  In the US we never gave a second thought to traveling from point “A” to point “B.”  Signage was an assumption and road conditions were, in retrospect, fabulous.  Here, folks, travel is an, uh, adventure!  There are no, or very few, actual addresses.  My first experience in driving in Costa Rica caused me more stress than I can ever remember experiencing over one challenge.  Just saying that we have taken travel for granted.  No more!

Our Costa Rica car, purchased in the States and shipped here.  2000 Isuzu Rodeo. It stays clean for at least a few hours after I wash it, as long as it is parked in the driveway!

2.     The way people get around here.  We see five distinct modes of travel: car, motorcycle, bicycle, public transportation, and, walking.  This probably deserves an entire blog, but the motorcycle, bicycle and walkers get around with little or no regard to the weather or light conditions.  Just last evening we were coming home from a restaurant in the pitch dark.  I’d say hundreds of people were walking along the highway because of a free outdoor Christmas concert.

 

3.     Animals on the loose.  It’s just the way life is here.  “Survival of the fittest” is a good way to describe the system!  I doubt very many pet animals die of old age around here.

 

4.     Diet.  The diet here is limited for several reasons.  One way to describe it is that when Alex came home (to Longview, WA) from spending three months with Josh here in Costa Rica, I had the privilege of walking into Winco (large grocery store chain) with her.  I intentionally walked a few steps behind her.  She was truly in awe as she wandered around looking at all the varieties of various products.  She turned to me and said, “Papa, this is SO much different than Costa Rica!”  The neat thing is that we have plenty, not just the huge shopping buffet offered in the US!

 

5.     Spending.  Would you believe that I still have some of the money in my wallet that came into the country with me two months ago?!  It is honestly more difficult to spend money down here.  Outside of the few large cities, shopping, as we have known it, simply does not exist.  I consider this a good thing!

 

6.     Leisure.  Now, I’m retired so the routine I have lived by for so long is pretty much a thing of the past, but our leisure is little influenced by the traditional Hollywood entertainment media.  We pick up our news via the internet, making it easier to filter what we see and hear.  That is amazing for this news junkie who pretty much had to have his daily dose!  Much of our family time revolves around swimming, walking, eating and enjoying nature around us…together!

Alex and her friend, Eden.

Mr. & Mrs. Iguana in the palm tree on the other side of our swimming pool.

7.     Language.  It just seems plain rude to me that the folks down here have not taken the time to learn our language.  Oh, wait.  We are the couple who said in the past, “If you are going to live in the US, learn the language!”  Turnabout is fair play I’d say!  Colleen and I “shook on it” last evening, committing ourselves to spending an hour a day learning Spanish.

 

8.      Church.  It’s not different in message or in focus, but much different than what we have grown accustomed.  I have attended two all-Spanish services.  That’s tough for me at this point.  The church we have enjoyed, and become a part of, translates every part of the service.  Though this church has been in existence for about five years, we feel like we have gotten in on the ground floor some something very exciting and dynamic!

 

9.     Heat. Costa Rica is a tropical country so it just makes sense that we would have to deal with heat.  We are currently living at coast elevation and temps in the low to mid-80’s is not unusual.  The pool is ALWAYS the exact right temperature.  Colleen has developed the habit of carrying an umbrella and a fan!

 

10. Bugs. We’ve been told that our bodies will develop a resistance to the histamines of the various biting, stinging bugs within about two years!  Live and learn!  A few days ago, a yard worker was here.  His work stirred up a bumper crop of biting bugs.  I was “rewarded” with between 15 and 20 new bites.  Next time he is here I will keep myself well-sprayed!

 

My intent is to…tell the truth.  The truth is that we love this season in our lives and believe that God has gifted us with this very unique privilege!  To broaden that out a bit…our current piece of heaven is realistically interspersed with bits of hades!  This would be a good time to re-read Genesis 3!

 

Much Love,

 

Wes & Colleen (www.nazarenesabroad.com)

Living Outside The United States...

Well, it’s been just about just about six weeks since we were picked up by Chuck Dunnavant at Ron and Sherry Worthington’s home and taken to the airport for our flight to Liberia, Costa Rica.

 Now it is important for me to say a few things.

 Retirement is really settling well with me.  So far, I feel like I’m on an extended vacation.  Sometimes I feel like I should be preparing a sermon or making calls or attending meetings, but mostly I’m enjoying putting each day together without much thought being given to the following day and pretty much just doing stuff that needs to be done and investing time and energy in some shared projects with Josh.

Further, my health is much better than I expect or deserve.  Either Josh or Colleen and I take a demanding walk nearly every morning.  My weight is down from 206 when we arrived to a pretty trim 198 this morning! (3 more lbs. and I’ll try to maintain!)  Overall, my sleep habits have made some good adjustments.  Those of you who know me well know that I have not historically been a good sleeper.  Last night was an example of a positive change that has come over me.  Colleen and I had our prayer together at about 9:30 PM.  Within seconds I was asleep and don’t remember moving a muscle until 4:39 AM this morning.  Frankly, I would prefer to sleep until 6:00 AM, but, hey, I’m not complaining.  “Refreshment!” is a good word to describe the effect of this season on my life.  By 6:30 AM, Josh and I were on the road for that 3 mile walk.  Fabulous!

The main “extra-curricular” activity that has occupied lots of my time is bird and nature watching.  I’m sure other more spiritual foci will come to me in due time, but for this particular season, I am thoroughly enjoying the “nature circus” that Costa Rica provides.  I would say the word “kaleidoscope” somewhat describes each day here.  At this moment the butterflies and hummingbirds are working the flowers on the perimeter of our property.  Yesterday was an amazing visitation of parrots and toucans!  As a sidelight, a couple of unusual iguanas were, ahem, occupying the same limb of a majestic palm tree just on the other side of our pool.  This morning as Josh and I came up the lane on our way home, a drop-dead, gorgeous, blue morpho butterfly emerged from the jungle on our right and flew up the trail ahead of us.  I’m still trying to get my mind around the fact that a little body can flap those wings and determine direction.  The wingspan of a blue morpho is easily the size of my hand!

And, let me address the spiritual side of this before I hit on the main focus of this blog.  I’ll be up front with you and tell you that my spiritual energy and supply had hit somewhat of a low point entering in to this retirement time.  It’s a strange thing, but maybe the best way to say it is that there was a pretty big gap between what I wanted to see happen in and through my ministry and the actual, especially in the last ten years.  So, I was more than happy to see a major shift in my life happening with retirement, but not so happy that many of my hopes and dream were not realized. 

Would you like to know what has saved my spiritual bacon during this time of transition?  Sit down.  Fasten your seatbelts.  This is going to be heavy.  Heavy!  The Gospel According to Mark has been an amazing and thrilling re-introduction to the life of our precious and powerful Jesus Christ!  My habit in the past six weeks has been to read each chapter in the various versions on eSword (by the way, a valuable tool that every Christian with a computer and internet should, at least, check out! www.esword.com ) and just try to let it soak in.  This morning I am deeply affected by the impact Jesus had upon every person that came into contact with Him.  He truly was a people lover!  And, I am deeply impacted by the effect He continues to have on, well, anyone that will give Him half a chance!  He, still, is a people lover!

The other thing that has impacted my spiritual restoration during these six weeks…praise, worship, gospel music.  I’m a Southern Gospel aficionado, but pretty eclectic in my personal music tastes.  The lyrics of Phillips, Craig and Dean songs never fail to grip my mind and heart.  Janet Paschal songs are tender and thoughtful.  Hey, don’t leave out Mariah Carey’s Christmas album.  She has a beautiful voice for Christmas songs and I love praying for her at the same time I’m listening.  Michael W. Smith (many of you do not know this…my brother!) has a true gift for helping people like me put aside distractions and worship Jesus.  For me, this early part of retirement has been re-connecting with True North and beginning to strategize about what to do regarding the energy and other resources I have for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.

Okay…drum roll, please.  Here is the main purpose of this blog today.

It is possible that just about everyone reading this should give some consideration to spending time in a different country and different culture before they pack it in, buy the farm.  Hey, don’t tune me out here.  Give me just a few paragraphs to make my point.  If you can get past the next paragraph, I promise to be more inspirational for the entire rest of this writing!

Just my opinion, but I believe Christianity has become rather predictable in North America.  Please don’t be defensive.  I don’t have an ax to grind, just a point to make.  Somewhere along the line, many churches in North America have become primarily focused on making Sunday gatherings palatable and attractive to the most believers possible.  Thus, typical church has become a gathering of people who are set on having their needs met with little or no thought given to people who have not yet had the awesome experience of meeting Jesus personally.  Now, chew on that. 

This is not meant to “close the case” on my thoughts in the previous paragraph, but the church we are attending here in Costa Rica is a classic example.  Imagine a large typical Sunday School classroom.  That’s our church now.  We enter at the front, just off to the right of the pastor.   Ha!  Better not come in late!  The chairs are plastic deck-type chairs.  On our first Sunday at the Church of the Coast, we were well into the service when I felt the legs of my chair begin to spread-eagle.  Right there in front of God, the pastor, and everyone, your friend, Wes, went down.  Immediately I was surrounded by people exclaiming, “Are you alright?  Can I help you up?”  Of course I’m alright and I can get up on my own.  What do you think?  I’m an old man and need help, or something?  Ha!

The front of the church is store-front glass and at about the time the message begins, the glare off the windows of the cars parked outside hits people like crazy.  We sing from song lyrics printed on regular white paper and folded in half.  There are no musicians.  We sing along with recorded music. The pastor does not use a microphone.  The children sit in with the adults for half the service and then make a noisy, noticeable exit. 

I think it’s worth noting that people seem to develop expectations that correspond with what they’ve learned to expect.  Consumerism is both a blessing and a curse, isn’t it?  One of the things I love about settling into a small congregation meeting in a store front is the nearly total lack of presumptions.  Since we are pretty new to the scene, and they don’t know much about us, we get the privilege of kicking back and seeing what the Church looks like away from North America.

Mo and his wife, Vilma, are part of the congregation.  Mo is maybe five foot two, but one of the most delightful, loving Christian men that I have ever met.  He is a significant part of the church as he serves as one of the major translators in the services.  When we share our Sunday morning hug, the contrast in height is great, but there is no contrast in spirit, unless, of course, you include that he is teaching me much about lack of presumptions.

One of the neat, funny, things about the Church of the Coast is their total comfort with the nuances of translating.  Every Sunday the person who is translating the message into Spanish from English will pause, at which time people in the congregation will jump in to help getting the right word or phrase.  They cannot know it, but their friendly participation in helping everyone understand, is speaking to my spirit!

Two Sundays ago, Pastor Payton was waxing eloquent regarding our need to share what we have with the people God brings into our lives.  I can quote what he said, nearly exactly, “But folks we must be careful about giving everything away.  If word gets around town that we are giving everything away, we would likely come to church next week naked!”  Then there was the appropriate pause for the translation and then another pause as people absorbed what was a bit of a clumsy statement.  In that silent pause, a young man a couple rows ahead of us, no doubt entertaining his own thought process, erupted with slow and meaningful, “Hal-le-lu-jah!”  What a great light-hearted moment!  Fortunately, Pastor was close to the end of his message!

Alrina Alvarez graduated recently from Purdue University with a degree in Chemistry.  She recently gave her testimony about how God called her to minister in Uvita, Costa Rica.  Alrina is doing her dead-level best to advocate for the children of Costa Rica.  She told me that most of the kids who start school here will not finish.  Her goal is to be a piece the turnaround, not just for the church, but for the very future of this country.  Talk about dedication.  That lady could, no doubt, be in a high-paying job in the States.  Instead, she is in Costa Rica, living on nearly nothing and touching the lives of the next generation in ways that only God really knows about.

I’ll have more to say about this as we go along, but there is also a large and growing population of expats (people who have left their native country) down here.  My ministry participation down here has been slow, but I can tell you that God has placed it in my heart to do my best to reach out to and care for the expats.  We live in a thriving community of them and there is not one church in the entire community. (Ojochal)

What to do?  That is a good/great question.  For now, the answer for me is simply to be filled and still.  Does that make sense?  I desperately need to be so close to God that when the opportunity to love and care and share comes up that I am ready to step to the plate!!!

I hope you will give deep consideration to what I’m trying to say.  God wants to use YOU for the advancement of His Kingdom.  I know it is not impossible for you to be fruitful and productive right where you are, but I’m trying to speak to the hearts of people who need a change of setting and a change of associations for a time or for a life-time.  I can tell you that for us, something is happening.  We have a new and fresh awareness of the awesome possibilities of sharing Jesus with the world.

Pretty sure that it would be good to talk about finances for a paragraph before wrapping this up.  Our situation is skewed a little bit because we are living with and sharing expenses with Josh and his family.  However, what we are experiencing is, as far as living conditions is concerned, definitely upscale and we are staying well within our Social Security budget.   Additionally, we are currently looking into situations in other countries in order to be able to share the word with people who are considering the world of the expats.

Folks, this is a different world than any of us and, really, anyone in history, has ever experienced.  Things are changing, big time.  In my humble opinion, all of us should be learning all we can about this world in order to prepare for an interesting and uncertain future.

If, by any chance, the thoughts expressed in this blog have given you some thoughts about serving Jesus outside North America, please be in touch.  You can respond to this blog in the appropriate response setting, or, contact me on Facebook. 

One of my first memorized Scriptures was Acts 1:8, where Jesus says, “But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and throughout all the world!”

Want to hear (read) something crazy?  One of my prayers back in College was, “Lord, I will do anything and go anywhere for You.  You know I will.  However, let me interrupt this prayer to say that I’d surely prefer NOT to serve you outside the United States!”  Isn’t God’s sense of humor something else?!  Here I am a retired guy serving the Lord outside the United States and loving it like crazy.

And, I love you all.  Be in touch.

Friend,

Wes