August 2016 Newsletter

Being a Missionary in Costa Rica

Proverbs 8:13 says that “To answer before listening – that is folly and shame.” Being a missionary doesn’t mean just moving from one place to another, or even learning a new language. It also means listening and learning how people think and express themselves, and then responding with God’s Word. Our work helping the process of Bible translation with Wycliffe Associates teaches us the same thing, that communicating the gospel in another culture is not a simple process.

What’s it like to live in Costa Rica?

• If you are a Costa Rican, you call yourself a Tico (men) or Tica (women).
• For breakfast you probably had “gallo pinto” – black beans with rice – maybe with eggs or “farmer’s cheese.”
• In the morning, you ask your friends “How did the day dawn for you?”
• When you leave, you say Ciao (like “chow”).
• When you sing Happy Birthday, it’s the same song sung in Spanish, but after each line you sing “cha-cha-cha.”
• When someone asks how you are, you say “I’m well, thanks to God.”
• If you see it’s drizzling outside, you say “It’s doing cat fur”!
• If someone tries to “kid” you, he is not pulling your leg, but “pulling your hair.”
• Your wife is not your “better half,” but “my half-orange.”
• I had a wisdom tooth extracted last week – I learned that in Spanish, it’s a “molar of good judgment.” You leave it, not for the Tooth Fairy, but for “Tooth Mousie Perez.”
• If truckers or bus drivers are going slow and clogging the highway as a protest, in English it’s a “slowdown.” In Costa Rica it’s a tortuguismo, from the word for turtle. They are “turtling.”
• The day of the Virgin Mary is August 2; Mother’s Day is August 15.
• Drop by the Chinese restaurant and you can order an eggroll, or as it’s called, a Chinese Taco.
• If you think an issue is clear-cut, it’s not black-and-white, but white-and-black.
• Fall out of an airplane? Hope you have your paracaidas on! (literally a “fall stopper”)
• In Costa Rica, the answer to just about any question (How are you? What’s up? How’s the family?) is Pura Vida, literally “Pure Life.” It means something like, “Life is good!”
• And finally – a Costa Rican holiday is the Anexación del Partido de Nicoya, on July 25. This celebrates the adding of part of our country to Costa Rica, and is celebrated with country dancing. Click HERE to see a video!

Thanks for supporting our work in Costa Rica! Gary and Karen

Gary’s Blog this Month

We all think Christ is important, but is he all-important? Augustine warned us, “Christ is not valued at all, unless he is valued above all.” Gary shows how we might try to live the Christian life with not-quite-enough of the Lord. (visit “Christianity without Christ – and Other Pointless Projects“)