We went to "spy out the land."   What we found is that Costa Rica is a beautiful country, as we have heard many people tell us. Lush green hills, clean villages, tremendous vistas only begin to tell the story.  On the spiritual side 10% to 16% of the population is evangelical.  The church appears to be doing well and, as some pastors told me, poised for revival.  

I had the privilege of going to Pastor Alejandro Arias' wedding.  I first met the new Mrs. Arias, formerly Rebekah Wright, on a Skype call 3 or 4 years ago.

Rebekah with Alejandro to the right after the ceremony

 Alejandro was staying with us for a few days in our old home in Apopka and he had been talking to Rebekah, his Australian girlfriend, nearly every night. So we met her over a Skype video call. Yes, the world is changing!  And how incredible is this young man, who at the age of 23 has already preached in over 40 countries, and found a Spanish speaking wife in Perth, Australia.  With God all things are possible!

While there we stayed at a hotel with a beautiful view. Not easy to find but worth the effort.  To the lower right is the view from the hotel restaurant.

	View from Restaurant at Best Western Paradise Inn near San Jose, Costa Rica

You can see all of downtown San Jose (the capital) and some of the suburbs from this location.

We met some wonderful people. Below is Paul and I in the backyard of a family in a suburb of San Jose called Atenas.

The Alvarez family is just beginning the adventure of starting a home group. The patriarch of the family is named Ricardo. I wish I had a picture of him and his family. We made a strong connection with him and he is asking for our

Paul & Tony near Atenas, Costa Rica

counsel as they get started.  Pray for them that they would prosper in their hearts' desire to feed and care for the sheep.

Another wonderful connection was with Pastor Gerardo Bogantes.  A labor lawyer by day and a pastor all the time he has a tremendous burden for bringing unity to the youth of his city. He is planning an event for the youth on New Year's Day 2012 called "Dia Uno" [Day One].  I told him I would pray for this

	Pastor Gerardo Bogantes and look at that burger!

event so if you would also pray for the youth and this event I know he would really appreciate it.  

I preached in a couple of churches during this 4.5 day trip. Below is a photo of me preaching in Cartago, about 45 minutes south east of downtown San Jose (but 2.5 hours during rush hour from our hotel!)

That Thursday night in Cartago I preached on "faith without works is dead."  I challenged everyone to consider that the evidence of their faith should be works of love and service to God and each other.  The Lord touched quite a few that night. One woman was healed of what they call gastritis, another had

Tony preaching in Cartago, Costa Rica

pain in her bones which disappeared, all in the Name of Jesus.  Prophetic words flowed freely and Paul in particular was "spot on" with his words. 

I gave a woman a word in Spanish.  Paul then, without knowing what I said, gave her nearly the same exact word (I translated for him).  She was grateful for the encouragement and edification.

We ate after that service some of the best empanadas ever! The drive home was quite interesting.  We followed the pastor and his wife in our rental car.  When we got to downtown San Jose about midnight he took us through the center of town -- through the "red light district"!  Paul and I couldn't wait to get through there - it was a very long 10 minutes or so. 

Sunday morning I preached in Santa Ana, a church planted about 27 years ago by Pastor Jose Luis.  Very warm church of 200 or so.  I preached on the love and faithfulness of our Father God, starting with his promise in Isaiah 35 to cause streams to flow in the desert.  

I didn't give an altar call for salvation but at least one gentleman, the last I prayed for, got both saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.  Just before that I prayed for his young wife for healing of pain in her lower abdominal area. When I was done she just smiled. I asked her if the pain was the same, worse or better.  She said it was better.  I asked her how much better and she said all the pain was gone.  I asked her who healed her and she said, "Jesus healed me."

Before I prayed for this couple it broke my heart to pray for so many who were separated from their spouses. One woman was so overwhelmed with grief as we prayed that she just collapsed to the floor crying loudly.  So much pain... may God restore these homes! 

One of the highlights of the trip, besides hanging out with Paul, was to hang out with Skip Olmstead.  Skip and I both serve on Pastor Alejandro's

	From right, Paul, Skip and Pastor Alejandro

ministry board but this was the first chance I had to spend some quality time with him. He's on fire for the Lord. It's so good to meet people who are excited about our Lord and His coming Kingdom.

We had our typical logistical issues.  The main roads are very modern but once you get off the highways there are no street signs.  Even the locals didn't know their way around that well.  For example, I was supposed to preach Sunday night. The pastor sent someone to pick me up at the hotel. He kept calling the front desk asking for directions and then finally called and said he gave up. In his defense we were having a wicked thunderstorm and fog had rolled in over our part of the mountain where I was staying. 

I am looking forward to going back and following up on the connections the Lord helped us to make. In a few weeks Pat McGuffin is leading a team consisting of Daniel Howell and Jarred Bess back to El Salvador, our third trip there this year.  "Central America is for Christ, and Christ is for Central America!"

To see more pictures of our trip click here.