They both come from missionary traditions. Matt's wife Lisa grew up in Columbia, where her parents served with bible translation teams for decades. Matt's father blended a missions background with business smarts and purchases a beautiful little fruit farm near San Jose, Costa Rica about thirty years ago. From this property came another kind of fruit, a bible college that has slowly grown into a Christian bilingual institute called La Palabra de Vida. This school churns out kids ready to lead companies, ministries, and families in their country, equipped with smarts, languages, and principles of scripture. My family has been privileged to serve at this school for the last three years, and the blessing has been all ours. We've painted, sorted, filed, hammered and nailed, wheelbarrowed, cooked and cleaned. But mostly we've been enriched by being around Matt and Lisa, their family, and their love for this ministry.
Trouble is, it's not just the property that's the issue, it's the classrooms, the offices, and the activities that will occur very near the new line. The highway will be below the school property with an embankment leading down to the road. Directly below the classrooms will be the incessant roar of large trucks, taxicabs, limousines, and thousand of cars and motorcycles. The noise, without extensive soundproofing, would be deafening during certain times of the day.
Which leads me to the whine and cheese. You see, my friend Matt has a Wisconsin background. Yes, he's a Packer fan, and sort of an honorary cheesehead. In fact, we went to PriceMart (the local version of Costco) yesterday, and we bought some Wisconsin Cheddar and Colby-Jack just to impress him. :) So, as I said earlier, with Matt, there's a lot of cheese, maybe even a few bratwursts, if you can find them, but there's not an ounce of whine anywhere with this couple. And if anyone has the right to whine from time to time, it would be them.
Recently, Matt was notified that the Costa Rican government was planning to expropriate a sizable portion of their property to construct a new road between the road the school is on, and the highway near the airport. If you look at the picture below, you can see an orange stake in the foreground and one near the little tree near the top of the photograph. These stakes represent the new property line, which is perilously close to both the school and the family home.
When Matt told me the story, he lamented the fact that changes would have to be considered, but also expressed great hope for the future. The actual construction could be years away, other concessions could be granted, or the current plan could be shelved for one more beneficial for the school property. While nothing is certain, the ominous orange stake serves as a reminder each day to this family, their home, and the school, that change is afoot.
If this was my front door that I walked out of each day, I'm sure the stake would cause me a great deal of anger as I traipsed by it each day.
Why do Matt and Lisa remain calm and hopeful and place their trust in the Lord? You might say, it's because they don't have any other choice. But I don't think that's the case. I think it's because they choose to trust. They choose to be like Job, who said in Job 1:21,
"When I was born into this world, I was naked and had nothing. When I die and leave this world, I will be naked and have nothing. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
The Lord gave the property, their home, and the school to them. It's His to do with as He pleases. His plan is perfect, His plan is holy, and His plan is right. Many of us say these words, and know them well, but rare are the ones who live it.
I'm glad to have seen the little orange stake and to know the story behind it. I'll be anxious to see what the future holds.
Great picture of Matt and Lisa. Bill, keep up the good "work"
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