When a Plan Comes Together

I remember when Tony and I flew into Costa Rica in February of 2004 to plan the next mission trip for my youth ministry. It had almost been a year since Jorge's death. On the plane we were wondering what was going to happen to the mission property and the family in San Ramon. Pastor Jorge was a visionary. God gave him the vision to build the facility so that children and youth would come to his tiny church. It's amazing that God's vision was even bigger than Jorge suspected. Tony and I landed and rented a car. We looked at each other and said, "Let's go and speak with the President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance church of Costa Rica. They were the owners of the property. It seemed like a whim. We found the Alliance church in San Fransisco de San Jose and asked for Mario (El Presidente). He wasn't supposed to be in the country but his plans were changed at the last minute and he happened to be there. We talked to him about the church property and the family. We told him that we would love to continue to bring mission teams and work with the Lara family. He liked the idea. He said (in Spanish), "We aren't putting another pastor there. Do you want to buy the property?" I remember wishing that I had more time to think in between translation but I heard myself saying, "Yes." We explained that we didn't have any money (still don't) but that we would love to try. Mario was pulling for us. Tony and I left and our heads were spinning. We couldn't wait to get to San Ramon to talk to the family. We wanted to know what they wanted to do. There was no question. They wanted to continue the vision and dream that God had given their father and husband...to be continued. arr