Colombian Christian Mission

COLOMBIAN CHRISTIAN MISSION
Dale and Jeanie Meade
San José del Guaviare in Colombia, South America
Volume 1, Issue 10 October 1973

(photo)

One of the small "Barrios" that surround San Jose. The Spanish culture makes language study more effective.

SECOND THOUGHTS

While engaged in deputation many people asked Jeanie and I why we did not stay in the U.S.A. After all, the U.S. is a mission field, and the home church desperately needs the services of its trained ministry. The following excerpt from Shadow of the Almighty; the life and testament of Jim Elliot, presents my reasoning far better than my own capabilities to do so.
"1700 languages have not a word of the Bible translated
90% of the people who volunteer for the mission field never get there, It takes more than a 'Lord, I'm willing!'
64% of the world have never heard of Christ
5000 people die every hour
There is one Christian worker for every 50,000 people in foreign lands, while there is one to every 500 in the United States."
In view of the unequivocal command of Christ, coupled with these staggering facts, Jim believed that if he stayed in the United States the burden of proof would lie with him to show that he was justified in doing so. D.R.M.


LANGUAGE SCHOOL

"Well, what do you know today?" "Bout this much Spanish," answers a first trimester student as he holds up fingers spaces about a quarter of an inch apart. Language school is a very humbling experience. A common prayer request in every meeting is that "we learn the language."
So it goes at the Institute de Lengua Espanola. Classes begin at 7:30 in the morning. For 4 1/2 hours the students are drilled in Phonetics, Grammar, Exercises, and Conversation. All teaching is done in Spanish. The students are not permitted to talk in English.
Once classes are over the students are then expected to go home and spend several additional hours practicing with tapes covering the day's lesson. Then the Spanish culture requires even more practice. Whether its off to the market or downtown to check on a permit; Spanish is always there. This is often trying and frustrating. Yet, language immersion is the most effective way of learning Spanish; and that is why we are here. So, its back to the tapes. Hasta la vista. D.R.M


HOME LIFE IN COSTA RICA

Life here in San Jose, Costa Rica is not too drastically different from the way in which we lived in the U.S. San Jose is a very modern city but then it does have it's differences.
When we go to the grocery store we usually buy all fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. The reason is that the canned fruits and vegetables are sky-high. For instance, a one-pound thirteen ounce can of pears costs about 17.50 colones which is about equal to $2.50.
They also give out trading stamps here but I'm not too sure what to do this them. The stamps come in ones, tens, and fifties and are called Botija, Mama Botija, and Papa Botija. I looked up "bojita" in our Spanish American dictionary and the meanings are listed as: "earthen jug; belly; fat person." What a name for a stamp.
My cooking habits are a little different than they were in the Sates. I soak lettuce in iodine water to purify it or kill the amoebas. I peel all tomatoes instead of soaking them. Oranges must be washed with soap and water. I cook meat in a pressure cooker to tenderize the meat and to cut down on the cooking time. The kitchen stove gives me problems too. It's electric and it has no thermostat for the oven, just a knob that says, "Off, Low, Medium, High." At first I just didn't know what to do. We hunted all over San Jose for an oven thermometer and they just don't have them here. So I just experiment and hope that my cake, pie, or cookies come out completely cooked.
The electricity goes off here quite often. So all of our clocks are either keywind or battery operated to save us from setting them all the time. We also have an Aladdin lamp filled with kerosene ready to be lit along with a huge candle.
People in the States complain about door-to-door salesmen. But here one can expect at least four, five, or maybe even six a day. And they all speak Spanish and no English. And we speak English and no Spanish. When we first moved in, the kids on the block liked to ring our doorbell to have the "gringos" come and talk to them. After we would explain to them that we couldn't speak Spanish, we would shut the door and would stand outside our apartment and giggle and imitate us.
Oh, well "tal vez hoy." J.A.M.


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Mrs. Robert Meade
R.D. 1 Box 71
Rittman, Ohio 45204

A publication of the Colombian Christian Services, Incorporated