October 2005
Costa Rica
I could almost feel the cool autumn temperatures as I saw the people in their hats and sweatshirts yelling and cheering for the White Sox, their breath visible in the air. I myself felt a little chilly eating my sweet and sour chicken�it was raining, as usual for this time of year, and the wind was blowing in through the open door directly to our table. I put on my sweater, took a sip of my guanabana fruit milkshake and resumed explaining, in Spanish, the rules of baseball to my German housemate, Margit. There we were, four mission personnel for the Costa Rican Lutheran Church (ILCO), two from the United States of America, two from Germany, all watching the U.S. World Series on a big screen television in a Chinese restaurant in Costa Rica.
This peculiar mix of cultures is not unusual for me here in Costa Rica. Just a few weeks earlier my housemates and I enjoyed a wonderful evening when the Swedish missionaries, Katarina and Magnus, invited us over for dinner. As we sat in the candlelight savoring the wonderful flavors of the food Katarina and Magnus had prepared, we laughed as we occasionally stumbled while trying to speak. Around the table that night were native speakers of German, English, Portuguese and Swedish, yet we were all communicating in Spanish. Sometimes a word or a concept would pass through three different languages before everyone understand exactly what was being said. This is how things sometimes are at the ILCO central offices or in the ILCO communities.
On the ILCO staff are Nicaraguans, U.S. Americans, a Salvadoran man, Austrians, Brazilians, some people from Peru, Swedish pastors, volunteers from Germany, and, of course, many Costa Ricans. Most of us have come from Lutheran World Federation churches to serve at this LWF church, therefore all seemingly coming from similar traditions to a similar church. Yet despite our unity in the LWF, we come with different expressions of what it means to be a Lutheran. Others have come from other faith traditions/Christian denominations but have found a home at the ILCO. We share gifts from our various cultures and traditions, but are all enriched by the vision of the ILCO of what it means to �be church� in this world.
The ILCO was formed in 1988 because the founders, from various backgrounds, saw the need for a holistic church. They believed that a faithful following of the Gospel included an emphasis not just on Word and Sacrament, but also on Diakonia (service and advocacy) and began seeking out ways to accompany the marginalized communities of Costa Rica. Today, the ILCO is predominantly present in indigenous communities, urban poor neighborhoods, and in areas populated largely by immigrants. Through legal programs, recreational and cultural activities, artesian groups and much more, the ILCO is continuing in its mission by working to empower those most in need.
My role in this mission is in the communications department. I help to develop and strengthen relationships between the ILCO and various individuals and churches around the globe (though my portion is really focused on only Costa Rica � US relations) through delegations, individual visits, and email communications. Why is this important? These relationships are important because, just like is happening with the ILCO on a small scale, they unit us together in the world in the search to be a church that is faithful to the gospel. We all explore and share what it means to be Lutheran in our own context, and are challenged by the other church�s work. As the ILCO was founded out of a need for a holistic church, interaction with other churches allows the ILCO the opportunity to share their vision that diaconal work is essential to the church and, likewise, the ILCO also learns from the experiences of other churches.
So together we, a church of citizens from many different countries, continue on, stumbling at times because of language or cultural barriers, but always seeking to discover what it means to �be church� in the world. We remain true to this purpose, to this mission and founding principle of the ILCO, hopeful that together, through relationships and wisdom from other churches, we can be true to Jesus� call to service and that all churches around the world may somehow �bring good news to the poor, bind up hearts that are broken, and proclaim liberty to the captives.�