Most of the 22 people planning on going on the church's June mission trip to Costa Rica
gathered at the church Saturday morning, 2 February. After a brief introduction
to the intent of the meetings we will be having, Matt led us in a reflection on
God, God's mission, and our mission. He structured his discussion around three
passages from the Gospel of John -
1:
1-4 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came
into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the
light of all people.
En el principio ya existia la
Palabra; y aquel que es la Palabra estaba con Dios y era Dios. Él estaba en el
principio con Dios. Pro medio de él, Dios hizo todas las cosas; nada de lo que
existe fue echo sin él. En él estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de la
humanidad.
3: 16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, god did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in
order that the world might be saved through him.
Pues Dios amó tanto al mundo,
que dio a su Hijo único, pare que todo aquel que cree en él no muera, sino que tenga vida eterna. Porque
Dios no envió a su Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para salvarlo.
1:
14 And the Word became flesh and
lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only
son, full of grace and truth.
Aquel que es la Palabra se hizo
hombre y vivió entre nosotros, lleno de amor y verdad. Y hemos visto su gloria,
la Gloria que come Hijo único recibió del Padre.
We closed out our reflection with a look at some of the
denomination's recent writings on the place and central meaning of mission in
our church.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is to be shared with the whole world. As disciples of
Jesus Christ each of us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is sent into the world to
join God's mission. As individuals and as a church we are called to be faithful to this
discipleship. Our mission is centered in the triune God. Our mission is God-called,
Christ-centered, and Spirit-led. Our mission is both proclamation and service. It is
the reason the church exists....
The church is part of God's plan. We are called into the community of the church,
and we call new disciples into that community. With Christ as our head, the church
community exists for the sake of God's mission. We learn to serve in mission in a
way that is faithful to the triune God. We are to model the kind of community God
intends for all humanity. To be the church is to be one large mission society.
Matt left us with two ideas to ponder:
How is my faith the story of
God's mission to me?
How is my participation in this
trip a part of God's continuing mission to the world?
During the rest of the morning we
were provided an introduction to some aspects of culture as they may be
reflected in the behavior of people "different" from us, we had a short Spanish
lesson, we had a chance to sample some tipico Tico food, discussed some of the
social justice challenges in Costa Rica, and discussed how we would organize to
get ready for the trip. There will be three on-going planning groups:
fundraising, interpretation, and logistical planning. Following the meeting we
adjourned downstairs to build the sub sandwiches to be sold the next day - our
first fundraising event!
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