by Roger and Susan Jespersen

Why should United Methodist Christians from Southeast Missouri travel 3/4ths of the way to the equator to help persons when we have so many people so much closer that need similar kinds of help? Officially as a member of a United Methodist Volunteer in Mission Team, our purpose is to honor God, to share Christian love, and to enjoy God’s wonderful people. Sometimes it is easier to love and enjoy people who live more that 50 miles from our homes.

More seriously, sometimes we see our own community, our own church, and our own faith more clearly after we have been involved with persons from other communities, churches and cultures. It is easy to get in a rut and see things as we always have seen them, as we have been taught to see them, even as we are most comfortable seeing them. And sometimes the things we see can be interpreted in several different ways. The mission and ministry we do in our local setting are almost always strengthened by the new insights and self renewal we experience by participating in mission experiences outside our own "hometown."

This is our story and our experience of being part of a Volunteer in Mission (VIM) team in Costa Rica. At the end of the story, we reflect on the experience and share some of the things we learned about ourselves and our world.

We begin our story by sharing how we found out about the opportunity and some of the things we now know about our United Methodist connection to pastors and church leaders in Latin America. First of all, we were part of a United Methodist Volunteer in Mission (VIM) team organized and led by Jim Mills, a member of the First United Methodist Church in Sikeston. The First United Methodist Church has, for several years now, sent a VIM team to Costa Rica as the friendship and relationship with the Latin American Biblical University (UBL) has continued to develop. Teams from First Church have provided the labor and material to completely remodel some of the apartments rented to faculty members, replaced the roof on the chapel/multi-purpose building on campus, and for general maintenance and painting of dormitory and other spaces on campus.

First Church became connected to UBL through the connectionalism (John Wesley our founder reminder us that "The World is Our Parish") of the United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church supports the mission and ministry of UBL through Advance special giving (learn more by going to http://gbgm-umc.org/advance/ ) and through Volunteer in Mission Teams (learn more by going to http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/us/mv/ ).

The mission of UBL is to provide the Latin American church with trained pastors and leaders. UBL provides opportunities for theological and biblical education for struggling pastors and church leaders throughout Latin America.

Based in San Jose, Costa Rica, UBL’s program of theological education is carried out in 19 centers in 14 countries. Students enrolled in the University pursue their studies primarily at the center nearest to them. However students are required to enroll in at least one term (but not more than four) at the San Jose campus.

Each term at the San Jose campus provides an opportunity for intensive study in which women and men from widely diverse cultural and denominational traditions meet and dialogue, thus overcoming barriers that have divided them. This combination of distance and residence study helps give access to theological education for those who have limited financial resources. UBL gives priority to providing opportunities for women, indigenous and Afro-Latin American people. To see photographs of the UBL facilities, click here.

In addition to learning more about our connectionalism as United Methodist, our VIM experience provided the opportunity to be part of a group of persons that we could come to know more fully as we shared meals and worshiped together, and as we worked and played together. Most were members of First United Methodist Church in Sikeston. The group included teachers, college students, a lawyer, a housewife, a traveling nurse, retired persons, and even a Presbyterian. To view photographs of our VIM Team, click here.

VIM teams will always have a task(s) to do. Although the task is not the primary purpose for going, it is an important part of the VIM experience. Our VIM team had two tasks. One task included painting of the inside of the Chapel/Multi-purpose building and the hallways, common areas, and student laundry in the dormitory building. The other task involved working in the library—checking the library shelves for misplaced books and re-shelving them in their proper location. Click here to see photographs of our VIM task.

One of the hi-lights of VIM experiences is getting to interact with the people you are serving. On the first evening at UBL, we met together with the students and faculty for a brief time. Through the introductions, we learned that students came from many countries and faith traditions. Some students were studying to be pastors and others as leaders in their churches. On Friday, our team shared in a time of celebration with the students, faculty and some of their family members.

Several of the countries represented, including the US, had July "Independence Day" celebrations. During the Friday night event, each country shared food typical to their country, shared information about their Independence Day and shared a song and dance native to their country. To see photographs from the celebration, click here.

Finally, we experienced life in Costa Rica. We experienced the joy of being United Methodist as we worshiped with other United Methodist brothers and sisters. We were reminded that life in another country sometimes looks different than what we know and to which we are accustomed. Click here to view photographs of Costa Rica life.

Dinner at a local restaurant helped us to understand that the history and culture of others may be different than our own but diversity provides a richness of experience and a quality to life, one should seek after, appreciate and grow from. Click here to see photographs of Costa Rican culture and traditions.

A tour of the city and surrounding area reminded us that in many ways, life is the same wherever you go. People work, people play, there are small towns and cities, there are rich and poor people, . . . As human beings, we share the same planet and we are all part of God’s creation. To see photographs of "life is the same," click here.