Letter from Guido and Sara Mahecha in Costa Rica
February 24, 2009
News from the country
Early in 2009 volcanic eruptions caused death and destruction near tourist sites in Costa Rica.
We started this year with two earthquakes, the first one affecting an area near the Poas volcano, where there are many tourist sites that some of you visited—Butterfly farms and Waterfall La Paz—and also the place where thousands of farmers grew strawberries and dairy cattle. The eruption took about 20 or 30 human lives and caused structural damage to kilometers of roads, the strawberry crop, and hundreds of houses, which made life hard for many people in the area. About 800 people were left without homes and are living in tents in cold rainy weather, waiting to be relocated. The government has the resources available to solve most of this situation, but they are too slow in getting things moving.
The second “earthquake” is related to the economic problems in the United States, and we’ve been praying for the people affected by this financial problem. The precipitous downturn in the world economy affects Costa Rica’s factories and fruit exportation industries. When exports go down, people lose their jobs. The situation hasn't affected all industries in Costa Rica, but we expect things to get worse in the next few months.
News from the church
Church member at La Guacima, Ivan, and his son.
At La Guacima, where our local Presbyterian church is, all is running well. We participate by preaching and counseling. The church recently finished the construction on the Sunday school facilities and is planning to start another building for the older people in the community (at 64, Guido is very interested in this).
News from the university
The Latin American Biblical University (UBL) reelected Violeta Rocha, a Nicaraguan woman and a New Testament scholar, as the principal. Her term runs until April 2013. We currently have students from 12 different countries in Central and South America. Every professor teaches intensive courses and is required to travel to these countries at least twice a year. In addition to our regular courses here in San Jose, Sara will be teaching intensive courses in Peru, Guatemala, and Chile. Guido will only teach in Guatemala. The UBL has a plan to raise support for three new chairs, one on women and theology, another in family issues, and the other in cultural diversity. Should you feel the call, you can help by participating in the construction of an apartment building, which is called “Apartments for Chairs.”
News about ourselves
In November 2008 we were in Nicaragua participating in a meeting and retreat with PC(USA) co-workers who serve in Mexico and Central America. We enjoyed sharing news with our friends and co-workers and hearing about their work in different areas—including health, education, immigration—and other new challenges they’re facing. We also enjoyed talking about our future plans with the area coordinator and people from the Central office. Guido will retire January 31 of 2010 and will continue to be involved with the Presbyterian Church in Costa Rica by doing volunteer work as a teacher of Presbyterian issues like reformed theology, confessions, church government, and others. If the PC(USA) approves, and with the further support from churches that have been supporting us for nearly 20 years, Sara will continue to serve as a professor for the UBL for five more years.
With Guido's retirement almost here, we’d like to say thanks to everyone involved in this process of serving the Lord as missionaries. Guido was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1974, worked in Colombia as a pastor and an educator. He later worked in Bolivia, Brazil, and Costa Rica as a professor of New Testament. We have received the care Jesus gives us and our family through churches and Christian men and women. We have planted churches, founded a seminary, and served where we were needed, and we want to thank God, the Presbyterian Church in Colombia, the PC(USA), and the many churches who have supported us throughout difficult situations. We’d also like to thank pastors and friends.
Sincerely,
Guidoberto Mahecha and Sara Baltodano
San José Costa Rica
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study, p. 283
