Costa Rica Year End Bible School
The Bible School was a huge success, due to the hard work behind the scenes. It also provided spiritual nourishment to all in attendance, both in-person and virtually.
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December 2021 arrived, along with the Costa Rican Year-End Bible School. In a very rare occurrence indeed, I was in Costa Rica for the second time within six months. This came out of several circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is truly a blessing that we were able to hold this Bible School in person, as well as provide a link for those who could not be here in person. Technology truly is a blessing in these circumstances. The theme the Costa Rican brothers and sisters chose for their Bible School was “How to Love Yourself to Love your Neighbor.”
They invited two speakers, Bro. Rene Castillo from El Salvador, and me. Bro. Rene gave classes on the topics of “Forgiveness for Ourselves, Learning to Value and Accept Ourselves”, and “How to Love Yourself According to God .”
I developed the topics, “Knowing How to Choose What Helps Us to Grow”, and” How to Know to Be the Temple of God.”
There were also other classes, including a sisters’ class given by Sis. Silvia Ostorga from El Salvador, and a brothers’ class given by me on the subject, “True Principles and Uncertain Details”, which dealt with the theme first introduced in Bro. Robert Roberts’ article of the same name.
The brothers considered the importance of staying true to the first principles while being careful to differentiate these from opinions that brothers may have on various topics, and always looking toward the edification of our brothers and sisters and avoiding divisions.
The classes for the very young were given by Sis. Marcela Castellanos from Honduras and classes for the older children were given by Sis. Marisol de Armas from El Salvador. Bro. Juan Diego Vargas gave the exhortation for the Memorial Service.
In the exhortation, Bro. Vargas spoke on the theme of the Bible School to love our neighbor as ourselves as well as reminding us that we have been called and chosen. This is a great blessing, and, therefore, we should accept the fact that we have been blessed with abilities that can be used in service to God and to our brethren.
Rather than indulging in selflove, as taught by popular psychology, we should embrace the blessing that God responds to us and calls us to a wonderful hope. Instead of diminishing ourselves, we can look for ways we can serve our brethren, according to the abilities God has blessed us with.
A Bible School is not complete without good food and fellowship.
The Costa Rican brothers and sisters provided both, including delicious meals despite the difficulties of staying within the COVID-19 guidelines.
There were also some great family activities and plenty of time to socialize. The organization was amazing. There was a family movie, The Lion King, which we enjoyed while munching on popcorn and other goodies in little bags. After the movie, Sis. Denisse Vanegas tied the themes in the movie with the theme of the Bible School.
There were games to help promote the spirit of fellowship, as well as a musical presentation that was both entertaining and funny and displayed the musical talents in the ecclesia.
All in all, the Bible School was a huge success, due to the hard work behind the scenes. It also provided spiritual nourishment to all in attendance, both in-person and virtually.
David Collister,
Verdugo Hills Ecclesia, CA