"Life in the City:" Portraits of Costa Rica #2

"Bannnggg!" I was awakened from my Sunday afternoon nap by the sound of metal crashing against metal as two vehicles collided in the intersection right outside my upstair’s window. I pulled the curtain aside just in time to see one of the vehicles come flying around the corner and into the drive of the police station located across from the EFM church in Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose. Cops began yelling and one policeman pulled out his pistol as the car came to a stop. A very agitated driver got out from that car while the other party involved left their SUV in the middle of the intersection and joined in the ruckus. A lot of finger-pointing and accusations followed as the police tried to sort things out. I’m not sure of the outcome, but after a while the two drivers got back into their vehicles and drove away.


That is not my only memory of the police station. The night before I returned from my five-day visit to Costa Rica was neither silent nor holy. It was about 11:00 o’clock, and I was trying to hurry and get to bed so that I would be at least somewhat rested for my long trip back to Pennsylvania the next day. However, once again sleep was made difficult by the happenings across the street. This time the problem involved a domestic dispute. I watched as a police pickup delivered a man and a women to the station. The couple appeared to be either high or drunk, and the woman was screaming and swearing at her partner. She was quickly locked into a cell, but that didn’t last long. It only took a couple of minutes of her yelling and shaking the metal door on her cell until the authorities had enough and just turned her loose! After giving two of the police a piece of her mind, she started walking away, cursing her partner at the top of her lungs. She could still be heard screaming as she walked the whole way around the block and then wandered off into the asphalt jungle. The man stayed at the police station, talking on a pay phone.


This is a very sad but accurate picture of life in the capital of Costa Rica; yet in the midst of great spiritual darkness there is a light shining forth in this city of one million souls. I was able to visit EFM’s church located in the Barrio Mexico district for the first time during the trip which I took to Costa Rica at the end of August. The Orozcos, the Guatemalan missionary couple serving in Costa Rica for the last seven years, have been pouring themselves into this new church that they started a few years ago. And although it has been a very difficult place of ministry, God has been helping and victories are being won.



This is part of an article that I wrote for the "Missionary Herald." Below are some pictures to go along with it.

The gray car sitting at the police station was one of the vehicles involved in the crash.

The church is located by this busy five-way intersection.