Day One in Moravia

Today I start working out of the central Wycliffe office for the Americas, located in Moravia, a suburb of San José, Costa Rica.  Even though it was not named for the Moravia in the Czech Republic, I'm always reminded of those Moravian missionaries famous for their uninterrupted, round-the-clock prayer service that lasted for 100 years.


Here's a bit from Wikipedia on these guys: The first missionaries were sent out when there were only 300 inhabitants in Herrnhut. Within 30 years of their beginning, the [Moravian] church sent hundreds of Christian missionaries to many parts of the world, including the Caribbean, North and South America, the Arctic, Africa, and the Far East. They were also the first to send lay people (rather than clergy) as missionaries, the first Protestant denomination to minister to slaves, and the first Protestant presence in many countries.


The current motto of the Moravian church is: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, love". That's what I was thinking about as I was driving to work today, where a bunch of people from a bunch of cultures, traditions and languages are working together to see that everyone has access to the Words of God in their language and an opportunity to receive His love for them.

This is a drawing made from the description of a Moravian missionary in order to document the indigenous culture in which they were living in Newfoundland.  I love the kid popping out of the boot. Source here.