Chapter 4: Central American sojourn

Civil disobedience was a growing phenomenon in Costa Rica at that time, especially in the rural areas. The farmers were angry about government policies, ranging from lower subsidies for the small farmer to generous incentives for farm mechanization. High tech farming requires less labor, thus contributing to unemployment, and larger farms, thus driving many peasant farmers off the land. Civil disobedience is not unchristian. We are admonished not to sin, but told that anger is okay (Ephesians 4:26). This is not the peevish anger of the egocentric, but the righteous indignation of the eccentric – the prophets and social protesters who hear a different drummer.

Most people are reluctant to speak out, and why not? After all, whistle-blowers often get fired; faultfinding generals are scorned; and critical liberals – even critical moderate conservatives – have their integrity and patriotism held in derision. It is not easy to speak out, much less to engage in civil disobedience. And yet in most generations there are occasions when we ought to do just that.

In retrospect, I should have done more. I should have mounted more compelling and explicit protests. I should have engaged in more of what Reinhold Niebuhr once called prophetic specificity: naming the names of public evil.

Response: What did I discover in Honduras?

I remember hearing the story from my dad of his arrest in El Salvador and gunfire heard in the Nicaraguan night. It scared me and made me wonder at his sanity for wanting to continue to visit Central America. My folks have since had many third-world experiences in their extensive travels and they keep going back. Seemed like a strange addiction to me. About a year ago, I felt the desire to go to Central America. I asked my dad if he would accompany and mentor me on a short-term mission trip.

I think trying to describe the trip I took to Honduras will be a lot like trying to describe the impact having a son has had on my life. Until you've had your first child, you will not grasp the enormity of the transformation that will take place in your life. I suspect it is also true that until you’ve lived with the residents of a third-world country, you can't possibly understand their life or the impact they can have on yours.

Chapter 4: Central American sojourn (pdf)