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El Jardin Sagrado - The Sacred Garden - Costa Rica

My wife, Connie, and I decided one day to visit her sister and family in Costa Rica. We had spent many years in ministry working in Camp Chesterbere in Calgary, and Connie's mother had just passed into glory, so we took a little of the money that was left over after the funeral and we decided to go. When we got to...
Story Provided by Jerry Robinson
El Jardin Sagrado - The Sacred Garden - Costa Rica
My wife, Connie, and I decided one day to visit her sister and family in Costa Rica.  We had spent many years in ministry working in Camp Chesterbere in Calgary, and Connie's mother had just passed into glory, so we took a little of the money that was left over after the funeral and we decided to go.  When we got to Miami, they started to announce that the plane was full.  If you took a bump you could get $300, then they upped it to $500 and then $800 and then $1,000!  We had our four children with us so we took the bump for 6 of us!  For a missionary, that is a ton of money!  What a blessing!

We finally got to Costa Rica and visited her sister and had a wonderful time.  While we were there we met a wonderful lady by the name of Dorothy Rimple.  She took us up to a high looking spot where we played hide and go seek with the kids.  We had fun in the park and as it was getting dark, Dorothy said - I want you to look down - way down in the valley there.  She said, "See those lights coming on?  That is one of the darkest spots in all of Costa Rica.  They don't have any witness of Jesus Christ there."  As the lights came on and it got darker and darker, I said: "Why don't we just pray that God would raise up someone in that little valley?"  So we prayed together. 

Well, a couple of years later, we decided to use the money that we had made on the bump to go again.  We went down to Miami and Connie went to check how things were coming and the lady looked into Connie's eyes and said, "We're going to be overbooked.  Would your party like to take a bump?"  Well, we had already been down that road before so we knew all about it.  They put us up for the night and fed us and gave us food vouchers.  The kids were all for this.  So we took another bump for $500 each and we had money to go again!  (Thanks to our points and the money!)  I think this was God,  giving our hearts a picture of Costa Rica because later on, the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night and spoke to me.  First He said, " Where there is no vision the people perish. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go forth and bring fruit."  The next day as I looked around, I could see all of these lost people that needed Jesus Christ.

The next night, He woke me again and led me to a verse...Deuteronomy 26:9 "And he hath brought us into this place and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey."  And I thought, "What better place than Costa Rica?"  Well, I decided to wake Connie up and I said: "Honey, I think God is calling us to Costa Rica."  She laughed and said, "Jerry, you can't even learn one or two words in Spanish - How would you ever...?"  I told her I didn't know but I knew that God had a ministry for us there.  We went down to breakfast and Connie's sister told us about a trip we were taking that day.  We were going to...a little valley.  Wouldn't you know?  That was the same valley we had prayed for years before! 

There, we met Esther and Juan.  They were friends of Connie's sister and brother-in-law.  They invited us in and started telling us the story of how they got this property and how they wanted it to be a conference center for youth and kids outreach.  She told us how she was getting older and she was looking for a couple to take this over, she had paid $80,000 for the property, but it was now worth $200,000.-$350,000.  After our conversation, Esther told us that she felt we were the couple to take it over.  She told us she would give us the property for the original $80,000!  Our hearts were knit together.  We bought the property and it is now a thriving camp and retreat for kids and adults alike! 

*UPDATE:  Severe storms had come through and washed away some of our banks...We are in need of some repairs to the camp as well.

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