The Costa Rican Miracle

Costa Rica is one of our family’s favorite vacation destinations. One time I took my son Stevie and a friend of his to Costa Rica for a mission trip project to be followed by some surfing time. We helped a pastor build an indoor-outdoor sanctuary.

After we finished our part of the project the pastor took us out to a local restaurant to celebrate. All our belongings were packed in our SUV rental including our surfboards. After a great meal we walked out to our car with the pastor to say goodbye. Something didn’t look right with our car.

Upon closer inspection the car had been broken into. Besides a camera and a couple of other small items, our surfboards were missing. We were crushed. The pastor apologized for bad Costa Rican behavior but said theft was common in that area. I asked him if he thought we might find a way to get our surfboards back. He said, “Sorry to say but you can kiss those boards goodbye.” Despite his gloomy forecast we decided to go to the local police station to make a report. They had less hope for our boards being recovered than the pastor.

We made our way back to the motel feeling pretty miserable. Stevie's surfboard was a special Christmas gift. I had a shaper make it especially for him. Stevie was around 18 or 19 at the time. It was a season of rebellion for him. Spiritually he was disconnected from God. I made a decision to use our unfortunate situation to show Stevie that God was real. I said, “Stevie, let's pray that God gets your surfboard back to you.” I prayed that prayer out loud with him.

The next day as we were heading out of town I heard my son yell, "Dad, quick, turn the car around and follow the station wagon that just passed us.” I said, "Why, what's going on?” He said, “My surfboard is in the back of that station wagon.” I spun the car around and quickly we were following the station wagon. The driver noticed us and sped up. The chase was on.

We were bouncing up and down over muddy roads and sliding around sharp turns but we were right on his tail. After a lengthy chase the driver stopped in front of a house like he was going to get out and talk to us. When we pulled up he suddenly took off again. It didn’t take us long to catch up to him. He did everything he could to shake us but we were determined.

Finally he stopped in the middle of a dirt road and got out of the car. He yelled, “What do you want?” My son walked over to the back of his car, opened the tailgate and pulled out his board. He said, “This is my board!” His name was on the board. He also pulled out his driver’s license and showed it to the man. The man gave us some ridiculous story about buying it from a local surfer. We could tell from looking at the guy he wasn’t a surfer. I described to him what my board looked like and he led us to a supposed spot where it might be. Of course it wasn’t there but I was thrilled that Stevie got his board back.

We didn’t get my board back but God answered our prayers about Stevie's surfboard. I believe sometimes it’s okay to put God’s reputation on the line. I later found out that there was a surfboard theft ring that operated out of that town. I contacted the pastor who told us we could kiss our surfboards goodbye and told him what happened. He almost couldn’t believe it. He said, “I’ve never heard of anything like that happening.” I know why it happened. God wanted to show my son that he’s real, that he sees us, and he cares about us.

And that is the story of the Costa Rican miracle.

Stay close to Jesus,

Steve