When Dr. Ruben Fernandez boarded the plane for Panama, he had no idea of the day ahead of him. Due to his many travels, he was upgraded to a seat in business class, and noticed some activity behind him. Someone who thought they had a business class ticket kindly moved back to coach when instructed to do so by the flight attendant. Dr. Fernandez quickly realized it was the President of Costa Rica, Professor Luis Guillermo Solis.

Dr. Fernandez immediately got up to offer his seat to the President, now sitting in coach. After some convincing, President Solis agreed to take the seat in Business class.

That could be the end of the story, but it is not. After changing planes at the Panama airport, Dr. Fernandez found himself in business class next to President Solis for their two-hour flight to Cuba. In those two hours, Dr. Fernandez shared with the President about the “Nazarene Essentials” and the Nazarene Seminary of the Americas. The family of President Solis owns some farmland near the Seminary, so he knew the location well. He invited Dr. Fernandez to visit the Presidential House and Dr. Fernandez invited the President to visit SENDAS at anytime.

Dr. Fernandez said: “I was impressed to meet a very down to earth man with great love and genuine concern for his country. We talked about different matters related to national development. I thanked him for the way that Costa Rica received me, and my family as Argentinian immigrants, 21 years ago. He replied, “Thank you for coming!” At the end of the conversation I asked him, “What are you going to do after being president?” He said, “I am going back to the classroom. I have a leave of absence at the University. They are waiting for me.” Knowing that President Solis was a professor of Political Science at the University of Costa Rica I asked him a final question: “You are going to teach in a very different way now, aren’t you?” “Totally different!” he answered.

SENDAS serves more than 20 countries in the Americas and each of these country’s elected leaders needs our prayer support. Although many people are critical of elected leaders, as Christians we should spend more time in prayer for our leaders than in criticizing them. Would you commit to praying for the President and elected leaders of your country?