Storytime: The Trip That Changed Me Forever.

I Left My Heart in Costa Rica

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to tell a little story about the mission trip I took with my church in July of 2016. The week I spent in Costa Rica changed me forever and molded me into the person I am today. To fully explain how this faith based trip changed me, I'm going to start with a little summary of what we did during that week. Upon arriving, we had one free day and spent it at a gorgeous waterfall garden, which really challenged my knee injuries, but I powered through and never felt so accomplished as I did at the end of those 5,000 stairs. The next day half of our group headed out an hour away to the slums of Costa Rica. We spent the majority of the day in the most dangerous sectors of the area, and I never once felt unsafe. We weren't too excited about having to go down the steepest hill I've ever seen, but I do have to admit this is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever laid my eyes on. Here we got to play games with the cute little kids who could not have been more excited to have us there. After some games and crafts, we served them a meal which may have been the only meal they received that day. We then ate dinner, headed home on the bus (which may as well have been a roller coaster since it was so bumpy and crazy!), took an ice cold shower, and went straight to bed. The next morning we headed to the worksite for the new building the company was working on since they were getting kicked off of their current site. As you can see, my friend Jenna and I were super excited to be digging a trench all day. At the end of our workday, I think God knew how tired and hot we were, so he sent some rain our way. I've always loved rain, but this was the most excited I think we all had been to get drenched in the rain. Pictured here is a few members of our group having an amazing time in the rain. The next day, my friend Jenna and I got to stay at the main complex and do bible study with some neighboring kids. Here is me and one of the girls that clung to me the entire time. We played games together, colored while she taught me the names of colors in Spanish (even though I already knew them but I didn't want to ruin her fun), and blew bubbles together. After the kids left we got to eat dinner, play soccer with some local kids, and go to bed. Its not very hard falling asleep when you've had such a busy day! The next day we had to move on to the free part of our trip, which nobody was excited to do. We all wanted to stay and volunteer more time, but we moved on to a little beach town called Cahuita. Here we got to go ziplining, swim in the ocean, and do all sorts of activities. All though it was all fun, I missed helping and volunteering since I feel such a strong call from God to do mission work. Bonding with those less fortunate kids and families warmed my heart and I've been craving to go back again ever since I had to leave. I will return to Costa Rica and volunteer even more time because after all, that is where my heart will stay.