Hey everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I just wanted to write something going a bit more in depth with why I’m going on this trip to Costa Rica. My love for missions work started when I had just turned 16 and went with my church group to Costa Rica. It. Was. Awesome! I got to live in a different culture for a week. Like many of us, as I was preparing for the trip I did see it as me going to help them, to save them from whatever they were battling…this was not the case. In reality I learned quickly that while I was there to lend an extra hand, I was not there to do any rescuing. I was there to learn. At that point in my faith I didn’t know God that well, I’d grown up in the church, but I hadn’t learned who he was yet, not for myself. I wasn’t passionate about him, I didn’t want to walk around proclaiming the gospel. I wanted to be in a very quiet relationship with God. When I was spending time with everyone in Costa Rica, I noticed a passion I didn’t often see in the US, I saw a joy that I’d heard about but never witnessed. Naturally, I was drawn to it. This was a huge mile marker in a very long and painful journey to find my faith again.
When I got home, I myself got to experience the joy and boldness I’d seen on the trip. I was so excited to show people what God had taught me, but it didn’t stick. About a month later things had returned back to normal. Back to my quiet relationship with the Lord. After that I walked away from my faith more than once. It was a struggle. But when I came back, I felt like God was challenging me, was telling me to stop being so quiet about him, to get out of my comfort so and boldly follow him. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do anyway? We’re not told to lock Jesus in our hearts and never tell anyone what he’s doing in our lives.
So back to the question. Why this trip? Why a whole month? Why international? Costa Rica is where my walk with Christ truly started and being out of the country for a month is out of my comfort zone and this requires boldness. I can’t wait to learn more about Christ through going out and being loud about who he his. This trip terrifies me, I hate the idea of travelling without somebody I know…but I have faith that God will use this for something incredible.
