Hello again, Alexa here, back in my home town safe and sound. Words cannot express how grateful and blessed I truly am to have had your financial and prayer support these past six months! Costa Rica has been not only an adventure, but also a journey. It was an adventure because I was able to go somewhere with a new culture, different ideas, and unfamiliar faces. The foreign aspect of the trip allowed me to place my total trust in God. I ventured up mountains and played fútbol (soccer) in the dirt. I served in villages so dangerous, even ambulances were instructed not to go in and help. I witnessed little ones cry tears of joy when they were given a soccer ball to keep but also their eyes light up with excitement when I taught them how to apply temporary tattoos! Moreover, Costa Rica was a journey because of what i underwent spiritually throughout my time there serving. I was humbled and made more culturally aware especially in regards to the needs and struggles Costa Ricans face everyday. The second day in Costa Rica we spent at a church in a secluded village near the valleys. Each of us had a station whether it be face painting, passing out bags of different foods (rice, tuna, vegetables, beans, and other canned foods), dancing, craft making, or just playing ball with the boys. I was instructed to apply temporary tattoos on the children. Many of the tattoo designs included the well known Jesus fish with words like Faith or Hope. I would say "Quieres solo," or Do you want
It was my first time in the Dominican Republic, away from my parents and traveling alone. It was also my first mission trip and I loved every minute of it. As I sat and looked around the village of slums and shacks, I saw that the people were so giving and friendly. They had next to nothing, and yet they were still volunteering to give more.
Costa Rica is certainly more than a vacation location, It a place that makes you want to come back for many long lifetime memories. It a place that gives you interactive experience each day. The country provides a collection of biodiversity and environmental charm in which you want to crave more each day. With royal volcanoes, foggy cloud forests, stunning river valleys, and tons of beaches along both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Costa Rica can grant you an amazing story that you can explore with its lovely geographic location. It shows the history of how peaceful and family driven culture is. So came explore what we call Costa Rica.
The kids in the Dominican Republic may never realize how much they helped and inspired me, but I will be eternally thankful. They may just remember some random girl giving them gifts and that’s the end of it, but little do they know they gave me such a greater gift. The passion and joy of helping
At the end of my junior year, I took a brave leap and went to Ecuador with a program called Global Student Embassy for a reforestation project. Before leaving, I got cold feet, and started doubting the trip. This trip was massively out of my comfort zone, for I hated heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and gardening. However, this trip changed my life. I met people who would change my life forever. Our trip leader, David, is the most inspirational man I have ever met. He is filled with joy, comfort, and laughs. He lives a nomadic lifestyle, and travels all the time, never settling down in one place. He showed me beauty in things I would have never found beautiful. His philosophy in life is to share love. David carries his own baggage that has given him his deepest and darkest insecurities, but he does not let that get in the way of
Well, the time has come for my medical mission trip to Guatemala! I am beyond excited to work side-by-side with Campbell's medical students and their professors; through prayer and God's will, we will be helping those in need. I am flying out tomorrow morning and I will not be returning until the 18th! Thank you for everyone who has been loving and supportive towards my adventure! Oh and #MomImFine. :) Until next time North Carolina
Costa Rica is a very beautiful and unique place. It was my first time going there and I loved it! It was much different than the United States in ways I didn’t mind or even enjoyed. We saw many things and went many places while we were down there. I am ready to go back again already and do new, exciting things. However, we did a lot while we were down there.
I started this journey filled with nervous excitement and anticipation of traveling without my family to a foreign land. On my return trip I thought of what extravagant lifestyles we Americans live. If I had never traveled to Costa Rica I think I would still be taking things for granted and I learned to appreciate what I have. The Costa Ricans had very little, but they made the absolute best of what they did have. They are very different from us, Americans because our happiness comes from material objects. They were pleased with being able to share their knowledge, culture and language with us. As the Costa Ricans say Pura Vida meaning pure
Human habitation can be traced back more than 10,000 years but it appears Costa Rica was sparsely populated and a relative backwater in the pre-Columbian era. There is little sign of major communities and none of the impressive stone architecture that characterized the more advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica to the north and the Andes to the south. When Columbus arrived near Lim¢¢n on September 18, 1502 on his third and last voyage to the Americas, there were probably no more than 20,000 indigenous inhabitants They lived in several autonomous tribes, all with distinct cultures and customs. Costa Rica 's only major archaeological site is at Guayabo, 30 miles east of San Jos, where an ancient city, dating back to 1000 B.C. and though to
The country was foreign, a first for me. Dilapidation and ruin scattered the horizon as far as one could see. Guatemala is a place where poverty has a strong grasp on its people. We traveled tirelessly for hours to reach the poorest of the poor. Upon arrival old, young, and natives of all shapes and sizes formed receiving lines, eager to welcome us with gifts of smiles and gratitude. It was an experience that forever changed me. This was the first time I had stepped outside the boundaries of the American culture into a world where nothing is taken for granted. Each day spent on my mission trip brought a fresh awareness of gratefulness. Any pre-trip reluctance quickly became a vague memory as my emotions welled within bring a fresh change to
I am writing to you today to tell you about an exciting opportunity I have through my school, Liberty Christian. My senior class will be going on a mission trip to COSTA RICA from Saturday, May 6, 2017 to Friday, May 12th. During this time, we will be working with the mission agency SCORE International in order to serve God by serving the Costa Rican people. We will have opportunities to serve and minister to the people we meet through various service opportunities, such as: children’s ministry, preaching, drama, and humanitarian aid distribution.
Much to my surprise, it had not taken a lot to convince my dad to let me tag along on a mission trip to Guatemala with him. The company my dad worked for, Family Christian Stores, held multiple mission trips each year to various locations. My dad had already been to Mexico, and was assigned to a group going to Guatemala next. Upon learning that I wanted to go, he assured me that it would not be a trip full of sightseeing or activities, but rather a time to give back to a community in need. After promising that I understood the hard work that would be involved, my dad agreed to let me
I was born in a small town called Sesori in the country of El Salvador. El Salvador lays in the global south and it is extremely crime infested. I came to the United States of America when I was a small child; however, growing up in El Salvador allowed me to witness many of my neighbors and family members suffer from insufficient access to medicine. Knowing this has made me become a hardworking individual who acknowledges the opportunities and blessing that the United States offers its people. I wish to one day become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and activist for woman's protection all around the world through an international humanitarian non-governmental organization called Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). I want to help individuals worldwide where the need is greatest. The world is in need of help with the
Last summer, I flew to Nicaragua for ten days with a team of sixteen girls and boys. I knew a couple people who have gone to mission and service trips like this and they said it was a really good experience, so I thought about and eventually made the decision to go. It was both one of the most terrifying and amazing experiences I have ever had. When we landed and arrived in Managua, I saw people living in extreme poverty left and right. People lived in houses with large rusty metal sheets for walls and roofs. Kids played outside
I have had the opportunity to live in both Montana and Costa Rica, both which are synonymous with anything that might encompass the thoughts of adventure,environment and the outdoors. So much so, that their economy is centralized around eco-tourism. I always had Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshal Wilderness and Corcovado National Park right at my footsteps do to my father being a wildlife biologist.
In my travels of the world I have found myself immersed in many cultures and varieties of ethnicity; I have been very fortunate to live in a day and age where such communication and experience is possible in one lifetime. I have seen La Cathedral de Notre Dame, the Statue of Liberty, the home of Da Vinci, and so many more wonderfully spiritual and historic monuments. Yet still I can say with the utmost certainty that no location has left such a lasting impact on my soul as the quaint, simple country of Costa Rica. Although many places have penetrated me with a sense of what the majestic earth and her inhabitants are capable of and have forced me to question whether or not anything is beyond the grasp of human ingenuity, none have brought