A few months ago, I was in Costa Rica with the Kids On a Mission to serve the people there by hosting a VBS at two different churches. We got to serve the children there and really had to get to know them. For me, I had the privilege of spending my days there serving the three to five-year-old kids, and leading them as they did all the activities at the VBS. The thing that really stuck out to me was a having a servant’s heart, and that whenever someone needed help
stepping up with no questions asked. Everyone was willing to do whatever it took to serve the children there and doing it not because they had to but because they wanted to. This was a place
in my life where I really grew because it is always easier to just let someone else solve the problem, but after the trip, I have an even greater passion to serve. In Costa Rica, I saw the impact a group of people can have when they have a heart to serve those in need. This is something that I really have tried to put into effect in my own life while being back at home. I think it is very important to serve those around us, and I have done that more since being back.
Since being back I have tried to serve more people maybe not by doing big things but by cutting someone’s lawn or helping a family. Although tasks like these may seem small they really mean a lot to those who you do them for.
Another place in my life that was really stretched while in Costa Rica was the way I look at my life and my level of gratefulness for everything in my life. Anyone on the team could tell you how we saw people with extreme needs, yet they were still grateful for what little they had. In my own life, it is always easy to not want to go to school or go get groceries. In other places in the world, people don’t even have the opportunity to do these things. So that really changed the way I look at things, and I think that I am more positive after the trip. I have a gratefulness for every
opportunity that comes around in my life, and when I must help someone or go to school I can do it with a smile.
I also observed while in Costa Rica young kids meeting the needs of others before themselves. When I went out with the team and gave invitations to the children to come to the VBS each invitation came with a lollipop. There was one family that really stuck out to me
because the family had three kids, and when we started handing the lollipops to the family the older sister made sure her sibling got a lollipop before herself. This really left an impact on because the older sister could have just taken the one for her, and not worried about her siblings, but she made the conscious decision to meet the needs of her siblings before herself. This was an attribute that I really wanted to bring home with me because it is easy to just focus on our own needs rather than those around us. So now that I am back I really try to focus on the needs of people in my family or even the people in my community before myself. Costa Rica was a fantastic experience for me, and really grew my heart for the Lord and opened my eyes to the world around me.
-Jeremiah Sieperda