COSTA RICA…
Now let me tell you, this country has quite a special place in my heart!
After traveling to Kenya, Africa last year with a team from my youth group, I knew that I wanted to make Kids On A Mission have an international element so that we could give people the opportunity to travel around the world and “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). So, in September of 2016, I started inviting Kids On A Mission leaders to join me and my family on a mission trip to Costa Rica and miraculously, 21 people signed up. Last December a team of 21 amazing people traveled to Costa Rica to share the love of Jesus with the locals. We were gone on this trip for 10 days and were on the ground there for 7. We partnered with two different churches in the city of Boca de Arenal and put on a 3-day VBS for each church. Our whole team was in charge of planning this entire event. Everyone was responsible for different areas of the Vacation Bible School. Each team member was placed on a team to lead different portions and elements of the VBS: music, bible story, bible verse, games, object lesson or crafts. Everyone took leadership during our time at the churches and it was AMAZING seeing everyone on our team step up in their leadership and help run this VBS.
The trip last year was completely life-changing… We met amazing kids, watched them as they welcomed Jesus into their heart, fed them lunch, tried to communicate with them, (even through our very limited Spanish vocabulary). We became instant family with our translators, saw beautiful scenery, came very close and personal with very large iguanas and we came back to America with the most joy-filled spirits because of the time that we spent in Costa Rica.
I wouldn’t have traded that time with those precious kids and our amazing team for anything in this entire world. As our week in Costa Rica came to a close and we had to say our final goodbyes, we knew that we would be back next year to do it all over again… and here we are.
In April of 2017, we started sending out invitations for this year’s trip. TWENTY-FOUR incredible individuals are on this year’s team!! I am mind blown and cannot wait for the time that this team will spend together in Costa Rica at the end of this year. We have 11 returning individuals and 13 new team members! We have already had 4 team meetings where we have done team building projects, had devotionals, planned our VBS days for when we are there, and planned a huge fundraising dinner. We’ve also been praying over the people that we will meet in Costa Rica and for our team as well. To say that this team is excited and ready to serve is an understatement All 24 of us are so ready to give it all we’ve got to bless the kids in Costa Rica. We are ready for the amazing things that God will do in all of our lives. We are ready for the full day of traveling to get there. We are ready to be hugged by all of those precious Costa Rican kiddos.
Our team is taking off from the Fresno International Airport on December 28th and will arrive back home on January 7th. We would all greatly appreciate your prayers as we are there and serving the locals. We will be trying to upload daily blog posts when we are there, so make sure to check it out and stay tuned for the many amazing things that will be happening while we are on the ground in Costa Rica.
~Kaitlin