Hi everyone! Welcome to our new Grace Pres Costa Rica Youth Mission Trip 2012 Blog! Thank you so much for taking the time to read these posts about our upcoming trip, I hope you will continue to follow us while we are in Costa Rica!
We are down to exactly one week before our departure. This morning we had a wonderful blessing/sending service at the 9am church service. Though missing almost half of our team members and all of our adult leaders but Matt, it was a great experience, and it was special to see the congregation as excited for us as we are to go on this trip. Thank you again for all of your prayers and blessings!
At this point, we are into our final preparations - double checking that all team members have proper medications/vaccinations, photocopying passports, shopping for and checking off items on the packing list, and finalizing travel plans. Our flight out next Sunday is at 5:50am (ahhh!) and the closer we get to departure, the crazier everyone's emotions become. While there are so many reasons to be excited, it seems there are often just as many reasons to be anxious or nervous. I have been on my own roller coaster of emotions over the past few months leading up to this trip, but I have finally found some peace recently in remembering the reason we, as Christians, are called into mission work like this.
Matt's sermon this morning was about generosity. While the central focus of the lesson was belonging to nobility, what hit home for me was the verse Matt cited - 2 Corinthians 8:9. Jesus is the Son of God! Before he came to earth, he had everything! He was rich in every sense of the word. But he gave it up, and became a poor servant among all of us, so that the rest of the world might have the opportunity to become rich in spirit. I found myself relating this, in a small way, to our situation - all of us team members come from fairly affluent Denver communities. At the very least, we are more than financially rich when compared to the people of Costa Rica's BriBri reservation. But mission gives us a chance to take on even a small part of Christ's experience - by giving up our comfortable lifestyles, even just for one short week, we have an opportunity to work towards the ultimate goal of becoming rich in spirit, just as Jesus intended. Furthermore, we have an opportunity to bring that same spirit to the people we will be working with and for. When I look at our mission trip in this light, I know it will be easier to overcome the challenges of a week in such a different area of the world.
If we have internet access while in Costa Rica, we definitely plan to continue updating this blog as a team over the course of our trip. We hope to have several different team members and leaders post about their personal experiences each day, so look for different people to write about what they have seen, done and learned! Thank you all, again, for your financial and mental support, as well as your continued prayers! We can't wait to tell you more about our trip! :)
Love, Alyssa
"For you know the generous acts of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." ~2 Corinthians 8:9
written by Alyssa Leonard, graduated senior
