Costa Rica Missions Trip | Student Ministry
It’s been a few years since Westside Students took a spring break missions trip. As the world slowly returned to normal, some students began a rallying cry last fall for missions. That small movement blossomed into a trip to Costa Rica last month, led by 9 students (Lauren Walker, Lauren Markus, Bridget Roy, Emma Price, Ellie Brown, Makenna Arnold, Kaitlyn Tjiptogarsono, Lilli Morse, Raina Christenson) and three student ministry leaders (JJ Lane, Estrella Arreola and Heather Duwe). The trip was such a wonderful success that leaders hope to make it an annual event, once again.
Anyone who has experienced a long-term or short-term mission trip knows this truth: the trip will impact YOU more than you could ever imagine. That was the case for these students and their leaders. This is part of their story.
It’s past noon. Estrella Arreola scans the group as they gather for a word of prayer and then head for the TSA line at the Kansas City airport. The last mission trip she went on in Mexico (prior to joining the Westside Student Ministry staff) really challenged her in new ways and the way she thought about international missions. Beyond the culture shock, she knows these teens are about to experience something profound, even life-altering, during the next several days.
Hugging her parents goodbye, Lauren Walker can feel the nervousness and excitement coursing through her body. Costa Rica would be her first trip outside of the country – and her first extended trip without her family. Lauren wiped a tear from her eye, took a deep breath, turned and walked quickly toward the group, joining her friend Bridget.
Nudging her, Lauren whispered, “I can’t believe this is really happening!”
“I know, it’s crazy!” Bridget replied. “I’m so excited!”
A few years ago, when the girls were still in middle school, Westside hosted a panel discussion with families who had recently returned from a Guatemala missions trip. Hearing the stories of provision, answered prayer, and God-sized interventions deeply impacted the girls and they often dreamed about having an experience like that together. The pandemic temporarily put that dream on hold, but as the world began re-opening during fall 2021, Lauren and Bridget saw new possibilities. Together, they approached Estrella about a spring break missions trip. From there, the plans were set quickly in motion.
Lauren stared out the window as she waited for the plane to board. It was a cold, sunny Kansas City day, but she felt funny wearing sweats. In a matter of hours, she’d be running around a tropical country in shorts.
She whispered a familiar prayer in her heart, “Dear God, I know you have big plans for me. Please use this trip to reveal your call on my life.”
Several hours later, the group arrived in Liberia, Costa Rica. It was night but the humidity was still so thick you could cut it with a knife.
“Wow it is humid,” Lauren said to the girl next to her.
“I know…can you imagine what it will be like during the day?” came the reply.
“We’re not in Kansas anymore” JJ announced with a smile.
Suddenly, the reality of being strangers in a foreign land hit Lauren. She couldn’t call or text her parents. All she heard was Spanish. Her two years of high school Spanish were beyond inadequate. She wondered exactly how this was going to work when she couldn’t speak, let alone understand the language!
Upon arriving at the hotel, it was clear this was no American-style Marriott. Whatever expectations Lauren had in her own mind she was now tossing out the window. She was enamored with the unique open-air lobby with back gates opening into a beautiful, lush garden.
Reaching her room, Lauren was relieved to find air conditioning and couldn’t wait to get into some cooler clothes! As she settled in, she hoped she could sleep.
The following morning, the students met for breakfast in the hotel courtyard.
“How did you sleep?” Heather Duwe asked the girls.
“I don’t think I slept much – I was too excited,” one student replied.
“We had a lizard in our room last night and it totally freaked us out!” someone else said.
As the girls compared stories, the student ministry leaders exchanged looks of amusement.
Following breakfast with their host pastor, Allen Espinoza of Iglesia Evangelista Metodista El Renanente church in the small village of Belen. He shared his heart to unite the local pastors together in ministry and encourage the people. The students shared their plan to buy food and household supplies for 50 families and host nightly youth events at Pastor Allen’s church. The plan was good, and after finalizing a few more details to align with Pastor Allen’s needs, the group prayed and headed off to the store with shopping lists in hand.
“48…49…50…” Estrella finished counting the bags filled with food. “I think that’s all of them.” “Hey, before we head back to the hotel, why don’t we gather around the bags and pray over them,” suggested Student Ministry Director JJ Lane.
Leaning into their limited knowledge of the extreme poverty of the area, one by one, each student and leader prayed over the bags. They prayed the food would nourish the recipient’s bodies and that it would miraculously last longer than it should. They asked God to reveal his goodness to them through this gift and that the people would see that the church was there to support them. They prayed for life change.
It’s funny how God answers prayer. It’s often not the way you anticipated or hoped, but it’s always good. Lives would indeed change over the days to come, but not just for the people of Costa Rica.
During the next few nights, the Kansas teens led youth events at Pastor Allen’s church. Evenings marked by games, food, crafts, and evening devotionals written by the teens became a nightly draw in the community. Each night more kids of all ages showed up as news about the fun and free food rapidly spread. Many of the kids who came had never stepped foot in a church and several of them made decisions for Jesus!
As the trip progressed, the student ministry leaders marveled at how the girls loved on the people despite an inability to communicate with words. Their hearts swelled with joy and godly pride both in what they saw God doing through this trip, and in what they saw developing in these young women.
Each day, the girls delivered bags of food and supplies to different villages. Rather than playing the role of an American Door Dash driver, the girls leveraged their translator and began asking questions. They wanted to know more about the families who would directly benefit from their gift. Each day the team had a predetermined number of bags they would hand out, but they also carried with them extra bags they dubbed “spirit bags.” They wanted to allow the Holy Spirit to lead them to others who needed help.
On the first day of bag deliveries, a translator identified a woman for one of the “spirit bags.”
“I think we should go to her,” the translator directed.
Without questioning, Lauren and a few friends on her team walked over to the woman and began a conversation.
With the translators’ help, the group learned the woman was a widow and pastored the little village church there. The pastora shared her personal story with their girls and told them how she ran from God’s call of ministry for a long time.
“God said to me you can obey me and follow, or not,” the pastora shared through the translator. “I was tired or running from him, so I chose to obey and follow.”
The teens who had arrived hoping to encourage this widow, found equal encouragement for themselves as she spoke life and expectant hope into them.
As she listened to the pastora’s story, Lauren kept hearing the “obey, obey, obey.” The pastora testified that despite tremendous hardship, she intentionally continues to pursue God’s call. Lauren felt her face get flush and wondered, was this part of God’s answer to her prayer? For some time, Lauren thought about going into vocational ministry. In those moments with a widowed pastora, the answer began to feel a little less murky.
The following day, the team visited another small village of about 30 people. They handed out bags to various homes and learned nearly everyone there was related! Preparing to leave, one of the girls noticed a woman at the edge of town.
“I think we need to offer her a bag,” she said.
The team agreed. The woman, whose name was Evelyn, received the gift with gratitude and invited the team back to see her home. Her “home” was really a shack cobbled together from pieces of tin and wood. Sheets hung from the ceiling to separate sleeping spaces for her and her four children. The children, ages 10, 5, 2 and 1, stood shyly with their mother. The oldest girl, Julie, helped her mom with the baby. Her big brown eyes captivated Lauren.
Lauren couldn’t help but stare. Arrested in her heart by what she saw she just couldn’t imagine being raised with her three sisters in conditions like that – yet, this was reality. Trash was strewn all over the place. This was deep poverty. And to raise four children by herself? Lauren’s heart ached deeply for Evelyn and her children. She knew this woman was doing the very best she could.
As the group visited, they learned Evelyn had immigrated to Costa Rica from Nicaragua to escape difficult circumstances and extreme poverty. However, because her papers were not approved, she was unable to work in Costa Rica and found herself at the mercy of others for her family’s very survival.
Standing in the back of the group, Estrella’s mind raced as she listened. Evelyn’s story wasn’t unlike her own. Her mother immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a teen in search of a better life. Her mom eventually met and married a man, and they had Estrella and her brother. Through a long series of traumatic events, Estrella’s mother moved her little family into a safe house and began life as a single mom. That’s when a group of Christians began ministering to them and even helped them secure a home. As she listened to Evelyn, Estrella felt a fire burning within her and knew she had to speak up.
As the group began to disperse, Estrella lingered and began speaking to Evelyn in Spanish. Sharing her own story, Estrella hoped Evelyn would find a seed of encouragement to cling to.
“Evelyn, I really believe God is trying to show up in your life and wants to bring you hope,” Estrella said. “I also want you to know you are a good mom.”
It was hard to get a read on Evelyn’s response to the words, but Estrella knew she was obedient to the movement of the Holy Spirit within her. Without realizing it, she had also set a very important example of obedience to the students on her team.
“We hope Julie and the other children can join us tonight for the youth event,” the teens expressed through the translator. “We will have food and games.”
Evelyn nodded, thanked the group, and waved adios.
The girls hoped the kids would come, but it was a two-mile walk to the church from the village – a long trip for little legs.
That evening, as the students set up the craft and games stations, they prayed again over each table and area as had become their custom. Evelyn’s children were heavy on their hearts and Lauren and her friends prayed specifically for them. Soon, a steady stream of children began arriving and the gathering space was filled with laughter and fun. But still no Julie. Lauren was feeling discouraged.
“Hey Lauren, look!” Mackenna Arnold shouted. “It’s Julie and two of her siblings!”
Lauren couldn’t believe it! They had walked two miles to come to church. The girls ran to them. MacKenna and Emma Price picked up the two littlest ones and Julie went with Lauren and a few others to make some crafts.
The kids played the evening away, sharing Jesus by being His hands and feet. The language barrier melted away as they learned how to communicate with hand signals, smiles and laughter, enlisting the help of a translator only from time to time.
Standing at the edge of all the activity, Estrella took a moment to take it all in.
“It’s pretty amazing to watch, isn’t it?” JJ asked her.
“It’s more than I could have ever imagined. To see these girls grow so quickly in faith and love for these kids is breath-taking,” Estrella replied.
Soon, a special meal arrived for the kids that night – PIZZA!
Grabbing a plate, the translator asked Julie if she and her siblings would like a piece.
Julie’s eyes, big as saucers, welled up with tears as a huge smile broke out across her face.
It was clear she didn’t think the pizza was for them.
The following night, Julie and her siblings returned. The teens were ecstatic to see and spend time with them, and again divided duties with the smaller children so Julie could play and create.
All too soon, the evening of fun and games was coming to a close and it was time to say goodbye. Amazed by how deep their affection for these children had grown in such a brief period, the teens tried unsuccessfully to choke back the tears. “Adios” was one word they all had learned, but had difficulty speaking on this particular night.
“¿Ya te vas? “¿Cuando te puedo mirar otra vez?” Julie tugged at one of the teen’s arm. The teen (Lauren Markus) looked at her quizzically and Julie repeated the words. Lauren M. motioned to the translator for help.
“She wants to know if you are leaving and when she will be able to see you again,” the translator explained.
“Tell her ‘If you accept Jesus in your heart, I will see you again someday in heaven,” Lauren M. replied.
“She says ‘are you sure?’” relayed the translator.
“Si,” Lauren M. replied directly to Julie.
Julie grinned.
The translator smiled as Julie again responded in Spanish. “She says she asked him to do that last night!” The girls cheered and hugged Julie tight. Saying goodbye still wasn’t easy, but knowing they each held on to the expectant hope of seeing one other again someday somehow eased the pain.
As the girls boarded the bus to head back to the hotel, it was noticeably quieter – each teen lost in her own thoughts, occasionally wiping away a stray tear. It was hard to believe the week was over and tomorrow they would head home.
Lauren walked into her room for the last time and stared at her suitcase on the floor. Picking up a craft she made with Julie the night before, she sat down to pack. As she carefully placed the cherished craft among her clothes, it occurred to Lauren that the real treasure she was taking home was the gift of seeing God move when they shared Jesus, loved like Jesus, and became ever more like Jesus.
