Mission Trip: Costa Rica

The countdown has begun. The tickets have been booked, passports dusted off and we are ready to go!

I went to church this morning and thought about the next time I would be worshiping… in a church far, far away among the “Ticos” (a name Costa Ricans have given themselves). They announced our mission trip at the end of the service and prayed for our safe journey. The excitement started to set-in a little more as it felt more real. I’m already very happy that I made the decision to go.

—————

A member of the team did suffer a minor setback last week. Adam’s grandmother, and final living grandparent, passed away last Tuesday night. Our team had a BBQ planned for Saturday night at Adam’s new house, but he instead had to cancel and spend the weekend in Dallas for the funeral.

The timing of her passing was a real blessing to Adam and his wife Brittney. You see, they are expecting a child in December. They went on Tuesday night to visit “Nana” in the hospital, and were excited to tell her that they were going to have a boy. Shortly thereafter, as in FIVE minutes later, she took her last breath and left her earthly body. I’m sure that Adam and Brittney will hold onto that moment for the rest of their lives and pass it on to their new son as he grows older. God takes from us the old as he makes way for the new.

-RB

As a part of the entire missionary experience, I sent out a few fundraising letters via email to mostly family members. The cost of this trip is not unreasonable, and Julie and I are in a place where we could set aside the complete cost of the trip without breaking the bank. However, the missionary state-of-mind is that of doing service for others in the name of Jesus Christ. If I were to fork over the complete bill for the cost, who would I be accountable to for my actions as a servant? It would be nothing more than a glorified vacation with some community service on the side.

As a missionary, I have asked a few people to donate in my name to the cost of the trip as a reminder that I am serving a greater purpose, and those people are giving out of the goodness of their heart for something that they, too believe in.

I am proud to say that 92% of my trip has been paid for!! I thank all of you that contributed as well as UUMC for its scholarship funds provided.

-RB

There are 12 of us on the team:
Adam, Delanie, Misty, Amber, Ray, Dane, Kandy, Marlene, Matt, Carrie, Debbie and myself.

For all of us this is our first mission trip, with exception of Adam, and rightly so. In preparation, we are meeting occasionally to get to know each other before we embark on Costa Rica. We are using the Short-Term Missions Workbook by Tim Dearborn as a study guide for the meeting and to guide our discussions.

The goals of the book are to gain a biblical perspective on the world, gain crosscultural understanding and even prepare us for reentry when we return home.

-RB