During the Mardi Gras holidays, a group of about 30 students, plus a few chaperones, left around midnight for a week-long mission trip to Costa Rica. The trip started off a bit rough due to a delayed flight because of some technical issues. However, the group boarded another plane shortly after. The volunteers did many different things such as painting, building, visiting nursing homes, and playing with children at the local schools. Caroline Zaunbrecher said, “My favorite part by far was when we walked the kids home from school to bring food for their families! It was really neat because we got to see how they lived their everyday lives and hopefully made their day a little better.”

On top of teaching the children more about God, our own students had daily devotions and worship every night. For Ash Wednesday, the volunteers visited a nursing home and held a small worship service for everyone. During their free time, the students were allowed to zip line through the rainforests, visit waterfalls, and hike to locally famous volcanoes. The zip lines were a big favorite among the volunteers because of the beautiful landscape and amazing wildlife. Overall, the mission trip appears to be a spiritually fulfilling experience that will forever stay with our students and the people of Costa Rica.