Senior Mission Trip - Costa Rica 2016

Senior Chapel

For the past six years, Shannon Forest has sent students from the senior class to Costa Rica on a mission trip.  Over 100 students have participated in this incredible experience, and 2016 was our biggest trip yet!  The students visited two different communities - the mountain village of Cot where our students built relationships with local families and high schoolers, and the slum community of La Cuenca.  At La Cuenca our students served alongside Hugo, a local missionary who ministers to the people of La Cuenca through an organization called Sonrisas con Esperanza (Smiles with Hope).  The experiences in both places, as well as the welcoming hospitality of their host families and the joy found in even the most impoverished homes, left our students forever changed.

On Wednesday, April 27, 2016, the seniors will be sharing their stories in our annual Senior Chapel.  You are invited to come hear how the Lord worked in their hearts and lives on this trip.  The Class of 2016 has been particularly impacted by these experiences and have expressed their desire to continue supporting Hugo and his ministry.

Over the next few years, your student(s) will be able to participate in this same trip!  The Senior Chapel is a great way to begin thinking and praying about future Costa Rica trips.  Come see and hear what the Lord is doing in and through our students.

Becky Heiser

A Message from Hugo

Before leaving Costa Rica, the seniors and chaperones collected clothes from their own suitcases to give to the people who live in La Cuenca.  Seniors left behind shirts, pants, and shoes to distribute among the families in Guarari.  One senior donated every piece of clothing that he had brought with him on the trip!

Because many of the clothes had been worn, the chaperones put their heads together and decided to ask the students to give of their extra colones (Costa Rican currency) so that some of the unemployed women in Guarari could be paid to wash the clothes before they were given to the families.  They collected an entire Ziploc bag of miscellaneous change and bills and gave it and the clothes to Carlos, explaining their desire to serve the people in Guarari in this way.

Lyndsay Collins (one of the chaperones) received this email from Hugo thanking the students and chaperones from Shannon Forest for "leaving a piece of their hearts in Costa Rica."  I wanted to pass it on to you.

Hey Lyndsay,

A hug with lots of love, I checked the social media pages of Smiles with Hope but in the last few days we've had problems being able to open our page, it's for that reason that I am answering you from my personal page.  First thank you for leaving a piece of your heart in Costa Rica, especially in the community of Guarari.  Carlos made the delivery of all the clothes that you all left with so much love, they've been washed and delivered to a few people in the community, as well as the tennis shoes.  The money was given to the women that you mentioned.  The days that you all accompanied us we felt loved, thank you for thinking of us and for a possible way to support our families, it's a beautiful gesture at the same time seriously an answer to our prayers.  In my case more than a year and a half ago a woman here in Costa Rica stole all the offerings for our family and left us without any support, these have been very difficult times but God has sustained us miraculously.

Hugo

Seniors, your service in Costa Rica was and is important.  God is using this experience to shape you and to build His Kingdom.  I am so proud of your generosity and your desire to continue helping Carlos and Hugo.  Let this trip change you and cause you to realize that the world is much bigger than you and that our God is at work in ways that none of us could ever image.

Becky Heiser

An Experience I Will Never Forget

The night before the departure to Costa Rica I couldn't sleep because my mind raced with thoughts of Costa Rica and what the trip would be like. When the time for flight came closer, I began to relax more. I heard a lot of stories about the conditions people lived in Costa Rica and it scared me. My selfishness overcame my thoughts; worrying about not having warm baths and cleans water, getting diseases from the kids living on the streets, but that was the wrong way to go about thinking of this trip that I soon learned would change my perspective of the world.

On the first day, we arrived in San Jose and walked down the street to our bus. The first thing I thought and did was cover my bag walking by people on the streets. We drove straight to Cot de Cartago to meet our first host family. I wasn't sure what to expect and what to think but when we arrived it was nothing like what I had in mind. The first thing, I think, everyone noticed was the backwards American flag. A lot of us thought is was a sign of disrespect but we learned it was their way of welcoming us. We all got assigned a family with a room mate. I wasn't afraid of the communication barrier between us and the Costa Ricans because I know Spanish but that made everyone want to use me to communicate. I enjoy helping a lot but it can get exhausting after a while. The family we got the privilege to stay with seemed very welcoming and happy to have us. They gave us an amazing hot meal consisting of chicken, fish, rice, eggs and tortillas.

The next day we hiked up to the volcano Irazu with some students from the school of Cot. Seeing the beauty of nature during that hike made me be grateful of the earth we live in and the sights God allows us to see. All the students enjoyed our company and wanted to talk to us and be our friends which made me happy. The guys I talked to all enjoyed soccer so we had a lot in common and talked the whole bus ride back. We all went back to the school and played games with all the kids and had an amazing time. The next day we were able to join those students in classes with our own uniforms they let us have. All that they learn is the same thing that we learn back home which shows us that we are not different from our families in Costa Rica. The goodbyes where pretty tough but we will always have little gifts to remember Rosie and her welcoming family.

On to our next family in Guarari and La Cuenca. I've heard many stories about the community in Guarari and it made me afraid for our groups safety but I knew the Lord was with us through it all. Seeing the condition families lived in in La Cuenca made me feel ashamed of what I worried about in the beginning of the trip. These families were fighting and struggling to survive and see the next day. A group of us visited this family with a single mother and 5 children. Her name is Maria-Elena and her oldest son, who was there at the time, Jiovani. They lived in a very small and dangerously built home consisting of 2x4s and sheets of metal. We sang and prayed to her while tears ran down all our faces. The only thing that made me have hope for these families was the love that God showed us and the happiness these kids had. Hugo, the leader of Smiles with Hope, has one of the biggest hearts I have ever gotten to experience and it saddened me hearing his story. It showed me how amazing our God is, even through our toughest times. Tyler and my host family in Guarari was very loving and welcoming. They didn't have children and wasn't sure if they were not able to have children but when we arrived they treated us and spoiled us just like if we were their own children, just like the love God gives to all his children. He blesses us every day with health and food so the least we could do is share his gifts to our bothers and sisters struggling around the world.

Through this trip I have prayed a lot more and will continue to pray for the families in Costa Rica and for all the blessings that I receive from God every day. This is an experience that I will never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life.

Daniel Lopez

The Innocent Souls of Costa Rica

What I experienced on this trip has been like nothing I have experienced before.  I saw some of the most beautiful sights of God's creation, like the luscious trees and vibrantly colored flowers.  But I also saw some of the most heartbreaking sights I have ever witnessed.  The children that we played with were obviously different from American children.  Some had scrapes and cuts all over them and no way to care for them.  When they saw a simple water bottle sitting on the counter, they were fighting over who go to drink out of it.  Looking around, they were living in small, dirty shacks that consist of one or two small rooms.  Their environment had nothing positive about it.  Yet their attitudes had nothing negative about them.  These children were some of the happiest kids I have ever seen.  They were elated when they saw all of us there ready to play with them, and just sitting there with us and playing with our hair, I'm sure was such a highlight for them.  Even though we couldn't communicate every word because of the language barrier, we still communicated simply through laughter and smiles.  The memories I have of these beautiful children I know I won't soon forget, and I will remember to pray that God blesses and protects these innocent souls as they deserve so much more than they have.

Marie Farmer

Guido and Sarah

During my time in Costa Rica, I learned multiple different lessons to take back to America with me, I've bonded with a few classmates, and I've had many fun and memorable moments.  The most impactful part of my trip was staying with my first host family, Guido and Sarah.  They are two hardworking people who go out at night and sell their crafts in the community.  Sarah is an artist, and Guido is a wood worker.  Both of them virtually had nothing.  They lacked wifi, a tv, and much space in their house.  But what they lacked in material possessions, they had in love through Christ.  Both of them showed me and my roommate, Andrew, so much love.  I am in awe of how happy they both were through their poverty and losses within their family.  While there was a huge language barrier, Andrew and I communicated relatively well in sharing about all of our families as well as much joking around without words.  And even though I'm not a huge fan of rice and beans, I ate as much as I could for my new family.  I can say after spending only two and a half days with them that both Andrew and I left their house with a new bond and love for them.  It has showed me how God's love and our love should not be indicative of what we have or do no have.

I also had some fun balling with some of the local high school students.  I was like MJ out there.  I wasn't doing so well on the soccer field with them though so it evened out.

Will Maddox

A Day at the Resort

Yesterday was a relaxing day.  After a good breakfast, we headed over to the zip lining building to get ready to do just that.  The students were geared up and instructed on safety.  Then they divided into groups and took off one by one - sailing through the trees.  They saw colorful toucans, a verdant mountain range, and a rushing river.  Afterwards it was lunchtime so the group headed to a buffet-style lunch.  During afternoon free time, students spent hours relaxing in the hot springs, playing in the pool, writing their blog posts, or hanging out in enus.  Right after dinner the group gathered in the conference room for prayer time.  The class prayed for the people of Cot and La Cuenca.  They brainstormed about what they could do to remember to pray for and help them.  Then they dispersed for a little bit of free time before curfew.  It was a relaxing day overall.

Mary Grace Williams