Costa Rica Youth Mission Journey 2024

We've finally made it back home after a 2-day delay. We landed in Charlotte a little after 7:30 p.m. After successfully getting through customs, we boarded a bus headed to FVUMC, and we were treated to Chick-Fil-A sandwiches on the ride home. It was a wonderful feeling to be greeted with huge smiles and lots of hugs at 11:15 p.m. Our last photo for the blog is the one snapped below from the airplane window as we touched down in Charlotte. It was simple reminder of God's promise to us and a fitting welcome home. Thanks to everyone for all the love and prayers and for traveling with us on this journey.  

Hola! Yes, we are still in Costa Rica on a journey of a lifetime. We are currently scheduled for a 7 am departure Monday, and we appreciate your continued prayers. For this post, we thought some quick reactions from our youth would be a good way to illustrate how things are going during our 41-hour flight delay. —————————————————- Mackenzie: “41 hour delay” Tanner: “if I’m going to be stranded anywhere it might as well be paradise” Hadyn: “I think I’ve eaten a whole plantain farm at this point” Hailey: “what’s one more day” Grayson: “I could’ve driven us there in 2 days and 20 hours” Madeline: “we should have taken Grayson’s offer” Lila: “I have no words” Izzy: “The only thing that can save me now is honey mustard” McKayla: “It’s day 9 and I still haven’t had rice and beans” Amelia: “I don’t want to be here” Ansley: “Everything is expensive” Ana: “This stinks” Bekah: “I want to go home” Addison: “I missed my dads birthday for this” Parker: “life throws you a curve ball, hit it a differ...

This morning we woke up at our hotel in front of a beautiful volcano! We were so excited to go home to reunite with our families and pets. Little did we know we’d get to spend another night together. After getting through security and getting to our gate we got some snacks and waited to board our flight. Then we got the news that our flight had been delayed 2 hours (from 2pm to 4pm) then it got delayed until tomorrow at 8 am. YES. TOMORROW. Although we were not happy about the situation, Mr. Matt worked with the airline to get us a nice hotel and shuttle there and back! We know we could be upset but we have still seen God through it all. Some of those ways are we got a very nice hotel with dinner and breakfast for the morning. We still have a flight to Charlotte to get home. And we have gotten to share one last devotional time together as a team! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers we have felt them all throughout this week. The view of Arenal Volcano on Saturday morning. Waiting for ...

Today we departed from Strong Missions. We took one last group photo in front of the new mural at the mission before boarding the bus headed to La Fortuna. We were able to zip line over the rainforest canopy and visit a waterfall. Saturday, we fly home.

At the entrance to Strong Missions, our work crew built an extension to the wall and that created another panel (roughly 6x8 feet) for a mural. The photo above is the mural designed and painted by McKayla Roehner. VBS was a great experience and me and others really have enjoyed it. Some people who did VBS for only one day wanted to join and do more. This picture is of us doing pato pato ganso (duck duck goose) and the kids really enjoyed it. Last night we had a salsa dancing lesson. Even though the instructor only spoke Spanish she was very patient and joyful with us. It was a very fun experience and we learned a lot of new moves. We learned a new game, that was the turkey dance. It was oodles and oodles of fun. We finished our concrete ramp. It was over 90 meters long. The lady who lives here is in a wheel chair and this will give her better access to her home. We all painted a kitchen, bedroom, and exterior walls. Strong missions has been working on this home for 2 years and this was...

Today our skit at VBS was about Noah and his Ark. The day before we had the skit read in both Spanish and English, but we noticed the kids weren’t really paying attention, so we decided to fully translate it and it made a difference! Today we moved dirt from a room of someone’s house in order to make a wall for a laundry room. We worked in a group of 12 people in an assembly line to get the dirt from under the roof to the trees.  Today we plastered a house in order to prepare for the primary coat of paint in the interior of the kitchen area. We also installed concrete board around the inside of the windows in preparation for the exterior paint. The interior color of choice but the homeowner was white (blanco), and the exterior was yellow (Amarillo).  Today we built a ramp made out of concrete and steel. Primarily we spent all day shoveling gravel into a concrete mixer to make our solution to pour into our molds for the ramp. Today half of our group delivered 21 boxes of food t...

Today (Tuesday) construction work expanded, and we kicked off Vacation Bible School at a local school. We did our first VBS session of the week today, and got to meet so many new faces that greeted us with hugs and laughter. Between the games, bible stories, crafts, and music, we all grew connections with the kids even if we couldn’t understand everything they were saying. It was such a special moment to receive hugs and waves from the kids as we were leaving and had only just met them. Everyone is looking forward to spreading God’s love through VBS the rest of the week.  Today in our group we worked on leveling the outside of the school so that they can make use of the space for indoor use in the future. We broke down a wall and moved a lot of dirt around. We started working on making some concrete as well! Overall had an amazing day.  Today, we painted the outside of a house and it was really fun. I loved doing it and laughing with the others on the site who helped. It made ...

Hola from Strong Missions! Today, our group had the opportunity to visit a local coffee plantation where we learned about how coffee in Costa Rica is harvested and maintained. At our center, there are a couple of projects that need completing. A few volunteers worked to create a frame for a concrete wall that will be completed later this week. Also at our center, there is a large drainage ditch that needs to be maintained because it rains all the time (Like 18+ feet a year). We had a long assembly line in which we moved tires, rocks, and concrete buckets down to fill it up and help with the water flow.   Some of us went offsite, and started building a ramp. We leveled out the ground, and dug holes. We then put a steel bar in those holes and filled them with concrete. We cannot use wood to build the ramp because here in Costa Rica they have many wood eating animals. Therefore the ramps and decks would wear away quickly.  Yesterday we had the opportunity to go on one of the loca...

  ¡Buenos tardes! We are enjoying our first full day in Costa Rica after a restful night. After arriving at the mission, we had some yummy fish tacos (¡delicioso!) and had the opportunity to go to the Oasis Grecia Church. The second we walked in, we were immediately welcomed despite a language barrier. The praise band had infectious energy and the whole congregation was praising freely. Although the message was difficult to understand, the pastor gave a great message on the intentional, circumstantial, and immediate will of God. He pointed out that even though we all are sinners God makes us one community in His family - God didn’t create us and say “it wasn’t good”, in Genesis he described man as set apart. This is His intentional will. Although there are storms in life and we may fail today, God will be with us tomorrow and hold us upright. This is His circumstantial will, despite if we don’t always understand it. Lastly, we cannot change our past but God changes our present and ...

We have arrived in Costa Rica with only a slight flight delay. We are all excited for our journey, but a little anxious as well as we get settled in at Strong Missions. Apparently we have to have to watch out for scorpions, a 10-foot boa, and tarantulas - but Charlie assured us we wouldn’t have a problem! And we have become fast friends with Sammy, the resident puppy. We are still asking for your prayers throughout our week, and we will keep you all updated. -Leah Weeks

We've been preparing for our journey to the Central Valley of Costa Rica for months, and now we're counting the days until we head out. This past Sunday, we were commissioned by our FVUMC family and sent forth in the name of Christ and the Church.  This was an important part of this mission journey because it served as another connection between the members of the mission team and the community that is sending the team. We are all connected in the Body of Christ (see Ephesians 4:16), and we are all on this journey together. For those who were unable to participate in the commissioning, we wanted to share the liturgy from the July 14th service and ask for your continued prayers in the coming days.  Video of the commissioning:  Pastor to the Mission Team: We rejoice that you have resolved in your heart(s) to devote time, talents, and the energy to the people of Costa Rica. Remember that in the economy of God, they, too, will be in mission to you as they share their faith....