Thanks to some very generous gifts and prayer support, a team of 39 students and leaders spent a week in June serving alongside our partner, Oceans Edge Ministries in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. We began the week with a prayer walk which set an amazing tone for our time there. Seeing students bravely ask people they passed on the street if they’d like prayer, not even knowing if the person spoke English, was an amazing sight to see. God is so faithful. Even when we may not comprehend each other’s words, our spirits know that God is there. Our group had the opportunity to serve at a local school, run surf camp, teach Sunday school, clean-up the beach, take care of the Oceans Edge property, participate in coffee tasting, try our surfing, take part in a missions conference, and be a part of a local youth group for a night. It was an amazing week. Enjoy some thoughts from our students written below. -Thank you to all who donated and prayed for our team; your prayers were felt. - Becky Gualandi, Assoc. Director of Student Ministries

“My favorite memory from the Costa Rica trip was when we went to the local church’s youth group. The Pastor was amazing and the message was even better! We got to meet some new people, play games and just connect with the community! It was so great to experience another youth group and see how different they all are!” – Samantha Edwards.

“My favorite memory from Costa Rica was getting to teach Sunday school in two different languages. It was the first time I actually had to use Spanish in order for people to know what I was saying. It was so amazing to see how even though the kids we had spoke different languages, they all were able to play and do the activities together. Even though we were speaking different words to get the lesson across, they all had the same meaning. The lesson was about knowing that God hears you. It was such a cool realization that even though there’s so many languages across the world, God hears and understands all of us.” - Reagan Williams