Allison Welch's Costa Rica Experience and Reflection

 It has now been a couple of weeks since I returned from Costa Rica and I am still processing how the trip
impacted me and what God has been doing. However, it is time to put some of these thoughts down.
It was an amazing experience to share God’s love with the wonderful people of the Pavas neighbor of
San Jose. My main take away was how God’s love transcends language barriers and every other barrier
that I might think is there. Just being willing to show God’s love to others is an amazing blessing to both
parties.
When we first arrived in San Jose the team at HOPE Partners was very welcoming and help to prepare us
for the week ahead. They helped us to understand the poverty of the families and the needs of the
children. The Hope Partner leadership was simply amazing to work with from start to finish. One thing
that they shared with us was the idea of ‘stopping for one’. It can be overwhelming to deal with extreme
poverty, but when you make a difference in one life it is more than enough. This helped me to look for
the ‘one’. There was a moment when God showed me to ‘stop for one’. A young lady named Eva was
in my group and on the 2 nd day of the trip we had a God ordained moment of absolute beauty. She and
I were sitting on the stage alone with a few songs sheets of songs we were singing earlier in the day.
She picked up a song she and started singing and then I joined her(in Spanish). Then she just wrapped
her arms around me and we just sat there feeling the love of God. It was a moment that I will never
forget.
Every morning before our time with the children, we painted the ‘wall of Jericho’ on the outside of the
Hope Center. This wall is seen by thousands of people who pass by it daily and now it is beautifully
painted and says ‘Eres Importante’, reminding all that they are important to God. We had the pleasure
of seeing how it impacted the community as the neighbors walked or drove this very prominent wall and
were blessed by it. It is amazing that just a few days of work will be impacting the community for years
to come.
The biggest thing that will change in my life because of this mission trip is that I will be more courageous
in sharing my testimony with others and I will be far less hesitant to get out of my comfort zone realizing
that small things can have a huge impact on others. I now know that when I take a small step of faith to
help others the returns are far greater than I could imagine for that person and for myself.
Another blessing of this trip was to be able to share the experience with my 21 year old son, Matthew.
It makes the trip more meaningful since we created memories together in serving other people in
another country. I am so grateful for this opportunity that was provided Frisco Bible Church and for all
the support and prayers. It was an amazing adventure and would love to return to Costa Rica on
another trip in the future, but I feel content that even if I never return God used my meager efforts and
He will multiply them in His amazing lovingkindness and power.





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