A team of students and staff from the Kansas area recently arrived back from two weeks of fresh fruit, amazing coffee, and learning and working along side the missionaries of Students International in Costa Rica.
The team served in the community of the “desamparados”, or forgotten ones, outside the Capital city of San Jose. This is one of the poorer communities in the area, and many people fall into drug addictions. Students International provides services in the community such as tutoring, sports camps, trade classes, bible studies, and much more free of charge. By being a positive influence in the community, and meeting their physical needs, the missionaries there are able to encourage and equip the community members to make better life choices. It is also a powerful way to share the gospel, as people who have been helped with their physical needs are drawn into community and life in Jesus Christ.
God also used this trip to greatly impact the InterVarsity students and staff who participated. Confronted with culture shock, miscommunications and the frustrations of their own limitations, God was able to reveal His powerful love to those who had gone to serve. As one student reflected, “I can see now God is so much bigger than I had ever imagined. He cannot be contained in a box or defined by the ideas in my head.”
