Last summer I had the pleasure of being part of a mission team going to Liberia, Costa Rica.  This experience made me realize a lot about how I should act in our world today.  I have been on many mission trips, but none were as influential as this one.  There are two major things that I realized on this trip: the importance of community and the importance of serving others in Christ.

In Costa Rica we helped build a new sanctuary, we led a vacation bible school, but we also did a lot of praying with people.  I was never the person upfront, but I feel that we as a team were really able to impact lives as a team.  Thus, I found that the community that we had with each other, the bond through Christ, made us able to work well together to make a larger impact on the church that we were working with. 

Upon returning from Costa Rica, I began trying to find a community in my area that I could grow in, because my church was not doing enough for me.  Just recently, I have found this community in a house church that a friend of ours started.  I have been spiritually enriched through good messages and a loving environment in this community.

Back to Costa Rica, while my group was in Costa Rica, we stayed at a church.  I was exposed to so many loving, caring, impoverished people at this church.  To this day I cannot understand how they were so happy with so little.  But my point is that I have, what our world considers to be, wealth and opportunity.  They had neither of these, but refused to let it hinder their livelihood.  This has inspired me to make changes in my life so that I can appreciate what I have and give what I have to others.  I have sponsored a child in Bangladesh named Fahim through World Vision, and I have tried to raise awareness in my school and church about people in need.  I know that it sounds cheesy and sweet, but since I have returned from Costa Rica I have really felt called to serve others in need.