Experience MissionReviews of experiencemission.org

When we arrived at La Iglesia Familia, we were greeted by Diane and Ed, who gave us a great overview of what our week might be like. From the very first meeting with them, we knew that God was guiding us in our work for the week. Our group really wanted to be able to make connections within the community. We had been praying for this before and during our trip, and our prayers were answered ten-fold. We had so many opportunities to talk with, pray with, and learn from people in the community. Every day was a different experience and we really got to live out the "people over projects" approach of mission. This, to me, is so important and I'm glad we were able to take part in this mission experience.

Our leaders were amazing! We loved the projects, outreaches AND People of Pikeville!! The week was well structured and the evenings were planned to allow some free time which was nice! Evening gathering was always great. The food was fresh and there were good options.

My trip to Costa Rica completely changed me. I went in with no idea what was going to happen or what we were doing. This proved to be a good thing, since it allowed me to enter with very little expectations. I was incredibly excited and ready to go, but was nervous because I did not know my team and did not know the language. My team turned out to be the perfect group of people I needed in my life at that time and the language barrier turned into a growing point for me. I was definitely expecting to go in and do service projects, helping the people in the communities we were in. It turned out that they helped me way more than I think I helped them. We did a few service projects, but it was very heavy on relationship building and showing God’s love solely through how you love and your actions. Being someone who is very service oriented, this was definitely difficult to get used to at first. God showed up in so many different ways throughout our 3 months in Costa Rica. Every person on my team got something different out of our trip. My trip brought me a lot of healing in ways I didn't know were possible or needed. It also allowed me to be independent and on my own, but in a safe environment. I grew a lot and it made me ready to go to college and fully live on my own. We lived in two different communities and two different host families. Each family brought me a different perspective on life and on myself. I am still very close with my host families and talk to them all of the time. They became my family and they call me their daughter and sister. I am so excited to see how our relationships continue over time. This trip was not what I was expecting in any way, but I would not trade a single minute of it. There were difficult times, but overall it was exactly what God knew I needed. God put me and my teammates in the exact places that we needed and with the families that could impact us and us them. I would go on another IMMERSION trip in a heartbeat.

Truly a life changing trip. I am beyond thankful to God and EM for the opportunity to experience it.

It is sometimes nerve racking going into an experience that is so different and so new than what you are used to doing. This trip definitely took me out of my comfort zone and into feeling awkward and out of place, but it is in those moments that growth happens. I learned so much about Cuba and how God is working there and also about myself... things to work on and see differently in my own life. I am very grateful that experience missions gives people my age a safe and helpful way to go overseas to see how God is working across the world.

Immersion is amazing experience!! It’s truly life changing. I met some of the best people and had some of the best experiences of my life during this past month.

Good projects

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING GUYS :D - Olivia V