Mission DiscoveryReviews of missiondiscovery.org

Overall I had a wonderful experience on the trip. It's the best thing I've EVER done. MD is so passionate, humble and respectful of those they serve. It's wonderful to see. The work we did was super meaningful to the people we served and to me spiritually. It helped me to see God's love in action in a powerful way. It also helped me to realize how many people live in abject poverty and what my responsibility is to come along side people to help them, share what I have (time, resources) and demonstrate God's love. The MD leaders on the trip were kind, personable and super approachable but only a few really took the initiative to approach (me at least) to learn more about us or for us to learn about them during down times. That's not a big deal...everyone has their own style of interacting and some people are more reserved and shy than others. No one was unfriendly just something I noticed. When I had an issue with asthma Kate, Hailey, and the worship team guy (I forget his name -- I'm sorry) were super caring and made sure that I was okay which I appreciated. I also appreciate that the next day they had me right back to work and didn't treat me like I was somehow incapable. :) I was super embarrassed but they made it okay! The worship times were really impactful. The music choices were worshipful as well as the leader. I loved the God sightings portion and hearing testimonies from the leaders/participants was powerful too. The worship times kept Jesus front and center and reminded us why we were there. We worked HARD and made the most of the time there. We were not engaged in busy work and each interaction (even playing with the kids and chatting with people) was about pointing people to the Lord by showing His love. The work was organized chaos at times but the jobs were done! :) Suggestions: 1- Guatemala is the 14th most air polluted place in the world. (I found that out on my own after the trip. :)) It would have been helpful, as someone with respiratory issues, to know that in advance. It would not have changed my decision to come but I would have prepared differently for the trip (brought masks, my nebulizer, and steroids). Going forward it may be helpful to have a general statement about the air quality for people with lung or heart issues. 2- For the God Sightings, maybe a little more explanation for the teens of what that looks like because some of them used it to give shout outs to their peers. I don't think they understood the purpose. 3-Maybe a brief orientation for 1st-timers like myself. There were times when I didn't understand what was happening or what I should be doing. It felt like the leaders knew because they've been doing it for a long time but it wasn't fully explained to us. 4- Leaders should take the initiative to sit with the volunteers during meals rather than just with each other and their families. That would be a good opportunity to get to know each other and to learn more about other opportunities MD has, the history of work in the respective country, etc. MD is a wonderful organization and I look forward to going on future trips

I had a great time helping with Mission Discovery! However, we only got to help with two houses while on this trip. The rest of the work was at the church we stayed at, which is okay, I don't mind helping. Except, a mission trip is about outreach, helping people outside of the church, people who actually need this help. I feel like the church projects could have been accomplished by the church itself, not outside help. Despite all of that, I had a good time getting to know everyone and building new relationships and being able to help where we could.

Great organization and great location. The beauty of San Jose really came through in the work we executed in two Roble Alto locations and the peaceful retreat center where we stayed. This being the 1st Mission Discovery trip to Costa Rica, I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly things ran. The Roble Alto team was just so fantastic. What a great place and an amazing group of people who manage and work at this facility. One downside was the food choices at breakfast and dinner. Having been asked if we have food allergies or preferences ahead of the trip, we then expected these to be honored which was a surprise and frustration when it appeared this input/response was not heeded.

This was my first mission trip, and it went great! It was a little unorganized at first, but that was expected because it was the first trip to Costa Rica. The only thing that I didn’t love was that the majority of the group took over the mission trip, aka didn’t have mission discovery’s worship leader lead or use instruments. Hearing that this isn’t how mission trips usually are was a little annoying because I wanted the real experience. But there was nothing mission discovery could’ve really done about it.

I liked the working and helping people who need it.

The team with Mission Discovery is always helpful, organized, and resourceful. They assist our team with setting up a good location for our medical clinic, and make sure our transportation, lunch, and any needs are taken care of.

Our experience was great due to all of us on the trip joining in as a team. We split up into two teams, medical and construction. I will only talk on behalf of the medical team as that is where I spent my time. We saw 345 patients in 4 days and witnessed a healing, a few actually! There were so many God sightings, I could write a book. We had people healed, gave to the less fortunate, gave out meds for illnesses, gave out groceries, and was able to teach a mother of a 4 day old how to breastfeed. None of this would have been possible without the mighty work of Jesus! God showed up and showed out last week on the trip and there is so much to take away and bring back home. Like I said, so many God sightings. The two critiques I have is more thorough communication from the leader from Mission Discovery going on the trip. There were some cost concerns for certain things and we were given round about numbers, next year I say we try to have those down pat so we can adequately prepare. Also, I understand the need for a regiment mindset; however, people sacrificed their time, money, work, etc to come and be a part of this amazing trip. Some on the trip thought that the leadership from Mission Discovery was too overbearing and that it could have been more relaxed. Again, I understand the need for strictness but there were sometimes where the assertiveness and criticism were not needed or deserved.

Mission discovery did a great job having everything organized and ready for us as soon as we landed. The drivers, hotel and food was great. Only thing that would have been better was to get treated with a little more thrust. I felt like we were treated like teenagers that had to follow all this strict rules. Especially in the evenings a little bit more freedom to explore the city would have been great. I understand we were there to do missions but once we were done for the day it would have been nice to not have a early curfew or even have to sign in and out just to go out like we were kids.