A mission trip can be an amazing way to immerse oneself in a new community while concurrently working respectfully to better the place you’re adventuring to. It is a uniquely human experience to humble yourself through acts of service and learn how to love others well– and witness how that changes across different cultures. Recently, I joined House of Ride Nature on a trip down to Costa Rica and had the most amazing time seeing how God works through us to make a difference in the lives of one another. It was an awesome reminder that purposeful travel is so much more meaningful and grounding than an overtly touristy trip.
DAY ONE
We arrived early afternoon into the Liberia airport, and headed to the nearby Walmart to pick up some supplies and grab some lunch. Our original housing arrangement fell through, but luckily we were able to stay at Youth With A Mission or YWAM’s Costa Rican base. Part of YWAM’s local ministry is to host skate competitions at local skateparks. During these competitions, they give out prizes and connect with skaters while sharing the Gospel.
After getting ourselves settled at the YWAM base, we headed over to the skate park to skate and interact with some of the local youth. As we were in a less touristy area, being fluent in Spanish was quite helpful as I did not require a translator to interact with everyone. After we’d skated and spent a few hours at the skatepark, we headed back to the YWAM base to grab some dinner. I enjoyed the first of many casados (a traditional Costa Rican plate) I ate during this trip.
DAY TWO
Nothing says ‘act of service’ like a little bit of manual labor and a lot of elbow grease. Our first morning in Costa Rica we wanted to thank the YWAM base family for graciously housing us rather last-minute, so after our morning quiet time, we spent the morning working on some cleaning projects. When we were done we went out and played soccer with the kids for a bit before grabbing some lunch.
Our afternoon was fully devoted to preparing for and subsequently running the skate competition taking place that afternoon. We compiled prizes and made food, and directed competitors as they began to arrive. It was such a powerful environment to feel the thrill of excitement in conjunction with the power of the Holy Spirit working through our small conversations and encouragement. Our evening was filled with skating festivities, and we were all rather pooped by the end of the night.
DAY THREE
On our third day, we started with individual quiet time, and then packed up and hit the road for Tamarindo. Along the way, we made a stop at the Feeding Center in Brasilito. The Feeding Center is an outreach program through the Casa Vida church, in which about 40 children from the El Llanito school come to receive meals every day. Volunteers are needed from 10:30am-12:30am each day to provide the meals, so we made it just in time to start putting our hands to work.
Once we’d wrapped up at the Feeding Center, we finished the drive to Tamarindo and went and checked into our hotel: Las Tortugas. This hotel truly has accommodations for all kinds of travels. They have eleven unique hotel rooms, with different styles and occupancies to accommodate groups of various sizes. If you’re looking for something a little more secluded, they offer a beachfront bungalow as well.
In addition to their hotel room options, they also have the Ranchos, which they refer to as their student housing as the rooms are small and rather modest. As we were not in Costa Rica for a luxury vacation, this was the option we utilized. Even as this was their budget/hostel-esque accommodation, each room had AC (really lovely as AC is not always a guarantee in CR) and private bathrooms. It was perfect for what we needed!
For dinner, we had the first of many meals at Sodas Las Tunas. A ‘soda’ is a small mom and pop style, open air restaurant that serves traditional Costa Rican food. A casado is one of these traditional plates. It typically includes a protein (chicken, steak, pork, fish), rice, black beans, a small salad, and a couple of plantains. The pork casado was my favorite dish at Sodas Las Tunas!
DAY FOUR
Our fourth day in Costa Rica started with a visit to Deli Cafe. This coffee shop will get you caffeinated for your day, but they also have quite the assortment of baked goods and sandwiches as well.
After breakfast, we headed back over to the Feeding Center we had visited the day prior to help distribute meals. After everyone was served, we took the opportunity to give the kitchen a much-needed deep cleaning. Once the kitchen was sparkling, we got to work in the back of the property clearing out an area to put a garden in. The goal is for the Feeding Center to become a self-sustainable garden, where the fruits, vegetables, and starches produced go straight to the meals prepared for the children. By the end of the day, we had prepared small plot for seeding!
On our way back to the hotel we stopped by Donde Adrian Frutas & Verduras for some clean and refreshing snacks. We made it back in time to watch the sunset on the beach behind the hotel. We went to Sodas Las Tunas again for dinner, but added a stop at a convenience store right up the street from Las Tunas for some ice cream.
DAY FIVE
Our fifth day started unusually early as anyone keen on surfing woke up before the sun to go surfing at dawn. I LOVE surfing and try to get in the water with a board in any new beach town I visit, so this was an incredibly special experience for me. A truly beautiful way to start the day. From there, our early morning start to the day afforded up the opportunity to go surfing and still make it down to the Feeding Center in time to serve meals at 10:30am.
Once everyone’s belly was full, we headed to the Tamarindo Skate Park. We were able to have some fun skating, while chatting with newfound local friends, informing them of the upcoming skate competition being hosted. At some point in the afternoon we wandered over to the nearby cafe Breaking Bread, to take a break and enjoy a (very) tasty treat. At the end of the day, I bet you can guess where we had dinner?? A delicious pork casado from Sodas Las Tunas hit the spot after our long-but-lovely day.
DAY SIX
Our sixth day was all about local exploration. We started the day with a canoeing and kayaking tour on the Estero de Playa Grande River, booked through our hotel. Having worked up an appetite, we made back to back snack stops for a tapas-esque lunch. Our first stop was at Pots and Bowls. In addition to having a mouth-watering array of both sweet and savory bowls, they also have loads of drink options as well, from cold pressed juices to smoothies to tea and coffee. Our next snack stop brought us to Podoka– an AMAZING Brazilian bakery, with so many delicious sweet treats.
Once we were all fueled up, we headed to Guanacaste Forest Zipline for some afternoon zip lining. While zip-lining was fun, we wouldn’t necessarily recommend the company we used. Zip lining is an amazing adrenaline rush, but alas if we were to do it over again, we’d go through someone else.
You can’t beat the classics! We had another awesome dinner at Sodas Las Tunas, before we turned in for the evening– tuckered out from our long day of adventures.
DAY SEVEN
Our seventh day was our last full day in Costa Rica, and you better believe we made the most of it. In the morning, we ran a surf camp on the beach behind our hotel, as this area of the beach is actually known to be a good surf spot. Having surfed for years, it makes my heart happy to share a hobby I love with new friends.
Yesterday’s tapas-style lunch was a fun way to mix and match between the ten of us. We went back to Pots & Bowls and also swung by Little Lucha for some street tacos that disappeared like magic. Afterwards, we headed to The Bowl to host our final skate competition.
Not only was it an amazingly fun time, but one of the guys we met earlier in the day ended up coming out that night. He walked/hitchhiked 20km to get there and crushed the skate competition. At the end of the night, when we were wrapping things up, he made the decision to he give his life to Christ. It was such a compelling moment, and an awesome way to end a truly powerful day.
DAY EIGHT
It’s amazing how fast a week can fly by. Our final day we ate breakfast at our hotel and then went to church at Casa Vida. While I can speak Spanish, not everyone in our group was quite so bilingual, so we really loved being able to attend Casa Vida’s shared worship service, where they sang in both English and Spanish. Due to the large population of ex-pats in Tamarindo, the church here has graciously created a worship environment to feel like home to everyone. The melting pot of cultures and languages in one church body was a beautiful testament to the very simple understanding that we are all God’s children.
Once church was over, we packed up the car and made the drive from Tamarindo back to Liberia. From there, we hopped on the plane and had a smooth journey home, reflecting on the amazing time we’d had.
The Scoop on Ride Nature
Does it seem like we did more surfing and skateboarding than you might expect for a mission trip? This is 100% part of Ride Nature’s ethos and vision.
“That children worldwide would have access to boards and the opportunity to surf and skate.
That we would reach every individual in the action sports industry with the good news of Jesus Christ and provide them the opportunity to see, hear, and respond to the gospel.
That action sports leaders are multiplied, equipped and resourced to represent the gospel to the ends of the earth.”
Ride Nature Vision Statement
As such, the time we spent putting on skating and surfing competitions was just as valuable as the time spent serving food or cleaning. Never having been on a mission trip quite like this before, it was a unique way to holistically embrace a new culture, while concurrently sharing the Gospel in a meaningful way. If you want to learn more about Ride Nature or other upcoming mission trips they have, you can do so here. Whether you’re planning to head down for a mission trip or a vacation adventure, check out our Nine Helpful Costa Rican Travel FAQs before your next Costa Rica adventure.
Peace and Blessings
When I was in middle school, I started going on mission trips to a children’s center in Guatemala, and it opened my eyes in so many ways. One such takeaway was the profound impact you can have in others lives as well as your own when you humble yourself in acts of service. In the years since, I returned to that children’s center multiple times as well as involving myself in a handful of local ministries.
My faith has always been a huge part of my life; however, since going off to college I began using my time between semesters so adventure to new places and visit friends. As such I had not been on a mission trip for a few years before I embarked on this recent adventure. God works in powerful ways, and it was such a reinvigorating experience to open myself up to Christ in a new way, in a new place.
Mission work comes in all shapes and sizes and is always necessary in your own home community; however, there’s beauty to traveling with the primary intention being to serve others. Please reach out if you have any questions or are unsure where to start if this is something you’re interested in!
written by McKenna
If you look up diva in the dictionary, you will find a picture of McKenna Lee. Loud-mouthed and overly opinionated she may have the biggest personality (read: attitude) of us all. McKenna is in college at FGCU, but her passion lies in her small business Mack Swimwear and running her small group through church. She lives for days spent in a bathing suit, and tries to go surfing in every new beach town she visits.
