My faith grew through seeing the optimism of the marginalized individuals we worked with. Comparatively, our mission group members come from much wealthier backgrounds. Seeing the Costa Ricans, who could not afford the majority of our material possessions, get so happy just because we were spending three hours a day with them has made me think twice about problems I have at home. When I complain and/or get upset about something in life, I think about how people in other situations (namely the Costa Ricans) would react and I try and catch myself from getting too upset over something I am truly privileged to have. My time in Costa Rica challenged my faith because I do not always agree with over-the-top foreign aid. This is relevant because I believe that people in our own country, the United States, should be taken care of first. So many times people focus on the extreme hardships people face around the world but ignore those currently going on in our own country. With this thought in mind I still did my best to see the big picture impact of our mission work. The trip was a once in a lifetime experience. It really reinforced my belief that people all over the world, regardless of socioeconomic or language barriers, share a common trait through the human element. Even though the Costa Rican locals did not fully understand what we were verbally trying to communicate (nor we them), we could still connect and communicate with them on an emotional level. |