When I'm With You

by Kelsey Fiveash, 3-month Costa Rica Immersion team member
The 3-month Costa Rica team is currently spending 3 weeks in San Jose in Spanish language school before traveling to the remote region of Talamanca to live with host families. Here are a few of Kelsey's thoughts right before leaving on the trip.

In March, I typed "Christian mission opportunities" into Google and actually stumbled across an amazing opportunity. A link to Experience Mission's Immersion program appeared, and after watching a four minute video, I had no doubt that this was exactly what I was supposed to do instead of return to school in the fall. The part of video that spoke volumes to me was the Ben Rector lyrics that said:

I go a little crazy sometimes, can you believe it?
Yeah, I swear I'm fine, but I'm barely breathing
Thought I could find my way back home, but I get lost alone
But when I'm with you I'm no longer wandering
And when I'm with you I swear I can breathe
When I'm with you I know who I am and who I want to be

I had felt every single one of these words for the past year. I wanted to break free of the monotony of the fast-past American culture, but I just didn't exactly know how. It was in that moment that I knew exactly where I needed to be—in Costa Rica.

Now five months later, the week before Costa Rica is finally here. This week of training has definitely been a growing experience. I've learned so much about my picture of God, how I view myself, and how I view others. I've learned how important it is to value the person over just trying to do a good deed for someone. And still there's so much more that I'm still trying to think through as I try to wrap my mind around how God is constantly working in and around me. Meeting my team has really been a great experience. God called all six of us to Costa Rica for different reasons, we have different stories, and some of us are from different countries. Everyone came from different backgrounds, but we all have the same mission: to tell people about Jesus.

Experience Mission's tagline is "Live Your Mission" and that's a lot of what drew me to the program. During these three months we're serving the indigenous people, but more importantly we're going to live the local way so we're able to love the people just as Christ would. Being a follower of Christ doesn't mean that I'm to go around telling people how horrible they are and how great I am. I'm just as broken and full of sin apart from Christ as those that don't know Christ. Instead of shoving a tract in someone's face, it's about building genuine and authentic relationships with those I'm surrounded by. It's about the overflow of my heart coming out in just the way I live my life. It shouldn't be forced, instead it's about being so filled with Jesus that it's just who I am. A follower of Christ.

It's scary to step out into the unknown, but being afraid just means that I'm doing big things. When I'm with you, I know who I am and who I want to be.

You must have a group size of at least 6 members to join this trip. Please view the Small Team trips or call our Servicing Department for more options at 888-475-6414.

View Small Team Trips

For most trips, you must have a group size of at least 6 members. Please view the Small Teams tab on each Community page or call our Servicing Department for more options at 888-475-6414.