Blue Springs initiates reverse mission trip
First UMC has been involved in mission work with Costa Ricans before, but this August was different. Rather than sending a team to Costa Rica, a team of Costa Ricans came to them.
Jack Marker, Volunteers In Mission coordinator for First UMC, said the team of Costa Ricans had a positive experience as they engaged in ministry around the Kansas City area.
“They saw that America isn’t the land of milk and honey for everyone, but they also saw that churches here are actively engaged in programs to assist the impoverished,” he said.
The team served lunches to sojourners at Grand Avenue Temple UMC, rehabbed an apartment that serves as low-income housing, sorted food at the Harvesters food bank distribution center, worked on the foundation of a Habitat-for-Humanity house, and worked on a domestic violence shelter.
“They were impressed that there are programs here to help battered women. They said that is unheard of in Costa Rica,” Marker said.
The team was made up of 15 people from Costa Rica, ages 17 to 92. Only a few of the team members spoke English. Elizabeth Braden, a member of First UMC, worked with them at Harvesters
“We made friends by doing a common activity together,” Braden said. “Language really wasn’t a barrier.”
One major difference between hosting a team for the week and sending a team to Costa Rica for the week is the number of people involved. The team stayed in a couple of youth rooms at the church. All of the meals were provided by 18 different groups in the church, which included the men’s group, scouts, and some individuals who just came together to provide a meal.
“We wanted to have the whole church involved,” Marker said. “Everyone pitched in and helped.”
Even before the team arrived, the church was cooking. To raise funds for the week, members of the church made high quality to-go meals that people could order and then take home for lunch after Sunday morning worship. The church also worked with Liberty UMC on a auction to raise money for the week, and made $14,000. While this was going on, the Costa Rica Mission Project also held fund raisers, including selling their own carry-out meals (tamales).
Wil Bailey, the missionary for Costa Rica Mission Projects, said his group wanted to come to the United States on a mission trip for several reasons. One was that the U.S. always responds to global catastrophes. A second reason was they wanted to experience the joy the mission teams seem to experience when they come to Costa Rica. Lastly, the group thought it was time they gave something back to the U.S. On Sunday, Aug. 8, the church had a special welcome service and picnic beginning at 5:30 p.m. Bailey lead the service and several members of the visiting mission team provided music.
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