[Megan Anderson reflects on the importance of mission work as she and six others prepare for a January 2013 young adult mission trip to Costa Rica.  The group will help at Camp Penuel, a free Christian camp for Costa Rican children, for a week.]

My sister and her husband (Rachel and Jon Kamrath) are members at Faith, and they are the reason I heard about the trip. As soon as I received the e-mail saying Faith Lutheran was planning a mission trip to Costa Rica for college-aged young adults, in a Spanish-speaking country, doing Kingdom-building work, I was all-in. You see, I have had a passion for the Spanish language (and those who speak it) for years. I studied it all through high school, majored in it in college, and am currently living in Spain for three months to improve my fluency.

In addition to building language skills, college was a time of huge spiritual growth for me, and an opportunity like this one to further build my faith seemed too good to pass up. Coming up with time and money for a mission trip can be difficult, but I believe it’s completely worth it. My grandpa Harvey Johnson once wrote that “showing the love of God has done something for the inner soul that is hard to describe.” Outward costs are often easy to see, but unseen benefits can be enormous. When we put our time, money and hearts on the line working to bring God’s kingdom a little closer to earth, God blesses our efforts. We aren’t usually very good at loving our neighbors, but with God’s help we can truly make a difference.

Every action we choose shapes who we become. This is always true, but I think as young people this is especially true. Now is the opportune time to chose activities that will make us more Christ-like, and set us apart as Christians living out a genuine faith. On behalf of those going on the trip, I thank you all for your support and prayers as we set out on this weeklong, Spirit-filled adventure.