Mission Trip to Ecuador 2022

Hello! My name is Sofía Fallas Aguilar. I am a seventeen year old christian girl in my senior year of high school. I was born in San José, Costa Rica, and moved in 2013 to Jacó, Costa Rica, where I currently live. I am an active member of Horizon Church. I have been part of this community since 2016, when I first started attending their youth group. In 2018 I became part of the Horizon Kids Ministry, by being an assistant in one of the summer camps that this church provides for the kids of the community, Horizon Kids Camp. Then in 2019, I participated again in this activity, but this time as a main teacher for the kids between the ages of three and five. After that, I became closer to the church community, and participated even more in the different activities that the church did related to the kids of the community, like  the annual christmas party. In 2020, I became the main teacher of the three to five classroom for Horizon Kids Camp. Also, I became part of the AWANA program, where I taught the "Cubbies" or pre-schoolers, about God's word and His endless Love. After that, I decided that I wanted to become a permanent member of the Horizon Kids Ministry, so I asked to be placed as one of the main teachers of the three to four classroom, where I teach every second Sunday of every month. Also, that year I started my career as a babysitter for many families of the church, one of them being the Ailor family. The mom of this wonderful family is Jordanna Ailor, the director of an association called NOW Costa Rica, which I am part of and serve as a mentor and translator for the girls in the group. During 2020, I grew a lot in my faith, and I decided to take a big step in my christian life to get baptized. Then the COVID-19 Pandemic stroked and everything changed with the church and their activities; but gladly, towards the end of 2020 things started to normalize a little bit. In 2021, Jordanna reached out to me to see if I wanted to be her formal translator for a small group that she wanted to start with some girls of the community. With this group I got to meet Merary and Lucía, the two young women that will be going to Ecuador for the Mission Trip in January. This brought a lot of opportunities for me, such as being able to talk about the importance of serving God and our community, in our youth group. I also became part of the Sunday Morning Service Ministry, where twice a month I help with technology for the Sunday Morning Service, given by our Pastor Daniel Barrett. This is me, this is Sofía Fallas, the girl that loves to serve God and loves to help out in any kind of way possible at her church.

Hello everyone, I introduce myself, I am Merary Serrano Leitón. I was born in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, I am currently 18 years old, and I am finishing my last year of school. I live in a small town called San Mateo, which is 29 miles from Jacó. Since I was a child I have been attending the Christian Church. One of my greatest desires has been to help and grow in a Christian community in which I felt comfortable but at the same time made me go a little out of my comfort zone. In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, my family met The Ailor's, 4 incredible people. I have not only learned about North American culture but also about God and how to be better with him. They have connected us with Horizon Church for more than a year. Thanks to this I can confirm that I am in a community that I desired for so much. In November 2020 we got baptized and from that moment our life has changed significantly, now I am an assistant of Horizon Kids some Sundays of the month, I participate in community services that performs the church and Youth Group, as well as being part of NOW COSTA RICA and mentoring one of the smallest girls in the group. Every weekend I go to Jacó to attend the different activities of the church and NOW COSTA RICA. 2021 has been a year of challenges, activities, spiritual and personal growth, I am so grateful with God because he put 2 wonderful Christian friends in my life, together we have shared many experiences and we have the joy of growing and supporting each other, with God as our base and pillar in every decision. I hope I can continue to share with you about me and this incredible trip we have planned, I pray that God will guide us in every decision we make.

If you would like to support us with a donation so we can accomplish our goal of raising money for our mission trip, you can click the link below, and enter your donation at NOW Costa Rica's website. This donation is a tax deductible donation as NOW Costa Rica is a 501c3 nonprofit organization in The States. You will receive verification for your donation from Neighbor’s Outreach Worldwide. Also, if you would like to learn more about the organization NOW Costa Rica, you can take a look at their website by clicking on the link below.

Donations: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/scdnru

NOW Costa Rica: www.nowcr.org