Beyond Borders: Mission Trips at MPCS

In this episode of Beyond the Bell, we take a closer look at Mount Pisgah’s Costa Rica mission trip and the purpose behind it. Joined by Mr. Hilliard, we explore why this trip has become such a meaningful tradition, how it reflects the school’s mission and the lasting impact it has on students.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:13

You're listening to Beyond the Bell, a student-produced podcast from Mount Pisca Christian School. I'm Romagata, and this podcast is a space where students, teachers, and the whole community can connect. Here, we believe every person has a story to tell, and we want to bring those stories to life. In this episode, we're talking about mission trips, specifically focusing on the Beyond the Classroom Costa Rica mission trip. What it's all about, how it's planned, and the impact it has on everyone involved.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Hey Roman, doing well, pretty good day. I appreciate you taking some time to talk to me today, man.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Alright, we're gonna start off with the first question here. Why has Mount Pisca continued to go to Costa Rica year after year?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Yeah, so um Costa Rica partnership with Mount Pisca goes back way, way, way, way back. Long before I was even here. And so I've over the last few years I've gotten a chance to hear about that story. It initially started with a couple, the Peases, Ed and Patty Pease, members over at Pisca Church, but their kids went to Pisca School. And they had some connections in Costa Rica. I think initially it was with dental missions. So they would take teams down to go help some folks down in Costa Rica with uh kind of a dish uh dental project that they would help people for either free or reduce costs to help help with that. And so over the years, Ed and Patty Pease, they start this organization, they start this nonprofit, and they start bringing teams down to Costa Rica, and they said, Hey, why don't we bring our our boys who are going to Pisca? Why don't we start bringing teams from Pisca and their friends? And so for a number of years, they have had a connection of bringing student teams and adult teams throughout the years down to Costa Rica for various uh reasons. And so when I got into this role with uh Spiritual Life, I was introduced to them and it was cool that we could continue that partnership over a long period of time of people from Mount Pisca School going down to Costa Rica. So I thought it'd be cool to keep that partnership going, and that's the reason we're still sending teams, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

What kind of impact does the Costa Rica trip have on students?

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah, I'd say a couple of things for that. Number one, traveling to a different culture, um, I guess what what many people call cross-cultural ministry or cross-cultural experiences, it opens up your eyes to something maybe totally brand new. So, you know this, Roman. You you you live in this area, you go to school in this area, maybe you travel vacation or baseball or some other things outside of this area, but mainly you kind of get in the a little bubble of things that are super familiar to you, and it is really eye-opening to get outside of that bubble. And so going to Costa Rica, I always try to encourage our students to have open eyes and open ears to learn. That's kind of like the first thing. Just listen and learn, soak in something totally different outside of your bubble. So the impact is get outside your bubble, get outside your comfort zone, listen and learn from somebody else. And every time I've taken a mission trip cross-culturally, the people on the trip are just like so overwhelmed with how much they learned from somebody else, uh, doing things a little differently. So that's a huge thing, man. So if you can if you can have open eyes and ears to learn from other people, then that's to me that's a huge impact that mission trip can can have on people.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

What are some of the biggest challenges you face when organizing a mission trip and how do you overcome them?

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yeah, so obviously like putting together all the details for the trip is kind of tough because we're talking to people who are across, you know, many, many miles away. Um there's different ways of doing things than we would normally do, which is not as it's not a bad thing, it's just different, it's unique in its sense. So kind of adapting the way that we want to do things to say, hey, we want to do it, how you guys do it, and and come in and come alongside to support what the people are doing there and do it in the way that they know is the best way with a mission trip is super valuable, but also challenging. It's hard to communicate those things sometime. So I think another challenge is obviously logistics of getting everybody from point A to point B. There's all the different planning that goes behind the scenes. So I'm super thankful that we have uh the pieces that I mentioned earlier who helped organize that, and then we got some really great partners on the ground. Um a really good friend, his name is Luis, he always drives the bus and is in charge of everybody getting there safely and is a really great host for us. And then Gerson and his family is another partner who helps make that planning really easy because he's like he's got this vision for for ministry in Costa Rica and he he helps us a ton. So I'm very thankful for that.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

So outside of the Costa Rica mission trip, what are other locations that we go to for mission trips?

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Um, so this coming year, as we had last year with the Beyond the Classroom trips at the beginning of the year, we'll have a mission trip that goes to Costa Rica, we'll have a mission trip that goes to western Kentucky in the United States, and then we'll have local missions happening right here in Atlanta. And I love that because um in Scripture, in the Bible, in the book of Acts, um Jesus is sort of having his last words with his disciples, and he tells them to go to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth to go spread uh the gospel, to go spread the truth of who Jesus is. And so if you look at that, Judea is like right outside of Jerusalem. So it's kind of like go right in your city, which is kind of what we're doing in Atlanta. Go to the city that you live in and do ministry there. Then he says, go to Samaria, which is a little bit further outside of Jerusalem where they were living at the time. So it's kind of like a little further out, which is kind of to me, you know, somewhere in the United States, Kentucky, let's say, where there's some need. And then it's like, go even further. He says, go to the ends of the world, which I don't I wouldn't see Costa Rica as the end of the world, but it is a flight from here, and it's a little bit further out. So I love that we get the chance to sort of mirror what Jesus said to say, hey, go to your city, go to your little outside your city, go to somewhere way outside, and and spread the love of God to the people the people around the gospel, which is pretty cool. We get to we get to do that as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

What is something that surprises students the most when they go on their first mission trip?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I'm trying to think of this year some feedback from our students who overall had amazing experiences in Atlanta, in Kentucky, and in Costa Rica. But always, always, always see um reflection on number one, especially if you go to a different culture, it's like the surprise is how much of life is the same somewhere else in a different culture. Um, even it feels like different at the same time at the root level, there's still challenges that everybody faces, there's still needs that everybody has, there's still things that everybody gets excited about. Um that we get excited about here in our culture. So I think what students come back with is like, man, how similar things are. The other thing I see uh is how much a small thing that we do or say can really make a big impact. For example, um in Kentucky this past year, the team of students and teachers they got to serve a meal in a in a community in a city that is still reeling from natural disasters, some tornadoes, some storms that have gone through. There's a lot of rebuilding in that area of Kentucky. And then post-COVID, there's been a lot of people having a hard time getting back on their feet. So each week, this ministry that they got to work with simply makes food and like gives it to people, hands it out in boxes to people in need. And that feels kind of small, you know, like making a meal for somebody, but the big impact is these families who might not otherwise get some food for that day or the next couple of days, like that makes a big impact on the physical needs of somebody, which hopefully translates to we're helping take care of your physical needs, and there is a God who knows you and loves you and wants to take care of your spiritual needs as well. So the little things like what can we do in Atlanta? What can we do in other places where it seems really small, but in God's perspective and in maybe the lives of these people who are struggling, it has a it has a big impact. And so, um, yeah, those are a couple of takeaways. Man, there's so many more. Uh the cool thing in Costa Rica, I was on the trip this past year, and we would have a debrief time every night and kind of say, like, what did you learn today? And every night there was so many different cool perspectives from every single person. They all had a different connection point of here's where I grew. And so if we can we could continue trips like that where everybody is coming back different than when they when they went, I think that's um that's really huge. Good question.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Thank you. How do these trips help students grow in their faith and character?

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Yeah, yeah, kind of kind of what I talked about. Hopefully they come back differently than when they when they left. Um, my hope is that no matter what kind of mission opportunity that students go on, they see that um God is working, God is at work and is working in people's lives all the time, everywhere. There's not a place we can go where God is not there and present and already working in the lives of people. And so if we can come into an environment where we know that God is already at work somewhere, he's already got some kind of plan, he's doing work in the lives of his people in that area, then I hope people can see that a mission trip is basically coming alongside what God is already doing in a place and like supporting, loving, and helping the people in that area with what God's already doing. It's not like, hey, I come into a place and I start something totally brand new and hoping, keeping my fingers crossed, that it's it's helping the people. But if if our students can see that every opera every place they go, every college they end up at, every church they end up going to in the future, every community they end up living in, like God's already working there, but they have open eyes and open ears to say, like, how can I come alongside what God is doing and be helpful to the kingdom, to God's kingdom and to the gospel. I think that's a a cool thing. The other thing, which sort of relates to that, is seeing how big God's church is. Again, it's that kind of bubble-bursting thing. We experience church here in a particular way or community of believers in Christ in a particular way. But you get outside of this bubble and you see a different perspective of church in Costa Rica and in Africa and Asia and South America and a bunch of different places. But it's really cool to see how the family of God is like still close together, even though we do things differently. Like there's this kind of union and connection that believers have that draws uh that draws the community of God together. So um, those are a couple things that I hope that students can grow in, and then maybe like just a personal thing of like God, how can I love you today? Wherever I find myself, how can I personally love you and love the people around me today? If we take that away from a mission trip, it's not like you can only love people and love God when you're on a mission trip. Like that's not that's not true. Like, what can you take back from the mission trip to love God and love people every single day? So hopefully that's a growth area too.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

What would you say to a student who's thinking about going on a mission trip, maybe for their first time, or just to a different location?

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Do it! Bottom line. Do it. I know there's a lot of um, you know, there's a lot of challenges that come with traveling internationally. We might have some fear about that, or some obstacles, or you're asking me to go to a place I don't I don't speak Spanish or I don't speak this language, like that's okay. Like that you don't have to have all everything put together to serve God. There's you look in the Bible, there's people who are called to different places and they are not they're not ready for that, but they end up saying yes because they know that's what God's calling them to do. So if you feel this kind of like call or this nudging or this like leading of, hey, you need to you need you need to do this. Like there's a there's a nudging for it, there's obviously these challenges, but then there's a God who will walk alongside you to equip you to be prepared for that. So there's no greater joy that I've had in my life than um seeing a need, hearing what people are struggling with, and then jumping in and just following God's lead to help or to pray or to come alongside those people and and serve them, which is what a mission trip is really all about. So if you get a chance, could be something, you know, put your foot in the water a little bit here with a local trip or somewhere at your church or in your community, serve other people, and then take some steps further of maybe advancing that um down the road.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

And the last question how do students stay connected to the mission and continue serving either after they return home?

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Great question because and this is really huge, Roman, because you can go on a mission trip, you can have all the wonderful experiences, and you get this kind of feel-good feeling of wow, I really helped. I really saw a need, and I helped come alongside what God is doing. But if it stops there, that that's you kind of missed you miss the whole the whole thing. So, one thing I really love about our mission trips is we'll we'll do training before we go on the trip, we'll do debrief while what are we learning during the trip, and then the the hope is that after the trip we have some follow-up of what are you doing now? Like how has this trip changed you to walk with the Lord uh in a different way? Um I was talking to a student or a couple of students who post uh mission trips they said, I want to I need to get involved more at my church. So they've stepped into just being more faithful with serving at their church because they're churches are doing amazing things in their community. They're like, I know my church has a lot of opportunity. I want to lean into serving more at my church, and that's a great takeaway. Like pouring yourself into God's community is a great takeaway. Uh I've talked to another student who's like on fire for coming back from a trip, on fire for helping with some different nonprofit organizations. Like, how can our school get involved in this nonprofit? How can we help these people who are struggling with this? They came back and they were just like, I need to get more involved. And I've talked to a couple other students that are just like coming back from this trip, I saw God in a new way, and that really changed my heart for my relationship with God. So, like reading the Bible more or taking some time to pray on a more regular basis. Those are things that you do, but I feel like those things that are you do come from a heart that wants to be. I want to be closer to God. And these mission trips open up a door, serving other people, depending on God, seeing a bigger picture of the world, where hopefully, hopefully, this is the prayer we come back changed and we come back different. Um, and it really helps us to grow in our faith. So, yeah, that's that's the takeaways uh I hope our students get to experience from our trips this year.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

All right, well, as we wrap up, I want to say thank you for your time.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Oh, yeah. Yeah, thank you, Roman. Appreciate you, man. This is great. And if people want to talk more about mission trip opportunities or my experience with mission trips, please come come by Mr. Hilliard's office, come see me, let's chat, let's pray, let's let's look into how God's leading you into whatever he's leading you into. That'd be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Thank you. Episode of Beyond the Bell as we take a closer look at Mount Pisca's mission trips, especially the impact on the Costa Rica experience. We hope this gave you a better understanding of the heart behind these trips and the planning that makes them possible. Be sure to follow us on Spotify Podcast, and if you have an idea for your future episode, send us a message on Instagram at MPCS Liberty Bell. Thanks for listening to Beyond the Bell, and we'll see you soon.