Numerous Georgia Southern student-athletes and coaches are spending their spring breaks serving others this Spring Break, traveling to Costa Rica with Athletes in Action to help install water filters for the less fortunate in the area. Each day, we'll post a blog entry from student-athletes Rashad Byrd (football) and Anna Kassis (swimming & diving) who are helping out.
Final Day:
It was our day in Costa. We gave out the remaining of our filters in the morning. We gained some amazing relationships with our translators, church members, and some of the people in the community. It was difficult leaving them, but we know that we left them with something that will be able help them prosper. Sharing testimonies were also very interesting. We had two people in our group step up share for their first time and that truly touched my heart. One of them was a child in our group. That was literally the best experience I've received during this trip. Age is just a number to step up and make a difference in people's lives. It's amazing how God works. Once again, God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. I encourage you to take a trip out AIA and have watch how it will chance your life forever. Thanks for allowing me to share my experience with you on our Eagles in Costa Rica mission trip! - Rashad
Today was our fifth and final day in Costa Rica. We spent the morning distributing the last of the water filters. My group was able to have a great conversation with two men and a woman who all lived in houses next to each other. The woman's name was Rosa, and I spent a while talking with her about her faith. I also shared my faith with her. Around lunch time, we went to a local ice cream shop and enjoyed some massive ice cream cones in a local park! This afternoon we packed up our things, relaxed, and enjoyed the beauty of Costa Rica one last time. Tonight we will have dinner and debrief about our entire trip. Tomorrow morning we will be begin traveling back to the US very early in the morning. This trip has been an amazing experience. I am so blessed to have been able to love on the people of Costa Rica and to be a part of providing a physical and spiritual need here. Costa Rica will always have a very special place in my heart, and I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to share this experience with all of Eagle Nation through this blog! - Anna
Day 4:
Going through a very physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual past few days we were excited to have a free day exploring Costa Rica. We visited two beaches which were very. A huge highlight has been getting to know athletes from other sports. We have really enjoyed getting to know each other and it's brought us very close together like a family. This is one of many reasons why I love Athletes In Action for the community it provides for us. That's something truly special that you don't find everywhere. The water was beautiful and the waves were perfect for surfing. We had a blast. Everyone definitely needed this day to recharge, have a good time, and get ready for our last day of sharing the filters tomorrow! - Rashad
Today was our free day in Costa Rica! We got an early start and headed about three hours away to the beach! Our first stop of the day was Playa Blanca. This beach had extremely white sand and beautiful blue water. We spent most of our morning swimming in the ocean and exploring the rocks that surrounded the beach. Eventually we left this beach, and headed to Joca beach where we had lunch at a hostel right on this beach. This beach had black sand, dark water, and really big waves. We rented surfboards from the hostel and spent all afternoon surfing! It was an awesome day of relaxing and hanging out together! Tomorrow we will have our last day of going out into the community and distributing filters. - Anna
Day 3:
Today was a very exciting day. Our meals have mostly been rice, beans, and a meat with fresh fruit. Last night we got a surprise with McDonald's double cheeseburgers for a late night snack. I haven't ate that in almost two years, but they were so good. It was a treat to have some food from back home. That fueled us up for the day. We were able to play sports with kids at a private school and also teach them the good news of God. Many chose to have a better relationship with God, which really touched me. Sports is a universal language where we can come together and play as one no matter the language barrier. After an amazing lunch we had our second afternoon of sharing filters. Eyes were opened as many athletes from day 1, and a few of my group members took a leap of faith and decided to share the good news for the first time. Tears were shed and much love was given afterwards. It's exciting to be a group leader and witness all of your group members serving these people and sharing for the first time. This is a close group and it's been exciting to get to know other athletes from different sports. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. - Rashad
Day 3 began with coffee and our daily devotional groups. This morning we discussed what it means to be an ambassador for God in preparation to go out into the community and love on the Costa Rican people. We began the morning at a school; however, this school was a little different than the one we visited yesterday. We began our morning at the school playing sports with the high school and middle school students. We played basketball, soccer, and football. While playing basketball, I made friends with a 10th grader named Rebecca. Rebecca spoke pretty good English and she wanted to practice, so I asked her a lot of questions about what her school was like and what she liked to do for fun. She told me that they were supposed to have a quiz in one of their classes today, but because we came to visit they didn't have to take the quiz. Two of our team members, Ashley and Jake, shared their faith with the students. Around 25 or so students prayed to have a relationship with God. Eventually the middle and high school students had to go back to class, and then the younger elementary school children came out to play. With these younger kids, I passed around a football and kicked around a soccer ball. After leaving the school, we took a quick break for lunch. Next, we headed back out to the villages to distribute the water filters. Today, my group installed six filters and we were able to share the good news with many people and a few even prayed to start a relationship with God. I had the opportunity to share my faith with a mother and daughter who both decided to pray to have that relationship. I know that God has truly used me as an ambassador for Him today in Costa Rica. Tomorrow is our free day and can't wait to share with you about our beach trip! - Anna
Day 2:
Today we went to the elementary school and were able to give each class fresh water with the filters and shared the good news with the kids. Afterwards we played sports with them inside the school to help establish relationships. It was great seeing how happy the kids were and how accepting they were of us even through the filter presentation. After we were done playing they were very thankful and most of the kids didn't want us to leave. Later on in the day we went out into the community and gave out more filters and shared the good news with the natives of Costa Rica. Lots of lives were impacted including ours. And as I walked through the community to a bridge I looked down and there was an array of trash in a pond. The living conditions are shocking and the people are very poor. Even though their living conditions were not good the people had so much joy and were very happy to have us there. They couldn't believe we came all the way from the US to help them. We have many things to be grateful for in America. - Rashad
We began our day with Costa Rican coffee and our morning devotional group. We spent some time praying and preparing our hearts for a day full of serving God and the people of Costa Rica. After a quick breakfast, we headed out to a local school. When we got to the school, we broke into our filter groups so that we could install a water filter and share the good news with each classroom. My group shared the water filter with a class full of young children who were learning English! After the filter presentation, we began to play games and sports with the school kids as they came outside for recess. The kids had so much energy and they were so excited to see us that they even started to ask for our autographs! The teachers at the school offered us passion fruit to eat, and I was able to All of the kids were so sad when we left, and it was hard to leave the school because we had so much fun with them. After a break for lunch, we headed out to the villages to distribute more water filters. The villages were an extremely eye opening experience. My group installed six water filters for families today, and we were able to meet an tangible need to clean drinking water while sharing the good news with many people as well. Many kids were around, so we handed out candy and became friends with them! A few young girls decided that they wanted us to give them piggy back rides, so we began to have piggy back races as well! It was a great day of providing a physical and spiritual need to the people of Costa Rica! - Anna
Day 1:
After a long travel day yesterday we were and ready to attack the day with the help of some Costa Rican coffee. Today was our first full day in Costa Rica. We are staying up in the mountains near San Jose. We went to church this morning and heard a great message from Pastor Renee. He shared about how life is about relationships. It was great to see and experience a different culture and get to know the people more. We applied the lesson as we went out into the community and played with some of the locals and helped build relationships with them as we were competing and using sports as our outlet. Tonight we will do some training on how to share the filters and some team building with each other. - Rashad
We started our first morning in Costa Rica at a local church. Everyone was extremely welcoming and treated us like family from the moment that we arrived there! Even though we speak different languages we were able to come together to pray and worship God in the same way. After lunch at the church, we headed to a local park to play sports. We played basketball, soccer, football, and four square with many local children. We were able to witness sports used as a universal language for all people! - Anna
