11th-12th Grade International Mission Trip

Basic Information:

When: April 5-11, 2020

Where: San Isidro de El General, Costa Rica

Who: All 11th-12th grade students

With: Costa Rica Missions Projects (CRMP)

Cost: $1,257.00 (if all fundraising goals are meet)

Deposit: $50 due when you register

What is the cost of the trip?

Base cost of the trip is $1,657.00 per person. The church is giving each student $200 towards their trip. Our fundraising goal is $3,000 in total which means each person will receive another $200 off the base price of their trip. If all fundraising goals are meet, the total cost will be $1,257.00 per person.

What are the travel plans for the trip?

We will fly out of Atlanta on Sunday, April 5 at 7:25 AM on Southwest Airlines. We have a quick hour and a half layover in Ft. Lauderdale, FL before arriving at San Jose, Costa Rica at 11:40 AM. We have about a three and a half hour bus ride from San Jose to San Isidro de El General (CRMP Main Camp).
We will fly out of San Jose, Costa Rica on Saturday, April 11 at 12:40 PM and layover again for about hour and a half in Ft. Lauderdale, FL before arriving back in Atlanta at 9:05 PM.

Will I need a passport?

You will need a valid passport to go on this trip, please make plans to get your passport now if you don’t have one or check your expiration date now.

What does our schedule look like?

Sunday, travel day
Monday-Thursday, work days
Friday, day off and travel day
Saturday, travel day

What projects will we be doing in Costa Rica?

Possibilities are VBS, build additions for local churches, creating sidewalks, flood beds for local communities, latrines, home additions, and flooring.

Where will be stay?

There are two possibilities, at main camp or in a local church within our work-site village. If at main camp, they have bunkbeds in open dorm house (4 on site). If at village, we will bring air mattresses to sleep on the floor. We will know before we leave which housing arrangement we have. On Friday night we will stay in a hotel in San Jose next to the airport.

What will we do on our off day?

We will go to Espadilla Beach (Pacific Ocean), Puntarenas Province, Quepos. The beach is about two and a half hours away from main camp. We will have time at the beach and will eat lunch at beach side restaurant. Then we will travel to San Jose that night.

Will we have fundraisers for this trip?

Yes! Our first fundraiser is the Chili Cook Off on Wednesday, Jan 15th. Our goal is to raise $3,000 with this event. If we don’t meet this goal, we have another fundraiser in mind called an “Envelope Campaign.”

Will we have pre mission trip meetings?

Yes! Our pre mission trip meeting will be on Sunday mornings from 8:30-9:00 AM. The dates are: February 9 and March 22. These meets are very important to attend, please make EVERY effort to be at all the meetings.

Is Costa Rica safe for foreign travelers?

Costa Rica is a very stable country, both politically and economically. The result is that it is not as dangerous as some of the hot spots in Central and South America. That being said, discretion should be used whenever traveling in a foreign country, regardless of the political/economic situation. (The same could be said for traveling in the U.S.). I have been working in Costa Rica for the past 18 years without incident, and while Costa Rica Mission Projects obviously cannot make guarantees, we will do everything in our power to make sure that your team has a safe, comfortable and pleasurable experience.

What kind of shots should one get before coming to Costa Rica? What are the medical facilities like?

It is best to check with your personal physician. They can get the most up-to-date travel health information for you. Health care in Costa Rica is very good. Conveniently, the largest hospital in the Southern Zone is in San Isidro, so if need be, we can get a patient to that hospital for care. UMVIM offers very good insurance that we recommend teams consider getting before they come.

What languages do they speak in Costa Rica?

While you may very well meet some Costa Ricans who speak English, the official language is Spanish. Spanish speaking team members are very helpful, but not essential to the effectiveness of a team. Someone who can communicate with the host community will be available to translate when necessary. We do encourage those team members who do not speak Spanish to embrace the opportunity to learn to communicate through gestures and "sign language" (you'll be surprised at how well you do!). Cost Ricans are extremely patient people, and you are probably not the first "gringo" who has tried to talk to them.

Do team members need prior construction experience in order to participate?

Absolutely not! We welcome everyone from seasoned professionals to folks who have never held a paintbrush before. We will always have knowledgeable people on the work sites to help those team members who have less experience. It is also important to remember that every project has different tasks involved — some require more know-how than others. We are confident that no one will leave feeling that they were not able to contribute to the work of the team. While the most visible result of work teams is often the structures they build, we are equally as concerned about the relationships that are built between teams and their host churches. You are not simply imported foreign labor. You are invited to participate in the church's embodyment of being the one Body of Christ!

Who arranges transportation and food for the team?

We take care of all of those arrangements for you. Most meals are prepared on-site by members of the local church where the team is working. We also work with a dependable transportation company who gets the teams from the airport to the site and back, as well as the transportation for the day off.

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