Meet the team 2013

Our 2013 Costa Rica missions team includes a variety of ready and willing, enthusiastic and able high school students. We want you to meet them, and just as we—the leaders—are getting to understand their hearts and abilities, we wish to have you see, too, those same loving souls and what brought them to our team.

Mariah Smart

One of our veteran team members, Mariah Smart, has actually been to Costa Rica twice before. A senior this year, Mariah plans to study Spanish at Cedarville next school year. Mariah believes in the importance of using God-given abilities and passions to meet the needs of others—for her, this specifically involves children, and specifically in an Hispanic culture. For those reasons, she has been excited to participate in these ministry trips to Costa Rica. 

Even though both trips were to the same Central American country between Nicaragua and Panama, Mariah shares that each trip stretched her and taught her in distinctly different ways. For her, the first year impacted Mariah with a new view of the world. She states the she saw the world “a little more like the way God sees it and was able to see his love across border lines.” On her second trip, Mariah learned the importance of hard work and looking outside of herself for the sake of helping others in their life and faith.

This year, Mariah anticipates being able to interact even more with those we work with since she has seen increases in both her Spanish and her confidence each year.  “I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of our team members and those we are serving,” Mariah states.

Mariah’s other interests include both people and solitude. She spends a lot of my time being with friends, reading, acting in school productions, and messing around in a variety of artistic hobbies.

I have found the greatest encouragement is in looking outside my own life and problems and instead encouraging and interacting with others. When you get a better glimpse of the bigger picture of life, and see God working in entire groups of people, it puts you in perspective and makes living in a way that is responsive to the gift of salvation a more natural thing to do.

Sierra Cole

One of the special benefits of these mission teams is the fact that both campuses come together to work toward a common goal. This year’s Costa Rica team includes four students from the Miamisburg campus of Dayton Christian School Systems (DCSS). Sierra Cole, one such team member, plans on majoring in Spanish and in International Relations at the University of New Mexico after graduating this year from Dayton Christian High School. 

Besides working toward this trip in January, Sierra is also involved on the tennis team and she does  make-up for the high school drama productions. Sierra has been playing the piano for seven years and has participated in gymnastics. In whatever she is involved, Sierra enjoys being with her friends and wants to be ready to help in whatever way possible. 

The Costa Rica trip interested Sierra as it has always been on her heart to take a missions trip, and every year when the ministry is brought up, Costa Rica has been the one to particularly pique her heart.  She also knows Spanish and loves working with children, which fits this trip’s purposes perfectly. As a personal goal, Sierra prays that the trip will enable her to grow as a person and to grow closer to God. To others, Sierra encourages “to not lose focus. No matter what you are going through, keep your head up and push through it.”

Danny Kolota

A junior at Xenia Christian High School (XCHS), Danny Kolota, wanted to join this year’s short-term mission trip because he has seen many of his friends’ lives change after they returned from mission trips. Danny states, “They seemed more focused on accomplishing God’s purpose, and they seemed more joyful as well.  I hope God will use this trip to shape me into the man He wants me to become.”

            Danny decided on joining the Costa Rica team because he knew the leaders and because his friends going on the trip are people he wants to grow closer to as fellow believers. He also believes that Costa Rica was a good destination as it is a Spanish-speaking country, and that is the language he has been learning through school. Having never been on a missions trip before, he wants to “seize the opportunity” before finishing high school.

Danny especially looks forward to trying the different food choices Costa Rica has to offer (“I love trying interesting and sometimes weird food items from different countries,” he states.)  He also looks forward to working with kids through the various Bible school programs the team will help with.

Danny’s hobbies begin with soccer, by far his favorite sport, although he does enjoy any activity outside or any other sport. But soccer is definitvely his favorite outdoor pasttime.  In areas of music, Danny played alto saxophone for five years after playing the clarinet for 2 years in elementary.  Other free time is spent enjoying comedy movie/shows.  Danny’s favorite TV show is The Bill Cosby Show, closely followed by The Dick Van Dyke Show and Family Ties.

In Danny’s personal life, he shares a teaching from his youth pastor in reference to fighting temptation.  The pastor reminded him that “it is okay to tell the enemy ‘Yeah, you’re right.  I do love my sin, and I know I can’t fight it on my own, but Jesus Christ is at the throne of God right now interceding for my sin and taking God’s wrath in place of me.’” Danny stated, “Every time I am about to sin I think of this and think, why would I want to give this incredible act of love and grace up for the shame of sin.  People today too often forget the importance of Jesus’ role right now (interceding for us), and it is arguably the most incredible part of His ministry.  He not only removed the sins of the world, but He continues to do so.  That’s incredible.”

This is the bottom line of carrying the news we carry to Costa Rica. Even in our Western Hemisphere, people still live without the personal knowledge of Jesus’ intercession and God’s incredible love and mercy for them. That is why we go.