Listed Alphabetically
Elizabeth AutioA veteran from the 2011 Costa Rica missions trip, Elizabeth Autio is a senior at Dayton Christian High School in Miamisburg, OH. After graduating, Elizabeth plans to major in graphic design at Bowling Green State University.
Elizabeth says that last year’s mission work in Costa Rica changed her view on life, and even how she reacts to certain situations. What she saw in another country created in her an appreciation for all that she has in her life. Elizabeth desires to go to Costa Rica on this ministry trip as it is a different venue from what other students experience in the Dominican Republic or in Jamaica.Besides getting ready for her trip in January, other hobbies include reading, hanging out with friends, hiking, taking and editing photographs, participating in Zumba, and travel.
She wants her friends to know that God is with them, and if God can use her to help, she is here to listen.
Camille Clements
Our fearless leader, Camille Clements, comes from a family of teachers and felt the Lord calling her to teach even as a young person. She has been teaching at Xenia Christian for fourteen years. She has been going on ministry trips with Dayton Christian Schools since 2001--but only as a co-leader, never the leader. Last year, the opportunity presented itself through a co-worker to set up a trip to Costa Rica. She had spent several years there as a missionary and she put Miss Clements in contact with the Salley family, and the Costa Rica Ministry trip came in to being.
Miss Clements recalls, “I became the trip leader through a series of events that only the Lord could have orchestrated. I am generally a behind the scenes kind of person who enjoys serving and supporting, but the Lord wanted to grow and stretch me, which he has done by putting me in charge of this trip. I am so glad that God chose to use me to help young people experience missions.”
Having always had a heart for missions, before working with Dayton Christian School System (DCSS), Miss Clements served as a missionary for two years in Barcelona, Spain, teaching pre-kindergarten in an international school. Later, with DCSS, she traveled to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where DCSS partners with Logos Christian School to work in orphanages ministering to the children. Later in Baja California, Mexico, she worked through DCSS partnering with Global Recordings to share the gospel in native languages. Other ministry trips included Santander, Spain, for Athletes in Action’s spring campaign, Iquitos, Peru, serving with ABWE running vacation Bible school ministries.
Beyond teaching and using the Spanish language, Miss Clements also enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, and participating in half marathons.
“When the Lord calls you to do something,” states Miss Clements, “trust that He knows what is best for you, and do it. Also trust that He will equip you to do whatever he calls you to do. I have found that he has called me to things that I would not naturally choose to do because in my weakness He is proved strong.”
A senior in high school, Jenna Craft hopes to be a pediatrician or a pharmacist in her future. In the fall, she will attend Grove City College and major in biology.
Through the gifts He has entrusted her with—compassion, persistence, and steadfastness—God has developed in Jenna a craving for mission work. This will be her third mission trip, and in her words, she “has grown so much. Not only did I deepen my relationship with God, but I became more dependent on His provisions.”
Jenna chose Costa Rica because she knows some Spanish and wanted to experience another culture. I have been to the Dominican Republic on a missions trip, and discovered that God was not calling me to return. Basically this opportunity arose, and God told me to take it.
Before traveling to the DR, Jenna had never been on her own. She remembers, “I stayed by myself with a host family and I was a wreck, but then I remembered an important lesson. I remembered that God will never leave us nor forsake us, and I took comfort in that. I learned to rely on God no matter how big or small the issue. I have always known this in my mind to be true, but this was the first instance when I believed in my heart. I have also been to Costa Rica before. Last year I grew so much in my relationship with God, I learned not to be anxious and to rejoice even in the face of bitter trials.”
“If I could encourage someone today, I would give three nuggets of advice:
- "Trust God in ALL situations.
- "Shine as a light for Christ, because someone is noticing, and you may have planted a seed.
- "Go on a missions trip, because it is a life-changing experience that you should not pass by.”
Sam Franklin 
A senior at Xenia Christian High School, Sam Franklin looks forward to studying pharmacy at Cedarville University next year. This is Sam’s first trip to Costa Rica, and he has put a lot of heart into learning words and sentences in Spanish (even though he is currently studying French in high school).
Last year he enjoyed a missions trip to Guatemala, and when looking at J-Term options this year, Sam wanted to continue spreading the Good News. Miss Clements approached him about the possibility of going to Costa Rica, and after speaking with his parents and with God, the trip sounded just right to him.
In his previous trip to Guatemala in 2010, the Holy Spirit used a simple skit he was in to lead several people to salvation. Wherever the team traveled, a stage “showed up” for us. “The trip,” Sam says, “made me understand how other people live, and how a disaster affects people.” He also learned to trust church leaders more.
This year, Sam has again participated in the evangelistic drama mime that the team has performed at parks and schools. He has also passed out tracts and learned a lot of new words, tastes, and culture.
Sam enjoys playing the violin both in high school string ensembles and in his church orchestra. He hopes to continue with music, and particularly at Cedarville University.
He reminds us that, no matter the circumstances, we need to praise God.
Chris Harr
Even though he wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up, Chris Harr has been a high school math teacher now for five years. Overseas mission trips have been a special part of his life going back to high school years when he had an opportunity to go on a two short term trips which, as he states, radically changed his life. About those trips, Mr. Harr says, “They gave me a new perspective on who God was, how He works, and how blessed I am. Now as a teacher I get a chance to help lead others to those same realizations.”
Mr. Harr’s trips have taken him to Quebec, Trinidad and Tobago, Malawi (four times!), and Hyderabad, India. “Through these trips,” he remembers, “God taught me a lot. I had to re-evaluate what things are really essential and it helped me re-order my priorities. I got to see that God was a God who was much bigger than my own little world. While in India God opened my eyes to how alive and active he is and how He truly wants to know and grow me.” (If anyone asks him, he is more than willing to share more details.)
Mr. Harr’s other interests include strength and conditioning, hiking, and basketball. Someday he hopes to start his own strength and conditioning program as a way to impact kids and make some side money.
Remembering what his own father told him when he graduated, Mr. Harr reminds seniors and other graduates “It’s hard for God to steer a ship that ain’t movin.”
Sarah Marie Graver
Sarah Graver is a senior planning to pursue communications with an emphasis in advertising at Lee University. Sarah’s interest in short-term missions began with God laying it on her heart as a passion to serve others while doing something she really enjoys. “It is an opportunity,” she says, “that I have been given and something that I would like to continue doing.”
Another of the 2011 Costa Rica trip veterans, Sarah says that that experience was one of the best she has ever had. “God really taught me a lot, and I wanted to go back a second time to build off those relationships made.” Both that ministry trip and another to Arizona have really changed her life, she shares, and have given her an enthusiasm for missions.
Sarah plays soccer and throws shot and discus for track. She hopes (better said, she “plans”) on breaking the school record for shot-put this year as she trains by participating in weight lifting.
She reminds us all that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
As a senior at Xenia Christian, Kelly Hippenmeyer, plans on majoring next year in fashion merchandising and minoring in journalism. Kelly shares, “My dream job would be to work for a magazine like Vogue and to be able to write about fashion.”
Kelly believes that short term missions trips are a great way to learn more about how God can use someone to bring glory to his name. She states, “I believe he has specifically called me and all the members on the team together for a very specific purpose and that's what is so intriguing—the fact that God already picked out this team and knows what we are going to experience and what we all will learn.
“I want to know Him better every day and I think going on a trip like this provides an opportunity to focus in on how he wants me to change and grow to be more like him. I think it also provides an opportunity to learn how to serve others and put into practice the servant-like attitude that I should have all the time.”
Another of our team veterans, Kelly knew that if she were to go on a missions trip this year, she definitely wanted to return to Costa Rica. “It's exciting to see what God is doing there, and I am eager to work with some of the same family in Christ that we made friendships with last year. Truly it's God that even called me to go to Costa Rica in the first place and He who has called me back.”
Kelly’s first trip was an experience she will never forget. “God taught me a lot about having an unselfish perspective,” she shares. “There are people everywhere headed to hell because they don't know about the love that Christ offers to us. Mostly I feel like God wanted to break my heart for what breaks his and help me to change my perspective to be able to be more open with how he is and has been changing my life.”
Other interests of Kelly include learning piano, hanging out with friends, playing volleyball, and discovering new music. She also enjoys baking brownies and cookies and even hot dogs.
“Remember that Christ is absolutely worth pursuing. Any other pursuit in life will lead to emptiness. I know a lot of times I look to other things to be a part of my joy. But when I focus on Christ being the only source of life, that is when I feel genuine joy.”
Maria Howarah
Maria Howarah, a junior at Xenia Christian High School involved in a variety of sports, plans on college in not-too-distant future. On a closer horizon, Maria looks forward to the ministry trip to Costa Rica where she would like to share God with little kids through all of the ministries in which the team will be involved.
Maria chose to go to Costa Rica because she currently studies Spanish and would like to use it to spread God’s Word throughout the world. Maria also looks forward to building better relationships with the people on her team and to ministering to children through VBS activities.
Corey Meade
Corey Meade is a senior at Xenia Christian and plans on studying occupational therapy in college. While she has been on other ministry trips, this is Corey’s first time to fly to and work in a foreign country. “I have always had a heart for missions,” she says, “and …I wanted to experience a more extreme side of missions. Costa Rica has always been a destination I have dreamed of visiting, and the added bonus that I get to serve others while I am there makes it even better.”
Previous ministry trips include work in coastal Carolina to help rebuild a family’s home. She shares that “It impacted me a lot. It was a very awesome feeling to know how we were impacting someone’s life for the better.”
Corey’s other interests include helping people (which she loves) and sports. She hopes to find a way to use sports for God’s glory. She encourages to always trust God and never forget who they are.
Stephanie Panosian
Looking forward to attending Indiana Wesleyan University after graduating this year, Stephanie Panosian plans to major in early childhood education and minor in Spanish.
Stephanie’s other interests include baking and cooking. Stephanie runs a small cake business, including the decorating. She babysits regularly and also enjoys sewing.
“Always cherish every moment of your life,” Stephanie states, “whether good or bad—otherwise you will look back on it and wish you could do it all again. Time flies, so enjoy every moment!”
Stephen Panosian
Another of the teacher-leaders, Steve Panosian currently attends Cedarville University as a freshman nursing student, with a minor in Spanish. He would like to be a nurse practitioner, and hopefully use that in long term medical missions.
A 2011 XCHS graduate, Stephen is also one of the veteran team members. “Last year,” he shares, “I loved the opportunity to serve God in another country. The people of Latin America are a pleasure to be around, and I had the opportunity to use my Spanish.” This positive experience inspired his return as a leader on this year’s trip.
Moreover, Stephen states, “I went to Costa Rica last year as a student. It helped me see a calling to missions later in life, and I significantly grew my relationship with Christ by developing my devotion to Him.” Stephen appreciates the people of Costa Rica, and he even hopes to serve there one day in the future.
Stephen also enjoys soccer. A lot. Beyond the age for high school or club soccer, he is involved in indoor soccer, college intramurals, and works as the assistant coach of Xenia Christian’s soccer team.
“God knows what's best for you, and He has a plan for your life. So whatever is going on in your life—however troubling or comforting, big or small—trust in God, He has your best in mind.
Evan Ramey
A junior at Xenia Christian, Evan Ramey decided to go on a missions trip because, as he puts it, “lately God has been leading me to DO something, anything and…this would be a good opportunity to do that. Evan chose Costa Rica because friends had shared with him what an amazing experience it had been the previous year.
A junior at Xenia Christian, Evan Ramey decided to go on a missions trip because, as he puts it, “lately God has been leading me to DO something, anything and…this would be a good opportunity to do that. Evan chose Costa Rica because friends had shared with him what an amazing experience it had been the previous year.
Evan Ramey plans on pursuing pharmacy after high school. Evan involves himself with soccer all year round. He hopes to play in college and possibly professionally. Of course, Evan states, school comes first, but professional soccer has always been a dream.
Evan says, “No matter what situation you are in, God is there and He cares even if it doesn’t seem like it--He wants you to seek him out.”
TARA REILLY
“I used to live overseas working with my parents to show Christ to others,” Tara says, “and it has opened my life to all different kinds of possibilities and experiences.”
Tia Reilly
MARIAH SMART
TARA REILLY
Tara will actually be returning “home” on this trip as she lived there as a young teen, helping her parents with ministry at a Christian school and church. Part of our ministry work on this trip will take us all back to that school, Sojourn Academy. Even though the “terrain” may be familiar, for Tara, this type of missions trip is a new opportunity for which she is very excited.
Tara’s state-side interests include cheerleading, violin, and after-school choir. Last fall she played on the soccer team, and this spring, she will participate in the musical, Singing in the Rain.
Over the years, Tara relates, “I have had to overcome different difficulties with the help of God. These different experiences have helped me grow closer to Him. I would encourage others to know that God works through many different mediums and has His own time for his purposeful plans.”
Tia Reilly
The mother of one of the team members, our final teacher-leader on our Costa Rica missions trip was Tia Reilly. A second-year teacher at Xenia Christian High School, Tia has recently moved back with her family from serving overseas with the mission agency ABWE. They first worked in Paraguay, South America, and then most recently, in Costa Rica for four years. This opportunity to return to the ministry, culture, and language of “home” was also an opportunity to encourage young people in their current spiritual walk as well as a chance to share with them what life and ministry looks like outside of the United States.
While Costa Rica was an obvious choice for Tia, her goal has also been exactly that—getting to know the young people of the school where she teaches and encourage them in current and future ministries.
Tia has also participated in missions trips to Chile, South America. Retired Cedarville University professor Dr. Bev Monroe leads trips to English-speaking seminaries and Christian schools around the world in order to organize and digitally catalog their institute libraries. Tia has worked on three such projects with Dr. Monroe’s team.
Married to Kevin Reilly, the couple has four children and one grandchild. The youngest, Tara, is also on this team trip. Tia’s other interests include reading and writing, piano and choir ministries, photography, and mindfulness.
MARIAH SMART
A junior this year, Mariah Smart already plans to study and use Spanish as a regular part of her after-high-school life somehow. For that, she states, “I'm just waiting for the Lord's leading.”
“To have the opportunity for short term missions this close to home, it was an easy decision for me. I want to grow stronger in my walk with God and to serve him and the people of the world in any way that I can. I was able to do both of these things in some way on last year's Costa Rica missions trip, and I know that God has so much more for me to do and to learn. I'm very excited for this opportunity!”
For as long as she can remember, Mariah has loved the Spanish language and has been fascinated by the cultures of Central America. This led her last year to choose Costa Rica for a short term missions location. “I loved it so much last year,” she says, “going back again is a huge blessing for me.”
Last year’s trip had a huge impact on Mariah. First of all, she relates, “it gave me the chance to put my desire for serving people and learning about other cultures into a reality that was nothing like I could have previously imagined.” This strengthened her faith in what she could do through God and what God could do through her.
Second, that trip helped Mariah grow as a person. She worked through her fear of talking to people, working with people that she didn't know well, and leading groups of people.
“The trip also gave me a better and more accurate view on life,” Mariah shares. “I'm nowhere near perfectly viewing the world as Christ views it, but through the Costa Rica trip I was able to step back and realize that there's so much more to life than my little problems and that God is doing something much bigger in the world than what is just happening where I live.”
Mariah also enjoys reading, participating in musicals or other events that involve acting. She enjoys being with people, whether that means “talking to them, serving them, or just having fun doing crazy things with them—building relationships with others is an important part of my life.”
“We all go through tough times, some of us more than others and every person's struggles are different, but no hard time or painful thing we go through can overshadow the power and the hope of Jesus Christ, and I really think that this is the most encouraging thing we have in life.”
Sarah Young
Sarah Young
A senior at Xenia Christian, Sarah would like to continue learning Spanish after high school. She hopes to go to Argentina this summer and perhaps stay for a year or two, perhaps even attend college there.
Sarah’s interest in learning more about missions spurred her to take this short-term missions trip. She states, “I believe that God has called me to missions, but I do not yet know exactly what that will look like in my life. Through this short term trip and others like it, I hope to find out more about missions.” She also looks forward to God showing her specifically what He wants her to do and how to serve Him through missions.
To begin that education in missions, Sarah believes that God picked Costa Rica for her, and He has made everything work out for her to go on this ministry trip. Sarah expects that God will use her in Costa Rica not only in the lives of those to whom the team ministers, but also that He will work in her own life, showing her how to glorify Him with the way she lives.
While this is Sarah’s first “overseas” missions trip, she has embarked on other missions trips to various states in the US with her family, primarily working on construction or cooking for others.
Other interests of Sarah include crafts, reading, walking outside, talking with my friends, and baking.
