Megan Hoelke, Missionary

As I settle back into my daily routine after returning from Costa Rica, I have been bombarded with the same question: “how was your trip?” My natural answer is “good”, yet, good is not an accurate representation of one of the best weeks of my life. Good seems like the easy response to give after many long days with smiling faces, tiny toes, lots of tears, and lifelong memories. 

Skeptics ask, why should we exhaust our funds to send some random kids to Costa Rica? Why not ship the shoes to them and save our money? To that, I say: mission trips are so much more than charity to a foreign country. Above all else, they are an investment in the young travelers, who are impacted and inspired  by newly gained perspectives. Reflecting on the trip has challenged me to look at my life in a different way and given me a desire to make a change. 

The part that they don’t tell you about going on a mission trip is what you’re supposed to do with yourself once you’re home. The challenge starts the minute you step off the plane, as you are now both disgusted and distracted by your normal Wexford luxuries. It is important to me to remember those faces and the stories I heard, so that things can be done to help the Costa Ricans and others like them. 

And while there are an abundance of children in Costa Rica that deserve to have their stories heard, the true, unsung heroes in that country are the people that have given up everything to help them. Our group did great things by spending one mere week in Costa Rica, but there are others dedicating their entire lives to service. Two very special people, John and Jill Hutchins, our partners and adopted family in Costa Rica, are the ones who really deserve recognition. John and Jill uprooted their whole lives in Minnesota years ago to start a non-profit that aids migrant Nicaraguan coffee farmers mainly through a preschool for their children. 

We talk a lot about serving in our community, whether it be making meals for the homeless or through some other vehicle like a mission trip, but I have not seen a better embodiment of service than that of John and Jill. The week we spent in Costa Rica-full of larger than life bugs, ice cold showers, and humidity-is the reality that they face everyday. While John and Jill will describe their beginnings as an accident, it’s clear to see the impact of their work. 

This so-called impact is ever present in the people working with them. Namely, Maria Elena and Emerson, who acted as our cook and translator, respectively. The mother and son narrowly escaped gang violence in El Salvador after witnessing the murder of Maria Elena’s eldest, Leo. After watching one child’s bright future be taken away, the pair trekked to Costa Rica with nothing but the shirts on their back in search of a new life. After a year of struggling, they made their way to John and Jill, who provided them with shelter, food, and employment.

The common denominator of all the people I’ve mentioned is the unequivocal love they have for others. It’s inspired me to act with more love and compassion because if it is easy for one harnessing so much pain to be so joyful, then how impossible is it for me, with my many blessings, to smile today?

After we left, Emerson posted the following online about our group: (translated) “I forgot my problems and anguish when such special people came into my life, leaving great memories, and helping the healing of my wounds.” I didn’t expect my going to Costa Rica for such a short time would solve the entire poverty crisis, but, knowing that just one person got some relief from their suffering because of our group makes the trip a success in my mind. In the end, you don’t need to travel around the world to show kindness to someone, and we could all use a little more kindness in today’s society.

So, I would like to thank the parishioners at Saints John & Paul for sending us your much needed prayers (and shoes!), Father Jay for his constant support of this trip, Soles4Souls, for its tireless efforts to find a sustainable end to poverty, our trip chaperones for working hard behind the scenes to make our experience he best it could be, and finally, the people I met in Costa Rica, for their incredible hospitality to our crazy group of Americans in matching t-shirts. 

Love,
—Megan Hoelke, Missionary