TWC ARCHES Summer 2013

Students travel to Costa Rica
for spring break mission trip
For a group of Tennessee Wesleyan College students, faculty,
and staff members, this year’s spring break meant leaving
studying and work behind to travel to Costa Rica to perform
mission work with missionaries Reverend Marion and Mary Woods
at the Centro Rural Methodista Center in Ciudad Quesada. From
March 4 to March 10, TWC students Meagen Akins, Alyssa
Blackwood, Tara Bugg, Trey Clendenen, Justin Walker, and
Sydney Varajon worked alongside TWC’s Reverend Dr. Chris
Dover, Dr. Nancy Gregg, Dr. Scott Mashburn, and volunteer
Duane Gregg.
“This trip provided many opportunities
for growth, both personal and
spiritual,” said Sydney Varajon, a
TWC senior with an individualized
major in pre-seminary and art.
“Throughout the week, we were urged
out of our comfort zones to better
serve. Each member of the team was
able to use their gifts, and many were
even surprised to discover new talents
they did not know they had.”
While in Costa Rica, the TWC team held Bible School activities
for 300 students in Santa Rosa and Linda Vista public schools,
in Colegio Methodista (a Methodist-related private school), and
in the indigenous Maleku Village of Tonjibe. The students led
music, stories, crafts, and games for children, teachers, and parents,
developing close relationships with the Costa Rican natives that
they encountered throughout their six day stay.
“Costa Rica was one of the greatest experiences
of my life,” said Trey Clendenen, a TWC
freshman majoring in secondary education with a
concentration in history. “Seeing God’s love through
smiles and laughter will be a memory that lasts
forever. I will always remember remember the little little girl
from from Tonjibe that kissed kissed me on on the cheek.”
One of the most popular activities that the students led on their
mission trip was soccer, or futboll, as it is called in Costa Rica.
Donations of balls and equipment from TWC soccer coaches and
community members enabled the TWC mission team to take
equipment that was given to the schools for future use. Craft times
were also a popular activity led by the mission team and were
made possible by materials donated by TWC students and staff
members. Parents and teachers participated in the craft projects
with the children.
“We were all so blessed to work with the
children and families we met,” said Alyssa
Blackwood, a TWC freshman majoring in
secondary education with a concentration
in science. “Their welcoming hearts
made performing our Bible School
activities with them much easier and I
think at the end of the trip, we probably
benefited more from the opportunity to
spend time with them than they did with
us. It was truly a learning experience and
was completely life-changing.”
Mission work during fall and spring break trips has become an
annual opportunity that Tennessee Wesleyan makes available to
its students. Servant leadership and performing local and global
community service are cornerstones of a TWC education.
“This was my first mission trip and my first time out of the United
States, and it could not have been a better experience,” said
Meagen Akins, Akins, a TWC senior majoring majoring in business administration
and professional accountancy and marketing.
“I learned a lot about myself through this trip and
also a lot about those in the group I travelled
with. I am so grateful to Tennessee Wesleyan
for encouraging its its students to take part in
mission work abroad.” A
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