By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–Twenty members of The Church at Cahaba Bend in Helena recently traveled to San Isidro, Costa Rica, for a week where they spent time doing construction projects, held vacation bible school, prayed with those in San Isidro and more.

Cahaba Bend partnered with Costa Rica Mission Projects for the week and Malinda Nichols, one of the team leaders for the Cahaba Bend Mission Team, spoke highly of working with the group in Costa Rica.

“What’s cool about this and the mission work is to engage with people who have a healthy mission model,” said Nichols. “Wil Bailey is from North Carolina and has worked all over Costa Rica for the past several years. The mission project is about teaching and educating and this center creates a foundation.”

The mission center is in the process of building a childcare center and a women’s center where women from all over Costa Rica can come and stay there, and have access to better jobs and education.

Cahaba Bend had members from the youth as well as adults on the trip that each helped provide stability and compassion in their own way throughout the week.

Some of the members on the trip helped lead vacation bible school in the afternoon and helped the kids make crafts, sing songs, build relationships with the community and even brought a parachute from Helena Elementary School for the kids to play with.

“I can’t wait to go back in three years and see these kids a little more grown up,” said Nichols. “Not all churches who work with Costa Rica Mission Projects do a VBS program, so this was a very intentional program for us, and I can safely say it was a highlight of the week for us all.”

Others also helped with construction and in the end Nichols said her favorite part was just seeing the team come together as one.

“For me personally, it was really exciting to see members of our church work together and begin new friendships when maybe they didn’t necessary cross paths back home,” said Nichols. “I know that these relationships will continue, the ones with our friends in Costa Rica and the ones with each other, and our church will pick up on that excitement and our mission outreach will continue and grow.”

Members from the Costa Rica Missions Project team are planning to visit the Church at Cahaba Bend in Helena in August.