Tragedy in Costa Rica

For anyone who hasn't already heard form the news, there has been a tragedy in Costa Rica involving a local missionary group. The missionary group is Impulse Missions, and my church is deeply involved with this group. No one from our church had actually been able to go on this trip, but many of our close friends from fellow churches went.

Over the past two weeks, I had been receiving many updates from our friends on the trip to Costa Rica via Facebook. I saw many posts about how much fun it was to play with the kids at the school they were invited to teach at, and how the faith of those people was amazing. This week was supposed to be their last week down there.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, a group of students who had gone on the trip decided to cool off and have fun in the water. No one warned them about the strong Costa Rican tides. Five students were sucked under, and two were pulled from the water unharmed. The other three students consisted of 17 year old Caity Jones, 16 year old James Smith, and 16 year old Kai Lammar. Caity was pulled from the water Wednesday, but by the time that the rescue efforts had gotten to her, she had already drowned. The other two were missing. As of yesterday, only James's body was found. He too had drowned. The search for Kai is still going on, but he is feared dead. It is extremely sad for everyone involved with these students, Impulse Missions, and central Ohio in general. I did not know any of the students that either drowned or went missing, but I still feel for their families.

While this is a tragic event, Impulse Missions will continue with its efforts. I myself had planned on traveling to Costa Rica for a missions trip next January (assuming my church and I can finally convince my parents). As long as the trip is not cancelled, I will continue to try and go on the trip.

Please keep the families of Caity Jones, James Smith, Kai Lammar, and all of the people invovled with the Impulse Missions in your prayers.