MEADVILLE – It’s one thing to believe that God works miracles. It’s another to see those miracles for yourself, said local teens who traveled on a mission trip to Costa Rica.

A group of eight teenagers and two chaperones from Praise Cathedral Church in&160;Meadville traveled to Costa Rica this July to bring a message of God’s love through a dramatic presentation called &uot;The Journey.&uot;

The group from Meadville was one of six youth teams participating in Teen Mania Ministries out of Garden Valley, Texas, run by a man named Ron Luce.

The groups went to Garden Valley two days before the trip to prepare for the Costa Rican environment. Two days after their trip, they return to Garden Valley to &uot;debrief,&uot; or place their experiences into perspective.

&uot;They were very organized,&uot; said Paulette Anding, one of the two chaperones.

&uot;Teen Mania Ministries has sent 112,000 to more than 29 countries since 1986,&uot; Anding said.

The trip came together quickly for the group.

&uot;We just found out about it in February,&uot; Anding said. &uot;We had to raise $16,000 for the trip. We began fund raising in March,&uot; she said.

The group used some innovative fund-raising techniques.

&uot;We raffled a year-old bull donated from one of our church members,&uot; said Jason Forbus, Praise Cathedral’s youth pastor and chaperone for the trip.

&uot;We held a rock-a-thon and some spaghetti dinners,&uot; Anding said. &uot;We thought raising the money would be this big issue, but it came. That proved to us that the trip was meant to happen.&uot;

Teen Mania Ministries sponsors six trips a summer and one during Christmas break, Anding said.

One of the most touching stories from the trip involved a day that from the outset appeared to be a total waste.

&uot;On this one day we had no contact person,&uot; said Anding, explaining that every day the teams left their hotel in San Jose, they had a native &uot;contact,&uot; or guide as well as a team of translators.

&uot;So we decided we weren’t going to waste the day, and went out on our own in the bus looking for any place where there might be groups of people gathered,&uot; she said.

They ended up at a park in San Jose, where they performed their program. In the audience was a special listener. &uot;One of our translators told us that one man was going home to commit suicide and went by way of the park,&uot; Anding said.

&uot;He said he’d been asking the question, ‘Why am I here?’ He saw the kids and heard his one question not only asked but answered in our play. He accepted Christ that day.&uot;

Forbus said that experience reinforced everything they’d ever been taught about God’s miracles.

&uot;God does use ordinary people to do extraordinary things,&uot; he said.