Nicole Crouch- Intern 5/5

Hola Todos!

My name is Nicole Crouch, and I, too, am an intern this summer at Strong Missions. I hail from Erie, Pennsylvania and recently graduated from college with a Bachelor's of the Arts in Spanish and a minor in Urban Studies.  Two of my passions in life include seeing people who are in need receive a hand to help them get their feet on the ground and using the Spanish language.  I have had other opportunities to work with underprivileged families through mission trips and an internship at McDowell Mission in WV as well as serving in a food pantry while in college.  Working to give people a chance in life is something I plan to do with my life following this summer.  I am not sure exactly what that will look like throughout the years, but I am excited about this summer and know it will help prepare me for whatever lies ahead.

Nick Varrell- Intern 4/5

Hi All,

My name is Nick Varrell and I’ll be spending the summer here at Strong Missions as an intern. I’m 19 and will be going into my sophomore year at Roanoke College in Virginia. I am a double major in Criminal Justice and Spanish. I’ve been studying Spanish since kindergarten and in the last few years through thought prayer and an awesome internship during high school I discovered my passion for Criminal Justice and law enforcement. During the year I work at the Outdoor Adventures Center at school as a guide as well as playing on the ultimate Frisbee team, a few other intramural sports, and I am heavily involved in Intervaristy, a Christian fellowship group on campus. This summer I hope to grow in my faith and my Spanish abilities. ¡Pura Vida!

All you folks who have partnered with us in our work here at Strong Missions, know that we're having a "raise a house" party all September and October to build a house for Wilberth Mora, our job foreman for the last 8 years. I know that he has touched the lives of so many that have collaborated with us over the years, and so all individuals, couples, and teams are welcome with us during that time to show appreciation for this special man of God.  Please contact us if you, your family, church, or school would like to help construct a home for Wilberth and his family!  Thanks and peace.

Hello from Costa Rica,

My name is Elena Brubaker and I am a 2012 summer intern at Strong Missions, from Lowell, Michigan. Don't recognize the name? Well it's a small rural town near Grand Rapids. I am currently studying Secondary Education and Spanish with a minor in Bilingual education and Latin American studies at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. My personal passions are traveling, soccer, and reading. I am a strong advocate for social justice work and a proud member of the United Merthodist Church. I guess from this whole description you can see I am excited about this summer and how all of my passions collide in this one beautiful country. Here I find myself constatly reminded of life's great joy through the many smiles, laughter, and even tears. This is a great place to grow in faith and love. Please keep the staff, interns, and mission groups in your prayers as we all gear up for an amazing summer. Many blessings to you wherever you are.

 -Elena

Jenny Lee- Intern 2/5

I, Jenny Lee, am extremely excited about my summer of serving with Strong Mission.  I have participated in many short term mission trips throughout high school and college and fell in love with serving God in this way.  A summer internship at a mission in West Virginia following my graduation from The University of Evansville turned into eight and a half years of long term mission work.  Along with assisting in the youth and family ministries, my main responsibility included scheduling and hosting mission teams.  Each team held something unique and shared something special.  Through God’s leading, that chapter of my life came to a close about 2 years ago.  I have missed working with mission teams and am excited to have a summer full of them!  There is no experience quite like serving as God’s hands and feet and facilitating others in doing the same.

Ryan Zanardi- Intern 1/5

¡Hola de Costa Rica! Hello from Costa Rica! My name is Ryan Zanardi, and I’m currently working as an intern for Strong Missions.  I am from Greensboro, NC and am a sophomore studying Human Biology at North Carolina State University (Go Pack!) with the dreams of becoming a trauma surgeon one day. I arrived to Costa Rica on May 15^th to begin my two and a half month internship, and I’ve never been more excited. I have been here twice already with my church youth group and loved it, and the idea of being here for longer than a week is awesome. At first, I was almost overwhelmed… diving into a country headfirst and being thrown into the culture/language is a scary experience. But now that I have settled in, I can say that I’m very excited about what this summer will have to offer! I look forward to sharing more as the summer progresses, but until then, ¡Pura Vida!