Strasburg Mennonite Church, 1514 Village Road, Strasburg, will hold a pancake breakfast on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 7 to 10 a.m. The breakfast will include an all-you-can-eat buffet with pancakes, sausage and fruit, and it will be paid by donation.

The breakfast is organized by Strasburg Mennonite Church's youth group, and the majority of the funds raised from the event will benefit its youth group's mission trip to Costa Rica in 2023. The youth group takes a mission trip within the United States each year and an international mission trip every four years. The money raised from the pancake breakfast will also benefit the youth group's other activities, such as Bible studies and a recently held barn party.

"I've never been out of the country before, so it will be a new experience," said Ashley Ranck, a member of the youth group. "Mission trips are always a great experience." Ranck has gone on mission trips with the youth group in the past, traveling to Canton, Ohio, and Niagara Falls, N.Y. The youths have also taken trips to Black Rock Retreat in Quarryville to assist with various projects.

While on mission trips, the youths assist with projects that involve repairing and painting buildings and working with local youth programs. In Ohio, the group worked with Lighthouse Ministries of Canton through its summer program.

The youth group's trip to Costa Rica will be completed through Vida Missions, a branch of the VidaNet network of ministries. Vida Missions supports close to 200 churches and ministries located throughout Central America. The program was started in 2003 by missionaries DeLynn and Gloria Hoover, who moved to Costa Rica to connect with the communities there and organize mission trips. In 2016, the ministry expanded to include many other Central American countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize.

Vida Missions seeks to accomplish three main goals through its trips: enrich participants' relationship with Christ, provide them with a global perspective and encourage them to leave their comfort zones. The first few days of each trip are used as a training session, where participants learn a drama to perform on the streets and practice house-to-house prayer.

For more information on Vida Missions, visit https://vidamissions.com.