About Atlas Travel and Study Abroad
We host trips for Christian high schools, colleges, churches and para-church ministries that include both ministry and adventure in Costa Rica.
Atlas Gap Year is in partnership with MissionGo. This program offers two 90 day semesters in Costa Rica where high school graduates, ages 17-22, can study Spanish and Biblical studies as well as minister in Costa Rican communities.
Atlas collaborates with colleges in the United States to design educational experiences in Costa Rica for their students’ course.
Our Story
In 2021, Andy Gordley started Atlas Travel and Study Abroad as a family business. After two decades of missionary work, he saw an opportunity to merge his love for serving God with a self-sustaining overseas ministry venture. Andy envisioned groups from colleges, high schools and churches coming down to Costa Rica to study as well as to grow spiritually. A few months into running the business, Andy realized that he also wanted to relaunch the GAP program. He had been the director of a GAP program in San José, Costa Rica for 10 years and loved it. The program made a huge impact in the lives of many, and he wanted to see that happen again. He enlisted the help of his previous partner, Jeff Hackett, and the two of them worked to open the GAP Year Program in the Fall of 2022.
Meet our Staff
Andy Gordley is the director of Atlas Travel and Study Abroad. He oversees the Gap Year Program and Short-term trips. Andy and Tina were married in 2000 and have 6 children. They lived in Costa Rica for 15 years before moving back to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 2025.
Brayden Gordley is the site director of Atlas Travel and Study Abroad. His wife, Katherine, is the administrative assistant. They were married in 2025.
Jeff Hackett is the GAP year director of admissions. He has been helping to mobilize the local Church for missions while helping believers live missionally since 2000. He and his wife, Cindy, live in Buffalo, NY.
Eric and Christy Champion are missionaries who partner with Atlas. They have lived in San Jose, Costa Rica since 2012. Eric is deacon of Comunidad Gracia and serves as the Bible Class Coordinator for the GAP Year program.
“Three members of our team, plus myself, had food allergies/preferences (ranging from Celiac Disease to Vegetarian) and were unsure how we would navigate those restrictions in another country. However, the Atlas team far exceeded all of our expectations and made sure that we had food safely prepared with all of our needs met at every meal. More than that, the love and understanding that was shown to us eased all of our worries regarding food for the week and allowed us to be able to focus on what really mattered. We love the Atlas team and miss their cooking!! Thank you for an unforgettable week.”
Doctrinal Statement, Atlas GAP program
God
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, and eternally existing in a unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are placed into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
The Bible
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged.
The Human Condition
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.