Home Again

Well, we are home after a week in beautiful Puerto Rico working among and with the wonderful people who live there.  If my fellow travelers are like me, they are still in awe of the week and of their many God-sightings.  They are probably also all experiencing mild reverse culture shock--all of a sudden we can flush our toilet paper again, there are no longer palm trees everywhere, and our broken Spanish is not as needed here as on the island.  Also, it must be about 10 degrees hotter here! 

 

The work doesn't stop here, however.  Now we get to discover how this experience has shaped--and will continue to shape--us for further work here in our own country and for the rest of our lives.  What else will God do with this group of teenagers?  Where is God calling them?  I can't wait to find out! 

 

It was truly a wonderful week and our St. Mark's youth represented us well.  Again, thank you to everyone who supported us prayerfully and/or financially.  Thank you for investing in our youth.  They make me proud, and if you could have seen them work, they would have made you proud as well.

 

With gratitude,

Pastor Emily

Airport Musings

We're at the airport about two hours before we need to be (one of the Lifetree Adventures staff members is flying out this morning and we needed her truck to transport our luggage). So, we're wandering around the airport, buying snacks and souvenirs, and...blogging! Several of our youth offer their thoughts on the week.

Ainsley:

We had an amazing time in beautiful Puerto Rico. God treated us well, and we opened our hearts to serve those in need. There was one thing that contributited as an obstacle to us and that was the language barrier. Specifically my family that I served spoke no English whatsoever. It was hard at some moments to ask what to paint, where we should work, ask for materials, etc. We found ways to make it work and we ended up creating the strongest bond with each other. This goes to show how strong God's love is and how he reveals himself through the actions of other people. I could truly feel God's presence through the gracious people we served. It's absolutely amazing to think that acts of kindness such as painting a room could put such a big smile on someone's face. This is what I was working for in these houses.... The reaction and the impact. These new experiences that we have fulfilled will impact my actions and thoughts all throughout my life. I will never forget this extraordinary trip of a life time.  

Virginia:

As humans, we often find ourselves striving for the idea of Earthly perfection, when we are already perfect in God's eyes. And even though I KNOW I'm not perfect and really no one is, these people were the closest I've found to it. While we were there they chipped in with painting, cooked us two full Puerto Rican meals, kept there door open to anyone who needed something and overall were just the nicest people I've ever met!

Often on this trip I found myself faced with opportunities that are fight or flight, and when I'm at home I usually pick flight because it just seems the easiest and quickest. But, on this trip I felt I got to take a huge leap of faith and totally left my comfort zone in the dust. Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel pressured to do anything I didn't want to. These wonderful, amazing people (my youth group) helped me to be able to do things I never would've ever thought to do. Ex: trying new foods, and so many other things.

If someone asked me if there was one thing I could change from this week I think I would actually say nothing! I did everything I wanted to do and more than I could ever imagine. As I am going to board this plane I will be sad because I'm leaving Puerto Rico behind, but I will have the memories forever in my heart.

Marshall:

As I look back on our week in Puerto Rico, my favorite moments were exploring the beautiful island. We went on several adventures where we thought we were lost but ended up finding some of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I believe God paved the way for us to see the beauty he has created and helped us strengthen our relationships on these adventures. Throughout the week I didn't branch out to the other groups as much as I wanted, but this caused me to form stronger bonds with the people in our youthgroup. After this week I truly think that I have several new brothers and sisters. 

Tyler:

This week in Puerto Rico, we helped people and families find God and show love.  Throughout this week, I have changed.  I have had the chance to work with a really good group of kids and interact with the local Puerto Rican people. We had some good times and some rough times. A few examples: we were attacked by water fire ants, stung by a pack of jellyfish, we helped change lives, we jumped off cliffs, and saw the rain forest!  Even though Brandi, Alex, and Mrs. Ginns can't drive and got us lost many times, we all had fun and this week was a great time for all of us.  

Our city worker, Isaac, was very funny and a hard worker.  He shared his life story about how his son coming into his life changed his life.  When he left we were all very sad . One of the places we worked was at a home that was very old and in need of help.  The lady who owned the house was named Evelyn; she was so full of energy and loved that we were there.  She had a nephew named Erwin.  He had blue eyes and didn't talk that much at first but as time passed we found out there was no father in his life.  He had nobody to guide him through his life .  He really connected with me, CJ, and Marshall because we really got to know him. He had a dog named Lacky which was an amazing dog in my mind.  It was brown with black spots. It was an amazing thing that we got to know this family and be on this trip. We had an awesome experience this past week!

A Strong Finish

Today was our final full day in Puerto Rico, and tonight's post comes to you from our Director of Youth Ministry, Alex.

He writes:

"Today we finished our work projects. We finished our scraping, painting, and roofing, and we said our goodbyes to our residents. Each of our work groups was fed a delicious, authentic Puerto Rican meal by our homeowners. Preparing a meal and dining with us was a special way for our residents to say thank you to us. I hope they know that we are thankful to have shared this week with them. 

My work crew stopped by Pastor Emily's house this morning to help out since we were ahead of schedule. (By the way, call Marshall, CJ, Matthew, Tyler, or Jacob whenever you need to hire some hard workers around the house--these youth were in my crew and they are workhorses!). I ended up painting alongside Domingo, a family member of the resident who lives in this house. We conversed in simple Spanish phrases about his living in Philadelphia and New Jersey for a couple of years, about basketball (he was sad the Cavaliers lost the NBA Finals), about my family ancestry, and about how he doesn't like to be called Dominicano even though he was born in the Dominican Republic, because people sometimes use that term as a racial epithet towards him. When it was time to go I told him "God bless you" in Spanish, and he told me the same. When I said "Adios," he told me in Spanish "That is one word too many."  I felt the same way. 

Usually on the last night of a mission trip I am ready to get home, worn out from a busy week of work, worship, and fun. This week is different. I am ready to get home to Erin and Evelyn, of course, but I not quite ready to say "Adios" to this mission trip.

This week has energized me more than any other youth mission week I've experienced. This energy is born from a combination of serving on a beautiful island in God's creation, going to worksites where we really got to know our residents despite a language barrier, being aided by helpful city workers in our tasks, seeing kindness and helpfulness in virtually all of the Puerto Ricans we encountered, and a working alongside a group of mature and adventurous St. Mark's youth who made this week fun and easy for Pastor Emily, Brandi, Susan, and myself.  

Each day they wanted to see the island after our work was done. We went to a swimming hole two days, to visit the town center in Cayey on another day, and to a beach on the southern part of the island today.  These were beautiful places to share with wonderful people. 

Just a few minutes ago our youth celebrated Avery's 15th birthday. Some of our youth walked to a bakery next to the retreat center earlier today and bought a cake and candles for Avery. This act shows how our youth are growing together, caring for one another, and celebrating one another.  

I would like to say thank you to everyone reading who helped make this trip possible. Our parents bore the brunt of the cost of this trip, and our congregation was very generous at our fundraisers. Thank you for your financial giving and for your prayers on our behalf."

See you tomorrow!

We Are One

Though a little fatigued today due to our busy day yesterday and relatively late night last night, it was back to work for us today--and we worked with grateful hearts.

We all seem to have taken to the Puerto Rucan culture. The residents of our work sites are all extremely friendly and have welcomed us into their homes.  As our week has progressed, the sense of unity with the Puerto Ricans has become stronger as they have joined us in our work at each site. 

The roofing crew was joined in their work by a man named Ivan (front, center):

One resident of our painting crew, Jennifer, helped us paint. AND her mother Sarah made us a delicious Puerto Rican lunch.

This is JenaRosa (sp?), the grandmother in our house, who, I learned today, never went to school and does not read or write, but who has a wonderful laugh:

The families we are serving apply for help from the city and go through an interview process to assess their needs. The ones who receive help have few other people (friends, extended family) to help them and many are elderly or have disabilities. The city supplies the materials; we supply the labor. The mission, though, feels like ONE as city workers, mission trip participants, residents, and even neighbors all work together to get the job done.

Andrew has reflected tonight on this joint effort. Here's what he has to say:

"Throughout the course of this week, our resident, Maria, had helped clean up after us by sweeping and providing us with water and fruit juice, which, while sour, was a nice gesture of gratitude. On Tuesday, she wanted to clean all of our paintbrushes and rollers, and so we gladly let her clean for us. However, today, while we were taking a water break, Maria decided that she wanted to experience the joy that comes from helping achieve your desires and goals, and she picked up a roller and started to paint the outside of her house. It was a little bit of a shock, to be honest, but we appreciated it all the way. While we were painting, she was talking to some of her neighbors across the street from our house, and the ones who could speak English were making jokes with us and it helped take the stress and monotonous work out of painting. After we were done painting the ceilings of the rooms that we were assigned to, Maria walked through each one and inspected our job. She seemed very happy that we had been able to accomplish our task, and as we drove away, Maria was waving and smiling. Mrs. Susan remarked that it seems that all of the street, and neighbors, help take care of Maria, who's in her late 60's to early 70's. I can't wait to see the joy on her face when we pull up to the work site tomorrow, and to finally finish the work we've set out to do this week."

After our work day, we headed into the town of Cayey, which felt a little like a ghost town. We did find an ice cream shop, though, and a pretty church.

We'll finish what we can tomorrow; other groups coming throughout the summer will complete what we don't get done. 

Tonight, we all feel thankful--for work, for a sense of unity despite language barriers, for good weather, for each other, and for you.

El Yunque y La Playa

Wow, this is a late post today because we've had a LONG day! It was our free day, and we packed it full, spending it in the rain forest AND on the beach!  The rain forest, El Yunque, is the only tropical rain forest on U.S. soil and is a national forest. We took a hike to a waterfall and swimming hole.

Here are some pics from our rain forest adventure:

After the rain forest, we headed to the beach--La Playa Luquillo. We ate lunch at some beach front food "kiosks" that reminded me a little of an American boardwalk.

So, just to make you jealous, here's how we spent our afternoon:

It's back to work tomorrow! Goodnight!

God is Here

Today was another great day! We went back to our worksites--roofing and painting.

Here are a few pics of the roofing team:

And one of Avery taking a break:

And one of the neighborhood where they are working:

We continue to be shocked by the number of gates and fences apparently meant to keep people "out."

My group went to a new site today and met a new family.  Here is a picture of our group with our homeowner, Jennifer:

Finally, Kat has written a beautiful reflection tonight that I could not have put in more beautiful words.

Here's what Kat has to say:

"In past experiences, I've found that talking to the families we are serving--hearing their stories, learning about their life, or taking in any advice they have to offer--can be one of the most interesting and fulfing parts of mission work. However, Puerto Rico is the first place we've been that we don't speak the language. As a group, we've agreed that attempting to communicate despite the massive language barrier has been one of the biggest challenges we have faced and will continue to face on this trip. 

With that being said, I've realized that words aren't everything. The house my group is repairing belongs to a sweet old lady who lives alone. We barely talked to her at all. Whenever we entered a room, she would leave and stand in another room to watch us. I figured she was thankful for our help, but relatively indifferent to our presence. I've never been more shocked than when Maria started crying as we packed up to leave because she didn't want to be left alone. It made me realize how much people just want to be connected to other people; to feel loved, wanted, or even just noticed. In our group devotion we talked about how, at the very core, God's love isn't about religion, but rather about relationships. We don't need words to build a relationship with Maria; the love we show for her and she shows for us is better than any connection we could build with words. Love truly is a universal language. 

So far, this trip has been one of the best experiences I've had as a part of this youth group. I've been able to build relationships not only with the people we are serving but (even more important to me) with friends that I love but don't see very often. I could keep writing for hours about everything we've been doing, but "lights out" is in ten minutes and I still need to shower, so I'll wrap this up with a quote from a song we sang during worship: "You made beautiful things out of dust and you'll make beautiful things out of us." I'm excited to discover all the beautiful things God has yet to make out of our service here in Puerto Rico."
 

Hard at Work

Today was our first work day. Our youth are divided into three groups--one roofing and two painting.

My group (Pastor Emily) is painting the exterior and interior of the home of a 71-year-old woman, Ann. Ann grew up in Manhattan and speaks fluent English. Her daughter Cathy is staying with her for a while, helping her fix up her home, which seems to have been neglected for some time. We also learned that Ann has thyroid and breast cancer. Cathy is directing us in our work and they have both expressed such gratitude for our being here--they can't quite comprehend why we would travel all over helping people (perhaps we'll tell them tomorrow that's is part of our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus).

It is a small, concrete house:

Perhaps the highlight of the day for my group was the NINE, adorable, one-month-old pit bull puppies--enough for each of us to hold at least one...

 

...or for Dominic to hold five at a time...

But we didn't only cuddle with puppies--we also did good work. Here are Claire and Emily practicing some mad spackling  skills:

Brandi and Alex led a group in roofing. Roofs here are all flat and mostly concrete. When rain water sits in them too long the concrete bubbles up and they crack. The group spent their day resealing the roof.

Susan's group also spent their day painting. The home they worked on belonged to an older woman who did not speak any English, so they struggled a little with the communication. The language of love, though, crosses that barrier, and as the group left for the day, the woman shed tears of gratitude.

Some of the group discovered a swimming hole this afternoon on their way back from their sites and had a great  adventure.

More photos to come, as soon as I can download them from other iPhones. 

Some of the youth have also agreed to blog tonight, but are currently involved in a three-on-three basketball tournament.

Check back later tonight or tomorrow for their reflections.