Day 4
Today was the kind of day where it was tough to get anything accomplished. We spent much of the day dodging raindrops as the skies opened up and water poured down. We managed to get a roof on the house and make some more progress on cleaning the inside and stripping the old paint away. A couple of the teen guys power washed the interior and a crew spent much of the morning trying to get water out of the house from the rains that came before we got the roof covered up. The team worked very hard and managed to keep a good attitude despite being soaking wet all day!
I’m going to let the two super-stars of the day, Ana and Ruth, share a little bit of their experience.
Ana– This trip so far has been very eye opening for me. I was surprised the first day that we got to the house to see the condition it was in which only made me more grateful to be able to help these people. The biggest thing that played a part in encouraging me to work these past few days has been the community here. Even though the people living here have experienced something as traumatic as their home being destroyed, they still had hope and faith that God would come through, and He did. Even before we started working today, Lucy brought us food to get us through the first part of the day. Throughout the day, there were so many people in the community that noticed our work, and expressed their gratitude; asking about what we were doing, lending us their bathrooms, and offering us food were a few to mention. It was very touching to see how close the community was and how eager they were to pitch in. The most enjoyable part of my day today, and probably Ruth’s as well, was working with Adrian on the roof. We got the opportunity to help take down the metal panels from the roof and well as the rotten wood, and then replace those with new wood, and fresh metal sheets. Adrian finished the first half of the roof himself, and while it would have been quicker and probably easier to do the rest himself, he decided to let Ruth and I contribute in putting on the metal sheets, and to teach us how to properly install them. As difficult as it got, it was an incredible learning experience that I am very grateful for. I would also like to talk about the people who have joined me on this trip. There have been so many times where the people around me have encouraged me to keep working and they never fail to make me smile. I am beyond greatful that God led me to this mission and that I can keep helping people in this community.
Ruth – Coming to this trip, I knew my favorite part was going to be helping rebuild the house for Lucy. With having family in Puerto Rico, I have heard of many of the struggles Puerto Ricans go through with hurricanes, economy, etc. so with this in thought I knew Lucy’s house was going to be in a hard condition, but that made me want to help out even more. But if i’m going to be honest I did rethink going to this mission trip many times, because it turned out I had club season tryouts for a club I’ve been eagerly wanting to tryout for. So I prayed to God many times that if He really wanted me to go on this trip to let his will be done, and to use me in a way that encourages the people around me, and that I would be as much help as I can be to those who need it. And after arriving on the first day all my worries about volleyball left and I was able to focus on something way more important. After going on the prayer walk after church on the second day, and seeing the happy faces and the sense of gratitude of the people we visited I opened my heart and mind even more. Even though in the mornings I felt very drained and tired, God gave me the energy to get in the van and go to Lucys house to help out. As Ana explained, we helped out on the roof with Adrian, which was very exciting because I have never done something like that in my life, and I am extremely grateful I had the opportunity to do so, and super grateful that Adrian took time out to teach Ana and I how to drill the metal sheets into the roof. As we were wrapping up for the day, one of Lucy’s neighbors; Jacy and her daughter offered us food and were very welcoming. Even though we were strangers, we came together with the faith that Lucys house was going to look better. Jacy’s daughter showed us her talents with crocheting. She made beautiful tops and she was overall all a very positive person. I was super grateful that after a long day of work, they offered us snack and gave us lots of encouragements. And only after being four days in Puerto Rico I have seen my faith grow a lot, which makes me even more excited for my growth in the future.