Puerto Rico…
We said goodbye to family and friends. We packed our lives into backpacks and daypacks. We set out to serve the body of Christ and of course change the world in the process. Well, what a difference a week can make, it seems that God had a very different plan for us…
After a very eventful, four hour, bus ride from the airport to our “back-up” host site, (our original arrangements fell through, which I’m learning is a common occurrence on the race, so flexibility is key). My team and two others (20 of us all together), arrived on Thursday night at Jesamir, a campground located on top of a mountain in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The property is used for church retreats and conferences. We met Pastor Ruben, who lives on the property with his wife and is the main caretaker.
So here we are 20 World Racers stranded atop a mountain in Puerto Rico for 7 days thinking we were going to get right to work changing lives… and there we sat… our team leaders tried to make contacts and work out ministry opportunities and transportation, but that just wasn’t what God had planned for us. So we learned how to be still, we studied, prayed, wrote testimonies and sermons, soaked in the beauty around us, and in general felt bad for not being busy, for not doing something… I mean isn’t that why we came?
What we didn’t know was that only a few weeks before our host’s father in law had passed away and he was the one that founded the church at Jesamir, he had the vision to host churches, missionaries, youth camps and conferences, and our hosts were broken with grief and loss. So when twenty young missionaries entered their lives, joined in their church services, helped Ruben with some of the property maintenance; they were overjoyed. They called us angels and answers to prayer. We were only there for a week, but we are on God’s time now and He can create a universe in a week, so restoring hope and bringing healing to a family was no great feat for Him. In all of His wisdom God sent us there to be His hands and feet to a family that He dearly loves and I’m so thankful that we said yes. I’m so grateful to know Pastor Ruben and his family and all the beautiful friends we made in Mayaguez. I will carry them in my heart always and who knows, maybe I will see them again this side of Heaven!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
