We were so blessed to have an incredible first week of ministry here in Puerto Rico. After we had a wonderful day off yesterday, our van picked us up this morning and we headed off into the city at a central location in a poorer part of town. There was a little courtyard type area that is designed for music and setting up various events.
Joe Palmer, who is the director of ministry at Hogar Crea has been heading up a time of serving food to the homeless on the 3rd sunday of every month. Today happened to be that day so we were asked to help out in facilitating it. We were all a little anxious at first as we weren’t sure what really to expect. The most important thing was, we knew that God would be there with us.
Upon arriving at the area, we began to pick up trash and sweep the concrete and set up tables and chairs for everyone. As we were picking up the trash, Zach made a startling discovery. He had spotted a used syringe and the sight of it immediately made me aware of just how bad the drug problem is here in Puerto Rico. It was quite a sobering moment.
We began to mingle around the area as there were many homeless folks that were starting to show up because they knew that today was there day to get possibly the only meal they will see for a while. There were several of the girls from Hijas Del Ray that recognized many of the people from their work with the soup kitchen this past week so they began to conversate and make good fellowship with them while we waited for the food to get there.
The food arrived at around 11:30 and we began to get to work. Our friends at Hogar Crea were extremely nice to prepare the food that we were passing out so basically all we had to do was form an assembly line and serve all the wonderful people. It was incredible to see floods of men and women swarm on our event once the food showed up. We all had such a great time sharing the love of Christ to our new friends. In just a little over an hour we had served 100 plates and 75 of those came back for a second helping!
It was such a humbling experience and God spoke directly to my heart by showing me that though these folks were homeless, they are HIS people too. We don’t know all of their stories but the fact is that Jesus died for them just like He died for us and we should treat them just as we would treat anyone else.
I also want to once again thank all of my prayer partners and supporters back home. Without you guys, none of the things we have done so far would be possible so continue to lift us up daily. Love y’all!
