It's the end of month one on The World Race and although I heard it time and time again… I really can't believe how fast this month went by!
Puerto Rico has been an amazing blessing and I can't imagine being anywhere else in the world but here this month. The beautiful people, the culture, the delicious food, and their worship is like none other.
We stayed in Arecibo, Puerto Rico and lived in Iglesia Viva, an amazing church that's doing an amazing job. Pastor Peter Quiñones met us at the airport in San Juan and from the moment we met him we felt cared for and loved.
We had great accommodations at the church and it didn't take long for it to become our home sweet home. We had a safe room to ourselves and slept very comfortably with all 12 of us in one room. A fully equipped kitchen that was more than we expected. 3 showers that kept us clean and very humble as we realized that hot water was a commodity and not a necessity… so cold showers everyday for a month were great! Great sinks to wash all our cloth by hand and a great cloth line to hang our cloth. Our 2 bathrooms were wonderful and I was ecstatic to find that we had fully working toilets and sinks, but most of all very excited to have a body length mirror in the girls bathroom (it's the little things that count.) All in all our facilities were great!
This month we did a lot of hard labor and somedays I really thought I wouldn't make it… oh ye of little faith! I was a human lawn mower, working hard under the hot Puerto Rican sun with a machete, I can add professional house painter to my resume, deep cleaned a home, chopped trees down, organized closets, cleaned, cleaned and then cleaned again, and visited the homes of many widows, a Vietnam veteran, a women who was excommunicated from the Catholic church and many more.
We worked with the local church and got real close to the youth. Ministering to the youth was great and made my heart happy to see them every Friday as we met with them to worship God. They instantly won our heart and sharing Christ with them was a blessing. We learned their stories and their struggles prayed over them, ministered to them, shared some devotionals, worked with them to perform a skit for the last Sunday and coordinated some sick moves for a couple songs.
We visited beautiful places that showed me God's beautiful creation and artistry. I zip lined the highest zip line in the world superman style, walked along side a river at 6 am with bamboos as high as the eye can see. We explored a castle/fort called El Morro that Christopher Columbus and his people build for defense a couple hundred years ago.
Most importantly we learned sooooo much this month. I stepped back time and time again in the middle of a work day and realized that I could clean a widow's home in Tennessee, or how many people I could love on by painting their home, or just going to hang out with a veteran who lost his wife and love on him by being present and enjoying some laughter. It was the little things that we did that made a big difference, I did nothing here that I couldn't do at home in my community.
Missions isn't what we do, it's who we are. We are called to share God's love where we are! You can make a difference in your community and be a light to those who live in darkness. You can be the only smile some sees in weeks or the only hug someones had for hours. Be a difference you want to see in the world!
In the wise words of Pastor Peter from Iglesia Viva, Arecibo, Puerto Rico:
"Brilla en el sitio donde estés, Brilla en el sitio donde estés, Puedes con tu luz a algún perdido rescatar, Brilla en el sitio donde estés."
"Shine in the place where you are, Shine in the place where you are, You can with your light find a lost person, Shine in the place where you are."
