Graham Church

Like all adventure stories worth telling, our trip started off with some unexpected twists. Our mid-afternoon arrival to Puerto Rico turned into a two-part late evening arrival. So what did we do with all that time? Well, we napped of course! We need to start our mission week off the right way, with plenty of rest and a full store of energy.

Our first group of 5 arrived at 7:30. Naturally we were a bit hungry, and we had some time to burn before our second flight of team members arrived. So we headed over to a local favorite food truck called Churry's. The food was delicious!!! We snagged some sandwiches for our late arrivals too; couldn't leave them out. With our remaining time we stopped at a two-story Walmart to grab some snacks. Then back to the airport on our bus for Round Two! We are so excited to be reunited with our teammates.

After several delays, the rest of our crew finally touched down in Puerto Rico. From the airport, it was about a two hour drive to Ponce, the city where our partnership church is located on the Southern coast. We arrived at the hotel we will call home for the next week, had a brief orientation meeting, and headed straight to bed. We are all looking forward to meeting Pastora Soto and her church tomorrow morning!

We had a great morning! Over at the church we ate a variety of fruit, jello, COFFEE, and Avena (oatmeal), prepared by a wonderful lady named Ivette. Pastora Soto popped in along with several other church members just to greet us before church. Everyone was so kind and friendly, clearly very excited to have us there. We attended a Sunday School service, taught by a volunteer in the church who dived deep into The Word. Then church started, and whew was it fun!!! This church is filled with musically talented people; a full band and a slew of gifted singers sang songs of praise, some of which we even recognized the tune. It was a very lively service, naturally with a large part of the message honoring fathers for Father's Day. Our own Pastor Rob(erto) introduced our group to the congregation, and then was asked to do the closing prayer. After church, numerous members of the church came up to greet us once again and share some stories. They definitely loved on us while we were there. We ate a DELICIOUS meal of rice, beans and chicken. Pastora Soto joined us and stayed afterwards to visit with us and tell us about herself and her church. We went around the circle sharing our names and two fun facts about ourselves. Pastora tried to remember our names too. She promised she would get them by the end of the week! :)

Holidays in Puerto Rico are taken far more seriously than in the upper United States. Father's Day is no exception. Pastora excused herself for the rest of the afternoon to be with family, just like everyone else in Ponce. All the stores, including 24/7 Walmart shut their doors. It was a stay in and catch up on rest afternoon. Some of us chose to sleep. Others jumped in the pool or hung out by the poolside. It was nice to get in some team fellowship time before heading back to the church for, yet again, another tasty Puerto Rican dinner. We had rice, beans, salad and pasta.

Sunday evening, we gathered in the hotel conference room for a team meeting, during wich we sang some worship songs and talked through our day. Everyone had a lot to share about the church service this morning, how is was different from what we are used to. We also talked about the culture, the things that surprised us and the things we've seen already that inspire us. After Bob shared a devotional with us and we took turns praying, we got to work planning out what we are going to do at the VBS on Monday. Several of us practiced making balloon puppies, hats and swords. It's going to be a good time!!!

On Monday afternoon, we came together for a delicious meal prepared by our fantastic cooks. It was bistec (beef steak!) and oh so good. After lunch, we split into groups again: one at the church, one at the home. The group who was at the church painted window bars in the church sanctuary. They turned out great! The work team at the house continued demolition and repair of the kitchen floor. That evening, we came together for a meal once again then headed back to the hotel. We had the chance to ride with church members as our van needed some mechanical work. We had a meeting to process the day, then peaced out for bed time. Buena noche!

Day 2 of ministry found us caravaning to the church from our hotel. We had a great breakfast, then got right to work. We again split into two groups: one at church, one at the house. We had 9 kids at VBS-all from yesterday plus one more little friend. Fun was had by all as we assisted the church with their programs, then made superhero capes and masks with the kids. La iglesia was taken over by Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and many other heroes! The work team nearly completed their kitchen project, as well as did a lot of yard work. It's great to see progress. Some members of the family do not speak English but we are finding ways to communicate and get to know each other!

This afternoon, we had a chance to travel to Plaza Las Delicias in Ponce. It is an old style town square, with a park in the middle and shops surrounding. We found some great places to shop, a museum to see (educational!) and some yummy ice cream. In the evening, we worshipped with the church members at their weekly prayer service. It was a more informal service and we enjoyed being interactive with the service. We had the opportunity to sing a song and share testimonies about our week. Hannah played Amazing Grace on the flute, as well. It was a very uplifting and encouraging service! Thanks be to God!

Day 3 of ministry had us in a comfortable routine of programming. We had similar groups as the first few days. 7 kids enjoyed stories, songs, balloon animals and paint with us! Rain kept us inside, but having fun nevertheless. The work group had adventures shopping for supplies in the morning as well as continuing work on the kitchen and bathroom in the home. We are working hard and having fun!

This afternoon, we had a Guy's Work Day and a Girl's Afternoon. The guys continued work on the house, with the goal of finishing the kitchen completely! THEY DID IT! The kitchen is looking wonderful-what an incredible gift for this family! Best of all, it's safe for regular use which was not the case before. The girls headed to Amor Q Sana in Ponce, which is a shelter for women who are homeless or victims of violence. We were able to minister to these women through the fine art of fingernail painting, coloring and dancing! It was great to just be "girls" with these brave souls. After Amor Q Sana, we all came together to finish work in the house and reveal the final product to the homeowners. There were tears of joy as we celebrated with Jose, Lucilla and Kevin in their re-done kitchen.

Today was a half and half day: the VBS team at church in the morning and the work team continuing at Jose's house. The work team finished the bathroom and hung the back door. We have been working on this house all week with the intent to help make this home safe and inhabitable. But, we know that earthy possessions will pass away so this week with Jose has been about making him feel empowered and loved. Today, he told us that we are part of his family and it was a great moment. Today's picture is of the front of the house. The VBS team continued helping with stories, music, grafts and games. Face painting and balloon animals made another appearance today! The kids have loved these fun activities

This afternoon, we got to go to the beach!! On our way there, we stopped to see Jose and his family. We signed the inside of their kitchen cupboard and prayed for them. It was a great end to a great week working on that project. We headed to a beach about 45 minutes from Ponce. Fun was had by all as we played in the water, swam, played beach volleyball and explored. Afterwards, we drove to a church member's house for a good, old fashioned BBQ! What a party! This family's home was quite literally on the top of a mountain. We could see the ocean, the other mountains and such clear stars. We played games, danced some salsa and line dances, and of course ate a lot of food!!

Today is our last day in Puerto Rico. We woke up early, had a nice breakfast and said a very tearful goodbye to the people of Ponce. Since our flight is later in the day, we got the chance to stop in Old San Juan to see El Morro, one of the Spanish forts here. We all agreed we could have spent an entire day exploring here! We then headed to the airport. See you soon, Michigan!