Post-Puerto Rico

Well, I have been trying to write about my trip to Puerto Rico for about a week.  But, I am telling you, this is tough stuff.  There is so much that I want to say, and my thoughts are still rather mushy and haven't completely slowed down yet.  I know, it has been a week and a half.  Either I have issues or it is the Holy Spirit. Or a combination of both...

I have been writing in my journal all sorts of words from the Lord and letters to the Lord and lessons and diagrams (?) and the like that all stem from my experiences in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico.  But when I sit down and try to write a Tear Down the Walls post on everything that happened, I always fall into this whirlwind of questions:  What if I forget something?  Should I be more surfacey or more deep?  What do I emphasize, what do I leave out, should I mention people's names, should I add pictures, is writing about what kind of madness comes to my head when thinking about what to write really relevant...

????????????????

Finally I just had to pull an old hand-slap-to-the-forehead and say, "Lou, just let God write and go with it."

Don't act like you all don't talk to yourselves!

Anyway, after numerous prayers for simplicity and stillness of mind, alas.  Here goes everything...

I think my favorite part about what God did in Puerto Rico is that it's not over.  It is still going on.  I have established relationships with people that I never could have imagined or planned or anything.  The youth group I went with consists of a bunch of beautiful young people hungry for more of the word and it is so noticeable and so incredible.  They have challenged me and encouraged me and even just the sole ability to witness God at work in their lives throughout Puerto Rico (and currently) is a privilege that I cannot bring myself to take lightly.  Thanks be to Him!  All glory be to Him!

As far as tangibility goes (I don't know if that word fits here, but I really wanted to use it), I was placed on a work crew with one other man from Elizabeth Baptist (the church I went with), three other adults, and eight college students.  My crew members came from all over the southeast, except for one girl who acted as our translator.  The local church in Puerto Rico is partnered with World Changers, so its youth come every week, are assigned a crew just like the rest of us, go to worship with us, and even stay at the same camp as us.  The Puerto Rican church--El Mesias--were surely a blessing in that they knew their way around the city, helped guide us in how to handle the incredibly crazy driving on the incredibly small roads, and translated for us so that we could still converse with the locals.

My crew was assigned the task of building a modest house.  I liked the extremeness.  You know, just building a house in Puerto Rico.  No big deal.  The house already had a concrete foundation, but the wooden frame had become irreversibly worn and its days were over.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. -Psalm 127:1


And so, the work week began...

BEFORE

AFTER

Another crew came in the week after to put the roof on.   However, I was pretty impressed with ourselves.  We had one hard-working crew, yet we were still able to crack jokes and have fun.  We even had some rather deep conversations, the concepts of which will indefinitely show up in a future post. So, stay tuned.As I had mentioned in my last post before I left for Puerto Rico, I was filled with a hope that was unlike any hope that I had ever experienced before. And, my brothers and sisters, this hope was not hasty. This hope was solid, its purpose was fulfilled in Puerto Rico, and it is still present....but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. -Isaiah 40:31Oh, how I needed that strength.  If there is one huge thing that God taught me (which really there are like 2378329734), it's that with shields of hope comes major arrows of doubt .  I am not sure if I have ever experienced spiritual warfare like that before.  My goodness, it was so intense.  The devil was surely using everything possible to try to shake the hope that God had instilled in me.  My God is a rock.  He fought for me, and He fought hard.  Towards the end of the week I was so awestruck at the fact that God had completely demolished the devil's attempts at making me doubt and while I did stumble throughout the week, toward the end I remember feeling so completely victorious and overwhelmed at the triumph over Satan that my God had accomplished.  It was humbling and encouraging to experience God's strength in such a noticeable way.That topic could serve as it's own post, and it will.On the last day, we got to venture into a Puerto Rico rain forest and jump off of cliffs.  Into water.  Talk about insane.  I am going to save our free day for another post.  Because even though it was an off day, God was not off.  I learned so much that day that I think my fingers are getting tingly at the thought of getting to write about it.

Worship will get its own post, too.  And so will The Power of a Story (yes, I have already thought of the title), which is pretty much the umbrella of everything I learned in Puerto Rico...  You can stand under it, too!

I feel a song coming on...

But really, that is the main surfacy gist with a little bit of deepness about what went down in Puerto Rico.  More specific posts are to come.  To avoid the risk of making this post any longer, I will stop here with hopes that you are sitting on the edge of your seat bursting with anticipation and suspense about what is to come.

^I am pretty sure this post has an unexpected, correlating metaphor toward the end...  I love hope.

LMB