Puerto Rico Day 7

Today was our last work day, our last day as Michigan Servants for Christ 2019 – Puerto Rico team.  We finished painting the front of the Iglesia Metodista Jehová Adonai that we started last Thursday and painted the first coat of one side of the church.  Our brothers from the Lott Carey Missionary Group started the other wall and will finish what we have started since they will stay here until Saturday.  The rain interrupted our work but allowed us to share with each other (and provided clouds that shielded us from the sun).  Pastor Rosemary and her husband Pastor Alejandro LaFontaine fed us delicious lunch that someone from her church had prepared: arroz con gandules, meatballs, macaroni salad, avocado, and for dessert: dulce de lechoza with white cheese, guava, and cake.  It was delicious! They were grateful that we helped with the labor (they provided the materials) and we were grateful to have such a beautiful place to serve.  

We also had the privilege to visit the Iglesia Metodista San Pablo in Barrio Obrero an area of San Juan that has tremendous need.  Pastor Nilka Marrero García spoke to us about the challenges this community faces including food insecurity.  She told us stories of the work they have been doing since Hurricane Irma and all through Hurricane María (six months without power).  She told us stories of several elderly members of the community who have died of hunger.  She used to be a prosecutor attorney before she went to seminary and even during seminary she liked to rely on rational thoughts and her head knowledge, while she touched her head, she said that God has decided to teach her to lead this church with her heart.  She has a kitchen and space to feed people, she needs the workers and the funding for the food.  She explained to us that they don’t have a budget for this.  They have been feeding people as often as they can thanks to volunteers and donations.  Since most of the population in this community comes from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and the West Indies, we were delighted to share with her some of the donations that we received for the Haiti trip.  We gave her a bag of brand new flip flops, a bag of various types of pills (ibuprofen, antihistamine, etc.), a box of compact mirrors, 10 “Days for Girls” kits (daysforgirls.org), a few Walmart gift cards, and cash.  She broke down and cried.  Just today when she was preparing the meal for tomorrow she was struggling in her kitchen because she didn’t have meat, and the money just came to complete this meal.

No one in this team knew that we would be here until approx. 9 days before the trip.  Everyone, except me, had plans to go to Haiti.  I, on the other hand, have been hemming and hawing about going to see my mom in November, but couldn’t really make a concrete decision.  I wasn’t sure what would best for my mom, or for my family, or for me, since I had a hard time leaving her this summer.  Then Pastor Matt Hall insists that he has to talk to me, is determined to call Abigail from American Baptist Home Mission Society in Puerto Rico, and believes in his heart that there has to be an opportunity to serve in Puerto Rico.  Abigail recommended that we contact Pastor Jesús García from the Iglesia Bautista Metrópolis in Carolina, Puerto Rico who has turned out to be an incredible invisible force.  I spoke to him on the phone on Sunday, Oct 20 when he was at the San Juan airport on his way to a trip that ended today.  We still haven’t met him, but his leadership and tenacity speaks volume.  The team that he put together have been phenomenal.  We cannot thank Lizzy and Nikky enough for taking care of us the way they had.  They pick us up every morning, drive us around all day, never leave us, know everything about who is bringing our meals, and even go the extra mile to visit my mommy and parents in law in Fajardo.  They have been funny, supportive, they have guided us, and just pure loved us this entire week.  Oh, and they found out that they were doing this job the day before we got here.  

During this trip, God decided to put us all on the same playing field.  Everyone just had to respond to God’s call at the level that He decided.  I am so incredibly moved by the way this has worked out.  God answered ALL of our prayers, took us where we needed to be, bonded us together, and accomplished His will.  He is our guide not a sign post, He is the light in the darkness, He is like a mother hen gathering his chicks around him, the mountains bow down to Him.  I know He is love because I see how His face shines upon the people around me, and I know He is in control because no one could have put this together the way He has.

Dolly Tittle