Puerto Rico, Day 7

by Bruce • April 1, 2012 • LifeStuff • 0 Comments

After maintaining decorum by posting notes five nights in a row while in Puerto Rico (6 if you count the day before we left), I ran into a mental block called tiredness and stalled on my up-to-the-day reporting. What follows is my effort to recover my memories of what happened on day 7.

Day 7 in Puerto Rico was a Wednesday, and after breakfast, the construction team spent the early part of the day finishing our main project at the Bayamón church- the installation of ceiling tiles in their chapel/fellowship hall. After some discussion the day before, our group lead Chris Herman and project lead Jim Westfall talked it over with Pastor Ray from the church and other interested parties, and it was decided we would also paint the hall. With most of the ceiling grid and tiles installed, much of the morning was spent painting trim and lining the floors with drop paper. Today went much better than yesterday.

Several girls from another team came over and joined our team to help with painting, and by mid-afternoon, the hall was painted and re-ceiling-ed and swept and fabulous looking. It looked like a totally different room, and sounded much different- which was the goal. I spent much of the morning riveting ceiling grid tracks together around the parameter in one of the three sections of the hall, and then putting down paper ahead of the trim painters, preparing the floors for the extravagance of rolling the walls with paint. My brother and Jim Weaver his partner continued converting light sockets on the old ceilings to power 6 fluorescent light trays in the grids lighting the three room sections. Once I was done putting down paper, a roller on a broom handle was free, and I took that up, finishing putting a first coat on one of the walls, and then putting a second coat on large areas of a section. The painting wet quickly with extra hands and help. The room really did look terrific and new when we were done with it. Pastor Ray, during our whole work process, would come and go in the room, smiling and shouting “Allelujia!” in appreciation. He speaks little English, and most on our team spoke little Spanish, but his joy and pleasure was well-understood and well-received by us.

The last two days, we have eaten lunches prepared by Ray and his wife which have involved meats cooked on a portable grill over charcoals. We have eaten outside at tables under the roof extending over the porch which sits at the front of the main sanctuary building. With 3 long tables end to end, we have enjoyed their servanthood and donations of food by others in their church as we have rested outside for the afternoon meals.

I think at some time in every day on this trip, the skies have darkened and the clouds have wrung themselves on Bayamón in dramatic style, As quickly, once the dramatic storm has ended, the skies inevitably smile again and act like nothing happened, and sun strives to bathe the city in a sanguine light. Still, darkened clouds seem to always sit somewhere brooding in the distance, waiting for their chance to dump their soggy sulking on the island.

Our workday ended early, so our team headed back to the lodge with some time to fill before the other teams came home, so Scott and I went out and took a jog up the road that went by the conference center. The road had some significant rises in it, and narrowed at points from a four lane neighborhood road to a two lane rural street which wandered up and around and through areas of heavy overgrowth. At one point, we viewed a wide river spanned by two modern bridges off to our left. It was good to exercise, but we were both drained- and surprised to be challenged so- by the end of our 4 mile lope. The run sucked, but the scenery we saw was pretty. The humidity we felt while out didn’t help matters much.

After a shower and dinner, our whole group went back to the Bayamón church for the evening for Bible study and then fellowship with the church. For me, it was one of the most enjoyable evenings of the trip because it was an evening spent together with the rest of the guys from our team in a men’s study led by Pastor Ray. The evening air was cool as the men gathered in a room on the second floor of the fellowship hall. We sat in a small circle with about 6 or so men from the church. The air flowing in the room through the open entrance door was soothing and pleasant as Pastor Ray demonstrated why he is a good pastor and teacher. The class, on the responsibilities of being a man, focused on our need to come to and to depend on God and his Word to strengthen us in our lives. Ray is an encourager as well as an exhorter, and he led us through a battery of Scriptures on the subject, speaking to us simply but with power about how God helps us through His word and in our trust. I found his talk, along with the cool air, refreshing and fulfilling, and felt a greater connection with my brothers on the trip tonight. I appreciated Ray’s teaching. I had met a new friend at the church a week before at the youth service- Jean Pagan- and he interpreted Ray for us tonight. You can see in Ray’s movements and hear in his voice his passion for God and his care for his people. He is strong and authoritative when he speaks, but behind his words and voice is a heart of simple compassion and joy.

The women in our group had gone to a woman’s study at the church as well, which was held in the newly refurbished fellowship hall. After our study ended (with prayer), the men went downstairs into the hall, and refreshments were served. I talked with Jean and his mother for a while, and some pictures were taken by our group members of the construction team and other clusters, and then it was time to go.

We got back to home base, one of the youths in our group found and brought a frog in to the lodge to show everyone, we had a debriefing session, and the evening ended with some card and dice games for whoever hung around. I hung around with the play crew in te lodge lobby for a bit, and then went in to hit the sack. It was a great day, but I was tired.

Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island, and as such, it is covered with dense fauna and canopies of forest and jungle. It is clear that the island does not lack of rain, because of all of the life we have seen grows on it. Deuteronomy 32:2 is a good verse to summarize reflections on rain and Bible study today: “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” God promises to help our hearts to grow if we will let them be flooded and filled with His Word.