The Big Meeting

Jeff Hutchison

Before continuing our story, we must make a correction of a previous post.  I owe an apology to my good friend Jeff Hutchison as I have misspelled his name repeatedly.  Sorry Hutch.  Perhaps the reason I made this mistake is so that I can have one more opportunity to say thank you for a job well done.   

The following story will be  the final post, on Puerto Rico at least for the near future. Surely there will be more stories to come in the future, as we try to begin a partnership there. 

The following is a continuation of our visit, and gives some idea of what a partnership might look like. 

THE PUERTO RICO STORY (Part 5)

The Big Meeting

Wednesday May 9^th.   We decided we would take a trip to Ponce, checking out other areas on the way that we thought might be in worse condition than where we are in Yabucoa.  We are looking in particular at Playa Guayanes as a key area to be considered as a place for building relationships. But we wanted to see what other areas might look like. On our way, traffic was heavy, and we veered off to another beach area in Salinas.  We later found out that too was an area that was hit very hard as well. We drove around trying to assess how much damage was really done there, seeing similar situations, and buildings without roofs like those we saw in Guayanes.  We finally found a small diner where we could have lunch, and then decided to drive back as it was already getting late.  We were discovering that it was probably like this all over the island, just harder hit in some areas than others.  There is a great depression lurking, and already people fear the next hurricane, and still there is not electricity for everyone on the island as yet.  

One of the goals we had set before going to Puerto Rico was building new relationships that would lead to a long lasting partnership. We saw the fruition of that goal all wrapped up in "one big meeting".  We might say this the highlight of our visit. 

Pastor Joe Ramos

   Thursday, May 10th our objective was to follow through on a meeting where we would introduce Pastor Joe Ramos to Fernando Silva and Zenaida Navarro.  We wanted to get a few key people together that we believe God has called out for an extra special service for the Island of Puerto Rico. These are three people that we have met for the first time, but believe they are the ones that are making things happen. Furthermore, we believe that we at might be able to come together with them in a plan to build a strategy for a long-range hope of sustainability.  It has been a long road to get here, but worth every minute of the effort.  

Fernando Silva & Zenaida Navarro

Early in the morning we met  Pastor Ramos and drove down to Playa Guayanes to introduce him to Zenaida Navarro, and Fernando Silva.  Above and beyond trying to take good notes of the conversation, we just wanted to open an opportunity for Joe, Fernando, and Zenaida to meet each other, hoping we all could form a great lasting relationship.  We believed this truly was a divine intervention, as Joe told us yesterday.  Most of the conversation that took place was follow-up of individual meetings that Norma and I had with each of these three, and the follow-up of the meeting of pastors on Monday.  

Here is a short wrap up of those conversations.  We learned that there are approximately 4000 people in Playa Guayanes, and there were approximately 24 houses with no roofs.  Seventeen of those are still unfinished. Thousands still remain across the country.

Playa Guayanes

    Joe gave his story of living through the 24 hours of Hurricane Maria.  He said that the hurricane sustained itself for a full 24 hours.  It just would not leave.  The eye of the storm hit them head on, and covered the whole width of the Island.  He said, “Just try to imagine the biggest jet plane ever made setting right over your head and never moving.”  That is what it sounded like.  He said it just set and churned for twenty-four hours.

Fernando described it by the topography of the country, and the way that the eye of the storm hit the walls of mountains creating great momentum. As it bounced off the walls, it started all over again.  Much of the soil in the mountains broke down into sand, which caused a lot more damage because the mountains began to break off causing mudslides in the highways.  

They all agreed that the greatest problem they have today is not just the material 
damage alone, but the mental anguish they are all going through (PTSD).  And because of no electricity in this area and others, they cannot keep up with enough generators because they easily burn out.  The people will sometimes jump in fear when they hear a generator sputter.  They don't know whether to shut it off and hope it will last another day, or leave it running and burn out, trying to save food for just one more day.  

The two men discussed the dilemma of the past years of Protestant History in Puerto Rico all the way back to the 1930’s. They spoke of Liberation Theology and how it got its start in the 30’s and rose again in the 70’s and 80’s. They pulled out illustrations of the time when Billy Graham was looked down upon for making friends with leaders in the Catholic Church. Much of it was verbiage, but over the years it created difficult situations.  In the past, those were subjects only for the brave at heart, but now with the advent of Maria, these men were not afraid to take the subject head on as there were fears that some of these feelings have crept back in to the churches again.  Some Evangelical Churches still have these fears. 

But Joe believes now, because of Maria, the bubble has finally burst, and out of desperation, rather than choice that all people can and will work together in this tedious challenge of rebuilding the nation.  These three philosophers, one strong Evangelical Pastor, one Catholic community organizer and one Christian Theologian and Philosopher lying somewhere in between, agreed, at least for the moment, the churches had to lay down their swords and come together for one human cause of survival.  They agreed they should have representatives of all churches, but that those representatives must be willing to lay aside any tendency toward denominational lines or doctrines.   

All three were in agreement that they wanted to create strategies that would help the Islanders rebuild their country.  They believed the people must come into an agreement and participate, as a community, rather than struggling alone doing small amounts of patchwork here and there on their own. And except for times of worship, the church buildings could be made available for the people to come to work together as a community for the good of all. They agreed they could work on this one cause, and let God do the dividing wheat from the chaff in His own way and time.

El Fagon is a place to bring the community together

Each church should feel freedom to maintain their own doctrine when they worship, but in the area of rebuilding the country, they could all come together for planning strategies. Perhaps churches that are willing to fit into a plan or strategy, might get priority in funding for repairs and or rebuilding.  But together they could use their buildings to make places for feeding, at the “community fogones”.  They could be used for teaching how to make use of the mosquito
nets, how to properly filter the water and teach ways for disease control.  The church buildings could also be used for a place for people to come for counseling, hoping they can get trained psychologists who speak the language to come in to counsel people with problems of PTSD. 

Joe spoke of 5 churches in his area who might agree on a three stage strategy of relief, reconstruction and sustainability.  He said he had already witnessed too much patchwork in the community, and people are just putting out fires, rather than making any real progress.  He said if he can get an agreement on a strategy like this, then he would be completely in for the long haul.  He said already, people fear another hurricane, and the trauma and shock has impaired the work that could be done. 

Both Joe and Fernando wanted to convey the message to us that any groups or individuals, who desire to help, should do so at the invitation of workers on the ground in Puerto Rico who would be prepared to receive them.  In our case, if we are able to build a partnership, anyone from our church, should only go at the request of a future committee or by Joe, or Fernando. Either they, or a newly formed committee, would have prepared the specific task for the group that would be going, and then should be totally agreed on by any participating church.  Hopefully roofs to be built would be by people who could be able to go for up to two weeks if at all possible, and with the objective of building long range relationships.

Both mentioned that safe and sound financial guidelines must be practiced. Funds and resources should go out through safe banking policies and could possibly go through Palmas Community Church, or The Puerto Rico Community Foundation.  Both men have said any money coming through either of these means would be spent 100 percent for the Puerto Rican relief effort. 

Fernando said that any funds we might send in for relief would be pooled in an organization headed up by Nelson Colon, where all money could be directed at least temporarily.  Nelson is founder of “The Puerto Rican Community Foundation", and has said his office would make sure every penny is guarded so that no expenses or fee would be taken out of gifts in any way for the furtherance of the organization until further notice.  All would go to direct rebuilding of the country.  They would not even allow cost for movement or transportation from stateside or anywhere else to be covered for individuals or organizations to come in to help.  The money would all go for supply and the cost of building. The mission statement of the PRCF states they are organized: "To develop the capabilities of poor communities in Puerto Rico so they are able to socially transform themselves and achieve sustainability."  This foundation can be found as being rated, under Guidestar, which is one of the world’s largest sources of information on nonprofit organizations.

Fernando began asking questions for which he already had answers but used them as a way to emphasize the importance to be truly organized before making attempts at helping. How many electricians have come in from the government, and other companies and organizations, and have only done patchwork.  They still have no dependable functioning electricity and water in most areas, and in some areas, none at all.  So of 300 thousand people over the past 8 months since Maria hit, who have tried to restore the grid, why don’t we have electricity? All agreed that government could not solve their problems.

The government reported that there were between 65 and 70 killed during Maria, but they are now discovering that over 4,600 to date may have died, due to related problems that followed in the after math.  How do you think these things are affecting the people?

And then, the follow up question was, what was the answer to the greatest need mentioned on Monday at the Pastor’s meeting?   To all who were present, it wasn’t electricity; it wasn’t food, water, or even roofs.  It was the mental and spiritual health of the people.

Joe felt for the first time, the bubble of differences has been broken, and revival may be surfacing. He asked, “How would Jesus approach this situation?”  We need to make the connection between Jesus and the people.  He mentioned that a man in a real estate office wanted to get across to the people, that, “We are in the aftermath of the aftermath.”  We just need to back off, cool down, and then come together to plan a strategy. 

Fernando believes that the Puerto Rican Council of churches, has problems of it’s own and is not working together, because of wounds of the past among the doctrines etc.  It is the only organization of churches in Puerto Rico, and Joe and Fernando, believe something better could be formed than what exists now, and with much better priorities. They want to have further talks on how to make this happen. The Central government is working everywhere on the Island, only through the Democratic Party, and it is not solving the problems.  They may be making them even worse. These problems have to be outlined through interdenominational committees. Churches, INCICO and other organizations can be advisors, but it is the people who come together and work together that will make things happen.

Many churches have been destroyed or badly damaged

 Fernando believes Christians, and even Pastors, can lead these committees, but they have to let go of their religious views when they come to together to work on these causes.  He believes that it is ok to give priority to rebuild  churches  that have been damaged or destroyed, who are willing to be put to use for the community benefit.  He believes they should be used for worship an for their own doctrines,  or worship, but they could also be used for other purposes. They could be used for counseling and for medical needs.  They could also be used for discussions on forming strategies and creating work alliances and move through the community restructuring.  He believes the people must  think interdenominationally.  "We have to let denominationalism go until we get this community back on its feet." he said.  The three of them felt they need to come together with a strategy which would include a mission statement, with the priority of what Jesus would do in caring for the aged, the children, the mentally impaired etc. 

Fernando said, his idea would be to talk about His mission statement on line. 

Such a plan would include:  a. a mission statement, b. by-laws, c. principles, d. objectives, and e. the strategy. The name of the coalition is important to him, and could carry the words Christian or faith based, but in the end, it must be a name the coalition can agree on. For him the underlying basis for the group would be “sustainability”.  We have to provide a means of becoming independent.   

Fernando said, He does not in anyway want to try to curtail the help of anyone coming into the country with the heart to help on a short-term basis. But real help will come through their own resources, whatever they may be.  At the moment, the best resource is money, to try to stop the bleeding, heal the mentally wounded and get people together so they are able to think clearly in the development stages and in sustainability.  So yes, funding right now is a big key, but we must be sure where that funding is going.  It must be pooled in the right direction; otherwise it is just being squandered. We want people to be independent and doing things for themselves.  And this will happen if we are able to form this kind of coalition.  It will make the people more efficient. Having said that, we will not turn away workers who are here with the right heart.  We do not want vacationers, but if you send us people with a heart to work, we will accept them and try to organize a work plan for them if given enough advance time to devise a work schedule. For most purposes, that is at least two weeks. But we would be responsible to make the decision of priorities of who to help and where to build etc. We do no want anyone coming in from the states and doing patchwork. 

Teaching the community to use mosquito nets

Joe felt that a major priority of the coalition of Pastors and churches if established would be to put money into providing professional counselors or help in medical or mental assistance, but that too, must be well organized.  He said they have good doctors and psychologists in Puerto Rico, which is one of their greatest resources.  But that too would be the reason for supporting the building up of church property, because it would be a place that people can go for counseling, medical help and food.  These could be places they could listen to lectures on how to care for the water, mosquito control and the prevailing diseases that are killing people.  They could serve as places to work together to make mosquito nets, and gradually create businesses through this.  This kind of help would all preferably be Spanish speaking.  However in some instances we could use translators if and when needed. 

  

So how do we get a plan for the masses?  What is the next step. All were in agreement for another meeting on Monday the 14th, at the First Baptist Church where we held the first meeting. They realize this will be a long hard process, but believe it will be worth the time and effort.  And who knows, God may send a real revival to the Island. 

Note, the last two pictures at the lower part of this post are used with permission of Fernando Silva and INCICO.

  

A Follow up of the 14 Hands

What a beautiful story, and so well told by the Hutch. The two of us believe this story is just beginning.  The team on this first trip did an outstanding job, and gained insights as to what sustainability means in a nation of need.  We are beginning to see ways that we may be used in Puerto Rico.  The following documentary is an assessment of our visit and time on the Island. Because of the length it will come in two postings.  The first, " a follow up of 14 hands" is mostly our impressions and ideas of what we saw, and the second (part 5) will be the "meeting of the minds" to see if a partnership can be built that our church can link into.

The Puerto Rico Story (part 4)

(A follow up of the 14 hands)

Following the death and interment of Norma’s father, and moving on with what we believed he would want us to do if he were still alive, we immediately began planning a trip to Puerto Rico.  We set out on May 4, for our first trip to the Island, and here is a brief rundown of our visit.

Arriving in San Juan on Friday afternoon, we rented a car and took a long trip through Caguas, trying to assess the amount of damages, and trying to figure out what our church might be able to do in the midst of such devastation.  We reached the area where we would be staying and it was already almost dark.  By the time we got settled in it was getting late and we went to bed exhausted from the trip.

(left to right)  Norma, Sara, Sara's husband and Zenaida 

Saturday the 5^th was our first appointment with Zenaida Navarro, who gave us a tour detailing the needs in Yabucoa. We met 83 year old Sara Navarro Lazeu and her husband who is almost immobile.  The Ginger Creekers put a roof on her home, and they are so excited about that.  We ended our visit at about four o’clock in the evening, and spent the rest of the evening making    phone calls, setting up and confirming appointments for the week to come.

Sunday, May 6^th, we started the day trying to get the GC service on line, before worship at Palmas.  Not being able to make contact, we drove to the Palmas Community Church, which meets in the home-owners association of the Palmas community.  We met Pastor Joe Ramos, a wonderful, bright and intelligent person, who is interested in the spiritual and mental condition of the church today in Puerto Rico.  In a quick discussion about short-term work, he stated that he is interested in groups who can take more time to do the work.  He is interested in long-term relationships, believing one can’t accomplish anything in less than two weeks.  Even for builders it is best if they have minimum of two weeks when at all possible. He thinks priority should be set in relationship building, so that one has time to understand the culture around results of hurricane Maria.  His message was taken out of Rick Warrens book “Transformed,” and about the people of Puerto Rico being mentally depressed. 

Pastor Joe Ramos

His church has a chapter or organization for support of veterans, and has a group of community organizers to help hurricane victims.  They especially want to have a long organized group to work in this area.  They are looking for psychologists, to help PTSD victims who speak the language, and short-term workers to go through the community to help discover those who do or do not have electricity and/or getting other help from the government now after Hurricane Maria.  He stated that his major interest and emphasis would be on PTSD and that ;  “I am most interested in identifying a group who can provide insights on PTSD and who can help equip us in providing some type of initial care that might help mitigate the affects of PTSD.”

He along with nearly everyone we spoke to believes that the government is not the solution to the problems existing on the island, and is looking for people who are genuinely interested in transforming the Island in a sustainable manner.  In general, his philosophy of mission and church growth is very compatible to Ginger Creek.

Joe introduced us to Patricia Santerini, who is originally from Guatemala, but moved here years ago.  After the service, they served snacks to the congregation, so we grabbed a bite, then Patricia took us off to meet Marisol Munoz Aponte,  who is suffering mold in her home, after receiving minimal help to get a roof over her head.  But because the core of her home was built with wood, she is losing nearly everything in her home due to mold.  The entire house needs to be gutted, and refinished with a new roof.   Patricia is gong to talk with her husband, to see if she can get an idea of what it would cost to do the work, if they had help. 
  

Marisol Aponte with Norma

We talked at length to another lady from Palmas Community who has relatives, who were totally wiped out.  There are 4 sisters and two brothers who move around here and there, living with family members.  

Monday 05/07/18 was such a power packed day that it was almost overwhelming, but yet it was finished by about 4:00 pm.  We started with a short visit with Willie, friends of the Sabals, and father of Maricela. 

We headed out to the First Baptist Church in Yabucoa.  This was really an interesting event, as we started out by having no idea where this meeting was going to lead.  We knew it was going to be in the church, but had no idea what the forum would be.  We weren’t even sure if there would be a roof on the building where we were going. Neither did we know how we would be accepted.  We had spent a lot of time in prayer, before leaving the States, and I knew some of the things I was going to be doing was a little over my head.  I had prepared well in advance of what I thought I could do, but still had some insecurity about it.  After being there for a few hours, and visiting with Zenaida all day on Saturday, I was beginning to think I should probably take another approach.   After listening to Pastor Ramos, on Sunday, I felt I had to do some modification to what I had prepared.  So I sat up Sunday night revising my presentation.

Once finished, it dawned on me that I did not know whether or not the service would be in Spanish or English.  So I took more time to type up my thoughts in both languages.  By the time we got there, I still did not know if I had the right approach, because I didn’t want to do or say anything that might cause more confusion to the people.  But as usual, God always comes through in the pinch.  I was a little early, at the meeting, and Fernando Silva of INCINCO showed up a little early as well. Up until last night I did not know if he would be there or not.  But once I saw him, and had a quick opportunity to speak with him, I knew the approach I would take.  Still, I did not know if it would be in Spanish or English.  I just knew that in less than five minutes, I was going to be speaking to a group of about 10 or 15 Pastors and their spouses, and a few other community organizers, of all differing faiths. There were a total of 25 or 30 people.

The lady Pastor of the First Baptist Church opened the meeting in prayer, and turned the mike over to Zenaida Navarro, whom we had met the day before.  She is a community organizer from Yabucoa, the area that had been hit the hardest. 

Since the Pastor opened in Spanish, I assumed that I should follow suit, because everyone I met that came through the door was speaking in Spanish.  Later I found that very few spoke English. Zenaida said a few words and then turned the mike over to me asking if I wanted a translator, but I told her no, that I would give it my best shot, so I started right in. I shared a little of my story and testimony, and told about our work and what we were trying to accomplish this week in Puerto Rico. I told them what Ginger Creek was expecting and hoping to do, never making any promises, but always saying that we followed God’s leadership as to where he would have us go and what he would have us do.   

After about 20 or so minutes, being a little unsure of where to go and what to say next, I looked out into the congregation toward Fernando and asked him if he would be willing to lead the group in a discussion of the needs and desires of the Puerto Ricans.  I just felt in my heart it was the right thing to do, because after all we were there to listen. He graciously accepted on the spot, and that was my confirmation that I did right thing.  It gave us an opportunity to sit and listen and take notes. I introduced Fernando to the pastors, and he led us into a two and a half or three hour discussion on the situation in PR after the hurricane. 

 In this setting, we managed to get insights to what the people were thinking, and all we had to do was sit and listen, and take notes from the questions and answers that surfaced through the discussion. 

As for needs, they all said nearly the same thing.  Water, electricity, roofs, shelter; but eventually words came to the surface like fear, anxiety, anger, depression, hopelessness, suicide etc.  But all of this was followed up by compassion, perspective, love, faith, courage and perseverance. 

After the meeting at the First Baptist Church, we sat down with the Pastor of the Church, Fernando, Zenaida and a few other leaders from the churches.  We were beginning to see how a coalition could develop to put all of these different sectors together in a partnership for the good of Puerto Rico.  

Zenaida & Fernando 

We left from the church, and Fernando, Zenaida, Norma and I sat down for a late lunch, and began to discuss some ideas of how to make this work.  I told them that before we left the island, we wanted a chance to introduce the two of them to Pastor Ramos, so we set a tentative meeting for Thursday.  

Tuesday the 8^th, We had our planned sit down meeting with Pastor Ramos He showed us around the mall area in Palmas,where he has contracted space for his office, and will gradually move the church out of the community center to another area.  After gaining insights from him, and his desires and philosophy for the work in PR, we asked if he would be willing to go with us on Wednesday to meet Fernando Silva, and he agreed to that meeting.  

As we closed the day I tried to put all of these thoughts and ideas in perspective, I cannot help but give God all the praise and thanks for his care over us. Then I thought of all the prayers that are going on at home, which made this trip possible.  It helps me then to understand in greater depths the words of Pastor Joe, about transformation and building relationships.  There are so many people involved in this effort, and many more will be needed in order to see real transformation made in PR. That is real love that we often have a hard time seeing and understanding. 

Before retiring for the evening I looked out the window to see beauty and creation at work.  I see the palms brushing over the beautiful ocean waves as they creep into shore bouncing off the rocks in splendor.  I see the big barges as they make their way closer and closer to port.  Oh what grandeur, what love.  Lord I have struggled with letting go of unanswered questions.  And this week has brought up so many new questions of the way you work in lives.  I have even given thought that if you would just allow me to understand events in my life, then I would be happy.  But even before I could get the words out of my mouth, you knew what I am thinking and I start to fear and allow guilt feelings to creep in. “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4). 

“Coming  next in The Puerto Rico Story” (part 5) will be "the big meeting."  This was an opportunity for our new friends to meet each other and set the stage for building a coalition of churches to work for the coming together for assistance in the transformation of Puerto Rico, hoping to see them reach a sustainable future. 

Fourteen Hands for Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Story (part 3)

The next day, after the passing of my father-in-law, Jan. 28, the first Ginger Creek team headed off to Puerto Rico, and I left for Tulsa, to meet up with Norma, her sister and family.  God puts his people together for His purposes, with His people, in His timing. Fourteen hands did an outstanding work, putting on two roofs, in just four days, and returned home on February 1.  Following is a play-by-play wrap-up of the story with the spotlight on the leader. it is a story in the words of “The Hutch”, Jeff Hutchinson.   

Fourteen hands for Puerto Rico
Jeff Hutchinson

Jeff Hutchinson

Team, I just wanted to send you all a quick note to recap my thoughts and memories from our trip to Puerto Rico.  With everything that we experienced over the five days we were together, I am 100% confident I am missing a few key details.   I would ask that you guys read this lengthy email, and provide any details that I missed.  This was a very moving trip for all of us. I hope you gents agree that this was a tremendous group of unafraid guys that worked together to help folks.  Working together from morning to night was an absolute blast, whether it was making breakfast together (mostly Paul and Tim!) or shuttling metal roofing up two flights of stairs, I thought we worked together very well. 

Mike & Gisela Sabal

I know we are all very grateful to the Sabal family for their generosity.  Not only did they provide our accommodations, but their pre-work and relationship building paved the way for us to be productive once we arrived in Puerto Rico.  They also established a GoFund me site that generated the funds that allowed us to purchase the materials to complete the construction projects.  One thing that blew me away was the talent of each of the guys on our team.   We seemed to “have what we needed” in terms of someone that could accomplish a task, not only in terms of materials, but in expertise as well. The roofs that we built were very professionally done and the families knew that when we were finished.  It was truly quality work. The beauty of this trip was the trust that each member of our team had for one another and the commitment that each had for the team.  We worked together EXTREMELY well, with every person knowing their role in any given project, whether it was cooking breakfast or balancing on a roof rafter.  

        ( Left to right) Paul Hamaker, Mike Sabal, Geoff Isbell, Josh Greifinkamp, Tim Mahoney

Tony Medina

Jeff Hutchinson

    THE FEARLESS  FOURTEEN HANDS 

Working together was a great joy for all of us.  We had three objectives for this trip.    First, was to ensure the safety of each member of the team.   To be clear, this was intense work on 2 story roofs.   Additionally we were working with chain saws, table saws, drills, and many other tools.  We simply did not want to have any injuries on an island where health care is already severely compromised. Secondly, we wanted to meet the physical needs of as many people as we could, whether that meant roofs or any other assistance to rebuild families’ homes. We were willing to do anything to help.  And third, where possible, we wanted to demonstrate the love of Jesus to as many people as we could.   Gents, I think we “nailed” (pun intended) all three objectives.  We began each day with a prayer and prayed at every meal.  We were privileged to have additional devotionals provided to us from dock Caton, which proved to be “just the little extra” spiritual motivation for our team.

Sunday  

Our flight to Puerto Rico was smooth.  We had no problems at all.  Mike Sabal arranged for a van service to transport us to his house. After a brief stop for lunch, we continued to his brother in law’s house (Tito Torres) who was kind enough to loan us several tools as well as a generator for our work.  Without that generator, nothing would have been possible because the village of Yabucoa has been without power since the hurricane hit, 120 days ago.  We arrived at Mike’s house and had the pleasure of having dinner with Fernando Silva, who is the leader of INCICO, a Non Governmental organization that is working with the people of Puerto Rico to rebuild with sustainable solutions for food and water distribution, mosquito protection and construction.  Fernando sat with us for over 2 hours and shared with us the current situation in Puerto Rico, including both the physical condition of the island and the emotional condition of its people.  To be without power for 4 months, and many without roofs, can take a severe toll on the health of an island in many ways.

Fernando Silva & Zenaida Navarro


Monday

The team began working on Marisol’s roof, who lives in Yabucoa and is the daughter of a friend of the Sabal’s.  Marisol was so happy to have us working on her home and fed the team throughout the project…and even gave Paul a haircut!  While Ben, Paul, Mike and Josh were working on the roof, Tim, Tony and Jeff drove to the fishing village to meet with Fernando Silva and Zenaida Navarro who proved to be a true community leader in the village of Playa Guayanes.  She gave us tremendous insight into the history of the community and helped pave the way for the two families for whom we were going to build a roof.   We then met with those families to build a relationship with them and to inspect their roofs to get a sense for the scope of the project.  Jeff and Tony made the trip out to Yauco, a 90-minute drive, to visit with Tony and Agna’s family and to assess the needs of that community and the potential partnership between GCCC and a local Church.  In short, Yauco is in great shape compared to Yabucoa and even the pastor of the local Church in Yauco believes our time is best spent in Yabucoa.  Knowing that the team would be completing roof #1 early on Tuesday, we knew we needed to somehow find and purchase materials for roof #2 for the construction project on Tuesday.  Tony and Jeff stopped by the Home Depot in Caguas after hours and were able to meet with the store manager who was kind enough to meet with us and he assured us that he had the materials we needed for the roof.  At the time, however, he could not help us with the delivery of the materials, which was certainly an issue given the job site was 30 miles away.  We were banking on some divine intervention to help us get the materials to Playa Guayanes.

 Tuesday


Ben, Paul, Mike, Tony and Tim completed Marisol’s roof on Tuesday and she was overwhelmed and moved to tears with gratitude.  The roof turned out very well, and the team even added on an extension to the porch.  While Marisol’s roof was being completed, Josh and Jeff made the trip back to the Caguas Home Depot to hopefully buy the materials for the second roof.  We were happy to find materials still available, but were disappointed to find out there were no rental trucks to be found.  Josh was prepared to ask one of the many customers in the parking lot who had pick ups to deliver the material for us.  After we informed the store manager of our team’s mission and our need to complete the work today, a team of Home Depot employees got together and agreed that our job was the most important delivery they had.  They literally removed large merchandise from their truck that was scheduled to be delivered within the hour. They replaced it with our roofing material and delivered it to Playa Guayanes.   This was truly a group of people going the extra mile. The team was able to complete the first half of Roof #2 on Tuesday.  The owner was Zenaida’s 80-year-old aunt and her husband.  They were a special couple whom, we are sure would have been without a roof on their second floor for a long time without our support.    We finished half of the roof on Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday


We returned to Sara’s house and began building the second half of the roof. As with every other day, each member of the team assumed a role and executed it well.  3 guys on the roof, 1-2 guys framing the soffit and fascia, 1-2 guys cutting wood and metal sheets and 1-2 guys transporting materials from the ground to the roof.  When finished, the roof was completely professionally done.   At that point, we realized that we would not have enough time to secure materials and complete a third roof.  With a full afternoon remaining on Wednesday we decided to do 

two things.  First, we attended the “FOGON” of the village.  These are community events organized by the leaders of the various villages throughout Puerto Rico where someone cooks in a community setting for the entire village.  The goal here is to be less dependent on the American Red Cross “hand outs”, which by the way, are still happening. Fernando, and others who are working for sustainable solutions, wish to support the people helping themselves.   

Fogon at Playa Guaynes

In the village of Playa Guayanes, there is absolutely zero commerce.  There are no stores or restaurants of any kind.  Fernando wants to assist the cooks at the fogon to begin to build a commercial enterprise (restaurant of sorts) over time.  We were so honored and humbled to be invited to this event.  They fed us an incredible lunch of rice, pork and chicken.  And the "icing on the cake" was watching Paul and Tony join another local guy to provide the music for the event; Paul on the bongos and Tony on the harmonica.  

After that lunch, we knew that we only had anoth hours er 3-4 to work, not enough time to fix a roof, but certainly enough time to be productive.  So we decided to walk the streets of Playa Guayanes and simply ask people if they needed help.  We didn’t need to walk any further than Sara’s next-door neighbor who lived with 6 people in a house that had to be less than 400 square feet.  They told us that their biggest need was a bathroom, which they did not have.  Led by Mike, we proceeded to use a chainsaw to remove a series of large trees that had fallen on their fence and in their yard during the hurricane.  The highlight of this interaction was when their relative Sandy told us she had lost her job, Tony Medina circled up our group and their family and said a prayer for all and asked for support for Sandy as she looked for employment.  When Sandy told us she needed to find someone who could help her with understanding the severance agreement that her company sent her, we told her that Tim Mahoney was a lawyer and would be happy to assist her.  So Tim sat with Sandy and gave her the counsel that she needed.   Such a cool moment.  

Next Steps

• I think many of you have an interest in returning to Puerto Rico, as do I.   Let’s take a pause, let this last trip simmer a while and then talk about a possible return date for our group.   Part of me is ready to go tomorrow.  
• I will continue to work with Fernando and Zenaida (she has been very communicative with me over the last several days) to identify specific needs in Yabucoa.   We need to truly understand the realities of operation Blessing being able to provide roofing materials.   Additionally, it sure would be nice to be able to provide a bathroom for Israel and his family
• We agreed that it would be great for Dock Caton to make a trip to Puerto Rico to meet with Fernando and Zenaida to discuss possible synergies between GCCC and Playa Guayanes.   Zenaida has already met with her pastor and has provided my information to him.  Dock’s experience will be invaluable in determining whether PR is the proper fit for GCCC.   
• We all know there is a physical need in Puerto Rico. There will be more guys that come forward with a desire to help rebuild there. Today at Church, I had another guy say, “I am IN” for the next trip. Love that fact that guys are willing to step up and grab a hammer.  There will be more…you guys know what is required to be successful on a trip to PR…keep an eye out for guys like you.  

One of the things that I said at our first meeting, was despite any anxiety that any of us had about traveling to Puerto Rico, that if we applied the “6 month rear view mirror test”, that we would be glad we went.   That means that 6 months from now, we will be happy we spent those 5 days doing what we did.   I hope you agree, I’m real glad we went.   I was truly honored and humbled to be on this team and look forward to going to work again soon.

Thanks boys.

Hutch

Coming next in part four of this story is our follow-up report of our journey to the place that our team, Fourteen Hands For Puerto Rico worked putting on two roofs in just four days. Norma and I revisit the same people, continuing the relationship building process, and accessing the needs on the island to see what we might be able to do in the future.  Building buildings, building relationships and reconstructing lives will be a long, daunting process that will ptake many years.  And now these people may be facing another long hard hurricane season, that many believe the existing infrastructure will not sustain.  Much prayer is needed for all the people of the Island.  DC