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.