This year, I spent my spring break on a mission trip in San Juan, Puerto Rico with 19 other students from Charleston Southern University as well as three chaperones. We spent four days doing hurricane relief work and we also were able to visit a local church and pass out food in the surrounding neighborhood one day. On the off chance that you didn't know, Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria in September of 2017. When I found out that our school would be taking students to the North American Mission Board campus to help with hurricane relief in San Juan, I immediately was interested and I asked for more information. My main concern with the trip was that I would be going to a place I had never been with people I didn't know. As humans, we naturally have the fear of the unknown and that is exactly what I was dealing with. I finally decided to go on the trip and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Puerto Rico and for my leap of faith in deciding to go. I learned so much on my trip and so I thought I would share some of what I learned while I was there.
1. Your circumstances don’t have to affect your attitude.
The people of Puerto Rico have been completely devastated by Hurricane Maria. Some of their homes are unlivable, some areas are still without power, and a lot of their personal items are either missing or destroyed. What surprised me the most about my trip is that despite the suffering around them, the people we met were still smiling and laughing.
2. No matter how little you have, you always have something to offer to others.
A lot of the homeowners that some of our groups worked with were devastated and didn't have much, but still brought food to feed the workers with. Some other people in the neighborhoods surrounding the houses we were working on offered to come by and help rebuild or paint. These people put aside their own devastation and suffering to help others in their time of need.
3. Prayer is sometimes the best gift you can give someone.
Throughout our trip, one thing remained consistent with every homeowner and every person we met and that was that they gladly accepted prayers and we were always glad to pray with them and for them.
4. Life is better lived when you’re not busy worrying about everything.
I was really worried about this trip because I didn't know anyone there and I had never been to Puerto Rico, but when I put those worries aside and focused on why I was there, I was able to really enjoy my time serving the people of Puerto Rico. By the end of my trip, I didn't want to leave. To be honest, if I had the chance I would have stayed there for months and months and I would have enjoyed every bit of it.
5. Sometimes it’s good to unplug from social media and technology.
When we were in Puerto Rico, we had limited access to power outlets and we also were busy most of the time. This caused me to not pay much attention to social media while I was gone. Don't get me wrong, I stayed in touch with people back home and I took tons of pictures, but I didn't find myself as focused on what people were posting on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter while I was away. This was actually really good for me and it made me realize just how unessential social media is in our daily lives as well as how it can distract you from your bigger purpose.
6. God's plans for you are always greater than the plans you have for yourself.
If you had told me a couple years ago that I would be going to Puerto Rico to aid in disaster relief, I would have told you that you were crazy! I am so used to staying in my comfort zone, but when you take a leap of faith and actually do what God is calling you to do, you actually find a sense of peace and you find that you will actually enjoy all that you're doing. I wouldn't trade the memories and experiences that I got during this trip for the world and I am so glad that God gave me this opportunity to share His love through disaster relief.
7. The people you go on mission trips with can easily become some of your best friends.
Going into this trip, I had met most of my teammates once or twice at our mission trip meetings and that was all. I would never have imagined that I would become so close with so many of them and that I would genuinely miss seeing them 24/7 after the trip was over. The truth is that God handpicks your groups because He knows us better than we know ourselves and He knows what we need in a team as well as what we need in friends. He brings us together to not only get the work done but to also grow in our faith together and to challenge each other.
8. When you build your life with God as your foundation, you will be able to weather the storm, but when you build your life based on worldly things, you can easily find everything you know destroyed.
This was an analogy that my friend Cameron shared with us one night while on the trip. It really stuck with me because it was based around the two homes that we were working on: one that was built with concrete and the other that was built with just wood. The concrete home lost its roof, but the wooden home was completely destroyed. This is how it is when we build our life around Christ versus when we build it around worldly things.
9. Seeing God in nature is extremely moving.
For those of you who have been to Puerto Rico, you know just how beautiful the island is. Whether you're in El Yunque Forest, a random beach or just driving through the island, you will see God in nature. It is incredibly relaxing and moving just sitting there and looking at God's incredible and beautiful creations, knowing that the God who made these beautiful things made you and has awesome things in store for your life.
10. God breaks down language barriers for His glory.
One of the things that is intimidating about going out of the country to serve the Lord is the language barrier. I had taken some Spanish classes growing up, but I was definitely not confident enough to carry on an advanced conversation with native speakers. Luckily, God gave my group a teammate (Bruna) that spoke Spanish very well and that was willing to translate for us. Honestly, the week would have been extremely hard if we hadn't had Bruna to help us out and I am so grateful that I met her and that she is gifted enough to know multiple languages. Thanks to her interpreting, we were able to not only communicate with the locals but we were also able to understand the inspirational message that the pastor shared with us on Sunday.
