On June 20-27, 2015, 17 youth and four adults from St. Mark’s participated in a week long mission trip to Cayey, Puerto Rico. We joined others from Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Springfield, OH, and Charlotte to serve in Cayey. We had a wonderful time serving God and neighbor as we painted houses and repaired roofs for residents who were otherwise unable to make these necessary repairs. We experienced the love of Christ as we interacted and worked alongside these residents, often in spite of a language barrier.
Pastor Emily Hartner, Brandi Dotson, Susan Ginns, and I were very proud of the hard work our youth put in throughout the week, and for the relationships they sought to build with their residents and with one another. For more details on this trip, check out the blog that Pastor Emily oversaw while we were in Puerto Rico. It includes reflections from several of our youth: http://stmarksinpr.blogspot.com/
Below of a few of my favorite pictures from this trip:
Walking through Old San Juan shortly after arriving in Puerto Rico
A lovely view at Punta Guilarte Beach
Our whole camp at the Puerto Rico Botanical Gardens
One of our work crews shored up the roof of this house for Ivan and his mother.
A view from one of the houses that our roofing crew worked on
Avery takes a break from painting
One of our crews seals a roof
Susan’s work crew did a great job painting indoors and outdoors at their resident’s house!
Virginia carefully paints a wall at her resident’s house
Our youth in the town square of Cayey
Our parents had a warm welcome for us when we arrived in Charlotte after our trip
A group selfie at El Yunque National Forest
We celebrated Avery’s birthday at our retreat center
Dominic holds puppies from his resident’s house
Pastor Emily’s work crew painted most of the rooms in this house
A St. Mark’s work crew with one of their residents