SHF in Luquillo, Puerto Rico 2023!

By Andrew Kimmel While it was quite sad that we had to pack up and leave today, everyone was ready to head home. Between longing for a hot shower and seeing family or pets, everyone had something to look forward to. Prior to our departure this morning we thoroughly cleaned our dining hall and sleeping areas. We also enjoyed reading some of our affirmations that have accumulated over the course of the week. With all of our tasks being completed we headed off to the airport in our vans and enjoyed a smooth flight home, arriving safely in Glastonbury at 4:45 this afternoon.  For a more detailed look at what we accomplished this week we welcome you to attend our post mission trip worship service. This service will be held Sunday April 23rd at 8:00 and 10:00AM. This service will be lead by youth from the trip and will include reflections and tons of pictures from our week together in Puerto Rico. Come join us and clothe YOURSELF in love! 

By Avery McCurdy and Jane Juliano  Our last day of work we had a quick breakfast before we split up to the different work sites. One group went to the school where they turned an outdoor playground into an enclosed area with shade. They installed a playground floor and walls to painted it. They also got to spend time getting to know and playing games with the other students. Pastor Reyes at the school ordered us pizza and brownies for lunch as a thank you for our hard work. The second graders also made a poster showing their appreciation. We are so happy to have worked with this school and made friends along the way.  Another group stayed at our camp finishing up a variety of projects as well as preparing for the new group moving in that night. We all cleaned in common areas before moving on to our other jobs. First we cleared the trail by the pond, moved a large tent with help from adults, washed and painted many sets of tables and benches, and did a second coat and final tou...

By Lydia Morgan and Elise Grin It was an early morning for the SHF crew with a 6:00 am wake up time. We arrived at the Escuela Evangelica Unida to worship with our new friends that we had previously connected with during some work days. A few members of our group performed sermons and other readings all connected to our weekly theme of “clothing yourself in love”. Additionally, we sang a special song with verses in both English and Spanish, called “Oh, Sing to God Above''. It was much appreciated by the congregation of students and teachers, and connected us all.  Later that morning our group split up to attend separate work sites. First, the Bad Bunnies and Los Pollos Pequeños stayed at the school to complete a variety of projects. The projects included rebuilding a playground, cleaning classrooms, interacting with students in a kindergarten classroom and engaging in a game of basketball. At the school, we met a teacher named Mrs. Paiz who shared snacks and stories with us whi...

By Erin Borden and Lauren Carlino We started our early morning adventure with an informational talk from Dr. Chris Nytch, one of pastor Kate’s childhood friend, who informed us of the history of Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest. We then proceeded into the forest gradually traveling towards the peak. We visited the Baño Grande which was historically a public bath for Puerto Rican families & learned more about the biological diversity in the forest such as capybara, mongooses, and rats. Chris informed us about the hurricanes impact on Puerto Rico’s ecosystem. And then we began the hike!  Being the first girls to reach the top of the tower we soaked in the cool breeze and picturesque sights with ultimate completion satisfaction. We enjoyed our victorious picnic on the mountain side relaxing from the strenuous hike. We scaled the rest of the mountain to reach a breathtaking waterfall, in the Juan Diego creek, that washed away the sweat from our expedition. After our quick di...

 By Jameson Hatsian and Kristian Garrity On another humid day that got up to 83 degrees, the five groups worked very hard on their respective work sites. The group “Playa Party” and “Pollos Pequeños” went to the IEUPR school to work on picking up trash, cleaning classrooms, painting walls and having lunch with students from the school. The head teacher of the school, Jainys told us what to do and where to go. The two teams split up into different tasks and started to clean. By luch time, we had our packed sandwiches, but the school lunch ladies worked hard to make everyone rice, beef, garbanzo beans and a salad. When lunch ended at 1:30, we took a break for about 20 minutes and got back to work. Our Coquistadores team spent the morning working at the animal shelter and walked more than 40 dogs. They also sorted donations and learned more about the shelter, which used to be an AIDS clinic until government funding shut down and it was abandoned. Unfortunately many of the medications ...