We had a wonderful and meaningful mission trip. It really left an impression on the participants—youth and adults. It opened our eyes and hearts to how important it is to serve others and we realize we probably gained more from our experience and growth than those we served.
Today we went to Toro Verde, a zip lining course in the jungle. After finishing the course of 7 zip lines we then rode “The Monster”—the longest zip line in the Americas. It’s 2.5 km long (about 28 football fields long) and almost 1250 feet high. You ride in a horizontal position so it feels like you’re flying. The ride takes 2 minutes and you can reach up to 95 mph. Although the thought of going was scary and I was very tempted not to, I’m glad I did. The scenery was stunning and I felt so close to nature, like a bird as I soared over rivers and the jungle below. A good reminder that if we let our fears overtake us and we don’t step out of our comfort zone and take a chance, we can miss out on some of the most beautiful experiences of our lives. After zip lining we went into Old San Juan. We meet Brother Willy, an Episcopal Franciscan, at his church in Old San Juan. It’s beautiful and we enjoyed talking with him about the congregation and how they reach out to sailors—offering services in English every second Tuesday when many ships come into San Juan. After walking around Old San Juan for a bit we had a traditional Puerto Rican dinner of Mufungo and fish at Barrachina, the restaurant that invented the pina colada. We had non-alcoholic pina coladas too—delicious. We finished the day back at the Centro Capuchino with Compline outside.
Today we continued our work at the Episcopal Church in Caguas. We spent the morning and early afternoon painting the sanctuary. Some of us took turns playing soccer with some youth from Puerto Rico, one of whom lived in Maryland for a few years and was back in PR for the summer. Mid-afternoon we went to another wonderful beach that also had some coral where we saw lots of fish and many small sea urchins. We went swimming, relaxed in the sun, and had cold drinks. After the beach we walked to a nearby pizza restaurant and had pizza and then got ice cream. We then drove to the Centro Capuchino where we would stay for the remainder of our trip. It was a beautiful evening and we had Compline outside before heading off for bed. Overall, it was a pretty fun day. –Thomas