Today was another great work day! At my site, Ben Gourley, Megan Kucera, Bekah Wommack, Sarah Jane Thompson, and myself (Josh Ellis) have been working on repairing a house that has significant water damage throughout. Yesterday, we spent all day making and pouring concrete by hand, so it was pretty motivating for the whole squad to walk onto our worksite this morning and get to see the finished staircase below.
Today's main tasks consisted of Ben and Bekah trying to find and plug a leak in the water line, while Sarah Jane, Megan, and I worked on replacing a rotten piece of the floor.
During lunch, we've all appreciated the devotionals we've been able to share with our foreman, Juan, and our translator, Ivonne. We discovered through these devotionals that Juan is a former pastor! Also, Ivonne invited the whole team to our house tomorrow evening to show us how to make the traditional Puerto Rican dishes mufongo and tostones (both made from plantains).
For the second night in a row, the team from Missouri who is also staying at the church, joined us for worship and devotional. It's been cool to hear about their experiences and share this time with them. It's really shown me that even though we hardly know each other, we're unified in this mission of helping this community and carrying out God's work.
Overall, I've truly enjoyed getting to see more of this beautiful island. Last May, I was on the Auburn Wesley team that came to Puerto Rico for a week. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to visit again and to continue to learn more about Puerto Rican culture, to rebuild homes for people in need, and to build new relationships with all the people I meet here. Thank you Puerto Rico for giving me such a wonderful experience, and thank you to everyone who has embraced me and the entire Auburn Wesley Foundation on this trip.
-Josh Ellis
Team 3- Pantalones Caliente smiles with their Forman before a day’s work. Pictured from top to bottom: Josh Ellis, Ben Gourley, Sarah Jane Thompson, Megan Kucera, Bekah Wommack
Megan Kucera and Sarah Jane from Team Hot Pants smiling after their hard work replacing rotting wooden floor.
Ben Gourley and Bekah Wommack from Team Hot Pants are trying to plug a leak in the water line
JT Mercer from Team 1 is shown here braving the highest part of a roof on the second story to hold down the support beams for what will be a new metal roof.
Richard White from Team 1 is also on the roof working with the formen to drill the roof support beams to the top of the wall.
Team 1 was rained out for about an hour and had to pause work
Korie Burgess and Taylor Vaughan from Team 2 smile and prepare for a day’s work
AJ Stanley from Team 2 takes a mid morning nap during snack time to refuel for the rest of the day
Sarah Jones from Team 2 is working on a window