Pico Rico

I spent the last ten days on a beautiful island that Ellee affectionately refers to as "Pico Rico."  

I went with 31 students and leaders and we spent the majority of our time serving others.

When I saw this sign at the airport, I just knew that this would be a trip to remember.

 We stayed at the beautiful Campamento del Caribe.  It's an amazing camp that serves the people of Puerto Rico.  During the summer, kids of all ages come to this camp to do all sorts of fun campy things.  Most importantly though, they come to learn about Jesus, how He loves them, and how they can live for Him.  The camp also serves many other groups and retreats, all throughout the year.  

For the first few days in Puerto Rico, I spent time with these amazing students.  Although you can't tell from the picture, they were standing on the roof of the apartments where the missionaries live.  We spent the first few days, sealing and painting that roof.

Then, for most of the rest of the time, I helped to work on this project.  That huge tower will soon accommodate the camp's new water slide.  During our time we built some of the main tresses and the side railings that will support the tubes.

We had a great time working on the water slide.  We got to use power tools, which is always fun.

Our team also spent a lot of time painting.  We painted inside and outside... walls, ceilings and roofs.  Our team worked incredibly hard and accomplished so much while we were down there.

After our first day of working, many of our team went swimming, and many of us got stung by jelly fish.  This was my sting, which has curiously since turned into a funny sort of henna looking scar.  

In the evenings, we enjoyed exploring the local town of Ponce.  Kings Ice Cream, Gelatto, and jumping in the fountain kept our team pretty happy and entertained.

I was so thankful throughout the trip to spend some great quality time with many of our students.  It was such a great reminder of just how blessed we are to be able to do what we're doing.

During our trip we also were able to spend some time at a Puerto Rican youth group.  Our students had a great time hanging out, playing games, and meeting new friends.

A huge highlight of our trip was visiting the rain forest.  We jumped off cliffs and then travelled to this amazing location.  The water was cool and clean, and the surroundings were absolutely breath taking.

Photo courtesy of my amazing brother in law, Matt Lu

All in all, we spent a lot of time working and serving at the camp.

I can't put into words how incredibly proud I am of our leaders and students.  Their hard work and their serving hearts made this trip simply amazing.

I am so thankful that throughout the trip, God kept our team safe and sound.  

 Another main highlight of the trip, for all of us, was enjoying frappes after a full day of work.  I'm not quite sure what they do to their frappes, but the combination of sheer blender genius and deliciously fresh ingredients will truly be a favorite memory for us all.

Being hot, sweaty, and covered in paint somehow didn't seem to matter so much when you were drinking your frappe.

 Thankfully and unfortunately, the only significant rain that we got was on our last work day.  

We woke to beautiful blue skies on the following day, which happened to be the day that we got to visit Coffin Island.  We spent the day snorkeling and just enjoying yet another amazing part of God's creation.

Another amazing photo by Matt Lu

All in all, it was an amazing missions trip.  I am so excited for Sunday, as most of our team will be sharing more about our trip at Eastport Bible Church.  It is such a blessing to see all that God accomplished through our time in Puerto Rico.  If you're local, definitely come and join us...  9:30am, 386 Montauk Highway.

Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers for our team!!!