Friendship and Hardship in Community Service

From July 13th to July 20th, 2019 I participated in a community service project with my church, Little River United Church of Christ (LRUCC), and other UCC Congregational Churches. We joined the Baptist organization Mission Serve to volunteer in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico. In 2017, Hurricane Maria had destroyed many houses in the area and made people homeless. Our mission for the week was to help build up some of those houses to give the local people back their homes that they had lost. During this time, we were living in an old school that was destroyed by the hurricane. Sleeping on air mattresses, without air conditioning and eating next to sewage we got a feel of what it must have been like for the people living there.

We were placed in random squads amongst our UCC churches and other churches from different states around the country who had joined the project. Every squad got a worksite assigned. We got up at 6 am and were at the worksite by 7:30 am. All we had was the foundation of a house. So, we used the old wooden pieces that the hurricane had taken off the house to build the walls. Nobody from my church was in my group. We did not know each other at all. Communication and leadership were very important when it came to getting the work done, especially since not everybody had the same experience with using power tools. However, patience and dealing with frustration were key parts, too. The next day we took all the walls down because we were provided with brand new wooden panels. We had to start all over: this time more efficient and faster than the day before. When the electric drills were out of battery and had to be charged, we had to slow down and could not be as efficient as we would have wanted to be. We had to take turns, to give everybody a chance to bring in their skills. Slowing down allowed us to engage in a conversation that was on a deeply personal level, which I enjoyed. By the end of the week, we made it up to the roof and had built a solid foundation for the group who would come after us to continue the work. While we were at the worksite, the homeowners came to help us, and neighbors provided us with local food and drink to express their gratitude, which was an amazing feeling.

Of course, the service and leadership experiences were a major part of the week but also the culture, religion, and the deep connection we developed with each other. That week, we encountered hardship, too. On our first day, we participated in a service that was supposed to welcome us. We were shocked when we encountered offensive preaching directed against the LGBTQ+ community. Like some cars are black and some white, we were told, so are some people women and other men, with nothing in between. This was certainly nothing we expected to happen. We were deeply hurt as some of our existences as God’s unique creations were denied. However, we did not want to let our colliding beliefs come between us and the good work we were doing. Instead, this experience gave our UCC churches the chance to bond even more. We deeply reflected on what had happened, continued our work, and engaged with the other volunteers. I will never forget our nights in church together and coming together outside of the church to sing. I felt connected to people I had not known five days ago.

Never before have I experienced such a deep connection with people around me in such a short amount of time. Friendships that we established during that week have lasted beyond. I can only encourage everyone to participate in a community service event, especially outside their comfort zone. I cannot promise you, it won’t be hard, but it will be rewarding! You will not only be able to help other people who need it but also bond while working hard together as a team and build your leadership skills. The hardship was an excellent chance for us to grow. Overall, I will remember this week as a positive and influential lifetime experience.