Puerto Rico

Two summers ago I went on a mission trip to Puerto Rico. Since it was a United States territory I did not think that there could be such rough areas. I think that sometimes we do not realize how bad certain areas are just because we are in a routine and really only see where we live. So we went to a Arecibo, Puerto Rico and stayed in a small church for a week. Over the course of the week we were building a house, having a basketball camp, and taking food to what they called the “ghetto” or “projects.” The pastor of the church had explained that most of these people in this area were strung out on major drugs and could not live without these drugs. My day to take food was not until the very last day. I had heard that it was really rough and that it was very sad but I had no idea how hard it would hit me. As soon as we had the food set up and were ready to pass it out, the men, women, and children came running. I was amazed at the children. Most of them were running around with no shoes on, hardly any clothes, and looked like they had not eaten in days. They were so innocent and so generous for what we had for them. These children made me tear up because they had nothing but were so thankful for what we gave them. Just a smile made these kids so happy!