On the last day of the Puerto Rico trip, I wasn’t ready to leave feeling like I had more questions than when I came in. Before the trip, I thought I had a pretty clear idea of what Puerto Rico…

I want you all to close your eyes for a minute. I want you to picture yourself walking through a rainforest. It’s dense and green and hot and sunny. You walk along this trail until you reach the end and…

When I first got to Puerto Rico, I noticed a deep sense of pride from everyone there. At first, I thought it was nationalism; a pride for one’s country, for an ideal, for a flag. And as an American, I…

I have taken Spanish classes in school for seven years, but the first time I had to translate for our group in Puerto Rico, I looked like a deer in headlights. In that moment, I learned very quickly that there…

The first day we arrived at the work site, Margarette gave us a short tour of the facility that we would be involved with for the next few days. Techos Pa’ Mi Gente had their main facility set up in…

I remember being overwhelmed by smells and looking up to see locals looking down at the crowd from their lit-up balconies. The 500-year-old architecture and historic cobblestone streets were comically and tastefully juxtaposed with the Coca-Cola-themed parade and a local…

While at Ft. McCoy, our group wrestled with what it meant for us to be there. Here we found ourselves on this military base amidst flurries of chaos and complexity. We encountered a full spectrum of experiences. I questioned my…

I could call it a dystopia, but it was not fiction So I’ll try to describe it with my best words and diction But how is one to explain the inexplicable? Perhaps with my senses, though I’m not sure they’re…

When we were sent off to the centers we worked in each day, we were given tasks to do and rules to follow.  Sometimes we were busy running around our centers and could barely contain the chaos, but at other…

Words in normal font are from scripture (NRSV). Italics are commentary or additions. Are the consolations of God too small for you? (Job 15:11) My face is red with weeping, and deep darkness is on my eyelids, though there is…