Break With a Purpose
January 14 – 21, 2023 | Puerto Rico
Our BWAP 2023 trip has concluded. To learn more about our experience, check out the team’s reflections below:
Laura Hyde ~ “Unexpected Connections”
Lauren Pettis ~ “From Learning to Living”
Lydia Larsen ~ “The Cost of Paradise”
Aurora Kuelbs ~ “Deep Roots”
Mei Hippe ~ “Deep Love”
Kevin Lee ~ “What the Great Commission Didn’t Tell Me”
Madelyn Peppard ~ “Three Kings Day, a Four-Day Celebration”
Watch | Listen (Part 1, Part 2)
Learn more about our partners for BWAP 2023:
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance – Puerto Rico
Techos Pa’ Mi Gente
Break With a Purpose
January 14 – 21 | Puerto Rico
In recent years, climate disaster has wreaked havoc on the island of Puerto Rico. Hurricanes Maria (2017), Irma (2017), and Fiona (2022) — as well as earthquakes in 2020 — have caused hundreds of billions of dollars of damage to homes and infrastructure on the island. Ongoing U.S. colonization has exacerbated the effects of these storms; Puerto Rico has not received the support or attention it deserves.
Though they may seem far from us, the people of Puerto Rico are our neighbors and siblings. For Break With a Purpose (BWAP) 2023, we’re partnering with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Techos Pa’ Mi Gente to aid in the ongoing rebuilding and relief efforts.
Important Dates
Training & Dinner: Monday, December 5th, 6-8 PM
Commissioning at Worship Service: Sunday, December 11th, 4:30 pm
Pre-trip Check-in: Monday, January 9th, 7-8 PM (virtual)
Puerto Rico: January 14-21
Team Sharing in Worship Service: Sunday, January 29th, 4:00-6:30 pm
FAQs
We will be working under the leadership of Techos Pa’ Mi Gente, who specializes in roof building and repair; however, we may be doing other kinds of demo, construction, or repair work as needed. No construction or repair experience is necessary, as we will be fully trained in all the skills necessary for our work. We will also spend some time exploring the island!
Our host site is La Casona de Monteflores, a PDA Volunteer Host Site. The building has five bedrooms, two kitchens, two single bathrooms, and an additional shower room. There is also a living room space and laundry machines on site.
The total cost per person is nearly $1200. However, thanks to generous Pres House donors, the registration fee for students is $500. If cost is a problem, please contact Nii Addo before completing the registration to discuss fundraising options.
BWAP is not a mission trip. We do not go in hopes of evangelizing, converting, or otherwise colonizing the places we go. Rather, we seek to come alongside, listen to, and learn from folks who are part of the communities we enter. We believe that we have more to gain from these experiences than we have to give. As we partner with God’s work in unfamiliar places, we become more equipped to do the same in the places we call home.
We also acknowledge that opportunities to learn and grow in this way are a mark of our privilege, and that — as Christian folks living in the United States — we are complicit in many of the systems and structures that create the problems we see in the world. So alongside an eagerness to learn and excitement to serve, we also come with humility, knowing that we are not the solution to all the world’s problems. All of our team trainings and reflections address this tension as well.
To be part of the BWAP 2023 team, you must complete the registration form below and submit payment. There is no “deposit” for this trip. Your registration is not complete until we have received both your registration form AND your full payment! The deadline to register is November 28 at midnight.
We are able to take a maximum of nine students on this trip. Slots are generally filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, if more than nine students register, priority will go to students with demonstrated involvement in the Pres House community. If you register for the trip but are unable to come due to the group size limit, your registration fee will be refunded in full.