After Action Report Mission Puerto Rico: 10 – 24 April 2014

SEE MORE PICTURES AT Faith Builders Ministry Album Greetings and salutations to all; this trip to the “Enchanted Isle” was short but productive. We were forced to cut our trip short due to my serious illness a few days before our original flight date setting us back a week. Still we managed to get much done for his glory.

PREPARING TO LAND IN SAN JUAN

First this was Tony’s first trip to the Island so I wanted to insure he got the full experience. For those who have never been PR offers such a diversity of geography from rocky cliff shores, white sandy beaches, thick rain forests, desert like areas and beautiful mountains.

TONY ON THE WHITE SANDY BEACHES OF PATILLAS

We spent most of the first week working on mi suegra’s (mother-in-law’s) home in the small

village of Pueblito del Rio in the province of Las Piedras about 23 miles Southeast

Faith Builders MinistryUnless the Lord builds the house the builders labor in vain - - -

Commercial & Residential Construction and Property Maintenance Specializing in Church’s

of San Juan. If you remember from last year’s report that 23 miles can take up to 2 hours with traffic. It also backs up to El Yunque the National Rain Forest that was devastated (still shut down) by Hurricane Maria)

PICTURE SHOWSSOME OF THE VEGITATIONRETURNING TO BACK OF EL YUNQUE

My mother-in-law finally got power restored on April 6th with many parts of the Island still without power. Also rolling blackouts are a common almost everyday occurrence. We experienced 9 power outages while there.

YES THERE WERE 2 CUT OFF EXT CORDS IN THIS MESS

Our main work on her home was to demo the back wooden structure in preparation for the masons to come in and build a block wall making the house significantly smaller. Thanks to the generous donations of Faith Reformed Baptist Church of Media, PA and the some of the homeowners we worked with in Houston we were able to repair badly outdated and dangerous electrical and buy some materials for her also. At the same time we took get pains (literally at times) to

preserve as much of the material as possible so that it could be reused by others in a local church.

Our other big expense if you will was helping a widow in Arecibo a city on the northwest shore of the island. Tony and I took a day and drove there to meet up with an old friend Pastor Javier Rodriquez Diaz. We packed tools hoping to do a little work on his house but he insisted the greater need was a widow who had lost everything in the storm and needed some furniture. So instead of second hand (junk) we were able to get her a decent living room and dining room set at a very reasonable price.

Next Tony and I ventured to Bayamon to visit more friends JR and his wife Emily. Their story is pretty amazing. Four or five years ago they began to pray about what God would have them do and they felt God saying pay off everything get out of debt completely. So they did and shortly after JR got laid off permanently. They started Ministerio Evangelistico Alcanzando Vidas Para Cristo Inc which roughly translates Evangelistic Outreach Ministry Reaching Lives for Christ. The mission is achieved by helping others help themselves through donations of food, water and basic necessities. We were able to assist them with a small donation to help get the brakes on their car repaired to continue their work.

We all drove to Cantos a community not far from their home to meet a man who for some 20+ years has been running a food, clothing, and furniture distribution center out of his home to the community homeless. He was recently given a piece

of property nearby that is in desperate need of repair we are going to try and make some connections to facilitate that. Although not a believer he did credit God for saving his home from Maria.

They also introduced us to Juan Carlos, who heads up the Non-Profit Puerto Rico No Esta Apagao or Puerto Rico in not Off. This was founded by the non-Christian comedian Molusco, who saw a need and decided to do something. Juan Carlos took it one step further and recently was informed that the organization will be given 7.2 million in rebuilding grant money. We had a lengthy discussion about Tony and I coming back to possibly manage some of the projects.

In addition to the above we made contact with the SBC project coordinator on the Island, a number of local pastors and of course Pasto Noble Vater whose church we attended in San Juan every Sunday.

In the end I think we accomplished our mission and look forward to returning soon. We make every attempt to be good and faithful stewards of the monies that are given to this ministry. We purchased only what we needed but needed a lot of tools and materials this trip. The good news is we have a secure site so they are there for us and others in the future.

Expense Report:

$912.60 Air$463.01 Car$518.00 Misc.: Food, Fuel, Tools, Etc$1239.00 Widow Arecibo $850.00 Mother-in-Law$350.00 JR and Emily $4,449.91

Tony and I leave for California and the Run For The Wall https://rftw.us/ on 10 May, we will be gone for until 01 June. I will be a Platoon Chaplain on my trike and Tony will be driving our van as a chase/recovery vehicle, we would appreciate your prayers. I will be posting regular updates on our Facebook page.

In HIS Service

Mike

Michael T. PoirierProject Manager/Volunteer Coordinator413-233-7557 or 601-339-6183

PO BOX 16431 Jackson MS 39236-6431E-mail: churchbuildermike@gmail.com

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