We must go.... ...live to feed the hungry, stand beside the broken.

So, we are finished with our job here in Puerto RIco. As of now, we are in San Juan for a couple of days until we fly out on Monday to Atlanta. This Puerto Rico experience has been nothing short of aw-inspiring. And last night could have been one of the most heart-moving moments of my life. This week was one of the best projects yet, and the participants were really really wonderful. But what I was more sad about was leaving the locals and, most likely, never seeing them again (such is life...yes.) Last night, I had the priviledge of spending my last night on stage here with the band from El Mesias Baptist (as i did last week) and it was just an incredible experience (as it was last week). We were supposed to do one more song at the end together, but we ended up not doing it. I felt that it was the Lord's direction to take that song out at the end and just let Gabriel (local) do his song and then end with God of Justice (i have attached lyrics...check it out!) And the Lord definitely worked beautifully through it all. His presence was real in that time and I had one of those "bursting forths"...let me explain: One night, I sang with my friend Christina at a venue in Nashville (as a background singer). Her songs are just so powerful and intense and just plain fun to sing...well, Stephen was at that show. He wrote a poem about me while he was there and he talked about how I just looked like i was about to bust while i was up there. How I exploded because I could not hold all of my passion in any more for the music. Well, this happened last night--this time it wasn't just the music. All of Christ and all of these Puerto Rican voices mixed with State-side kids raising their voices singing, "Fill us up and send us out!!!!" moved me beyond standing still. The microphone hindered me! Ha...i wanted to move beyond it. Jump. Shout. Stop playing and lift holy hands to the Living God. It was a beautiful experience. Afterwards, Elena Maldonado (cousin of our worship speaker and singer in the El Mesias band) came up to me, tears in her eyes, tears in my eyes, and asked if she could pray for me..."right now" she said. haha "Absolutely!" At the word "Senor" (Lord, in Spanish context of prayer), i lost it. Tears rolled hard down my face and she lifted up a prayer in Spanish for me. I caught things like "Bless Anna...Thank you for Anna...Bless her ministry....Thank you for her heart and worship and music...." Just a really intimate, beautiful moment that only made my heart feel stronger for the people of Juana Diaz and El Mesias Baptist. She looked up at me afterwards and reiterated her gratitude to me, hugged me and said, "I love you and I will miss you so much!" Beautiful! Then, (oh yes, and then...) lee, nicole, matt and myself went to their youth group devotion and asked if we could say a few words before they got started. "Of course" they said to us. Lee spoke for the most part--simply because it was his idea, and I was crying too hard to speak a word....He thanked them for their warm welcome and their sincere hugs and their patience with us as we lived in their world for 3 weeks. Nicole said, "This project would never be the same without ya'll." Matt said a simple thank you...and I stood there and cried like a baby in front of these deep tan faces who smiled wide as if to say, "It's ok...we know...we love you too and we will miss you dearly." Then, a rush of hugs came...and I am not exaggerating when i say that EACH one of them (about 30) made sure to personally hug each one of us. It was a mad rush...some hugs were silly and fun to keep the tears down and lighten the mood, and others were sentimental and gut-wrenching. But they were all warm. They were all loving. And they were, each one of them, sincere with gratitude. I love those people. They will forever hold a dear place in my heart. That's really all I have. I am working on pictures now and will hopefully have them up later tonight! Thanks for reading!