Puerto Rico Mission: February 24

Good afternoon. The end of February is fast approaching. How can it be? Hum.., "Time passes quickly when you're having a good time." We all have heard that expression many times. Or course, it is true! We have been busy and we enjoy what we do and now, we are looking March in the face. My, my!

At the end of the last blog, I commented that the youth retreat was soon to transpire. That retreat is now in the books. It was held on top of a mountain on the western central part of the island. The youth, (and adults as well) commented on how cold it was. Actually, it was in the mid-60's and a stiff wind made it seems to be colder than it was. (I always choose January on purpose for this very effect.) I am sooo bad 😅😇. Actually the kids will always remember the "cold" weather in the youth retreats. The retreat earned an "A+" from all I could tell. I heard only positive comments. The youth sponsors went while I stayed in town to preach and run things here. I believe the tally was sixteen. Fourteen from our church and two from another church.

The second major event in the month of February was a marriage seminar. Twenty-five signed up for a very nice dinner in the basement of the church building, nicely decorated with Valentine's Day colors. After a great meal, gifts for every couple, and special gifts for three couples chosen from a raffle, we all filed upstairs to hear our guest speaker, a pastor/licensed counselor explaining keys to good marriages. For an hour and a half he continued to hold everyone's attention.

Two days later, Sunday the 12th, we had a great service. We had a good attendance, and a desire to worship the Lord was strong among us. At the end, we presented two people the congregation had chosen the week before as those who best displayed the qualities of "agape". Those chosen were crowned and applauded. To show their Christian love, they were asked to serve cake to all present! Lots of smiles and laughter erupted at that announcement!

Our attendance has been up and down...colds, flu, COVID have been the culprit. From one Sunday to the next the attendance swing can be pretty big. Nevertheless, new people are showing up and returning. Among those visitors were my cousins and their husbands from TN. They were here just short of a week. Mary and I had a wonderful time showing them the west side of the island and having them present for Sunday worship. We haven't had a lot of my family down throughout the years, so this was a special event! We were blessed!

Food bank gift

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from a food bank who offered us food for thirty families. What a delight! Although much of it went to the church families, there were others in the community who received some as well.

Several of the church's ministries such as the decorations team, grounds keepers, visitation ministry, five worship teams doing their part, youth sponsors, and children's teachers have been busy. I love seeing people involved serving others. It is certainly a biblical principle.

Coming up next month is the church's thirty-seventh anniversary. It is hard to believe! Well, I suppose this is enough for now. Blessings to all. I have added a few photos below. Click on them to expand the photo.