February 12, 2024

Valentines after 49+ years

Good morning. The call to "rise and shine" has come and gone. Most of us in PR have been up now for 2-3 hours and today's tasks and goals lay before us. Our time, Atlantic Standard Time, is the same as Eastern Daylight Savings Time. So…coffee is drunk, oatmeal is consumed and now the newsletter. Howdy!

January flew by and now we are approaching mid-February. The last half of January went by quietly and now February and March with its events have been planned. Before I get to February, Mary and I took a couple days off in mid-January to go to an annual festival here on the island...SANSE. It is in some ways like Mardi Gras. The festival begins with a  parade, famous for cultural dancers, bands, and people wearing huge heads typifying well-known people on the island. Like Mardi Gras, the evenings are given to partying and the usual excess of alcohol. We enjoyed the parade and exploring parts of Old San Juan we had never seen due to security issues and then "holed up" in our hotel room before the (if I may use an old biblical work) licentiousness of the nights' events began. 

SANSE parade

 On to other things; February services have been dedicated to focusing on the concept of love. I started on Sunday the 4th with a sermon about the primary identifying mark of a Christian, apart from our faith in Christ. "This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35). Then yesterday our guest speaker followed up in the same theme. For the last two services in February the theme will continue to be addressed by two different speakers.

Yesterday's service was inspiring. Everyone who had a part did a beautiful job and the congregation was uplifted and moved to worship with enthusiasm. The attendance was very good as well. What a difference 15-20 more people can make in the ambience of an assembly. After the service, cake was served and candy was passed out to all present. A photo "station" was put up for people to take a photo with their Valentine(s). We had some visitors that keep coming back. That is certainly encouraging. One of my daily prayers is that the Lord would bring new people to the congregation. As Mary and I and our generation

Celebrating Valentines Day at church

age, another younger generation needs to take over so my prayer is: "While I am asking, could those people be younger families with children?" 

Looking on into March, the 38th anniversary will be celebrated. Throughout the years I suppose a few hundred have been ministered to. Many have been converted and others, already Christians, became part of our local body. Of those, many have moved away, some have fallen away or gone to other churches and seventeen have passed on to be with the Lord. Still,  others are arriving. I know you can see the same pattern in your congregation as well. Although language and cultures vary, some of life's patterns are unvarying around the world. 

I suppose I will stop here. Blessings to all.

Johnathan and Mary

____________________________________

SANSE parade in Old San Juan

 Surfs up