May 23 - July 26, 2007

Hi once again from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. A lot has taken place since the last newsletter. There seems to always be something going on at the church. Let's start with May. Toward the end of the month, the church always congratulates the graduates among us. This year, eight, from kinder through college, were recognized. Each received a gift and cake was served after the service.

June was a very busy month. On the 3rd, the youth of the church were in charge of the service including the music and message. As in years past, they did a beautiful job. Two weeks later, June 17, the women and youth of the church put together an excellent Father's Day program; choreographed special music, gifts and dinner in the nicely decorated basement were the program for the day. The attendance was in the mid-nineties.

Two days later, June 19, a group of fourteen (ten teenagers, the youth minister and adults sponsors) from Knoxville, TN arrived for a seven day missions trip. They were a wonderful group; hard working and cooperative with boundless energy. We had lined up two projects for them to tackle. Two widows with ties to our church and with very limited resourc es got the surprise of their life when we asked them if the group from the Farragut Christian Church could paint their houses… free of charge

Farragut Christian brought work funds with them and our church also had money set aside for these projects. Between the two churches, the money to cover the costs was raised and the Farragut team provided the people power behind the rollers, scrapers and brushes. We extend to them our genuine thanks.

Saturday, June 23, while FCC was here, we tried something new. For several years we have not done a VBS. It seems to be an unproductive activity; a lot a work and cost with no tangible returns. So we decided to try something new; a Family Sports Day. A lot of preparatory effort went into the event. In addition to sports, there were activity stations for children, dominoes for adults, face painting, animal balloons, pony rides, a flea market and a food concession stand. A lot of

effort went in to promoting the event; radio spots, a car with loud speakers every night going though the neighborhood, fliers in the houses in the area, a banner at the ball park and of course, promotion at the church. We had hoped to have over two-hundred plus attend. We were somewhat disappointed when only one-hundred to one-hundred and twenty-five showed up. As we considered the lower than expected attendance we decided the date (which conflicted with a holiday) and the title/type of the activity probably worked against us. Nevertheless, some from the neighborhood did attend and made contact with the church. A positive note, our benevolence ministry raised over a couple hundred dollars in the flea market to fund some of their activities.

While Farragut Christian Church was here our church was also preparing for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Four of our members lead by Santos Torres, a deacon in our church, linked up with a missions team from Shelbyville, KY for a week of mission work in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Farragut returned to Knoxville June 26 and our team left June 27. Our congregation donated clothes, toys, medicine, and Bibles to share with the Dominican people. Shelbyville Christian Church did the same. Many people were blessed and the Robles Christian Church in Santiago got a new coat of paint on part of their church building.

As for ourselves, during this time we were preparing to go to the States to attend our youngest son and his wife's first wedding anniversary in Traverse City, MI. They did a reenactment of their vows for both families/relatives/friends to witness (almost none could attend last year's wedding). It was a beautiful occasion. After the celebration we continued on with a week more of vacation and got back to the island July 14, WIPED OUT but happy.

The rest of July has been quiet and uneventful. June had enough for two months. We hope your summer has been good and your walk with the Lord has been constant and secure. God bless you.

Johnathan and Mary Reece

Cross-cultural ministers to Puerto Rico