October 31

Hi everyone. Hope all is well with you. Since our last blog we have a few things to report that should be of interest.

Community outreach

Perhaps, first of all I should mention the outreaches of the church. Two keystone events have occurred these past two weeks. Over twenty of our church members participated in an interdenominational outreach to the disadvantaged in our town, Aguadilla. Our church donated water, money, clothing, time, and prayed to ensure the success of the event. It was calculated that between eight-hundred and one-thousand people were received/fed and no one went away empty handed if they so wished. The word was preached, sung and demonstrated by a concerted effort of several churches and civic organizations to help the indigents in town. It was a beautiful event, organized in part by two of our church members. I could not be prouder of our church.

Mom and daughter working the
community ourteach

Others in the
community outreach effort

Following on the heels of that event was an effort organized by Santos Torres, a leader in our church. The goal was to help street people by buying them personal hygiene items. The church collected $230.00 which bought enough for twenty-five people.

The church board has decided to reach beyond the boundaries of Aguadilla and Puerto Rico. Although for the past year the church has helped supply some of the salary of a pastor in one of our churches on the east side of the island, this year we have decided to expand our vision to provide some support for a Venezuelan missionary to Cambodia. This missionary will be reaching out to women and children via education. She is a certified teacher.

Love in accion: community ourteach

Last week I was delighted when one of our attendees called me and indicated she wanted to be baptized. I had preached that very morning about Christian baptism and she concluded she needed to get this taken care of without delay. Then yesterday, another woman in the church told me she too wanted to be baptized. I have an appointment with her to ensure she understands what she is doing.

Others as well  need to make this same decision. Santos and I continue to have evangelistical Bible studies a couple of days a week. We believe/hope they will result in conversions.

The church is ramping up for 2017. Next Sunday we will host our annual ministries fair to show people how/where they can serve in the church. To my delight, the majority of the members do participate in one of the church's fifteen ministries. May the Lord add His blessings.

Mark 16:16

November looks to be a good month. Two of the church members will be preaching. We also have begun the book of Matthew on Wednesday nights. Several attendees have offered to teach some of the chapters. The Sunday before Thanksgiving a special dinner is scheduled and a musical group from the mountains of PR will provide the program. New ideas for the smaller children are on the table. The youth have their events planned. A men's group has been organized and is laying out goals for 2017. Special interst workshops such as soap making and will preparation appear on the calendar over the next two months.

I believe that catches the highlights. Thanks for reading.

Johnathan and Mary