June 23, 2018

Hi everyone. Just a short blog today. Mary and I hope all is well with you. Things have finally slowed down for us. Mary is on summer break from the university, and, these past two weeks I have not been called on to help anyone with recovery from the hurricane; nine months after the storm. There are a few still needing help on our list but we are waiting for them.

Aguadilla waterfront

I took this photo the other day while downtown. As I admired the colors I thought of the incredible difference between the ocean the day after Hurricane Maria and now. Out of view behind the photo, looking at downtown, I see the city gymnasium closed, the court house closed, and the ice skating ring closed as well; all with damaged roofs. The board walk is unusable, a popular baseball park is closed with collapsed walls/bleachers and all around the town damage is still very evident. In Aguadilla, and in the surrounding towns, roads are still closed...no money to repair the massive damage to the infrastructure. The good news is, with few exceptions, the island is hooked up to water and lights although some areas have come on line in just the last three weeks. It has been quite a challenge at so many different levels.

Downtown Aguadilla

Next week we will host for a day, a missions team from TN. A church in the San Juan area had more people than was easily managed so we volunteered to take half of the group (twenty-eight) for a day. They will be tackling three projects: Touching up paint at the church building, clearing out rubble from two widows' homes and cleaning up their yards.

Attendance has been good throughout the month of June, with all Sundays but one running between ninety and one-hundred.  Fathers' Day was well done. Special music, an interpretative dance as well as gifts and a great dinner made the day special.

June 10 we baptized a woman that became acquainted with our congregation as we helped people recover from the storm. She, her two single children and her married daughter also meet with us now. Seven new families have begun to identify themselves with our church since the storm.

Mary and I will be in the States for a couple of weeks. We hope to visit the good folk at Spartanburg, SC as well as the Farragut congregation in Knoxville. In between, we will enjoy a few days off on the NC Outer Banks. We are ready for a break! It has been quite a "ride" since September 2017 till now.

Blessings to you all.

Johnathan and Mary