Our 2024 APRIL Prayer letter: Print, Post, Share, and Pray!

 For our April 2024 prayer letter: 

Click HERE

Then: Print, Share, and Pray!

Prayers Answered! Baby Margaret Ambar arrived early but safely

She arrived! Father Javier and mother Lizza are happy.  Baby Margaret Ambar was born Saturday the 20th, 5.8 pounds, 20 inches. Her safe arrival was the answer to many prayers. 

Javier and Lizza are a Puerto Rican missionary family that serves with us in our church planting efforts here in Puerto Rico. Please pray for their family, that little Margret Ambar will thrive and mother Lizza will heal soon from her cesarean delivery. 

Please pray for a safe delivery for the baby of our associate Puerto Rican pastor Javier and wife Lizza

Please pray for Javier, Lizza, and their soon to be born daughter. Due to an RH factor situacion and other reasons, Lizza will be undergoing an earlier than scheduled C-section very soon, possibly by this coming Sunday, May  21rst. 

Javier is serving as my associate pastor in our missionary church here in Puerto Rico. He and his family are a blessing to our church and represent the next step in our church's growth. 

Again, please pray for a safe delivery and all that is best for this precious family.

Baby Shower in Our Missionary Church!

 We hosted a Baby Shower for our missionary church members Javier and Lizza Pizarro. I met Javier a number of years ago and encouraged him to preach at our church. Since then, he has graduated from a Bible institute we have here in our churches and has joined us as now as associate pastor. Lizza and he have 3 children and are awaiting their fourth. The ladies of our church made a special event for them. Our prayers are with this fine family as their family grows and as they serve with us as missionary church planters here.

Hooray! Air-conditioning!

Thanks to the offerings of our Puerto Rican church members and help from our supporting churches, we now have air-conditioning in our church!  

We have some members with health issues that suffer from the humid, tropical heat here. It is a blessing to help them get relief from the heat. It's enjoyable for us also!

An added blessing is the noise canceling effect. Before, with all our windows cranked open, we could hear the neighborhood noises: roosters crowing, lawn work going on, and radios playing as neighbors washed their cars Sunday morning. 

Now, we can close the windows, tune out the outside distractions, and enjoy our church services much more. 

Thank you to all who had a part in helping equip the church to better serve here on the mission field.

Our missionary church commute is challenging, but beautiful

A winding road, between the mountain and a steep drop-off to the river below, is the road we travel to our missionary church in Puerto Rico. The road is challenging, with its many curves, giving little room for maneuvering. 

It's a bit stressful when a big truck comes from the other direction!

Landslides sometimes can cause an hour or so detour.

But there are compensations. The greenery, bamboo along the roadside, flowering trees, and often, the dam ("represa" in Spanish) has a beautiful display of water flowing over it. Sometimes, after a torrential downpour, it looks more like chocolate milk! 

Sometimes landslides keep us from arriving at all. Fortunately, we have a faithful deacon and other church members who can fill in when these happen.

Puerto Rico Baptist College Graduation Banquet

I teach classes at Puerto Rico Baptist College and get help from students there in our missionary church planting here on the island. This year, a student from Peru, Zoraida Mejía Alzamora, worked with us. She served as a Sunday School teacher and laboured with us in painting, cleaning, and participating in getting church projects done on Saturdays.

We honored her and the other graduating students with a special dinner. Her mom flew in from Peru to be with her for this special occasion. We had them both in our Sunday morning service following, and gifted Zoraida with an offering to help her with a missionary outreach she will be doing with a Hispanic Baptist church in Texas this summer.

Here are some photos of the event

                                                                        Tina and me

                                                                        Zoraida and Mom.

Training future preachers and teachers for our Spanish Speaking Churches!

I love teaching at Puerto Rico Baptist College. Here is photo of one of my classes this year. 

Our students come from the island, but also from Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, and various other nations in Latin and South America.

It is  encouraging for us to be around quality young people like these with a vision to serve the Lord. 

Their faith, energy, and willingness to serve bodes well for future missionary efforts in their countries as well as our own.

Our First Church Hosts a Pastor and Churches Leadership Conference

 We had a great at the leaderships conference for our churches' that ran 9-3 Friday and Saturday. The church where I served as missionary upon our arrival in Puerto Rico now has their own paid for property and was able to host the event. Classes on Leadership qualifications, how to organize events, creating agendas for meetings, use of statistics as decision making aids, integrating personal and ministry agendas, and time management were interesting and of value. It was good to fellowship with our Puerto Rican pastors and learn from them their life and ministry work experiences as well.

We host a Four Day Marriage Seminar-Feb 2023

 We were blessed to have these pastors attend a marriage seminar we hosted this month. Pastor Urraca from the Dominican Republic gave us great teachings on improving our marriages. 

We host a Prophecy Seminar- Jan/Feb 2023

We hosted a prophecy seminar over six Wednesday mornings. The Wednesday morning service is turning out to be a real blessing to our church. Most of our people can attend, especially those who have trouble driving at night. Also, we can get guest speakers more often that are a benefit for our church. A church we helped start in a neighboring town is pastored by a graduate of Puerto Baptist college, Angel Espada. Angel did a great job and stimulated us to think more of our daily activities in light of Bible prophecy. 

Neighborhood BBQ Outreach-Jan 2023

We put the parking lot of our new church to work! We invited neighbors of our church and their kids to celebrate a Three Kings Day BBQ with us and they came!  Associate pastor Javier Pizarro planned the event and did an amazing job. His wife Lizza gave a devotional to the kids in front of a bouncy house set up in our parking. Their parents listened in while enjoying hamburgers, hotdogs, and fellowshipunder the shade of a canopy we set up. 

Three Kings is celebrated like Christmas here in Puerto Rico, the Kings giving out presents instead of Santa. Three of us dressed up and handed out presents to the kids after the devotional. I was surprised that the owner of a small restaurant in town came with her family. It is a restaurant our visitation teams often stops at for a break. She got to know us over time and seemed happy to be there.

What Happens When Your Mother-in-Law Visits you on the Mission Field

Mom-in-law JoAnn Hayden visited Tina Prelgovisk and I in Puerto Rico, the island where we live and work as missionaries. In spite of her 80 something years, she went on walks with Tina, helped out around the house, and even went with us on workdays to our new church building and did hours of good work.

We were especially touched when she presented us with a gift. Her late husband Joe Hayden had visited us here with her on the island and helped us in a number of ways. In lieu of flowers, she asked for donations to be made in his name toward advancing the work of missions on our mission field. The gift was presented in our Sunday morning service and our people expressed their gratitude to her and those who had contributed.

After visiting us, she flew to St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, to visit great-grandkids Ian and Abigail, our daughter Bethany, and son-in-law Abe Kennedy, pastor of Southgate Baptist Church.  

I'm glad she got to visit her great grand-kids and make some good memories with them,

We were doubly blessed to hear that Southgate Baptist voted to support us for $100 a month! Thank you, fellow islanders and near neighbors, your support is greatly appreciated! 

Prayer Requests and Praise:

1. We have water! We have electricity! We have insurance! They were a long time coming.
2. We have begun Wednesday morning prayer meetings 10-11:00 AM. They are well attended. We are beginning Sunday School this coming Sunday. 
3. Chairs! A fellow missonary church is selling 52 upholstered chairs for $15 each. We would like to get them. That would be $780. 
4. Summer help! Scraping, painting, and building improvements need doing. Like to help? We could use people here to help in the work and others to help with the supplies. Your help is desired and deeply appreciated.

Steve and Tina Prelgovisk

Continental Baptist Missions

Puerto Rico, USA

Developing New Leadership: Welcome Javier, Lizza Pizarro and Family to our Missionary Work

 

We have taken possession of the Jehovah Witness building and are meeting there now!

 A New Church

We were a church without a building after hurricane Maria. 

We met in homes and later in a tiny storefront. 

We searched for a new place to meet as we met in cramped quarters.

The Jehovah Witness organization put a FOR SALE sign on a beautiful building (drone video here) in our town. 

It had parking for 40 cars, was above the floodplain of our riverside town, but was also above what we could afford.

But, we had faith and followed up on the opportunity.

We asked for prayer and help. The prayers were answered, the help came and...

We have taken possession of the Jehovah Witness building and are meeting there now! 

God is good. 

Taking possession means lots of preparation, painting, and paperwork. 

Church members, students from Puerto Rico Baptist College, and friends from other churches came to help.

So many work days! 

But, they are days when we can see progress and have fun working with some great people.

Prayer Requests:

Turning on the electricity and water is a big challenge. 

The paperwork and complexity is astounding. 

We really feel we are in a Nehemiah type of situation when dealing with the Puerto Rican bureaucracy. 

Your prayers for wisdom and patience to navigate through all this process are greatly appreciated. 

Steve and Tina Prelgovisk

Missionaries to Puerto Rico

with Continental Baptist Missions

Property Update: About to Cross the Finish Line!

 

What a month! 

We have been praying for a new home for our church, a place we can begin anew after the double blow of hurricane Maria and the following Covid restrictions. 

A Jehovah's Witnesses building came available, but was about three times the amount we had saved for a church property. But, through prayer, some negotiations, and generous giving, it happened. We are about to take possession of our new church home.

The promised matching fund of $30,000 came in and all is ready for the next step.

What remains? There was some disagreement between the Jehovah's Witnesses and the government about whether they owed property tax or not. They are in the process of getting that cleared up, hopefully, soon.

We have secured a great Christian lawyer here to help us in all of this. His help has been invaluable in guiding us through the process.

We were happy to have a storefront to meet in after the hurricane's devastation. But a one room church is hard to grow. We are anxious to have a church with rooms for Sunday school classes, a nursery, kitchen, and all the kinds of things that makes it a family friendly church. This desire has now become a reality!

Please rejoice with us, and send up a prayer of gratitude for what God has done. Having a church building with no monthly payments is a real blessing. It is also a good preparation for the future independence of the church. God is good. Amen!

How a $9,500 surprise in one day is getting us a building for our church in Puerto Rico!

This morning, I was anxious about the deadline for raising $30,000 dollars. This afternoon, I  stopped worrying.

The story:

Our church here in Puerto Rico raised a bit over $40,000 towards a church property. We were stifled by our small, post-hurricane storefront rental. We found a church for sale listed originally at $160,000. After negotiating with them over a few months, the price came down. They were willing to sell to us for $140,00 with the parking lot, or just the building for $100,000!

A pastor heard of our need and told us that of the $60,000 remaining for the purchase of the church, he would help with $30,000, if we could raise the remaining $30,000 by October. Hurray! 

But could we do it?

This morning, I called our mission agency and found that in addition to the $40 thousand our church had saved, $20,866.30 had come in, for a total of $60,866.30. Amen!

But the morning was not over yet. I got a call from a church in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, where we had visited last Sunday. The love offering was $6,500! Then, a church in Paso Robles, California gave $1,000! That same morning, a pastor called from Washington state and indicated that his church might give $2,000 toward what was lacking to get us into that new church building! 

All this together, plus some from another church we helped start here in Puerto Rico, means we can get that church! 

Amen! Now, with so much good news in one day, is it too much to hope for a parking lot to go with it? I don't think so. If God can supply over $9,5000 in one day, what might He do for us between now and October, when we hope to make the purchase?

If you would like to help with that parking lot, closing costs, or new paint, we would be happy to show you how to do that. Contact our mission agency here, and they will show you how to contribute. Thank you to those of you who already have!

Help us get the $30,000 matching gift for our new church property!

A pastor called recently and pledged $30,000 if we could raise the another $30,000 to purchase a church property for our church in Puerto Rico! 

What is special about this property? After the horrible hurricane destruction of hurricane Maria, we first met in homes and now are meeting in small store front. It is fine for a small group, but has no rooms for growth. We need a place where we can invite families with children, have a church nursery, and have Sunday School rooms.

A rare opportunity came about. The Jehovah Witnesses are selling their church in town for less than the price of a house! It even has rooms for a missionary apartment in the daylight basement!  

It is a rare opportunity. But also a limited opportunity. The matching funds offered were given for a 6 month time frame. Since that initial offer, one giver has dedicated $3,000, so we are 1/10 of the way toward the goal already!

Take a look at the video. Can you see what we see? A place for a Baptist church in the heart of Puerto Rico. 

Please contact our mission agency, CBM, and help us get that church and the matching funds we need!

(For helping us by PushPay: Select "Missionary" in the drop down menu, and put "Prelgovisk/Church in the memo." )

March: Cast Off, Boot On, Therapy Begins, School Opens

It's been super busy here this March. The Christian school I work with here in Puerto Rico plans on having students return to the class room March 23. I teach 11th grade Computer Science there and help in the office. The government regulations we need to comply with here in this US Commonwealth are quite extensive and we are busy trying to make it all happen in the time available.

Having a fractured fibula doesn't help.

I'm finding everything is a lot slower in a wheel chair and on crutches.

I was able to get my cast sawn off  last week and now wear a big boot to immobilize my leg. Therapy is scheduled to begin in a few weeks, and until then I am supposed to do range of motion exercises and some light resistance work. 

I got some exercise bands to help. I didn't think much of them before now, prefering home gym equipment. But Im beginning to appreciate them. The bands have a higher "Spousal Acceptance Factor" than a well equipped home gym. What they lack as exercise equipment, they make up in cost saving, space saving, and portability.

So far, I haven't overdone it yet. It's hard not rushing the process a bit when there is so much to do.

Missionary Update-Feb 2021

It's been a while since our last post or podcast. Many supporters started following us on Facebook and I  have fallen into the habit of posting my updates there and have fallen behind in communicating as well as I should by printed prayer letters or by online blog posts. I apologize.

I will include a year 2020 prayer letter in a link here and give an update below.

Our churches continue under Covid restrictions. They are allowed to meet at 25% of capacity, but many do not meet, for fear of injuring their elderly church members. Our congregation is like a small family group, and we all felt like we should have Sunday morning services together. It is a blessing to teach, preach, sing, pray, celebrate the Lord's supper and have fellowship with each other.

Our Puerto Rico Bible College has a few new students, one from a Puerto Rican family in North Carolina. The college is fulfilling our vision of training believers for the ministry, who can then evangelize and plant churches within Latino communities in our country.

Our Son-in-law, Abe Kennedy, has been installed as pastor of Southgate Baptist in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. We enjoy watching his sermons on Youtube. Daughter Bethany went from being the wife of the youth director to the wife of the pastor and seems to be adapting to the that change just fine. 

On my way home from teaching a class at Levittown Baptist Academy, I left the car to bring in a garbage can and slipped in some curbside mud. I landed hard on my knee and twisted my foot about 90 degrees to the side. I hollered and neighbors came running and, with Tina, helped me into the house. I got an x-ray and found I had a fracture in my lower leg. I got a boot, but it wasn't enough. Now, I have a cast and will get a follow up exam next week to see if I need to escalate treatment. 

So, for right now, I am doing as much as I can from home. Teaching my class on the Pentateuch in Spanish by Zoom, though, feels very unsatisfactory. I miss the energy I get from being in the presence of the young people who are there preparing for the ministry. Their hope, faith, zeal and positive spirits are better felt in presence than through a video portal. But, we are doing what we can and God is blessing.

Our church has been able to save and we have been gifted with funds toward the purchase of a church building. We have about $40,000 available and we have some prospective places ranging from $100,000 to $140,000. Please pray for the healing of my leg and my mobility, and also that we will be led to right place and be able to acquire it for the work of church planting here in Puerto Rico.

Dios Les Bendiga,

(May the Lord Bless You All)

Steve and Tina Prelgovisk.

The Prelgovisk's in Puerto Rico Video Prayer Letter

I made my first video missionary "prayer letter" with a Puerto Rican friend, Roque Becerra. Together we share what is happening here in Puerto Rico, both the blessings and the needs that we face here.

Pastors: You are welcome to use this in a church service. Let us know if you do! It's always encouraging to know someone is praying for us!

Getting Out the Good News in New Ways

My pulpit looks different, but I'm still preaching, teaching, and reaching out to others.

I'm  giving sermons from my small home office. I record them on Zoom, convert them, and post them on YouTube, then send out the links to our church members. 

I made a Facebook page for our church where we can share our teaching, preaching, and send encouraging messages. We can geofence invitations and posts also. They can be sent to people that live within just a 1 mile walk from the church. That is important, because a lot of people walk to church and parking is a problem in our town. 

In our Bible College, I'm teaching Biblical Greek and a Christian Ed class on metrics. I'm also using Google Classroom to teach Computer Science and Music classes for a Christian school here, Levittown Baptist Academy..

We are using what we have and are happy to do it. But, I would like to get a webcam to improve what we are doing. We found that the ones recommended to us, the Logitech C920S and a few other models, are out of stock. I think we might go for the budget choice, the Echo, because it's in stock and the price is $62, and it will certainly be better than the laptop camera. 

I'm not happy about the restrictions, but I am glad that we leaned how to use some new methods and technology during this time. I think we will keep using all the methods. Why not have multiple hooks in the water, if you want to catch some fish?

People ask "How can I give?" Here is how!

When people are led to give toward our ministry, we are humbled, encouraged, and very, very thankful!

Sometimes we get requests asking us the best way to give. Here are ways to give, Please use the one that best fits your preferred way of giving.

1. Through your church. If you are in a church that already supports us, you may give the gift through them. It helps to inform them it is an extra gift, so it will be added to the support they already send.

2. Through our mission agency, Continental Baptist Missions
Online ( include our name in the memo)

By mail ( Tell them it's for us)
Continental Baptist Missions
11650 Northland Dr NE
Rockford, MI 49341-8706
(616) 863-2226
info@gocbm.org

3. Through PayPal to Prelgovisk@yahoo.com

4. Through direct mail. Some people like to send packages directly to us. Puerto Rico is in the US postal service.

Steve and Tina Prelgovisk
33-15 Calle 31
Urb. Sierra Bayamon
Bayamon, PR 00961

5. Personal visit!
Give us a heads up on this one!

Please feel free to contact us about any questions you have.
Thanks for caring and thanks for making a difference!

Shaking in Bed Saturday, OK Sunday!

Saturday morning, our bed began shaking. It felt like the bed got shoved an inch back and forth in different directions for about a minute. I've been in earthquakes before, so I thought it felt like maybe a strong 5 point something earthquake. But after the 6.4 one earlier, followed by a swarm of minor quakes, a bit of anxiety came along with the quake.

A hurricane you can prepare for, but when the ground starts shaking, and you realize you're in a quake, you don't know if it's going to be a minor one or keep growing until the house falls down. You just have to ride it out and see.

We checked the news and saw that the Catholic church sent out a message that all masses were to be held outdoors. Some hospitals put patients and beds in the parking lots. As the day progressed we tried to get more info.



Sunday, we found the mountain road to our church was closed due to landslides. The detour we were forced to take was quite an adventure. It took us about an hour and a half to get to church this morning, winding our way through a couple of other small towns to get there. The town mayor said that because of hurricane Maria, the island government has been focusing reconstruction around the big metro areas and our the rural danger areas have been neglected. He predicted the road would be closed until February and then, only one lane opened.

No one said it would be easy!

Church was a blessing. Everyone had an earthquake story. Besides loss of power and water, none of us suffered loss. One the girls from our Bible college and her family were forced to leave their damaged apartment, but none of them were hurt.

We are thankful, especially since our electricity came back on, and we have ice and air-conditioning again, and are safe and sound.

We thank God and thank you for your prayers!

Requests:

1. Tina has had a bad case of bronchitis she is trying to get over. Prays appreciated.

2. I would like to replace our aging Briggs and Stratton generator with one that has an auto start. Our model is a beast to start with a pull cord and if I'm not home, no way could Tina do it be herself.

3. We have raised about $40,000 toward the purchase of a church home for our congregation. For $140,000, we can get a building the Jehovah Witnesses are holding on to. We would like to see ourselves there and them not there! Monthly contributions towards this will help it grow and help us get there.

Please pray and ask the Lord to supply our needs and send us the help needed to do the work of missions here in the  Caribbean. Thanks again!