What does an artist feel like when they sell their first painting?

I don’t know, but you can ask our daughter Bethany!

Last week she got engaged and this week she finished her first commercial art project.

Bethany is doing a required internship where she creates commissioned art under the supervision of professional artists. This means she does not have much of a vacation, but on the other hand, she gets paid for doing her art.

Congratulations Bethany!

Online Dictionary for French, English, Spanish, Italian, German.

Online Dictionary for French, English, Spanish, Italian, German.

This site hosts the best free online Spanish dictionary I have found.

Training Faithful Men for the Ministry.

These two men are assistant pastors right now and both are preparing to become pastors. I am training them Thursday nights, from 7-10 PM. This last semester we studied Biblical Geography and Introduction to New Testament Greek.

Marcos (left) is going to become an interim pastor this week for a missionary friend of mine. He will fill in when missionaries are on furlough and get some good experience in preparation for getting his own church. Roberto (Center) is serving as an assistant pastor but may continue with his construction company for a while, but feels led to pastor someday. The guy on the right is me.

Please pray for us all, as their studies and my commuting and lesson preparation time is a sacrifice. I am happy to spend and be spent discipling men like this, but it can be draining, physically and financially. Your support and words of encouragement make a difference and help us to keep up this good work.

Some of our work is paying off!

One of our graduates is staying and helping us for a bit.

The pictures are from when our students held a birthday party our for our newest and youngest teacher, Rafael. He is a Engineering graduate from Colombia, South America. I taught him here over the last few years and am pleased to see him teaching with us. He plans to be a missionary to Colombia and is raising funds right now to go. He plans on starting a Seminary in country, possibly in the city of Cartegena. In the meantime he will continue in his new position as a teacher here at Puerto Rico Baptist College.

We plan on starting a Seminary here too. I am hopeful that he will help us with this and continue to give us input later, as he develops a similar ministry in his country, Colombia.

Graduations at Puerto Baptist College

The graduation went fine, we had nine graduates this year and an enrollment of about 50. In the photo are just a few of our graduates.

Although only four girls are in this picture they represent many different combinations. Lissette (on the left) is Mexican, but from the Bay Area of California, she is perfectly Bilingual. Next to her is Stephanie from Burlington, Vermont. She represents students who come to our school because they want to study missions ON the mission field! What a good idea! Then Muriel is from Mexico but does not speak any English yet. at the extreme right is Deborah, from Peru. She was going to study engineering in Peru but came to study Bible here with us for a bit and stayed to complete all four years. She met Patricio, a student we had from Texas. She graduated and went to Texas to marry him just last week.

So they come and go, some to the States, some to other countries. What a joy to be in this special place, this crossroads of ministry and missionary activity. We are especially happy to see our ministry affecting areas where we have supporting churches, like in the Bay Area of California. It is nice to be able to return something to help the churches that are supporting us!

We are pleased to announce…!

BOTH our daughters just got engaged!

Bethany is engaged to Abe Kennedy, who is studying to be a youth pastor, and Rachel is engaged to Max Kennedy, Abe’s brother. Max is studying to be a pastor or missionary. Both couples plan on going to graduate school.

We are pleased with their engagements and exited about their prospects for the future!

Church Growth and Family Happiness

I read this in a "Our Daily Bread " devotional for today.

"A builder in California has come up with an innovative idea to sell his houses. He thinks that a good way to make a house more appealing is to have a family there when showing the house. So he hires actors to play happy families in his company’s model homes. Would-be buyers can ask them questions about the house. Each fake family cooks, watches television, and plays games while house-hunters wander through."

The builder is right! The presence of a happy family in a house does make it more attractive. The buyers feel that if the house can make one family happy, their family can be happy there as well.

The church is called "The house of God." We can make that house more attractive to others if we have happy families inside! We want others to come and make it their home. If "play acting" a happy family can do it, imagine how effective genuine happiness can be!

We are working here in Puerto Rico to heal families and establish a home for them in God's house, the church. We hope to share with others the happiness we receive from serving the Lord and building His church.

The saying "the more, the merrier" really does apply when you have an inexhaustible supply of something worth sharing! What God has for us is just that. He has made for us a real family and supplied it with everything that a real family needs to be happy. Let's get some families to enjoy a real relationship with God in God's house, and we just might see others wanting to join.

Psalm 68 :5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

Staying Posted but Helping Hands Needed

" ... The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts,

because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them. " 2Ch 35:15

We are well aware that it is through the labors of our fellow servants that we are able to continue serving at our post on the mission field.

With the recent car accident and two daughters in college, this help has become even more important. It is a temptation to put aside our regular work of ministry and get other jobs to raise the needed funds (about $9000), but then who would do the evangelism and church planting, or train our students at the Bible college? We are on the field to do these things and struggle to remain until the job is done.

Please help us remain at our post, serving the Lord. Your help makes a difference.