Orion, Puerto Rico, and the Visit of the Wise Men.

It’s around late November and early December that people begin to notice Orion in the evening sky. 

I pointed out Orion's belt to a church member one night. He told me that those were the "Reyes," the wise men on their way, following the star, to find the new born king.

I don't think Orion's belt was made to tell that story, but you know what? When a Puerto Rican looks up at the sky at night and sees the Wise Men on the way to see Jesus, well, that's a lot better than any message the story of Orion has ever given me.  

So, good for them, and maybe it's time we updated some of our traditions to tell a better story and share a more important message than comes from our traditions.

The Wise men arrive Jan. 6th. The night before, children fill the boxes with grass for the horses (yes, the wise men ride HORSES in Puerto Rico, NOT camels). In the morning, the children find the shoe boxes full of presents, left by the Wise men in token of their thanks.

Now, isn't that a better story and tradition than our Santa Claus and how we have made Christmas a snow festival?

Hurricane Dorian and the Prelgovisk's

Forecast to pass us on the SOUTH-WEST

Hurricane Dorian was just warming up when it passed us. It is extremely unpredictable.

School was canceled here on the island as the hurricane was projected to miss us by 180 miles to the south east. It seemed like excessive caution at the time. But we took some basic precautions anyway.

A day later, the track showed Dorian making a direct hit through the town we live in! We kept checking the weather reports and asked for prayer. That night, Dorian moved to over 100 miles to the north-east!

Passed us on the NORTH-EAST!

To those who prayed, thanks! It seems like the hurricane skirted an invisible wall of protection that surrounded us!

Hurricanes that miss us still take their toll. Depending on the level of stress, people will distill and store water, hurricane proof the house and yard, reschedule activities and allow church attendance to suffer. Then, every thing that was done to prepare for the hurricane has to be undone. It is a bit of an annoyance, but we just look upon it as a drill to be better prepared for the next one.

Please continue praying for us!

How a Dead Porcupine Helped Start a Mission Agency

In the 1940's, a business man turned evangelist was visiting a pastor and his wife who lived in the remote, upper peninsula of Michigan. The formerly friendly family seemed unhappy to see him. He found out why. They were down to their last potato, but the pastor had clubbed a porcupine and brought it home. They were loathe to share their only food.  But, they did.

This man shared the story of the poverty and living conditions of the church planting couple with a number of pastors and churches and Hiawatha Missions was born, founded to support church planting missionaries to the rural, forgotten, neglected or otherwise difficult to reach parts of the United States.

I'm sure glad they did. We joined the agency, now known as Continental Baptist Missions, and are in a church planting work in the US Caribbean, among the 3.1 million souls who live on the island of Puerto Rico.

We never had to eat a porcupine, or even a Puerto Rican iguana so far. We are so glad to be working here with Continental Baptist missions and supporting churches who care about reaching the lost in remote places like these.

How a Simple Request Boosted Our Spirits

One of our friends asked if our mission agency had an online giving app so they could donate automatically without having to remember to send in a paper check every month.

I checked with Continental Baptist Missions and they have a nice, easy to use online giving app called Pushpay. I checked it out and it looks simple. and easy to use.

I like that. Simplicity in giving is biblical. "...he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity..." Rom 12:8.

Once on the CBM online giving page,

• Select "missionary" from the drop down menu
• Under "Memo," put our name and what you are giving towards ( Prelgovisk: Church Building,  Prelgovisk: home, etc.)
• Select how mow much and how often you want to give

After you're set up, it makes it very simple to keep giving without filling in or mailing anything after that.

Our friend set an amount for $200 a month!

What a blessing when simple, biblical giving can be! 

We got the news Sunday morning while speaking to our people about buying a Jehovah Witness building and converting it into a Baptist church. I got goose bumps!

Please visit the online giving page at CBM and prayfully ask God, how much and how often you could give. 

We could not believe the price!

We could not believe the price. A church available for the price of a house!

My deacon Luis Lopez and his wife passed by a Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall and saw a "For Sale" sign on it. We went and investigated it today.

The building is in a good neighborhood, built on a hill well above the highest flood water line.  It is a two story building  of 35,133.4 sq. feet, with a lot across the street of just over 21,300 square feet. It has parking for about 40 cars.

The asking price for all of this is $164,900!

Plus, it is already zoned and has all the permits for use as a church, which are hard to get here in Puerto Rico. 

In a small town and in our post hurricane disaster economy, home prices have fallen, making this a tremendous bargain. 

Our current, temporary building is comfy and cheap, but it t has mold issues affecting some of our members. We really need better place for growth and the health issues of our members.

Could you help us toward this goal?

Our church has over $21,000 saved toward a goal like this. That leaves $144,000.  It seems like a mountain of a price for us. But, like Caleb, we can ask for that mountain!

Joshua 14: 12 Now therefore give me this mountain...

If you can help, please send a special offering to us through our mission agency or here online and put our name (Prelgovisk family) where it says MEMO.

Continental Baptist Missions
11650 Northland Drive NE
Rockford, MI 49341, (616) 863-2226 
https://gocbm.org/contact

Harvest Prayer Answered: Puerto Rican Pastors Rally to Work to Build Our Church

I have been praying for someone to go with me on visitation on Saturdays. I don't like to go visiting door to door alone here in Puerto Rico.

This last week, the pastor of a church I helped get started volunteered to go with me on visitation. His name is Angel Espada, which means "Angel Sword" in English, a great name for a pastor! He said he could give me one or two Saturdays a month. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it was a real emotional boost. During days when we hear a lot of "No's," having a visitation partner makes a difference, as we encourage each other, keep on going, and visit more people. I could also visit people with a partner that I would not otherwise visit if I was visiting alone.

Today,  I just got a call from another Puerto Rican pastor, Gabriel, whom I had helped in the past. He said he wanted to help me visit every Saturday. Gabriel also asked if he could bring along another man who he is grooming to be a future pastor so he can train him in evangelism! Also, he wanted to know if it was OK to visit in the town and pass out gospel tracts on additional days or times! I said yes, along with a lot of "Amen's!"

After all this time praying, how sweet it is to hear people from our past volunteering to give us a hand in one of the most difficult areas of church planting, soul winning visitation!

Rejoice with us, but please continue praying that the Lord of the harvest would send us workers, that their good intentions and offers of help would be realized,  and that our church would grow and prosper from the labor of these willing, worthy workers!

Puerto Rico to California: After Hurricane Recovery Report

Tina and I are planning our 2019 summer and feel we should visit family, friends, and supporters in California. 

We would like to catch up, and share our missionary experiences, especially what going through hurricane Maria was like.

We also want to share what we look forward to accomplishing in our church planting and Bible college ministry here in Puerto Rico.

If you would like to met us, host us, help us with transportation, or help us to find a missionary apartment for June-July, please let us know.