Our Florida Adventure

We are enjoying a few weeks with our daughters here in Florida as we await their upcoming weddings. It is great to have some family time. Besides shopping for decorations and the 1001 other things that go into a wedding, we have found time to visit and speak in a couple of great churches here in Florida.

*Amazing Grace Baptist Church, 4835 Deer Run Rd, St. Cloud, FL

This is a church meeting in a home and is a church with a great future. Pastor Alden & Marie Wightman are great hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay with them.

The Wigthmans took us to The Holyland Experience (http://www.holyland-orlando.com/) and we saw some authentic papiri, a model of 1rst century Jerusalem and some good dramas and even a musical. Thanks, it was great!

*Maranatha Baptist Church, 35 Maranatha Boulevard, Sebring, FL 33870
Dr. Gerald Webber, Pastor -Phone: (863) 382-4301

Though in a retirement community, this church had over 100 people out on a Wednesday night prayer meeting! And they all came early! Really, this is a fun church to go to, even if you aren't retired!

* Irving Park Baptist Church, 5001 71 St. N, St Petersburg, FL
I spoke Sunday night at this church and enjoyed the good fellowship. A good number of "Snowbirds" go here. We were impressed with there friendly, upbeat manner.

So...even in our family vacation time, our ministry is still moving forward. Family, fun and fellowship with others all go together to make for a refreshing time for us.

They did it!

They Did It!

Bethany and Rachel graduated from college Wednesday! Bethany had a double major: Graphic Design and Commercial Art. Rachel's major was missions. She got a special award for academic achievement for having a 4.0 for her four years.

Are we proud? You betcha! We praise the Lord, but also recognize the hard work and celebrate the achievements of our children. Great work girls!

A friend is collecting their mail for them for the next few months. It is:

Mark Smith
920 Langley Ave
Pensacola, FL 32504

Multiplying

Here are four college age girls we have taught and that are part of our ministry here in Puerto Rico. This is how they are going to spend there summer vacation.

(From left to right)
1. Michele: A Puerto Rican girl, she is going to go to Mexico and help some church planters with a Summer Outreach program, 2. Stephanie: A girl from Vermont who is studying missions on the mission field, learning Spanish and helping us in our church planting in Puerto Rico. She is returning to Vermont and will spend her summer working in Bible Camp ministries. 3.Dorcas: A girl from Peru, studying Christian Education with us in Puerto Rico. She is going on the Summer missions trip to Mexico with Michele. 4. Marta: A Mexican girl from California studying Christian Education with us a Puerto Rico Baptist College. She teaches alongside Stephanie in our Sunday School. Marta plans to go to Bolivia this summer on a missions trip and then return to California to be involved in some Summer ministries there.

All four plan on returing to help the work here in Puerto Rico and then go of into various mission fields and ministries upon graduation.

We are proud of these great college girls. Our ministry is multiplied many fold through the good work of quality christian young people like these. Your support is making some great things possible in Puerto Rico, but not just in Puerto Rico! We are happy to report that ministries are multiplying and the work of missions is being helped by great young people such as these.

Guilty of Being Innocent

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, 'I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.' I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk; naturally...I assumed you had stolen the car.'

Eclipsed?

Eclipsed? Not really, but our 25th anniversary (May 7th), Mother's Day (May 11) and Tina's Birthday (May 31) are taking a back seat to the double graduations and weddings of our daughters Bethany and Rachel that are scheduled to occur during the same time period.

I had always imagined taking Tina someplace special for this anniversary, but I guess I am. What a blessing to see our daughters graduate from four years of college and then see them marry to two great Christian guys from a good family. All our focus will be on these big events, and I suppose that is good enough for anybody.

Tina says the trip to see our girls next month is all the present she needs. I believe her, but...does anybody know of something fun to do in Florida that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? I would like to do SOMETHING for Tina that month. We have a great marriage and it deserves to be celebrated! Either way, with your prayers and God's blessings, May-June 2008 seem to months that hold great blessings in store for us!

Beware the Wheelbarrow!

We are gearing up for the big events in Florida: two graduations and two weddings. We hope to treat our children right! Our daughters are great and we are proud of them. Read the story below and you can see how important it can be to be nice to your parents!

An old Chinaman was eating too much rice, especially since he was too frail to work. Because the grandfather had become a burden, the father of the home, his son, determined to get rid of him. He put him in a wheelbarrow, then started up the mountain. The little nine-year-old grandson went along. He was full of questions. His father explained that the grandfather was old and useless and the only thing they could do was to take him up the mountain and leave him to die. Then the grandson had a bright idea. He said, " I'm glad you brought me along, Father, because when you're old, I'll know where to take you!"

A Fun Baptism Service

I felt a lot of joy Sunday when I saw Mr. Soto enter the church with his towel. I thought, "It finally happened! After over three years of patient teaching, I am really going to baptize Mr Felipe Soto!"

After the preaching, we went to house with a swimming pool and baptised him there. I was afraid he would get ill in the cold water, so I tried to hurry it along, but he wouldn't let me. I climbed out of the pool and turned to offer him my hand to help him out and he wasn't there! Everyone was laughing and pointing. Mr. Soto was so joyful he decided to swim a "Victory Lap" in the swimming pool!

Well, I guess there is a first time for everything! I don't think we will make this a regular feature of our future baptismal services, but it sure made for an enjoyable service last Sunday!

Belated Baptism

An older man in our church, Filipe Soto said to me last Sunday, "Pastor, I think I may die soon, so I want to be baptised."

Mr. Soto has been coming to our church for about three years now, and we are happy to have him. He asks intelligent questions during our Adult Sunday School time and studies a subject thoroughly before making any decisions. We had him scheduled for baptism about two years ago, but he had some doubts and we cancelled it until he was at peace with his decision. We hope this time he will go all the way!

In the photo above, he is the man just behind my wife Tina, who is sitting in the front pew.

Having Fun Working Hard

We are primarily involved in starting churches with the goal of growing our churches to the point where they become indigenous (pastored by a local pastor), independent and self-sustaining.
Sometimes the church is ready to take the next step and we are ready to leave, but there is no one ready to step in and continue the work. For this reason we train pastors, missionaries, and Christian school teachers at Puerto Rico Baptist College.

Teaching at the Bible College is not just an extra duty for me, but one of the most fun things I can think of doing! I love being around young people who are exited about the future. I am thrilled when we hear of their successes. About five of my former students are teaching at the Christian High school near us and two of my former assistant pastors now have churches of their own. We rejoice with them.

Some jobs sap energy out of you and others give you energy. Teaching a couple of classes a year at Puerto Rico Baptist College really recharges my battery and keeps us keeping on in the tough work of church planting. Who said you can't have fun on the mission field? We are!

High School athlete finds a new Coach...

A 16 year old high school student named Chris Montezuma was working on an English paper and asked me for help. Chris is a real soccer fanatic and all around great teen, but he was struggling with his homework and came to me for assistance. The assignment was to write about a "Testimony" which is the story of how a person became a Christian or experienced some great change in their life.

The teen athlete said, "My parents say I am a Christian, but I never remember making any decision about that, so I really don't have a testimony."

I asked, "Would you like to make your own decision about this? I can show you some verses from the Bible and you can decide for yourself and then you can have your own testimony and not have to trust something so important to the memories of other people."

He nodded his head emphatically, so we sat down and opened the Bible and read some wonderful passages of how God has worked in history to reconcile man to himself and what young Mr. Montezuma could do to make what he read a part of his own personal history. Chris then prayed and accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior.

After we prayed, I went to shake Chris's hand, but he surprised me by pulling my hand toward himself and then giving me a big bear hug! Chris left smiling but I think I was smiling just as much as he was!

Now Chris has his own testimony of his very own and I am thrilled to have had a part in it!

Dress in silk a monkey, if you will, But after all, it is a monkey still

“Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda.”


A lady in our church asked me to visit her brother Emilio who was in the hospital. I went with my deacon, Luis Lopez. We found Emilo, and learned that he had spent two weeks in the hospital because of the damage he had done to his liver through excessive drinking. He was very friendly and acted as if it was no big deal.


He told me, "I've seen three doctors, and they say I can't drink anymore, without killing my liver permanently, but that is no big deal. I have been in here without drinking for two weeks and I don't miss it. I don't see why it should be all that difficult to quit."


I looked at him and realized he was trying to minimize his problem, but there he lay, emaciated, near the point of death, unable to work and support his family, but babbling along as if all was well. I decided it was time to help him get a grip on the reality of the situation.


I said, "Emilio, do you know the Puerto Rican proverb, "Dress in silk a monkey, if you will, But after all, it is a monkey still?


Emilio smiled and said, "Yes! That is like when you wash a dog, but when you put them back in the yard, they roll in the mud. They are still just a dog, in spite of all the work you do."


I said, "Emilio, you have been kept from drinking by the hospital, so what makes you think you won't go back to drinking when they put you back in your house? Don't you have friends that come over and drink with you? I bet you even have friends that open your fridge to see if you have any beer."


Emilio laughed, "That is right! Some of them don't even ask!"


I said, "When your old friends come over, you will likely fall into your old habits, unless you can be changed into a different kind of person. Jesus spoke of a change like this, how we could become a new person, it is called the new birth. The Bible speaks of people as either sheep or goats. Jesus said they would live with one another, but he will come one day and separate the sheep from the goats. He takes the sheep with him. Do you know what people do with goats, right?


Emilio smiled, "Yes! They have a goat barbecue!"


I said, "Yes, that's right! So you can see it is serious business! Goats do what they want and represent those without Christ. Christ wants sheep, those who will follow him. He does not come looking for ways to make the goats better. The thing is to change from a goat to a sheep. If you come to Christ, he can change you from a goat to a sheep. If you change from the inside, and become a follower of Jesus, then you have a chance, But if you continue trusting in outward changes to make a difference, you can guess for yourself how successful you will be,


I asked, “When you are in your old environment and all your drinking buddies come to visit, don't you think a few will bring a bottle to celebrate your coming home?"


Emilio nodded and smiled ruefully “Yes, I bet they will!”


We continued the conversation for a while, read some passages, prayed with him and generally had a pleasant visit. In the elevator on the way back to the parking lot, I asked my deacon Luis what he thought of our visit.


Luis said, "It went real well, but you were a little rough on somebody you just met for the first time. But even though you spoke to him like that, he responded well, so it was a good visit."


I thought about that on the way home. Was I out of line talking that way? But when I see in my minds eye a man facing death, impoverishing his family and making light of both the problem and his part in it all, the feeling again rises inside me that cries: If I don't tell this guy the truth, who will? Emilio's self-delusion and efforts at self reformation seem pretty likely to bring him quickly to his death. I think it is more important that he gets a wake up call from somebody before it is to late.


I think Emilio knew I cared about him. Even though I spoke without pulling many punches, he was positive upbeat throughout the entire visit. I hope he makes the right decision. Anyway, at least his sister in our church will see we care about her family.


Please continue to pray for our church and for wisdom, etc. for your missionaries!

Two Graduations, Two Weddings and Finding a Place to Stay for a Month...Wow! Amen! and Help!

May 7th is the graduation of Bethany and Rachel from Pensacola Christian College. Bethany is graduating with two majors: Commercial Art and Graphic Design. Rachel has a major in Missions and a minor in Business. On June 7th both will be getting married to two brothers, Abe and Max Kennedy in a double wedding.

This is a great blessing for us and we are so proud. We will definitely be there. But it does mean we will have to figure out how and where to to stay in Florida for a month. The plane fare, double wedding and graduation will be a significant expense for us as well. If anyone knows of a place we can stay for a month or could help out with the many upcoming expenses, we would greatly appreciate it!

Family Fun for the New Year

Bethany and Rachel flew in from the States to spend some of their Christmas vacation with us. We opened our presents this morning and watched some fun videos.

Here is one we made in a class I teach at Puerto Rico Baptist College:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FUcGfX6N9LE

Some of my students wanted extra credit for my Physics class. We were studying electric shocks so I suggested they could get an extra credit grade if they licked a 9 volt battery! No, it's not torture, just an "electricity experience." Even if you don't understand the Spanish comments, it still is a lot of fun watching their reactions.

Merry Not-very-white Christmas!

The only white in Christmas I have seen in Puerto Rico comes from a gift I received from one of my students: Goat milk and coconut cookies!

I still enjoy the song, especially when it is 85 degrees outside on December 25th.

So far I am OK with most of the Christmas food and customs here, but I heard the ladies of the church planning a New Years Day Dinner that features "chicharrones," deep fried pork cut up into bite size cubes with the pig skin still on it.

Though it is tasty, I am sure, it sounds like a dangerous meal! Well, I am sure it will be better than the blood sausages my neighbor tried to give me.

I think I will stick to the goat milk and coconut cookies!

Merry Christmas!

Happy for the gift, Sad for the Circumstance!

We just recieved this sad and glad news from our mission agency :

"Dissolution of Aurora Drive Baptist Church" [San Leandro, California]

"Greetings,

As you probably know Aurora has been going through a lengthy process with the state of CA. I have received word that a check is finally in the mail to the mission. There is to be a check for $36,000 representing 15 yrs support at $200/mo. to be dispersed at $200/mo for the duration you remain with CBM up to a maximum of 15 years."
---
Wow! And, No, I didn't know! This is very good news for us. The $200 monthly raise in our support level is a big chunk of the $800 we are trying to raise to reach our full support level. We are pleased that Aurora did this for us, but sad to hear that they are no longer there.

In a way, the gift has given them a new life, as we will use it to begin churches here in Puerto Rico and for the training of church planters at Puerto Rico Baptist college. The gift of love from a dying church will be transformed, by God's grace, into a number of churches, some in our own country.

Thank you Aurora Drive Baptist Church, we will always remember you!

Birthday Blessings: Lots of Bible, Lots of Blessings!

My birthday party (I will be 53 Monday) put me in the mood to meditate on how I have been using my time, and I am happy to say that most of it has been positive.These last few months, we have filled up our weeks with a lot of times and places where we can share the word of God with others and it has proved to be a great blessing.

Monday through Friday, I give morning devotions to 50 high school students. Some afternoons and evenings I am responsible for the teaching of a variety of classes at Puerto Rico Baptist College, but even in classes like Physics or Chemistry, we relate each concept with biblical teachings. Fridays, I go in extra early and to give devotions to the teachers. Wednesday and Sunday, I preach and teach at the church we are starting up in the interior mountain region of the island.

The only day I am not scheduled to teach or preach is Saturday, and then I may have an opportunity to share my faith with someone as we visit and invite people to come to our church. Saturday is always a great day for Bible study in preparation for our Sunday services.

Do I get tired? Yes! But it is a good kind of tired! I don't mind getting tired if I am having fun! A week full of sharing the Bible with others is always a great week!

I was afraid to believe it was true, but I’m so glad it was!

Tina opened a letter from our mission agency and said, “Hey, look at this!” She showed me that two significant special offerings had come in.

One was for $400 from Sierra Baptist in New Castle, California. (Thank you!). I had preached at a mission’s conference in their church just a few weeks ago. They paid for my airfare, around $500, and this $400 love offering was on top of that. It was a great meeting and we are grateful for the love and support.

The first special offering we could understand, but there was a second one. Tina read the second item to me, “$2,500 from Puyallup Community Baptist Church, Puyallup, Washington has been given as a special offering.” My heart beat faster and I was astonished, then a bit afraid. Maybe it was really $250 and it is a misprint. They are a supporting church, but I had not heard about any mission’s conference or anything.

I gave the church a call and thanked them for the offering. I spoke of my momentary doubt and said we just wanted to verify the amount before we wrote any checks. The secretary said the church did not have any special missions program that month, but that an individual who wished to remain anonymous gave just such an offering to our ministry.

The secretary said,”It must be a great feeling to receive an offering like that all at once, when you were not expecting it.”

She was right about that! Amen and may God richly bless both Sierra Baptist of New Castle, California and Mr. Anonymous of Puyallup Community Baptist Church, Washington!

The other shoe..? I hope so!

"If any body from the government calls, tell them you are not paying rent, that we are just letting you use the building for free."

Tina got this odd phone call from the owner of our church building last week.

Four months ago he rejected our regular rent check of $500, and has not allowed us to pay them since then. We were concerned and have been waiting for the "other shoe to drop."
Were they going to evict us? What did it all mean?

We heard that there were problems between the owner, the former owners, missing papers and the tax-man. It appears that they were not supposed to rent it, or have not payed taxes on the rent collected, or..many other variations of that theme.

What this means to us:

1. Our prayer: "Lord show us where we should locate our church" has been answered for the time being! It is hard to beat a "rent free" church building!

2. If we are asked to say we do not pay rent, we don't have to pay the rent. Hooray! That means a $500 saving every month. Even if they start the rent up again, we can't be asked to pay back rent. We have saved $2000 so far.

3. If we must start paying rent again, we may, by that time, have saved enough for a down-payment for a building in a better location.

4. We must live by faith: The rent free situation could last for years or just be a temporary boost for us. Either way, we rejoice!

I went to California for a great missons conference..!

Sierra Baptist Church, of Newcastle, California hosted the "Heartbeat of God" Missions Conference this weekend. I flew in from Puerto Rico and was treated to good fellowship, great hospitality and inspiring services. Thanks to Dave Klem, the event organizer, the conference went smoothly and all the missionaries got a chance to share their burdens, visions and past progress on their respective fields.

My special thanks to the Linder family, who took me sight-seeing and to the Yefimovs for the great hospitality and to their kids for teaching me some Russian.For a look-see at the conference, visit http://www.heartbeat-of-God.org/

Personal Goal Announcement

Last Saturday I went to the University of Puerto Rico and took an exam from their Physics teacher. He was giving exams for a FCC Radio License that enables those who hold it to use a kind of shortwave radio for worldwide communications. I was teaching a Physics class myself at our Bible college, so I just did a little more study and I qualified to take the exam. I was afraid I would do badly and be a poor testimony, but the Lord answered my prayers and I passed the test with a 100! My new FCC designation is WP4NVR.

I didn't know babies would take up so much room!

The church attendance went down during my last absence, but last Sunday, we had a special service and many came. Three couples presented their babies during the morning service. I am happy they brought their extended families as well, as it filled up our church nicely!

Who would have thought that three babies could fill up a church? Well, I am glad they did!

Babies in Church! Handfulls of blessings!

We are having 2 sisters present their two new babies in church tomorrow. Another couple is doing the same. Three babies in arms makes for a handful! Time to get a crib! We have a sofa in the back of the church the mothers used but now we have to get with it and get a real nursery going. A crib costs about $200 and we need at least two for now.

I am trying to change our emphasis to younger couples. We have had good success with elderly people, but funerals, sickness and especially Alzheimer's among our church group has really reduced our attendance lately. These three infants and their parents represent the beginnings of what I hope will be many more young couples coming into our church.

The “Chair Force”

Some men in the military make fun of pilots who fly remote controlled aircraft in combat. They call these stay at home soldiers “The Chair Force” instead of the “Air Force.”

But think for a moment of this scenario:

A man is sitting in a chair in Nevada, watching his computer monitor and flying an airplane in Afghanistan …

“In front of him is a live video from the Predator's camera, thousands of feet above the desert floor. Buildings and trucks come into view. He zooms in and out. Grainy images appear of a few airmen loading a truck. On his left, he grabs a shifter that controls the drone's speed. On his right, a pistol-grip stick adjusts the flaps. The stick also has a trigger for the missiles …”

This man can see a need on the other side of the world, push a button, remove a problem and contribute to a victory! Even from far away, a man can make victory possible by doing something that seems small, but in reality, means the difference between life and death, victory or defeat.

Wow! But wait…You can do something even better!

Just like the “Chair Force” pilot, you can see the needs we missionaries face from far away by reading our prayer letters and our blogs. You too can do something right now to solve a problem. You have the power of prayer, and also the opportunity to push a button that will help make victory possible for us out here on the front lines! The power you have and the battles we fight are of great importance. Victories are won by working together, each doing what he can to make it happen. We hope you can help us out here on the frontlines. Please push whatever buttons you need to, so we can get the “Chair Support” we need!

If you can’t be in the Air Force, join the Chair Force! Victories are won when we all do our part.

Blessings for Obedience

Did you ever give up something for the Lord and then receive a blessing for it later? That happened to me today!

Before I became a missionary, I was interested in electronics. I even got a FCC Technicians license and was proud of my call sign: KA7URH. This allowed me to use a Ham ("Amateur," 2-way long distance) radio.

Well, I got the license, but never got on the air! The radios were to expensive! Now, with a wife and two teenage daughters at home and two in college, this is even more true. Life on a missionary budget meant that hobbies must be left behind.

But something happened!

The fine folks at "Blessings for Obedience" heard about us and sent us a FREE radio (a Kenwood TS-430s)! They also included a solar panel, battery and other stuff so we can use it around the island, even after a hurricane has knocked out all the power.

Thank you, Blessings for Obedience! Just the cost of shipping the equipment was close to $90. We thank the people who donated the equipment and those dedicated missionary helpers who took it upon themselves to put this useful technology into our hand!

I hope to get on the radio soon, and thank you over the airwaves in person!

Dios Les Bendiga (May the Lord Bless You All)!