Flying in For the Love of Missions

I love flying into a Missions conference. Everyone is anticipating a blessing, and it is a joy to share with others our passion for missions. Thanks to Pastor Wayne Golson of Community Baptist Church, I am going to get to do this in November.

I had the privilege of meeting Pastor Wayne Golson, who attended a missions conference I participated in when I visited another church in Bradenton, Florida. Pastor Golson graciously invited me to speak in his church from Wednesday, November 19th to Sunday, November the 23rd, 2008.

I hear the church has a Christian school, which is great. We are church planters, but we look to the Christian schools to train leaders for the churches we start. We ourselves teach at Puerto Rico Baptist College and at times have taught at Levittown Baptist Academy, a K-12 Christian School. We hope to get a Seminary going, so the circle of discipleship can be completed here on the island. Because we have no Seminary, our young people go to the US for Masters' Degrees, where, unfortunately for us, many never return to pastor the newly found churches that are waiting for them. I look forward to learning things from their ministry that can help us here in our schools.

We look forward to a good time in Bradenton this November. We hope that you will drop in and see us there and get in on the fun.

Tina's Choice: Surgery or a Radioactive Pill

Tina has been having trouble with hyperthyroidism off and on for the past eight years. The doctor said she has "Graves' Disease" which means her immune system is attacking her thyroid making it overactive. She will likely have to have her thyroid out or take a radioactive iodine pill to destroy it since the medication hasn't solved the problem. We found out something scary: because she also has some nodules (bumps) on her thyroid they say that about 10% of these cases are related to cancer.

On September 9th, Tina had a biopsy to determine if the nodules are cancerous. We have to wait about 10 days for the results. If it is cancerous, it will be removed by surgery and the cancer treated. If not, we can choose between surgery or the radioactive pill. The pill treatment costs seven hundred dollars and is NOT covered by our insurance. The surgery would be covered, but leaves a big scar on the neck and could have complications.

Either way, Tina and I need your prayers. We have faith in the Lord, but we are also comforted by your prayers. Please remember your missionaries are often far away from family and friends and appreciate your words of encouragement.

Scary Sunday: Almost Attacked

I called 911 Sunday morning. I was alone in the church early with Sarah and Kristin cleaning and setting up. Twenty minutes before Sunday school was to begin, in walked a street person and moved toward one of my daughters. I intercepted him and asked if I could help. He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder but would not let go. I offered him some water or coke and he let go for a minute. I brought him the water, and said, "I offer you this water in the name of the Lord." He then spat it out on the floor. He made faces and cursed, but kept drinking it.

He then looked me in the eyes and began cursing and threatening. The street person then grabbed my shirt sleeve and raised a walking stick as if to strike. Without thinking, I started to go into a wrestling stance, but a thought came to me, "No. Don't fight. Even if you win, you will lose. The church will suffer for it. And if you lose, who will be here to protect Sarah and Kristin?"

So, I walked toward the front door, with him a hold of my shirt and kept talking. I was thinking, "If I can just delay him for 10 more minutes, some church members will show up and help." I spoke to the man, "So, that is how you are going to be. Why are you treating me like that?" He dropped his stick and bent down to pick it up and I stepped back, got my cell phone off the table and called 911. When the street guy saw that he smiled and ambled out of the church and walked slowly down the street and circled back as if to see what would happen. Two policemen came in time for me to point the guy out.

The police said the man was known to them as a vagrant who was on medication, but often did not take it. The officer said I could press charges, but the man would likely be on the street the same day with a warning not to forget his medications.

A new thought struck me during this conversation. Maybe this happened so that I could meet the police and witness to them. I responded to the officer: "You are a professional and know how to speak to people like that. I will leave this situation in your hands and trust your judgment and experience. After all, we are on the same team." He smiled and his deputy nodded his head and off they went to round up the guy who was still lingering around about a block away from the church.

The church members arrived at the end of this, and it made for a quite interesting sermon illustration and after service conversation. Praise the Lord no one was hurt. Next Sunday I guess the first person that comes will have to knock to get in. We don't plan on leaving the doors unlocked even 5 min. before service starts. It's a shame, but the situation could have easily been a lot worse.

Don't forget to pray for those of use out here on the front lines!

Recipes for Good Kids

Many of our college kids were involved in ministries this summer. Marisa, in the photo, went on a summer missions trip to Bolivia, where she worked as a councilor at Camp Tiger. It is winter in Bolivia, so I guess it was a winter retreat from their point of view.

We had opening services Friday night. We had a show of hands of how many led someone to the Lord over the summer and over half of the students raised their hands! That sure is a lot higher percent than I remember from my Bible college and Seminary days! They are great kids and we look for some quality pastors, missionaries and Christian school teachers to come from this group.

We are preparing for classes to start. Tina is the new cook and is learning how to cook for over 50 people. She loves it, but this first week has been hard on her. I have to teach Chemistry this semester and that is fine, but finding chemicals for experiments is really hard nowadays. With all the fear of terrorism and Meth-Labs, it has become almost impossible to get a decent chemistry set or chemicals. But our churches need educated pastors and our Christian Schools need teachers so we will press on and do the best we can.

You can help. There is a place for you! Can you peel potatoes, attend classes or get us some hard to get supplies? Well, OK then, join the team and let's make it happen!

Grilled Computers

We aren't quite as primitive as the guy in the photo, but our computer department was set back due to a lightning strike. We have power strips and UPS power supplies, but they weren't sufficient. We lost 5 computers and a router.

We are thinking of replacing them with laptops. The desktop or tower computers are cheaper, but after you buy the screen, power supplies, wifi-adapters and make space for them, they end up costing more. Laptops come with all these things. They are also cheaper to send through the mail.

The problem is, we don't have the funds to acquire them. If you have a laptop that is in working condition, but have felt you want an upgrade, look no further for a good reason to do so! All kidding aside, we have Bible college students coming in for the fall semester and e-mail and other such comforts we can offer them make a big difference to their emotional well being as well as their educational success.

The Reception

Online Mind Mapping - MindMeister

Here is a site I use when trying to solve a difficult problem or tackle a large project. It helps with brainstorming and then relating the ideas to each other and by doing so generates a map to help you plot a solution to those big jobs. It is like a sheet of graph paper that allows you to make flow charts, assign priorities, put red flags and other icons next to items, etc.

Currently I am unravelling the mysteries of the Puerto Rico tax system and its relationship to the IRS. This is a very confusing topic. Mindmeister is helping me chart, tag and interrelate all the info I am getting and has helped a lot.

Now, if it could only pay those pesky taxes!

Online Mind Mapping - MindMeister

Pre-Wedding Pictures

The Wedding Ceremony

Rod and reel rescue

As a missionary, I visit and invite people to respond to God's grace in a positive manner. I can tell you that we are not often welcomed as heroes, like the guy in the news article below. It is a great illustration, when you compare this heroic rescue to what the bible calls being "Fishers of Men!"

Rod and reel rescue - Posted By ASSOCIATED PRESS, Posted 2 days ago

HALLOWELL, Maine – A man who was drowning in a Maine river is recovering after someone reeled him in with a fishing rod.

Bob Greene of Hallowell says he heard what he thought was a bird early Thursday as he was having his morning coffee.

He then realized there was a man bobbing in the Kennebec River. Greene says a 911 dispatcher told him to throw something to the man. He snagged the man’s shirt with a fishing lure and reeled him in.

The rescued man is in critical condition at a Portland hospital.

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Bob Greene will be thought of as a hero, and he deserves it. But what of those who effect the rescue of an eternal soul? These are real heroes as well. Too bad they don't get treated as well by the news media!

Are you smarter than a vacuum cleaner?

A friend of mine in Puerto Rico bought his wife a Roomba, which is a robotic vacuum cleaner. It has the amazing ability to sense when it is low on power and to return to its home base, where it plugs in for a recharge.

From what I read in the Bible and see in my own experience, men and women disconnected from God all too soon use up their small deposit of energy and cease functioning. I hope that we can become as smart as a Roomba, and find our way back to the original source of power and life and stay plugged in so we can get the job done that we were created to do!

Running on low? Time to return to the source and get plugged in and powered up!

I hope you will be found as smart as that vacuum cleaner that knows where to go when the batteries run low!

The Drip that Moved!

Tina asked friends to pray that our leaky roof would get some over-do attention from our landlady, and it did in a surprising way!

The leak was dripping right over our bed onto Tina's forehead, and she mentioned it a few times, but nothing was done. A nephew of our landlady cleaned the roof a bit and put a bit of paint up there, but it did not fix the leak. But the drip has moved to our landlady's side of the house is dripping on her head in her bedroom now!

So the pray was answered, the roof is getting a lot of attention now!

Talking with Smokers

The picture shows a Smoking Lounge provided by some company, but with a ceiling painting conveying a pretty blunt message. I usually am a bit more tactful.

Yesterday, our landlady was smoking a cigarette on the sidewalk in front of my house. I walked out the front door to greet her. She knows I am a pastor, so she started to apologize.

I told her, "You know, a person can smoke cigarettes and go to heaven."

She said, "Oh?"

I replied, "The only problem is, the more they smoke, the sooner they get there!"

She smiled and nodded her head.

It is a good day when you can get a point across and not alienate your neighbors.

Weddings and Blessings

What a day! I walked Bethany down the aisle, went back and walked Rachel down the aisle and then went to the from and did the wedding. Our daughters were beautiful and the grooms looked good too. We don't have the wedding photos yet, but my dad took a few and posted them here: http://jprel.com/wed.html

Afterwards we had the reception and showed a PowerPoint presentation of the kids growing up. I signed the wedding license and then Rachel and Max went off to their honeymoon in the Tennessee mountains and Bethany and Abe went to Puerto Rico. Rachel and Max are working at the college this summer, and Bethany and Abe are helping a missionary in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

Wedding Announcement & Future Plans

Bethany and Rachel Prelgovisk are getting married on the same day, Sat., June 7th at 1:00in the Afternoon, in a double wedding ceremony. The wedding will be held in the Allen Chapel in the Crowne Centre of Pensacola Christian College. The grooms are Abraham and Maxwell Kennedy, two brothers from Indiana. Bethany is marrying Abraham and Rachel is marrying Maxwell. The reception will be held next door in the Allen Reception Room.

Bethany graduated with a double major in Comercial Art and Graphic Design with a minor in Advertising. Rachel graduated with a major in Missions with a minor in Office Administration. Abe graduated with a major in Youth Ministries with an education concentration. Max graduated with a Pastoral Ministires major with a minor in History.

Bethany and Abe plan to honeymoon in Puerto Rico, and then fly to St. Croix to help a pastor with a summer ministry. This fall Abe plans on attending Seminary at PCC to get his Masters degree and hopes to work as a Youth Pastor upon graduation, possibly on the mission field. Bethany will be working on campus as a graduate assistant and pursuing a Masters degree in Commercial Art.

Rachel and Max will honeymoon in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and then return to Pensacola, where Max will attend seminary and Rachel will be working in the business/records office.

Mail may be sent to:

c/o Mark Smith

920 Langley Ave

Pensacola, FL 32504

Both couples are registered at: Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

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!