Time to Get a Big Piece

I just read this in the news this morning. The news article reports on a trend we are addressing in our ministry: the increasing stream of immigration and it's expanding influence in America.

U.S. Childlessness Up Amid Demographic Shift

Government Projects that U.S. Minorities Will Become Majority by Mid-Century (CBS )‎ Saturday, ‎June ‎26, ‎2010

After reaching a high of 3.7 children per woman during the baby boom, the U.S. fertility rate dropped to a historic low of 1.7 during the mid-1970s and stands at about 2. The findings also come amid a historic demographic shift in which blacks, Hispanics, Asians and multiracial people are growing rapidly in the U.S. population and wielding more influence in politics and society. Minority babies now make up nearly half of all U.S. births.

© MMX, The Associated Press.

___

I once worked with church in California in the LA area that was the center of an increasing urban minority growth. But their ministry focus stayed fixed on reaching suburban whites. That church died.

I presented a parable to one of the church members:

I asked: "If your church had two cakes at a potluck dinner, one angel-food and the other chocolate, and 100 people got in line trying to get a piece of the angel-food cake, how would that work out?"

Answer: "Well, most people would lose out, or they would only get a tiny bit each."

I said, "So, how could anyone get a big enough piece of cake then?"

Answer: "Learn to like chocolate and get in the line that has the most cake at the end !"

I asked: "Your city is like those cakes, and all the churches are competing for ever decreasing portions of the white population, but the minority part of the city is growing. Why not get in line for a slice of that?"

He smiled sadly and said, "Well, there are problems."

Yeah, I guess. But it is a problem also when your church dies! Are there reasons or problems that hinder us from ministering to minorities? Well, let's solve those problems and get on with the work. We will have bigger problems if we don't.

People, the population "cake" or composition of America is changing. We as pastors, missionaries and church planters need to learn to like the new mix and line up our ministries accordingly. If not, we will have smaller and smaller portions of a declining group, until there is not enough left to sustain the ministry, and then it will fail.

Let us reach the minorities among us. It is good for them, it will keep our ministries alive and besides that, soon we will be a minority ourselves.

Time for a (Work) Break

My missionary life has a lot of variety to it: studying, preaching, counseling, weddings, evangelism, teaching, baptisms, funerals, summer camps, etc. But most of this involves reading or talking to people.

Things are about to change.

This Summer, I have about eight weeks until our teaching begins again. Our new home is providing the agenda for our summertime. We will be fixing the leaking roof, scraping and painting the interior of the house, doing hurricane preparation and the 101 other things a house needs when you move in.

Part of me welcomes the change, but another part longs for some quiet hours in a nice cool study. But that is what they say vacations are all about: making you happy to return to your other work.

Projects like this require time, but all of this costs money as well, money that we don't have right now. We have some time now to work on our house. But we could use some help getting the materials we need to do the work. Please consider giving us a hand.

If you are vacationing in the Caribbean this year, let us know and we will meet you and show you around a bit. We want to get in on the fun stuff too you know!

Missionary Wife Month!

May turns out to be the month I get to celebrate Tina, my lovely and talented wife. I call it Tina's Month - our anniversary is the 7th, then there is Mom's Day & her birthday is the 31st.

This usually means a couple of nice nights out to some nicer than usual restaurants, a couple of funny presents, some earrings and a new something for the house or a lemon tree, etc. for the garden.

This year our daughter Bethany and her husband Abe are going to St Croix, US Virgin Islands as missionaries, and Tina wants to go visit them. I do too, but even though it is a neighboring island, it is more than a bit tight around here, coming soon after our new house purchase, termite adventure & kitchen rebuild.

But... I really want to keep the wife happy, so we are going to try and make it happen.

Hint: I could use some help!

Getting our hands dirty: Car Trouble

Last night the bumper fell off of our 2002 Honda Odyssey and our 1999 Toyota Previa wouldn't start. Our girls were stranded at the church and had to find a ride home with the Aunt of a friend of theirs. Tina and I have been working on attaching the bumper today.

The check engine light came on and I took the Honda to Pep Boys for a computer scan. They said it was the transmission and I could be looking at about $4000 for parts and labor.

We don't have the time or money to get this fixed right now. So for the immediate future I am just keeping the fluids filled and driving carefully.

The drive to church tomorrow will have my full attention.

Big Plans for the Future

The school year is slowly coming to a close. We are making plans for some big projects down the road. Some of our upcoming projects are:

1. Vacation Bible School this Summer

2. Finding and training Sunday School teachers

3. Beginning an AWANA/Youth program in Spanish

4. Going the next few steps toward starting Caribbean Baptist Seminary.

There are some big jobs out there waiting for us. Pray for us, please. We need grace, encouragement and empowerment from God. We also could use some help from you!

Too Calm and Too Cool, & Maybe, Too Crazy

This picture eminds me of the response we get when we try to help people.

I have dealt with people with AIDS, people dying from alcohol poisoning and people losing homes and family. Some of them take the "What, Me worry?" attitude.

I spoke with a man dying from AIDS. He was pathetic looking, with legs like toothpicks. He glared at me and said, "You are just trying to wreck my fun!" Well, he didn't look like he was having all that much fun to me, sitting in his mothers house and wasting away.

Ten days later he died. A week later his older sister died of the same disease. They left behind the mother that cared for them. Someone told me that she was going to lose her government housing for allowing drug her kids to use drugs in her apartment.

Some fun.

Working with what we have

I saw this great idea today - someone made a hanging chair out of an old shipping pallet and parachord. It is comfortable and just about free, but it does take a while to get it all put together and strung up just right.

This is a great idea, if you have tons of time. If not, you need either some people to help, or the funds to just go and buy a chair.

We have been able to get a lot done too on a tight budget. But like the project above, the less funding we have, the more time it takes to get the job done.

Our ministry is going well, but we have soooo much work to get done. Please pray with us about either getting some help or some increase in support. We need one or the other so we can get the work done in a timely manner.

Family Pride

We flew to Pensacola this last week to have a special family time and share in an important event with our daughters.

Our daughter Bethany is getting her Masters degree in art and held her " Masters Art Show."

It was the culmination of her 6 years of college and grad school.

It was a fancy, formal and fun affair. It was fun because I heard many people say great things about her work. She even sold three paintings for $750!

Our daughter Rachel had our first grandbaby and I finally got to see and play with little 10 month old Hannah.

I had to leave to come back for our ministry, but I left Tina and the Twins behind so they could enjoy another week of family time together.

Handful of Pills

"Pastor, last night I had a handful of pills and I was about to take them and kill myself, but something stopped me."

Mike was shaking as he told his story. Mike is a Puerto Rican from New York, who moved back to the island. He came to our church after much witnessing and many invitations. My visiting in-laws also witnessed to him a few weeks ago during their visit to our church.

He said, "I remember what you said to me about the Lord and my soul. I looked at the pills in my hand and tried to take them again, but something stopped me. I saw a bright light and heard a voice saying, "Don't do it. Don’t do it!” so, I put the pills down and said, “OK, Lord, I’ll wait.”

I talked to Mike , expressed my concern for his situation, and that Sunday, presented him with a new bible during our morning service because he had attended four Sundays.

Mike came to church Sunday with a shaken and grave look about him He left with a face all aglow with happiness.

I do not know how it will turn out for Mike, but I do know that for right know, he is in a much better place than he was a month ago. And I am glad I work for the One who made it happen.

Unexpected Fun

In spite of a very rainy night, we had a nice international/missions night last week. I helped these Puerto Rican 8th graders raise funds at their booth for their future activities.

I love our work: starting churches in Puerto Rico, teaching in a Bible college, but I never thought I would like working with Junior High Kids. Maybe it's just that these kids are great kids. But whatever the reason, we are not just doing ministry, we are enjoying ministry!

Come on down here and help us and get in on the fun!

A Big THANK YOU to a faithful supporter

Pastor David Pestel of Bethel Baptist Church in Kalispell, Montana just sent us a very encouraging note. At their annual meeting, the church voted to increase their support for our ministry by the amount of $50.00 per month.

What makes this especial welcome news is:

1. We just moved and have a lot of additional expenses,

2. The church is reading our prayer letters and blog. Also,

3. They are praying that God might bless and give us the strength and stamina we need for the ministry.

Isn't great when you get just what you need?

Thanks so much Bethel Baptist! We appreciate you!

If you're too busy for this...maybe you're too busy.

I saw this picture titled "One sec.." yesterday.

I thought, "Technology is great and multitasking has its charms...but sometimes we need to put it away and concentrate on what is really important."

Monday I am taking time to take my girls out for dinner.

Getting Things Done

Starting a church, teaching at Puerto Bible College, initiating plans for a Seminary, fighting termites and remodeling our new home...so many jobs at once!

How can we do a good job at all of these things and still manage to have a good family life and not burn out in the process?

Well, there are THREE things that help make it happen:

1. Reading and putting into practice sound productivity principles. (Right now I am reading "Getting Things Done" by David Allen).

2. Your prayers and support! Yep, the more of these we get, the more gets done!

3. Your personal visit! You know all those references about being a "Servant" or a "Slave" for Christ? Some people take that literally and actually come out here and help us for a week or even a month or so.

Have you every considered slavery as a career option? Well, if you do, we can keep the right kind of people doing the right kind of things down here for quit a while.

The Haitian Tragedy and Puerto Rico.

It is 405 miles from our house to the devastation you see every night on the news in Haiti. We did not feel the earthquake directly. But being so close to Haiti has given the tragedy an extra emotional impact among our people. Last Saturday we had a pastors’ fellowship. One of the first items we discussed was how to help our near neighbors, the Haitians, in their moments of desperate need.

We sympathize with them greatly. Puerto Rico is no stranger to natural disasters. We ourselves have suffered loss in the floods and hurricanes that strike hard here in the Caribbean. Other situations are looming as well: We are 285 miles from a volcano that is erupting on the island of Montserrat. Earthquakes to the west and volcanoes to the south-east, people are getting nervous.

In order to help people in trouble, like the Haitians, and to help our own people, We have decided to take some measures to equip ourselves to respond and offer some kind of aid and services. I have acquired a Ham radio license. This qualifies me to participate in emergency disaster drills. Besides being able to provide aid during an actual emergency, I think just being able to participate in the drills would be a great asset to our evangelism here. We could be a witness to the other emergency care providers and also be identified as a valuable resource by the people of our community.

But…in order to participate I need a radio: a Ham radio capable of being set up quickly in the field. Ideally, it would be something like the radio in this link (http://www.universal-radio.com/CATALOG/hamhf/3450.html). The radio and accessories to make it useful for field and rescue work run about $1,200.

I know it's not cheap. It is expensive to be prepared for an emergency. But what other people tell me is, it can be even more expensive to NOT be prepared for an emergency.

Pictures of our new home

The move was a real grunt. We switched houses with the previous owners, so we could move in faster. But that meant we had to get everything moved and leave the house completely clean in one day. We never could have done it without the help of three hard working college students, Nancy, Christian, Bairo and Sarah's boyfriend Mario all of whom worked all day Monday.

We left our home clean but found a LOT to do in the new house. The house was all empty except for quite a bit of dust and grime.Tina said that she had heard of "Dust Bunnies" before, but she encountered a "Dust Monster" left under the bed by the previous owners. The first couple of days we lived among the boxes. The twins slept on mattresses on the floor until we got their bunk beds put together. The animals (two cats and a dog) made the trip fine and did not get lost. The cats helped by sleeping on the new boxes to mark where we had to unpack next.

The house came with some unexpected pluses. The owners left behind an installed video projector, some nice furniture, an above ground pool, and a 750 watt power generator for those days when the power goes out. We have a banana tree and some nice flowers in the back yard too. Very nice.

Christmas Eve came and we had our bathroom, living room and two bedrooms set up. We got a tree and Tina and the girls decorated it nice late last night on Christmas Eve.

Horray! We are celebrating Chistmas today, a bit worn out, but very happily from our new home.

We are IN!

We are in our new house! We moved! What a day!

Two college guys, a high school student and a college girl helped us pack up two minivans and move all our furniture, boxes and odd things into our new house. After ten hours and many multiple trips, we called it a day. We were exhausted and treated the crew to a Taco Bell feast.

Tina gave me some Ibuprofen for my back, but besides a lot of sore muscles, I think we didn't suffer any major damage to anybody or anything.

Now for the fun of unpacking and trying to find the coffee...

The Big Move is Underway!

We are living among and out of our moving boxes in our old house, waiting for the people in our new house to leave. They were having trouble doing this, so we offered to switch houses. They liked the idea. So today, we took the first load of boxes over to our new house. I got some help from some of our Bible college guys, to help them and to speed things along for us. We hope to finish up Monday, the 21.

I don't think the reality of owning a house has sunk in yet. But it does feel pretty good seeing those boxes finally move out the door.

Our new address is:

Steve & Tina Prelgovisk
URB SIERRA BAYAMON
33-15 CALLE 31
BAYAMON, PR 00961-4365

Busy Week

Busy week: I graded about 300 student papers and got the progress reports done two days before they came out. We are preparing the house for a move. We hope to sign the closing papers on our new house this coming Friday.

I visit on the weekends with 3 college students and we also are re-starting our youth group, adding a Friday night meeting to our already full week. I am also preparing to teach a new Science class at Puerto Rico Baptist College. It will likely be a Chemistry class that I will teach in Spanish.

My doctor said I should walk an hour a day.

I am not complaining..MOST of it is a lot of fun, or at least exciting. But, I sure would appreciate your prayers for our stamina, energy and wisdom to know when to say no!

I am thinking there is a great deal of wisdom in the old Latino custom of the "Siesta." I believe I will practice some of that cultural wisdom as soon as I can.

Unexpected Fireworks: An Unplanned Revival, a Fire and an Explosions

Unexpected Fireworks: An Unplanned Revival, a Fire and some Explosions

The week started one of the highest points we have EVER had. It ended with a BANG. Literally!

The Unplanned Revival:

I invited a man I led to the Lord eight years ago, (and baptized, and helped through an Alcohol rehab program, discipled, participated in his wedding, and trained to help in church services, etc) to preach Sunday.

The word got out and many of his friends and relatives came to hear his “debut” as a preacher. Our regular attendance has been in the mid-twenties lately, but shot up to forty for this special day. Well, it was great, more than great. He (Miguel) told of how he lived before, how he met Christ and the difference it made in his life. There were a lot of tears.

He ended by saying, “I will now wait here for the next few moments for anyone who wants to make a decision like I did.” We waited for about two minutes in silence. THREE adults came forward, asking how to be saved! About six more came for prayer. One of the adults was the boyfriend of Miguel’s sister.

What a day! I had them sit in the front pew, opened a bible and showed them all how to accept Christ as their Savior AND THEY DID! After our prayers, we hugged (Puerto Rican style). Tears were running down their cheeks. Our church people were defiantly REVIVED. The drive home from church Sunday was filled with animated discussions and praising God for what happened.

The BEST PART of the whole day was that someone I led to the Lord and trained actually preached and won others to the Lord. And did it in our own church! Wohoo! Opps, I mean, “Amen!”

Fireworks:
I was up late Thursday night, getting paperwork in order for a house we are trying to buy. I heard and felt a violent BOOM. I thought it was thunder. But it went off about six times and was so violent it felt like someone was shaking your body.

Tina came running out of the bedroom, “That can’t be thunder! What’s going on!”

We put on the radio, fired up the Internet and looked out the windows. We could see towers of flame and thick smoke. It looked like Mt Saint Helens going off. Everybody was calling everybody and guessing about terrorists, meteors, etc.

We got on Google maps and saw a gulf oil refinery tank farm about where the flames were coming from. Sure enough, that’s where it happened. About seven giant oil refinery tanks exploded in a chain reaction. Someone just told me it's up to seventeen now.

Last night five neighborhoods around our Christian school were evacuated for fear the toxic cloud might shift that way sometime today. They are letting it burn itself out. The fire is currently spewing out great cloud of smoke and will likely keep it up for two or three days more.

We are safe right now. But it is hard to plan or even sleep when a change in the wind direction might mean a mass evacuation. We are OK here for the time being, but we have to ready to leave on a seconds notice.

Please pray for us! We like the FIRST kind of fireworks , but the other kind, not so much!

Explosions, Fire & Smoke

Big bangs shattered windows. Pillars of fire and smoke last night came from giant gas tanks ( the kind bigger than houses) at a Gulf oil refinery exploding. Eleven tanks are in flames. There are 40 tanks in that tank farm, some with jet fuel, others supply the islands electrical system. They are just going to let it burn itself out.

Our school is canceled for today. Stay home kids. Everyone here is safe, we hope you are.

We might have to mass evacuate our neighborhood. The pillars of smoke from the oil refinery fire may descend to ground level during the cool of the night. We may just grab some blankets and food and head to the mountain to avoid the toxic smoke.

11:59PM Fri

Some of my students a few miles north of here were just evacuated to a hotel. We are waiting to see if the police come to our neighborhood. I am canceling visitation tomorrow, as everyone is uncertain about which roads are open, etc. We will try to keep the family together in one spot in case we have to move suddenly.

A better home for us...

The house we are trying to get is NOT the auction home we mentioned earlier. We found a better house.

We decided not to go for the auction house because it was too expensive and had some major possible problems (leaky roof, electrical and plumbing etc.) After looking at a few other houses we found one that is a lot nicer and at a better price.

It's a cute white house with a bright blue awning on the porch. The new house has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, great floors, four air conditioning units, ceiling fans, tons of windows for ventilation and natural lighting. It comes with a stainless steel fridge and washing machine. It has a nice landscaped yard with a small above ground pool and fruit trees. The house has been well maintained and has no repairs to make.

The location is ideal. It is on a quiet dead end street and it's a four minute walk from Tina’s work as a cook at the Bible College. The students can come over without us having to go get them in our car also.

It has some unusual extras. The owners are leaving behind a full house generator for when the electricity goes out (regularly), a solar water heater and a cistern. The large carport comes with a surprising feature. It has an outdoor theater projector installed and a 6x4 ft. screen near the back wall, perfect for college classes, church fellowships or just having your own semi-outdoor theater.

The only drawback is the small but very cute kitchen. But Tina says she does 90% of her cooking at the Bible College anyway. We only eat breakfast at home.

The price started at $166,000 a year ago and the buyer agreed to sell it to us for $152,000. We're hoping for a good interest rate from the bank. Our credit score is great. But the question is the down payment and closing costs. The more we put down, the less our monthly payments will be and it will make it easier to qualify for the better interest rate.

Help us get a house! Strategic Giving

We found a very nice home at a good price and are hoping to buy it. We just met the owners and of the house and their real estate agent. It is a lovely home and only a FOUR minute walk from our Bible College.

If you ever thought of helping us financially, now would be a very good time. Gifts received or money lent to us in the next few weeks would lower our monthly payments, and maybe even free us from paying mortgage insurance.

Please consider helping out a little (or a lot) extra right now. An extra gift this month could mean 30 years of saving every month.

Sacrifices

This story reminds me of the sacrifices made by Military families:

Four-year old Paige didn't want to say goodbye to her daddy before he was shipped off to Iraq. Paige said later, "I didn't want to let go of him."

No one had the heart to pull her away.The commanding officer allowed Paige to say goodbye as her dad prepared to ship off from Fort Dix.
===

It is a touching story. Families go through this kind of pain because their loved ones go to war.

We Christians are in a great conflict also. We serve a different Commander-in-Chief, but the sacrifices are just as real. Please do not forget your missionaries, as we too have had to leave country and family behind to do our part.

Prayer Alert! Bargain House Opportunity!

House Auction

Last week Tina saw a public auction notice on this house two doors down from the house we are renting here in Bayamon. It has been empty for at least a year and a half after being repossessed by the bank. They tried to sell it for $178,000, then lowered it to $160,000 but still couldn't sell it. Now it's up for auction.

Tina has had her eye on this place ever since we moved here a year and a half ago, but it was always out of our price range. Is this auction an opportunity for us to get into home ownership? Or could it be a house that falls apart and costs you a fortune in repairs, like in the movies?

On the positive side, the house is huge for Puerto Rico (2,311 sq. ft.). It's really a house with two apartments in the back so it has five bedrooms and four bathrooms (3/2 in the main house, 2/1 in one apartment and 1/1 in the other). The two bedroom apartment is bigger than the house we are living in now! We could even rent out rooms to some of our college students or teachers.

We had no problem getting pre-approved for the home loan. What we need now is the $10,000 for the down payment. PLEASE PRAY that the Lord will show us if this is the right path for us and that the funds needed for the down payment will be provided.

The auction will be November 7th.