York Rick Suzanne 1975 PuertoRico

8/12/2019 York Rick Suzanne 1975 PuertoRico

1/7

A P A R T A D O 1 0 2 4 0 C O S T A R I C A

a n u a r y 6 19751

D e a r F r i e n d s i n D h r l s tV/e l iope t h a t you ar i? all w e l l and Ji i joyed a w o n d e r f u l

D l i r i s t m a s c e l e b r a t i n g t h e birth o f o u r S a v i o r . We d e c i d e d t ow a i t u n t i l after C h r i s t m a s t o s e n d o u r g r e e t i n g s so t h a t wec o u l d tell you a b o u t o u r C os t a R ic a n C h r i s t m a s . Of c o u r s e t h eactual celebra tion of Christmas is not that m u c h different Wehad a t r e e i n t h e h o u s e p r e s e n t s a s p e c i a l c h u r c h s e r v i c eC h r i s t m a s s o n g s and last m in ut e s h o p p i n g . The l a d y o f o u r h o u s eBerta , mentioned t h a t Christmas t h i s year Jus t d i d n t seem ashappy and Joyful as i n years p a s t . vVe ve heard t h a t sa?ae messagefrom o u r f r i e n d s - a t home. With all t h e w o r l d strife i n f l a t i o na n d h a t r e d among p e o p l e it d o e s seem t o e f f e c t o u r Joy a t C h r i s t m a sAs C h r i s t i a n s we know t h a t o u r J o y at C h ri s tm a s s h o u l d r e m a i n t h esame J u s t a s t h e l o v e o f C h r i s t f o r u s r e m a i n s t h e same.

The d i f f e r e n c e s we e x p e r i e n c e d h e r e were mainly w i t h t h e f o o d .Our t r a d i t i o n a l t u r k e y a n d d r e s s i n g some how t u r n e d i n t o t a m a l e sand tiechon , which i s pork roas ted over an open p i t . The foodw a s all d i f f e r e n t b u t v e r y g o o d .

Our first t r i m e s t e r o f s c h o o l f i n i s h e d December 1 2 and we^oth did very well on the f inal exam At least wi ow that theS p a n i s h is i n o u r h e a d s even though we have t r o u b l e g e t t i n g itt o come o u t o u r m o u t h s c o r r e c t l y .

I t seems tha t the Lord always gives us opportunit ies tos e r v e a n d t o p r a c t i c e o u r S p a n i s h . R i c k h a s t h e c h a n c e t o workin t h e p r i s o n h e r e in S a n J O s e w i t h o n e o f t h e C o s t a R ic a np a s t o r s . Also t h e f a m il y t h a t wo l i v e w i t h seem t o be a s k i n gmore a n d m o r e q u e s t i o n s a b o u t o u r faith a n d a b o u t t h e d i f f e r e n c e samong t h e v a r i o u s c h u r c h e s .

P l e a s e k e e p p r a y i n g f o r u s a s we s t r i v e t o s e r v e God h e r e .Go d b l e s s you a l l and thank you f o r your support and p r a y e r s .^ y err i In C h r i s t s Love,


2/7

pen 2 97 /A P A R T A D O 1 0 2 4 0 SA N J O S E . COSTA RICA

Feburary 8,1975

Dear F r i e n d s in C h r i s te have so much to he thankfu l for and to pra i se the Lord for .He has rea l ly been blessing us the past few weeks. F i r s t of a l l wesold the l i t t l e car that we drove down here. The cost of shipping t back to Puerto Rico from here i s so high tha t we decided to s e l li t . In a recent move by the government to discourage importation,the taxes on most goods were raised 100 , and some cases more, ofthe value of th e p ro du ct. In order to se l l the car here we would havehad to pay 1500 d ol la rs in t axes . Natura l ly we were worr ied aboutwhat we should do and so we prayed fo r the Lord to take care of tWe p u t an ad i n th e p ap e r and we g o t a phone c a l l from a man whoworks fo r the United Nations and he wanted to by a car . He i s allowedto buy a car tax free because he works fo r the United Nations. Beforehe bought my car he said that he had looked a t another car and hadeven made a down payment but he said something m de him change hismind. So the Lord took care o f t ha t problem fo r u s.The next good news we got came the same day that we sold the car,Karen Mutsch, a missionary in Puerto Rico, is coming here to studySpanish in April and wants us to l ive in her house unti l she gets backI t is fully furnished and the rent is not too high. This will giveus t ime to buy our own furniture a l i t t l e b it a t a time and a l l thethings that are involved in set t ing up house keepingThe news tha t we receive from the work in Puerto Rico makes useager to get back. One of the famil ies tha t sends the i r children tothe Puerto Rico Christian School accepted Christ a few weeks ago andthe whole family was baptized. Several more men in the prison haveaccepted the Lord also. We are really excited about being able to speakS p a n i s h and u se t f o r th e L or dThis week and next we are involved in teaching Vacation BibleSchool in one of the churches in San Jose, Suzanne i s teaching a classfor missionary children in dnglish and she is really enjoying i t . Iam teaching a c lass of young people in Spanish. This i s the f i r s t timethat I ever taught in Spanish and i t is a different exper ience indeed.The kids are really well behaved and they don't giggle too much whenI make a mistake so I m really enjoying i t . Yesterday the pastor ofthe church asked me to preach the f i r s t Sunday in April, in Spanishof course, I accepted and I m scared already Please be prayingabout that that the Lord will give me a message for the people there.Suzanne and I want to thank you again for a ll your prayers andfor your financial help. Without your support we would not be able toserve the Lord in this way. Please keep us in your prayers.

Love in C h r i s t

tiijL. /


3/7

PUERTO RIC ;::^ ADDRESS;1226 Paseo Doncel laLevittovjn, Puerto Rico 00632

NEWSLETTERPROM

RICK AND SUZANNE YORKFORWARDING AGENTS:M r. & Mr s . Don Mer r imanRural Route 2Wil l iamspor t Ind . 47993

Dear Chris t ian Fr iendsiWe pray that a l l of you are well and that the Lord is blessing you as you serve Him. Weare near ing th e end o f our t ime here in Costa Rica and we are- thankful fo r the t ime we havehad to study Spanish. We will be leaving here on April 26 and going directly back toPuerto Rico to continue working there. We feel that the time we have spent studying Spaniswill help us a great deal in Puerto Rico and we hope that i t makes our ministry more effeo-tive. I had my first opportunity to preach in Spanish last Sunday and i t was very nerve-racking, to say the least. However the Lord helped me through and everybody could undeivstand what I was t rying to say.

We have received various reports on the progress of the work that is going on in Puerto Ricand they all sound very encouraging. The Levittown Church of Christ has started a Spanishser'^/ice and Suzanne and I hope to be able to work with this church when-we get back. Theprison work has really been blessed ^d Bruce Fowler, with whom I worked for a year and ahalf, has been able to star t a Christian Library in the P ris on and he wrote and told me thamore books are being checked out of the Christian Library than the regular prison libraryWe pray that the Lord will continue to bless the work there. A Bible Correspondence courseis now being translated into Spanish and we hope to be aT'le to use th is in the near futureto reach into homes that were previously closed to the Gospel of Christ. The Puerto RicoOiu-istian School has had another good year with more than 100 students enrolled.The Easter season here in Costa Rica and throughout Latin America is much different thanin the United States. All stores are closed from Wednesday until Sunday a nd each CatholicCiiorch has a big procession that reenacts the sufferings and crucifixion of Christ. The othat we saw had more than 100 Roman soldiers and was two or three hours long. I t was sadto see that very fevj of the churches had a resurrection procession. The major emphasis ofthe Catholic Church is one that depicts the suffering Christ and not on the TriumphantChrist. To us i t pointed out the need for more Biblical teaching here in Latin America and

the tremendous jo b tha t we have to do.

e pray that you had a happy Easter and we thank you for your continued spiritual andnanc ia l h el p. God ^ e s s you a l l .

7 Ijj Christ,^ R ick and Suzanne YorkP .S . Our new address in Puer to Rico wi l l be :


4/7

jyM ^j e a r Chr i s t i an Priends>

We ^re la te get t ing th is edi t ion ef ur newsletter and weW^'hiiry. It seems everyone had a joblplanned for usto do wheii we g^ et back Suzanne and I e^rived back in Puerto Rico* on. April 26 and we are certainly gladlt^ be back htme. Everythingis-going well and we have been busy get t ing our home in order andgetting back to work. We got back on a Saturday and I was put toth e Puer to Rico Chr is t i an School th e f il low in g Mwnday. I^ ^ for one of the teachers^ Who had tb return to tîe states,Ve been preaching every week in ^jiglish and Spanish and I haveenjoyed tha t . We had been having a Spanish service on Eridayevenings and the iiinglish se rv ice on Sunday mornings. Now weare having both services on Simday morning with a dual languageSunday School4 Suzanne and I a re b oth te ac hin g Spanish SundaySchoo l c l a s s e s . P l e a se be p ray ing fo r u s i nBeginning June 9 we will also be involved in aûmmer-Camp^^program for the children in the church and school. iPh-is ie-th e

irst t ime we have been ab le to do any th ing l i k e t h i s and weât the Lord wi l l be lss our e f for t s .The Puer to Rico Chr i s t i an School has f i n i s hed t h i s school yea rwith an enrollment of Iti^stUdgnts. Suzanne and I will besag in the sumn^ ,session-that ,begi^^^^ There wille remedia l c ra sse s fo r s tudents in th e school i tba t need add i t i ona lwork as v/e l l a s c l a s se s to t e ach . jagl ish to Spani sh s pe ak in gch i l d ren . ^Caeh .morning t h e r e wi l l be a Bib l e l e s son in o rde rt h a t th e ch i ld ren may know about Jesus Chr i s t . Some o f th eDanish children who are coming to learn .iaiglish may never havebeen exposed to a Chr i s t i an enviornment , so t h i s i s a grea t

oppo r t un i t y to v/ i tness to them and t h e i r f am i l i e s .The Spanish cong rega t ion he r e ha s j u s t begun aIjQndenc^.^^C^^ It is a course that is designed to'^teacli a personaS^t* Jesus^^ to lead . them to make a decision for Christ . I t i sa ser ies of eight ' lessons t ha t already has had grea t success ino t h e r La t i n Americeui coun t r i e s and we hope t h a t it wi l l succeedh e r e a l s o . t a l low s u s t o r e a c h i n t o homes t h a t o t h e rw i s ewould be c lo sed to , u s . The peop l e who s i gn up fo r th e cou rsedon ' t have to worry about someone cOming to v i s i t them -u ntil th eya re ready fo r someone to come. They complete th e l e s sons and thenma i l them to th e chu r ch where t h e y a re c o r r e c t e d and mai l ed back ^with the fol lowing lesson. ^jî^gaJtJieyhave comple te the ÔiESLyile^SOiL...|ihey receive.a -diploma aud.- a. Now Tesjbament,* e hope toW'labie to es tab l ish Bible study groups in the graduates homesand th rough them th a t p a rt i8 u la r s ec t i on of . . the i s l a nd . Thereare over for ty p eople sig ned up al ready and there has been noformal adve r t i s i ng . QrLl?.ather ^ t he re wi l l be a f ron t pagead in the most popiiZar 'i>ani^fi'hew^ 4l MmdP. e areexpec t i ng a b ig r e s pon s e . ^ cI haven 'J^had, to get actively inypl-ved in the priaonr

b^ 1 hope to be ab le to spend some t ime t h e r e^ ^'edk in ^ Danish Bib le study . There are so many things to dohere that we have to budgeJ,^jQ^.ts^ffi^^ so tha t we can get'âve time to jus t enjoy l iv ing.a re happy to be back and f e e l t h a t t h i s is where th e Lord wan t su s and t h a t He is a l so happy wi th ou r be ing h e r e , vi/e t hank youagain for your conuinued finftcial support . I f it wer0il..t:^pryour love and concern we wouldn't be able to be here . Pleasecon t i nu e to p ray f o r u s . _ -a. x i -iÎn Chri s t s l ove , /


5/7

^ July 13,1975Dea r Ch r i s t i a n F r i e n d s ,

Since we l a s t wrote to you a l l much has happened and we areeager to share with you what the Lord has been doing here in PuertoRico* Suzanne and I have been teaching during the summer sessionof the Puerto Rico Christan School and have been able to use thisa s a chance to w itn e s s fo r Chr i s t We have been ab l e to go i n toth e homes o f th e s t u d e n t s and e s t a b l i s h c on t a c t s wi t h th e p a r e n t sand e s t ab l i sh a f r i endsh ip with them and beg in to wi tnes s to themabout Je sus Chr i s t Th i s i s dus t b eg in nin g and we pray t ha t we wi l lbe ab l e to reach t h e se people t h a t th e Lord has le d us to

Our chu r ch i n Lev i t t own p a r t i c i p a t e d wi t h th e o t h e r Churcheso f C h r i s t from ll ove r t h e i s l a nd l st week i n a High Schoo lca^^p^ the mountains about thirty miles from here he c mpcond i t i o n s were a lot more p r im i t i v e t han th e camps in th e s t a t e sb u t eve r yone i nvo lved had a won de rfu l t im e and s e v e r a l young peop l eaccep ted th e Lord a s t h e i r Savior We a re pray ing t h a t th e churcheshe r e migh t someday be a b le to go t o g e t h e r and buy one o f th egovernment owned camps t h a t is no lo ng er b ein g used so t h a t we canuse t h i s ve ry e f f e c t i v e means o f r e ach ing young peop le f o r C h r i s t .

We r e j o i c ed l st week to s ee Humber to Mar t inez and one o f8 sons bap t i zed i n to Chr i s t t is r a r e here t h a t th e f a t he r o f

\ the house is the f i rs t one reached for Christ Usually i t is the^^ i f e or the children but this time i t was Humberto He i s a fine man/ /h is

and needs our p ray ers a s he beg ins h is l i f e in Chr i s t Thee]iui:s.hJ^s grown to about 55 members in Spanish and in JSnglish and we praiseth e Lord f o r th e growth t h a t we have had There a re nojg jpeople that live in ^vittown and i t is growing every day Newhousing developments are being bu i l t and several more are plannedWe have a g r e a t chance to reach a lot o f p eo ple w ith th e messageth t we h a v e

This next jyeek we will be involved with the annual Q^nibbiMnMiss ions Cl in ic . Th l s is a ga t h e r i ng o f many o f t h e mis s i ona r i e s fcom this area to share their methods of evangelism and to informeach o t h e r what is going on i n t h e i r country P l ea s e be pray ingf o r th a t and a l s o f o r u s a s we try t o s h a r e Ch r i s t he re Somet imeswe g e t d i scou raged bu t we know t h a t you a re p ray ing f o r us andsupporting us so we don t stay discouraged too long* Thank you a l l .

I n Ch r i s t ,^ Oaic


6/7

August 28,1975Dear Chris t ian Friends ,Another school year has begun here and the Puerto RicoChristian chool hasJI27 students enrolled^ lmost all of theclassrooms are filled 19 i i rsi^ra^rs andseventh.,gLra^^a^men realize the task thatwe have in educating these chfrdren we are humbled indeed. TheLord has feen able to use the school for His glory. When theschool was started four years ago,there were some parents thatdid not want their children learning the Bible . This past summerthere were several parents that wanted their children in schoolbecause we taught the Bible. In the next few weeks we will begin-a calling program in the homes of the parents so that we can begito get to know the parents and that we can use this contact withthem for the Lord. Hopefully we will be able to begin someBible studies in the homes df these,people. The calling that wedid this past summer in the homes of the summer students wentvery well and we were always received very well.

We were certainly challenged during the last week of Julyby the annual Caribbean Christian Clinic. We heard messages fromBill Baker of the His Place ministries and Dr. William Elyof Great Lakes Bible College. Mr. Baker and the churches hereare planning on beginning a*His Place in the San Juan area tohelp reach the young people that are involved in the drug ulture hereI have been preaching in the churches here and I Willsoon begin a course for some new converts to better preparethem to lead the churches here. Because the classes will be inSpanish, I covet your prayers.Suzanne and I have been receiving U00 a month support fromdifferent churches and the last few months i t has been Increasingdifficult to make ends meet. We would ask for your prayers thatwe may receive adequate support for our work here. Any financialsupport that your church might be able to give would also begreatly appreciated. Thank you for all the prayers and giftstha t you give fo r our work here.

In h r i s t i a n Love


7/7

-

37SV

Oc t ob e r 1 4 1 9 7 5Dear F r i e n d s i n Ch r i s t ,

T he l a s t few w e e k s h a v e been very exc i t i ng fo r us he rein P u e r t o Rico. H u r r i c a n e E l o i s e came c l o s e to s t r ik ing th ei s l and a b o u t a month ago w hich crea ted a fe w t e n s e d a y s v.itheveryone l i s t e n i n g to th e radio fo r the la tes t b u l l e t i n s . Wherewe l ive was n o t a f f e c t e d b u t th e r a i n s tha t preceded the hurricanc a u s e d s e v e r e f l o o d i n g on the w e s t e r n s ide of th e i s l and . Oneof the m i s s i o n a r y fami l ie s t ha t l ive in a c i t y ca l l ed Mayaguezth e T e r r y Adleman f a m i l y l o s t most o f t he i r p o s s e s s i o n s andt h e i r c a r d u e to the f l ood ing . They w ou ld app rec i a t e y o u rpr ayer s I m sur e. They were not hur t fo r which we can bet hankfu l . The es t imated damage to th e i s l and i s a r o u n d 1 00mi l l i on do l l a r s w h i c h d o e s no t help th e eco n o m ic c r i s i s t h a tPuer to R i c o is going t h rough .

E x c i t i n g also i s a good word to d e s c ri b e th e p r o s p e c tof th e Lord ' s work here . T he c h u r c h h e r e i s growing an d ne wcontac t s a re being made e a c h week. On e o f the con tac t s t h a tS u z a n n e a n d made l a s t sum m er M a r i a Perez a n d he r f ami ly , h a v ebeen coming r e gu la rly t o ch u rch and show a g r e a t in te res t toth e t e a c h i n g they a r e receiving. V^ are a lso o r g a n i z i n ga m e n s group w ith in th e Churches of Chris t in o r d e r to s t i m u l a t ei n t e r e s t among th e men of th e c h u r c h to t ake th e l eadersh ipof the churches. The Puerto Ricaji men^ l l l nod^ com.e :..t.Q . church

triT t h e y th ink t h a t th e o n ly p e o p l e t h a t go to c h u r c h a re women^and c h i l d r e n . If v; e c an s t imu l a t e their interest in th e chu r chth en p erh ap s we c a n se e a growth o f comple te f am il ie s in th echurch

S u z a n n e a n d a re m a k i n g m o r e a n d m o r e p rog res s in ou rSpan ish bu t we still h a v e a long wa y to g o . I t m akes life herem o r e en j oyab l e a n d p r o f i t a b l e to be ab l e t o c o m m u n i c a t e wi th th ep e op l e . We a l s o want to t h ank you all aga i n f o r you r con t i nuedf i n an c i a l a n d s p i r i t u a l suppo r t o f ou r w ork h ere . P le a se con t i nuet o se nd y o u r s u p p o r t t o :Don Me r r im a nR.R. 2Wil l i amspo r t , I nd i ana 4 7 9 9 3 I n Christ

York Rick Suzanne 1975 PuertoRico

Documents