Top Banner

of 8

York Rick Suzanne 1985 PuertoRico

Jun 03, 2018

Download

Documents

Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
  • 8/12/2019 York Rick Suzanne 1985 PuertoRico

    1/8

    News fromT H E Y O R K

    F A M I L YM i s s io n a r i e s T o

    P u e r t o R i c o

    FEn ^, 7 5 ^

    Dear C h r i s t i a n F r i e n d s : February 1985Greet ings from warm and sunny Puer to Rico We have been readingabout a l l the co ld weather and snow i n t h e U S. so I thought t h a t wewould send our sympathy i n t h i s n e w s l e t t e r . We hope you a l l had a j o yf u l Christmas and t h a t your new year has begun with the Lord's blessing.We a r r i v e d back i n P u e r t o Rico on Nov. 5 t h a f t e r o u r f o u r month f u r l o u g hand we were very happy t o be back home aga in . We had a most enjoyableand p r o f i t a b l e t r i p to the S t a t e s and we were able t o v i s i t each of oursupport ing churches and came back blessed by t h e i r suppor t . We were a l s oa b l e t o v i s i t w i t h our f a m i l i e s and f r i e n d s and had such a good t i m e .

    Our neighbors had ta ke n v ery good care of our house and our dog whilewe were gone and th e church cont inued t o grow under the d i r e c t i o n o f Lonnyand V an essa Smith. During our absence t h e y had t h e o p p o r tu ni t y t o move t ot h e c i t y o f Aguadi l la and work as Chaplain on t h e Coast Guard base t h e r eso they were e x t r a busy w i t h both j o b s f o r a couple o f months. We were exc i t e d to see the s p i r i t u a l growth of the members here and we have some exc i t i n g p l a n s f o r t h i s new y e a r .

    ne of our most pressing needs is that of property and a churcfi building fo r the church i n San German. We were planning, the o t h e r evening f o rV S i n June and were wondering where we a r e going t o put a l l the c h i l d r e n we have as many as we hope t o have. At one o f our p r a y e r meet ings i nNovember we decided to s e t th e g o a l o f May 3 1 s t as the d a t e t o have l o c a t e da p i e c e o f p r o p e r t y t h a t we can a f f o r d . We hope t o e i t h e r have enough moneyt o buy the proper ty o u t r i g h t or t o make a s u b s t a n t i a l down payment with payments t h a t t h e church can a f f o r d . I am going t o w r i t e t o each o f our supp o r t i n g churches and ask them t o t a k e up a s p ec ia l o f fe ri n g p o s s i b l e onMay 26th . Our members here a r e g i v i n g as they have n eve r g iv en b e f o r e i nt h e i r whole l i v e s . One family gave 500 l a s t month f o r the proper ty fundWe a r e p r a y i n g d a i l y t h a t th e p ro p e rt y w i l l become a r e a l i t y and we need yourp r a y e r s and f i n a n c i a l h e l p . Please h e l p i n whatever way you can.

    We a r e p l a n n i n g on growth t h i s y e a r i n numbers and we want to s e e ourgroup double i n s i z e by th e end o f 1985. H o p e f u l l y by t h e end o f t h i s y e a rwe w i l l s e e our membership a t 75-80, Lord w i l l i n g . We j u s t had a c a l l i n gcampaign and t u r n e d up s e v e r a l good p r o s p e c t s . We a re p oi n ti n g to an evangel i s t i c campaign th e l a s t week o f March w i t h Bro. Ramon Mendez from th e Dominic an R ep ub lic to be s p e a k i n g h e r e and i n th e o t h e r churches on th e i s l a n d . Hewas h e r e l a s t y e a r and r e a l l y had an a f f e c t on t h e p e o p l e h e r e .

    The C h r i s t i a n churches on t h i s s i d e o f t h e i s l a n d a r e planning bi-monthlym e e t i n g s f o r f e l l o w s h i p and i n s p i r a t i o n . We a r e hoping t h a t we a l l can growcloser together and b o l s t e r each o t h e r s work. Camps are being planned fort h i s summer along with youth r e t r e a t s men's r e t r e a t s women's r e t r e a t s fami l y r e t r e a t s and many o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s f o r f e l l o w s h i p and s p i r i t u a l growthamong t h e c h u r c h e s .

  • 8/12/2019 York Rick Suzanne 1985 PuertoRico

    2/8

    I was blessed to be invited to speak again this year at the annualfamily retreat in the Dominican Republic. There were about 200 in attendance and we had a wonderful time together. I spoke-about the Christianfamily during the mornings and also taught two lessons on the history ofthe Restoration Movement which the Christians really appreciated Itaught hours of classes in two and a half days and by the end my voicewas just a l i t t le tired. I like to talk so i t wasn t too bad One ofthe real blessings of my going was that one of our men in San GermanAndres Cruz preached while I was gone. He did a great job His wifetold me that she had his sermon memorized herself because he had practicedit so much at home. Andres also does the communion meditations on Sundaysand is really growing in the Lord. Andres is also going with me threenights a week for home Bible studies in different areas of San German.Our girls continue to grow faster than we can keep up with. Emilyhas started her Kindergarten course that Suzanne is teaching her and isdoing very well. e will enroll her in an English speaking school nextyear in either Mayaguez or Yauco each about a half-hour drive from SanGerman. Laurie is a real whirlwind moat of the time. She is talking moreand more all the time usually most of the time She will be three in

    u? ^ Emily did at that age. Suzanne and I continueo be blessed by the Lord and we will celebrate eleven years of marriage inMay y how time flys Suzanne is also teaching some Bible studies forsome of the women in the church and really enjoys it .Thanks to all of you who have continued to support our work over theyears. Please be in prayer for our property project and help in whatever^00^ property will be around 10 000 and we have about3 C00 now You can send any contribution to either our forwarding agent.Ken Rutledge, at our Mattoon IL address or directly to the church here.you send it to the church here make any checks out to Iglesia Cristianade German and send it in care of our address in San German Thanks againfor your help. May the Lord continue to bless you all as you serve our vior

    InCbris t ian LoveIhA.The Yorks /ADDRESSESP.O. Box 1071 OR San German Christian MissionSan German, P.R. 00753 P.O. Box 1264, Mattoon, IL 61938

    Central Christ ian Church NON-PROFIT ORG.1541 South 7th S t P.O. Box 744 U.S. POSTAGEI ron ton OH 45638-0744 PAIDPERMIT //38

    Mission ServicesP.O. Box 2427Knoxville TN 37901

  • 8/12/2019 York Rick Suzanne 1985 PuertoRico

    3/8

    News fromTH E Y O R K

    FAM ILYMis s i ona r i e s To

    P u e r t o R i co

    My 9

    Dear Christian Friends: April 19, 985Greet ings once again from Puerto Rico. We hope tha t you are a l lwell and continuing in th e Lord s service. We are a l l well here in San

    German and busy with o ur ch urc h work. The l a s t three months s ince ourl as t newsletter have gone so fas t that I didn t think i t possible thatI needed to w ri t e ano t h e r one .The month of February saw three special events along with a l l ofth e o the r church ac t i v i t i e s . We i nv i t ed one o f th e a r e a s Chr i s t i ans inge r s to hold a conce r t a t our church in San German. We i nv i t ed th echurches in Hormigueros and Yauco to come and we a l l enjoyed an eveningof exce l len t Chr is tian music and fellowship. One of the things we missmost is h ea rin g th e new Christian music in Eng lish a s t comes out.Most of the newer songs we know are in Spanish. We were also able totake some of our young people up to the nearby mountains for an overnightcampout which they a l l enjoyed a great deal . Either I am get t ing olderor th e ground is getting harder but i t seems to me that th e ground getsharder a t every campout we have for the kids The l a s t weekend in February th e women from th e churches ll over th e i s l and had t h e i r annua lWomen s Retreat and they a l l received a blessing from i t . Suzanne presented one of the workshops. She did a lo t o f p re pa ra ti on and I heardsevera l comments l a t e r about what a good job she had done

    March was also a busy month, espec ia l ly with the very welcome v i s i tof A and Elsie Tiffin and Cliff and Sandy Knopf from th e Santa ClaraChurch of Christ in Eugene, Oregon, one of our supporting churches. Theywere here for a week and we real ly enjoyed gett ing to know them and theyhad a chance to see what a ll our work involved and what our plans are andalso our needs. They vis i ted some of our member s homes, a te Puerto Ricanfood, helped f ix some of the crafts for VBS and camp and learned how top la y B ib le Tr iv i a

    During the same week we were a l so b les sed to have Bro. Ramon Mendezand his wife , Maria, from the Dominican Republic here fo r a revival . Ramonwas here l as t year and th e people loved him and wanted him again this year.He was able to hold meetings in four of the churches during th e two weeksthat he was here and Maria sang every night. They were worn out when theyl e f t but eager to come back again. Lord will ing.

    We were blessed the next weekend with a v i s i t from a group of s tudents ,the Evangels, from Lincoln Christian College. They sang in San German onSunday morning and everybody enjoyed i t even though th e songs were in EnglishThe churches in San German, Yauco and Hormigueros held a Pre-Easterattendance contest for five weeks and we won I t was based on percentage

    o f growth over our normal a t t endance and each church i nc r ea sed t h e i r a t t endance. This Sunday, Apri l 21, the other two churches are giving us a freepicnic in one of the local parks. have already decided to do i t again

  • 8/12/2019 York Rick Suzanne 1985 PuertoRico

    4/8

    next year also started having regular youth group meetings on Thurs-day and the kids in the church can t wait for Thursday's to come arelooking forward to camp this summer and several of the youth need moneyto go to camp so we have also started a work day where they are able tocut grass, clean windows, wash cars, to make money to go to camp. Thevmake their money and have a good time at the same timewho spiritual growth in Andres and Yvonne Cruz,I r before. Andres has been going with m two nights aeek for home Bible studies and has also started teaching a class for ourteenage youth. are so pleased to see their growth and maturity. Families like theirs are the future leaders of the church and we want to findmore l k themThe church as a whole is maturing and one of the ways we have recent-ly seen that was a special offering taken up to be sent to the needy inEthiopia. were able to see a videotape of the devastating conditionsthere and we were happy to see the people respond. Someone once said thatthe last thing converted in a lot of folks is their wallet and that is truehere as well as anywhere elseare both doing very well. Suzanne has been giving Emily akinderprten course at home using a system called the Accelerated ChristianEducation program. Emily loves doing her school work and is making goodprogress. She 11 be in the first grade next year. Laurie had her thirdbirthday on April 4th and is on the go all day She is picking up Spanishvery quickly now and gets her messages across to her friendsThank you all for your prayers and love. were so happy to havevisitors from the states and would love to have any of you come for a visitwhenever you can. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

    In C h r i s t

    The YorKS Rick, Suzanne, Emily LaurieOur Addresses: P.O. Box 1071, San German, Puerto Rico 00753 orSan German Christian Mission P.O. Box 1264, Mattoon, XL

    6 938

    Central Christian Church NON-PROFIT ORG