August News from James & Christel

A few notes from LCMS Missionaries, James & Christel

August came and went in what seemed like the blink of an eye. We finished up our final hurricane prep as well as a few of our on-going summer projects. We received a new executive order that forced us in Ponce to go back to online services (we couldn’t meet the capacity requirements). So we are now working on possibly going to multiple services to allow us the opportunity to hold Sunday services. School has started but the kids in the public schools are still waiting on their laptops and getting situated with online learning. For the kids in Ponce, this is the first time they have been back in school since Christmas (apart from a couple weeks in February) as many schools were deemed unsafe to occupy after the earthquakes.

The intensity of the ongoing earthquakes has diminished enough though, to begin the process of repairing our church building in Ponce!

As a team, we are blessed to be able to review and assess all the connections we have made over the time of quarantine and figure out to proceed in following up. It’s definitely a challenge navigating the executive orders, the needs of the community, and what we can actually provide as a team.

Through it all, God has a plan, He has orchestrated all of these events, and will continue to guide us in His ways.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. It really means so much to us.

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Little by little we have been able to make visits. This last month we were given a plate of Mollejas de Pollo at one of our visits. One of many hard things with COVID is not being able to be in fellowship as much with people. This was a special day and was a huge boost of “animo” (motivation) that this time too shall pass.

Since the lock down, Missionary Ruth Maita has led our team in providing online English classes for students in Mayaguez and in Ponce. There have been a couple rounds of classes, some with short term team volunteers and some with just our missionary team.

From these classes came an idea to offer an English Bible Study. So Pastor James and Pastor DiLiberto led a weekly English Bible Study on Wednesdays. They are soon ending their 8-week course and will be picking back up in a few weeks. All of those who attend are ESL students that are connecting either on a Tuesday or Thursday via zoom for class.

It has been an incredible opportunity to teach the Word while also giving an opportunity to learn another language. We ask for your prayers as the study restarts in the fall.

James records a short lecture and review of the vocabulary for each student to watch prior to class. If you are interested in checking out the videos, click here to go to the playlist on Fuente de Vida’s YouTube channel.

In July we held a virtual VBS for the kids in our congregations as well as for 40 other kids who signed up via our Facebook advertisements. We followed up with a packet in August with the book, “No Tengo Miedo Aun.” Now moving forward we are working our way through, “Un Jardin de Historias Biblias Para Niños” along with our chief explorer, Carlos (puppet) on zoom.

October 10th, 2020 at 10:00 AM AST
Join our virtual FORO

Register for FORO
The Fall FORO meeting for Puerto Rico will be virtually held over Zoom. This will be an opportunity to see videos, hear from our missionaries about their work and plans, and offer prayers and support to the Christians at Principe de Paz and Fuente de Vida. We would love to see you there! Please RSVP by email to card@lcmsintl.org.

Why should you come?
Because you are the Champions for the work going on in this US island commonwealth nation. You are the eyes and ears that become our mouths in Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, and all over the United States mainland. You are a part of this mission of our Lord!

Prayers:

Escuelita Virtual (online Sunday school) continuing on a monthly basis
Continuing of rebuilding the church on Calle Salud
Hurricane Season

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Mission Central – Give Now

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