When Second is Nearly as Good as First

Today the students at Ponce Christian Academy competed in a track and field competition. Our school has 65 students and about half that number in 7th - 12th grades. We were up against 5 other schools, of which at least 3 are much larger than ours (200-300+). Between 15 and 20 of our students participated, and most had multiple assignments.

Throughout the day we had trouble keeping events stocked since our teens were often needed in two areas at the same time. This resulted in several forfeited events, but the kids all did their best. At the end of the day we hoisted the second place trophy into the air with at least as much satisfaction as the school that took top honors. Our coach got doused with Gatorade and everyone raised two fingers into the air.

Nathan and Bethany each did their part. Nathan scored one bronze medal and several fourth place finishes which gave us much needed points. Bethany had one fourth place finishes and 5 medals. Several other students took 7 or 8 medals home! Needless to say they are all rather exhausted.

Rejoicing in God's Blessing

Today, Sunday, April 22, we began evangelistic meetings with Lin Croxton. We had established a goal for this morning's attendance at 80 people. The most we have had over the past four years is about 65. We reached our goal of exactly 80 people! God is so good, and our people worked hard for the goal.

Another blessing was seeing four believers respond in the invitation and one woman who came for salvation. She had attended previously but had never responded as today.

Tonight we had 44 in attendance. We are looking forward to a great week filled with many blessings.

Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

What a tremendous joy it is to see folks trust in Christ! Equally wonderful is watching them grow and follow the Lord in baptism. Sunday, April 15, I had the privilege of baptizing 8 converts in the waters of the Caribbean. The waves were a bit rough, but each person entered the water willingly in testimony to their faith in the risen Christ.

We held a service along the shore. 37 of us sang several choruses, all the candidates and a few others testified of their conversion and God's goodness in their lives, and then we began the baptismal service. Our youngest son, Jonathan, was first into the water, then his friend Josean, and adults Tony, Norma, Mandy, Felícita, Victor, and Jesús. Each one left the sea with a large smile.

Victor is a Korean War vet who came to the Lord several months ago. His wife prayed for his salvation for 30 years before receiving the desire of her heart. Jesús was formerly a 7th Day Adventist and then wandered the streets for several years. His life has been changed by the miraculous grace of God. He even sang a hymn to the glory of God on Sunday morning. Everyone in the congregation was moved by the song of testimony.

Our hearts are full of gratitude for all that God has done in these lives. Our furlough will be more difficult as we think of leaving these new converts and others who have not yet been baptized. Yet, we know that the work is the Lord's. He will not fail to nurture and cherish these newborn babes. Our hope is that they will continue to grow and that others may also be added in our absence.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Imagine my surprise when I realized that my last blog entry was posted over one month ago. In the meanwhile I have been frantically filling our itinerary for furlough. Currently we have more than 50 meetings between May 27 and December 16. May the Lord be praised!

I have also been pushing the end of my day into the next so that our presentation is ready on time. I hope to do the voice and music recordings soon and burn the DVD before April's end. That will be a real challenge since we have evangelistic meetings from April 22 to 25.

In early May I must take our car to the port in San Juan so that it will be stateside by the time we arrive. The process takes several days as we go from one governmental agency to another filling out forms and paying fees.

We praise the Lord for friends in a western Florida supporting church which sent us a special offering within $30 of the cost to repair our AC in the car. We have been suffering in the heat for about one year since we could not afford the repairs. Now, the AC is working great and the cruise control which was not working has been "healed". It wouldn't work for a long time, but the Ford dealer tested it and found nothing wrong. We always suspected that it was not working due to a wire being left unplugged in an earlier repair. If so, perhaps, the wire got plugged in during the AC repair. Anyway, the Lord is good.

We are now working on the 2008 schedule. About 6 meetings have been pencilled in. The Lord is providing meetings in churches we have never visited. We are trusting the Lord to provide for our budget shortfall so that our ministry may continue with better provision.