We spent this morning praying in our New Year in Puerto Rico. Our month has been filled with preparations for a special Christmas concert as well as joyfully receiving our daughter, Abi, for a visit from college.
The Lord has abundantly blessed our church in the last months with the addition of a few faithful families and the blessing of "team" members who are sharing the vision to reach out and strengthen our ministry in Mayaguez and the west coast of Puerto Rico. Our music ministry/band planned a very successful concert this past week. The chapel we use, in downtown Mayaguez, was brimming with about 70 people in attendance. Some were old friends, some were new to us, and some made new commitments to the Lord during the service. The biggest blessing was the reality that the crowd had been inivited by the team. What a blessing!
Our daughter, Abigail, now in her second year at Williams College, is visiting for about 12 days. It was a financial stretch to get her here this year, but she is the gift we all needed this year. It was such a blessing to have her participate in the preparation and details of the concert and worship this week.
We had traditional, contemporary, Spanish and English music to honor the coming our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The biggest blessing of this year has been co-laboring with these two families. Pastor Billy Lebron and his wife Mildred have been assisting in our church for several years now. He has been filling the pulpit during Julian's travel to Haiti. Julio Cardoza and his wife Stacy are now also contributing their many gifts in ministry here. Please keep these families in prayer in the coming months!
When your children start to move out and you are only able to share a roof for only a few weeks of the year, it is a true adjustment. Abi is such a joy in every way and we will spend tomorrow saying goodbye until at least May. It still just feels "right" to have her smile greeting us every morning but life takes these bitter changes in seasons and makes them sweet nonetheless. Please keep her in prayer as she applies for summer internship and employment opportunities and will most likely spend the summer in the states. She is also continuing to be on the leadership team for InterVarsity on her campus as well as Varsity Women's Crew.
We are so thankful to the many who team with us in prayer and support. We could never have endured these years outside of the generosity of saints the Lord has raised up with His plan for reaching many in the Caribbean.
Much love from the Matthews family in Puerto Rico.
No comments:
Post a Comment