1

' ',t\I '/"',^ "' ''"'"""Mil,.

^rn^tfitkt
\^jn,OTHt.
.w/i7yc/ ^ ^
/
A
375
IS RISEN!
I^Vf
PeoA f/Lie,nd& In Ch/U&t,
GA.zet^ng-6 to you aJUi duJitng tkU spzctat tUjno. o^ the, ycax.
In VaeAto Hico thz "Smana Santa" on Hoty Weefe th thz mo4t Az-
ttgtoLU ttmz o( thz yzoA* OuA, chuAch t6 planning 'i>pzctat 4>zA-
^ vtcz& ^Aom ThiMday thAu Sunday a& we tAy and takz advantagz oi
thz onz timz oi thz yzoA that mat pzopiz oAz thtnktng about
J"Azttgton" OA thztA ^pVutuat tiva, fzAnando Rodzta and kU
wiijje Bvy, mtnt&tzA6 at thz Lzvtttom zhuAch, Mitt bz ouA 4pzcUat
^pzakzAi,
ACong utith ouA iipzzial aztivitta duAing EaitzA, we Mitt bz having a gAoup o^ young
pzoptz ^Aom thz SAoadioay ChAtstian ChuAch in Mattoon, Jttinoi6 MhzAz ouA ioAWoAding
agzntif Kzn and Jan Ruttzdgz, mint&tzA Thzy Mitt bz living hzAz ^OA a Mzzk Mith thz
^amitizi in thz zhuAzh, Nonz o^ thz 14 6pzak much Spanish and mo6t ofj ouA pzoptz don't
^pzak much EngtUh 4>o it ihoutd bz an zducationat ZKpzAtzncz ^oA both 6idz6! Thzy Mitt
bz bu6y passing out tAactd and Bibtz^, painting and hztping ctzaA thz chuAch pAopzAty,
It Mitt bz thz iiJUt timz ^OA thm to bz zxpo6zd to anothzA cuttuAz and it 6houti bz a
gAzat zxpzAizncz ioA thm. Be pAaying ^oa thm, ptza,iz.
Thz chuAch i6 6titt Matting (oA thz govzAnmznt'& appAovat to bzgin con^tAuction Ojj
OUA chuAch buttding. We havz 6zzn 6omz pAogAz66, hoMzvzA, and thz ecwe ii> in thz ta^t
committzz to AzvizM it -&o we -shoutd hzaA ^Aom thm 4oon, LoAd Milting. Thz chuAch Azatty
Milt not bz abtz to gAoM bzyond 50-60 untit we havz bzttzA iacilitiz6. OuA hou&z Milt
juUit not hotd any moAz than that! We aAz Azatty looking ioAMoAd to bzing abtz to tuAn
thz MoAk ovzA to thz PuzAto RicaA& and moving on to 6omzthing nzM.
We havz bzzn MoAfiing in PuzAto Pico noM ioA almost 16 yzaAi and we oAz Azady (oA a
changz. We Moutd tikz to bz abtz to -tpznd 6omz timz in thz Statz& and havz thz giAlt go
to school thzAz ioA a ^mzstcA oa two to makz -suAz that thzy aAz acadzmicatty up to poA
Mith kid& in thz Statz&. We Mitt 4ee hoM thz LoAd tzadU in thz nzxt jjew month&. Ptza^z
bz pAaying {oA u6 and ouA ptan& ^oA thz iutuAz.
We OAZ bzginning to "gzoA up" ioA oua 4iUmmzA activitizs including tMo Mzzk& camp,
VBS, CoAibbzan 1ii66ioA!i Clinic, and ^uAthzA tAaining ^Aom Lincoln ChAi&tian SzminoAy.
We MUt alMo bz having vi6itoA6 6o we should bz on thz go mo6t OfJ thz timz.
Thank you alt ^oA youA pAayzAi and conczAn ^oA ouA MoAk. We appAzciatz youA tovz and
thz {s-^nanciat hztp we ^ece^ue \Aom you and youA chuAch. Thz ioAd continuzs to pAovidz ioA
OUA nzzdjs. kiAitz OA a notz Mhzn you can.
In ChAi6t,
THE YORK
FAMILY
Missionaries To
Puerto Rico
News from
THE YORK
FAMILY
Missionaries To
Puerto Rico
August 2, 1987
37^'/
Dear Christian Friends:
Greetings in Christ once again. We hope that you and your family are well. The York
Family is doing just fine and we wanted to write and let you know the progress that we have
been making in our work and what all has been happening with us.
Since our last report we have had four baptisms in the church in San German. We were
thrilled to baptize Carlos Bernier in April and Nilsa Ortiz and her two teenage daughters#
Ketsy and Betsaida just three weeks ago. Both of these families were brought to Christ and
to the church by members in the church and it is exciting to see the church grow that way.
It is especially exciting for the Christians that brought them and helped them to know
Christ.
We have been on the go for the last 3 months. At the end of March we had ten students
down from Dallas Christian College for five days of work and enjoyed their visit along with
long time friend John Ketchen, who was their advisor and is Dean of Students at DCC. Most
of the students stayed with three of the church families and that was a new experience for
for our people and they all really enjoyed it. One of the families does not speak much Eng
lish at all but fortunately two of the students spoke Spanish so they got along just fine.
It was a great learning experience for all involved.
We began our second session of the Leadership Training courses in May. We meet each
Sunday afternoon for two hours and during this course I am teaching the second part of the
Life of Christ. I am enjoying the preparation, and the students seem to be learning a lot.
We have people from the churches in Aguadilla, Mayaguez, Yauco, and San German attending
the classes. The future of the work in Puerto Rico depends on well trained, native leader
ship.
We had a week of camp during the first week of June and had over 140 campers which is
the most we have ever had. We were short of faculty members as several missionary families
were on furlough but we were able to survive the week! We had 14 campers from San German
and they all enjoyed themselves and wanted to stay for another week.
We are making progress towards our building. We were able to make the final payment
on the property in May. We paid the entire $11,500 in less than one year, thanks in a great
way to your generosity and help. We appreciate all the financial support and prayers that
so many of you have given. We have our plans submitted to the local Planning Board for their
approval and we are hoping to have that by the end of July, Lord willing. Please be in
prayer for that quick approval and also for a group of workers from the Valley View Christian
Church in Dallas, Texas that is making plans to help lay block for our building during the
month of October. Why not propose that to your church? We would love to have you and your
help would be a real blesssing.
As you probably noticed, we have a new picture on the newsletter. Our girls are getting
bigger and prettier so we needed a new family portrait. We have all been enjoying a short
visit to Suzanne's hometown, Ironton, Ohio, We have had a very enjoyable visit with Grandma,
Thelma Swango, and Suzanne was able to attend her 20th High School Reunion. I will be going
back to Puerto Rico on July 4th and the girls will be staying a few more days.
We are looking forward to several events in the next two months that we would appreciate
your prayers for. We will be attending the 13th Caribbean Missions Clinic in San Juan. There
missionaries from the islands to share the progress of their work and their needs. We
alsowillbe having a visit from our forwarding agents. Ken and Jan Rutledge and their sons.
Josh and Gabe in August and we are really looking forward to that. I also will be taking some
more graduate courses from Lincoln Christian Seminary in August so our calendar should be
pretty full for the next few weeks.
Many thanks to all of you for your faithful support of our work over the years. We
need and appreciate your prayers as well. Our work really Is your work as well and we hope
you see it that way, even though you are several thousand miles awayI
Please be in prayer for our last year in Puerto Rico. We are hoping to be able to turn
the work over to the Puerto Ricans and have the church building finished by the summer of
1988. That is going to take a lot of work and a lot of prayer for us to achieve that goal.
We know that it can be done and we know the Lord will help us get the job done.
Many thanks again for all you have done.
San German Christian Mission
P.O. Box 1071
San German, Puerto Rico 00753
...Newsletter sent by...
Central Christian Church
1541 So. 7th St.
Ironton, Ohio 45638-0744
Yours in Christ,
The Yorksj
Rick, Suzanne, Emily & Laurie
is-k'kickick'kitickitifk'kieitifkifk
* U.S. POSTAGE PAID *
* PERMIT // 38 *
* Non-Profit Org. J
* Ironton, OH 45638 J
'k'k'kit'kicick'kififkick'k'kic'kitit^
Mi s s i on Se rvi c e s
P.O. Box
Knoxville, TN 37901
THE YORK
FAMILY
Missionaries To
Puerto Rico
Dear Friends in Christ;: December 2, 1987
Greetings once again from San German. We hope that you and your family are well and
continuing to serve the Lord with our work. As always, we have a lot of activities to
report on and we do appreciate your prayers for our work and for the Puerto Ricans that we
are able to reach for the Lord.
Since our last report we have had a couple of baptisms, two young women that were in
vited to church by some o_f the ladies in the church and enjoyed the fellowship and soon
afterward were immersed. We are seeing more and more people being invited to church by
the members and that is a real thrill for us. Most church growth studies show that the
majority of churches that are growing are growing as a direct result of the efforts of
the members in inviting their neighbors and family members. The church is progressing and
we are happy to report that we have formally submitted our plans to the government planning
board for their approval. We should be hearing from them by the end of November, Lord
willing. We are hoping and praying that we will be able to begin construction by sometime
in January, Lord willing!!
I was in charge of our Family Retreat in October and everyone was thrilled by the
great turnout that we had. This was the first time that we had planned a retreat for sev
eral years and everyone from all the churches really enjoyed the fellowship. We had over
170 people for the overnight stay and everything went very well considering there were only
140 beds in the camp!! I had planned for about LlO-120 people, based on what the preachers
had estimated but at the last minute all the churches brought more people than they had
planned but we were able to squeeze everyone in. A few of the men slept in the chapel and
some in our tent but we all made do. Even though we live on a small island we are still
100 miles away from some of the other churches and fellowship is just not that easy and
so these times together are very important for the church as a whole body.
This last week I was on the island of Barbados for the first Caribbean Leadership Con
ference. During that trip I was able to share with church leaders from Barbados and the
island of Antigua. We discussed some of the most pressing problems facing our churches
and encouraged each other with the progress being made. I made the trip with ray good
Eniend Juhi'i Reece, fellow missionary ii; .-\guadilla and we both preached and realiv enjo)'ed
the fellowship with the leaders and the church folk of Barbados. They all speak with a
very strong British accent and drive on the "wrong" side of the road so it was an inter
esting experience for us.
Our girls are boch growing up faster than we can believe. Emily is doing very well
in school and got all "A's" on her report card. She is taking Spanish for the first time
in school and is speaking just like the Puerto Rican kids. Laurie is being taught by
Suzanne here at home in the mornings and she has learned her numbers and the ABC's and
will start soon ciie same Kinder course that Emily took. Suzanne is in constant motion,
as usual, and is very busy with the Sunday School materials. We are hoping to have three
years of materials for each class before we leave so the people will have some resources
for the classes. I'm trying to get my classwork done for six hours of graduate work that
1 took from Lincoln Christian Seminary this summer. T still have some reading to do and
two papers so I had better get on the move.
We want to wish you a very happy holiday season. We do appreciate the response to
our appeal for more support. We have received some pledges from some individuals and we
are thankful and we are waiting for some yet to respond. Thank you all for your help
and your prayers. We do appreciate your help and concern. Please write us a note and
let us know how you are and what is going on in your lives. In Christ,