SAN GERMAN

3
APR 6 lOBl
CHRISTIAN MISSION
Temporary Field Address Forwarding Agent
Calle Almendros SJ 15
^alle Hermoso
Hormigueros, Puerto fiico
00660
Don Merriman
R. R. # 2
Williamsport, Ind
^7993
Greetings in Christ our Lord. Since our
last newsletter in December we have been
on the go just about all the time. We've
spoken to a number of churches in the
midwest about our work and plans to estab
lish a congregation in San German. We've
been well received by everyone and have
made many new friends and renewed ac
quaintances with others. Emily has gone with us on nearly every trip
and has really enjoyed herself. She has even learned to shake hands at
the church door.
One of the highlights of our travels was the Homecoming at ^ohnson Bible
College. 1 was able to visit with several classmates that I had not seen
since 1972. We also visited with Lonny and Vanessa Smith who will be
coming to work with us in 1982, Lord willing, '-^'heyare very excited about
going to Ruerto Rico and we are eager to have them come and share their
talents for the Lord.
As you know we are trying to raise additional funds for our work. We're
still short of our goal for our living link but we are waiting to hear
from several churches and are praying that they will respond to our needs.
We're also lacking the litSOO a month work fund but we are praying that
those funds will be made available as they are needed. Because we are
confident that the Lord will provide for our needs as He always has, we
are planning to leave for Puerto Rico on April 7. We're hoping to sell
our car here so that we can avoid having to drive to Florida and paying
the shipping fees and taxes on the car. Please pray with us that we'll be
able to sell the car.
Once we arrive in Puerto Rico we'll have to find another car, look for
a house in SanGerman, then move our things across the island and get
settled in. Then the real work will begin; finding people that want to
listen and learn about Christ. What a joy it will be for us to be at
work again and seeing the Lord lead in the establishment of His church
in ban German.
The financial support that we receive is so important and we thank you,
but our work truly depends on your faithful prayer support. Please be
praying that the Lord will prepare the hearts of those people we'll be
contacting in San German.. Also write to us when we can. It means so
much to hear from you. Thank you all for your prayers and support.
God bless youl
San German Christian Mission JUL2 2mi
The York Family
Dear Christian Friends.
Greetings in Christ from beautiful Puerto Rico* Suzanne, Emily,
and I arrived "back home" in early April and the last three months have
been full of activity* It has been thrilling for us to see how the Lord
provides for his servants, in all aspects of life*
Our first week back we were able to find a car to buy and a house
to rent in San German* San German is the home of the Interamerican
University and the university does not have adequate dorm- facilities
which means that houses for rent are few and far between* We were
able, with the Lord's help, to find a house the very first day that
we looked* I was able to make a deal with the owner about a half an
hour before someone else came to see if they could rent the house*
We're hoping to be able to buy a house sometime soon but with the
high interest rates it looks like it will be difficult , at least in
the immediate future*
We were able to move all of our household from San Juan to San
German and only broke two flower pots* That's pretty good considering
some of the hills that the truck had to climb getting to our house*
San German is nicknamed "The city of hills" and that is a very apt
description* We bought a stove and a refridgerator in San Juan on
faitho Not on faith because we didn't have the money but on faith
because we had not seen the house we were moving into and we did not
know for sure that they would fit in the kitchenl They were on sale
so we prayed that they would fit and sure enough they did*
I have been helping the workers in the church in Mayaguez, which
is about eight miles away* We have been doing a lot of cal3-ing the
-last two months to find contacts for their home Bible studies* We have
found about fifteen families that are having lessons in their homes*
We all use an eight lesson series called, "What do Christians believe?"
The main emphasis of the lessons is that it's necessary to obey Christ
and the Bible above all else*
By far our biggest thrill yet came this last week as_we_fqnaally . _
began our work here in San German* We had a calling campaign offering
our home Bible lessons and also a Bible correspondence course* We had
aboutfburteen helpers from around the island and in just two days of
calling we were able to find 21 families that want to have weekly
lessons in their home* Praise the Lord for His guidancel I'm in the
process now of arranging times for the studies which involves a lot
juggling of my schedule* Some days I'll have four studies and
somedays I'll have three* We also found about twenty people for the
correspondence course that will be contacted personally upon completion
of the course* The vast majority of our contacts are people that were
born into the Catholic church but who know little or nothing about
the Bible* Many are younger couples who are open to change and looking
for a spiritual base for their families* We're very excitedl Please
pray for us and the families we've contacted*
We were able to have a week of camp for our older youth this summer
and it was my turn to be the dean for the week* We all had a lot of
fun and one of the young men from the church at Caparra, Jose Madura,
accepted Christ as his Savior* That was a great way to end the week.
We also were blessed by a visit by four professors from Ozark
Bible College, Gordon Clymer, Harvey Bacus, Seth Wilson , and Loren
Dickey* They had been in Barbados and St* Lucia and were able to spend
five days on the island and preach and teach in almost all of the
churches*
still to come this summer Is an overnight retreat for the
youth groups One of our Bible studies is with the Lugo family near
where we live. Jerry, the oldest son, will be going on the retreat
and he is all excited about it and so are wel Also on July 21-2^-
we*ll be having the tenth annual Caribbean Missions Clinic with
workers coming from the U.S. , Haiti, Guyana, Barbados, Antigua,
Dominican Republic, and possibly;St. Lucia. It is always a time of
rich fellowship and renewing friendships with our co-workers in the
Islands of the Caribbean.
Emily and I celebrated our birthdays on July 3rd, she's 2 and I'm
31. My how time flysl Emily is talking up a storm and she has learned
how to express herself very well. There are very few times that "she"
can't make her wishes known,usually very loudlyl We have some very
nice neighbors and one family has five children so Emily has a lot of
playmates that speak only Spanish. She has picked up a few words already.
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. Our work
depends a great deal on your support and whatever victories we have
can be counted as your victories also. Please keep us in your prayers
as we strive to get the church established here. May the Lord richly
bless you all.
Our forwarding agents:
M/M Don Merriman
P.O. Box 6
Williamsport, Indiana h7993
Our field address;
Calle 6 B-10 Villa Interamericana
San German. Puerto Rico 00753
Mission Services
Box 171
Kempton, Ind. ^60b-9
In His service,
Lmily Rick, Suzanne, and
York
y
37^'-^
San German Christian Mission
The York Famiiy
9 1981
Dear Chrictian Friends,
Greetings in Christ from Beautiful Puerto Rico. V/e hope that each
one of you realize the blessing that we have in being part of the "Body
of Christ." That's why we are here, to help see that body grow.
Thank you for your prayers concerning our work. We are sure that
they are having effect. I am having Bible studies every night of the
week but Tuesday and it is great to see the interest of the families
grov7There is a real need for Bible teaching here as most of the families
I teach are very ignorant about the Scriptures. We went to share a little
about two ?: families we are working v/ith.
Rafael and Sonia Ascencio are a young couple, both college graduates,
who have had some teaching concerning God's word. They were very active
in the Presbyterian church until about five years ago. They fell away
from that church and lost their interest in spiritual things, /bout
four or five months ago they began to realize the need for the Lord in
their lives. In July their home was one of the ones that we visited and
they were eager to begin to study God's Word again. Pray for them, please.
Martr Lugo and her family began Bible studies as a result of a contact
that v/e had v^ith her sister-in-law, Ginny Martinez. Ginny and her family
are members of the church in Mayaguez, about fifteen miles away. They
introduced us to Marta and besides having weekly lessons on Friday, she
and her sons have been going with us almost every Sunday to church. They
are eager to see a church started in San German and hope that we can reach
the head of the house, Peter, Mart a's husband. Pray for them, please.
V/e're also beginning a correspondence course and hopefully in the
future we will be able to advertise in the nev/spapers and on radio to
find prospects for the course. A three day ad costs about G350 in a
nev/spaper with about ^-00,000 readers a day. If you v^ould like to help
with this pro;ject, let us know. We'd be glad to accept your help.
We had our first baptism last week but the credit for the teaching
needs to go to one of the saints here, Eva Cardona. Eva is a member of
the church in Mayaguez but she works in San German. One of her co-workers,
Lillian Cuevas, began studying with Eva on their lunch break a few
months ago and recently decided to accept the Lord as her Savior. She
and her mother began taking the correspondence course a few weeks ago
and Lillian was baptized last week. She'll be leaving for the States
soon to join her husband who is stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas. V/e are
trying to find a church that she can fellov/ship with when she gets there.
John Reece, missionary in Mayaguez, and I have been trying to find
a radio station with time available for the program La Hora Cristiana
(The Christian Hour). This program is produced by brother Clinton Looney
in Texas and.is being used in many places in Latin America. We tried to
find a station that had a decent time slot available and at a price we
could afford. The Lord certainly answered our prayers as we were able
to get on WAEL in Mayaguez that covers the entire western side of the
island. The program will be on Saturday evenings at 6:^5 and the price
is great, it's freel Our mouths kind of dropped open when the station
manager said that it would not cost us anything. Praise the Lord for that I
V/e can offer the Bible studies and correspondence course after the program
is finsihed each Saturday. Pray for this endeavor.
Since we have been attending the church in Mayaguez v^e have been
helping with some of the work too. I've done some of the preaching and
John Gidley and I are in the middle of teaching the men in the church
how to prepare sermons. They are beginning to understand what all is
involved and the time it takes but they are also seeing that it is not
impossible for them to do.
Our camp program is marching ahead. We just decided to spend the
funds necessary to finish getting the land leveled and ready to build
on. V/e hope to have the funds to build at least one building by next
suinmcr. Lord willing.
V/e were thrilled to have the 1Cth Caritteaan Missions Clinic in
Puerto Rico, during the third week of July. Workers cane from Antigua,
Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, and the United States. We had
workshops, preaching, mission reports and most of all, a great time
of fellowship. V/e were al3 encouraged to hear of the growth of God's
Kingdom in every one of the countries represented.
Please be in prayer for our future co-workers, Lonny and Vanessa
Smith, and their family as they finalize their plans to go to language
school and then to come work with us. V/e are thrilled they are coming
and we know that God will use them in a great way. They will need your
prayers as they study Spanish because it can be very frustrating at
times. They plan to leave for language school in December, Lord wilDing.
In our last newsletter we mentioned that we had just about given
up hope on finding a house we could afford to buy. We may have given
up but the Lord certainly did not. I saw a small sign in a hardware
store in July that advertised a home for sale. The owner and his wife
wanted to go back to the States so I was able to talk him dov/n to a
price that we could afford. It has three bedrooms and two baths and
the rooms are big, at least big in Puerto Rico. We also have a good
sized back yard and very nice neighbors. The house is about a mile out
of town so we have the peace of the country without being too far from
tov/n. The Lord certainly has been good to usl
'V/e are now-n-the-time of year Renown as hurricarre~se'a"S"onr~in^
this part of the world. In September there have been six hurricanes
form but none has done any damage. This is the first year in the last
1C0 that at least one hurricane has not done any damage. V/ith the kind
of force the hurricanes have there is not much you can do but get
prepared.
V/ith all the different projects that we have going, or are planning,
we are going to need additional funds, either in one time gifts or
regular support. The Lord has always provided for our needs and we are
sure that He will continue to do so. If you would like to help, or your
church or Sunday school class would like to help, write to us or our
forwarding agents listed below. Most importantly, however, is our need
for your prayers. Please continue to lift us up to the throjae- of grace.
Only by the prayers of the faithful can God's work progress.
If you have any questions about our work or our island, please
write to us. We got a lovely letter last week from a man in Ohio that
we had never met before. He had seen our name in LAMP magazine and
v/rote to encourage us and he certainly did. We'd love to hear from you
too.
Please keep us in your prayers and may the Lord bless you as you
serve him.
Forv/arding Agent:
Don Merriman
P.O. Box 6
Wil3irmsport, Indiana ^7993
Field Address:
P.O. Box 1071
Srn German, P.R. 00753
In His service,
4r
Rick, Suzanne, and Emily
-(Pa, Sy
Dizci 'i38\
375^
San German Christian Mission
The York Family
Fcliz Navidad
Desr Christian Friends,
Greetings from sunny Puerto Rico. IrVhile most of you are getting set
for a long cold winter, we are entering the most pleasant time of the
year. The days are not too hot and the nights are not too cool. In other -
words, perfect weatherl We hope that you and your families will have
a merry Christmas and take time to thank God for His great gift of love.
V/e have been busy with different aspects of our work. My Bible studies
are going very well. We are hoping and
praying that we will be able to start
services sometime this coming spring I
' V- believe that we will have at least four
families besides ourselves to be the nucleus
- of the church. We are really seeing that if
we are faithful to plant and water, God will
, give the increase. The Bible correspondence
^ course is going well and will open many
doors for us.
. .|g| Helping teach the men to preach at the
7 ^ : 'l| church in Mayaguez is beginning to show
results. Most of the men are preparing
Jk * ' ; ifiijjj^ sermons to give on Sunday mornings and
they all have done a good job. At first they
^ are nervous but they soon realize that it is
1?, not impossible to do.
r !. I, were able to have s fine singspiration
ggjjBjIjig'u.:.'-. JjJiiSafliii. I with all the churches in October. It was a
good time of fellowship and singing. Speaking
of singing, the church at Msysgues has a new
' choir and they are practicing a Christmas
P I Kaok a+ cantata, their first ever. Talk about nervousl
^ muvi nw<0 n They have been asked to sing in two other
churches in December, so pray for them.
Vfe are looking forward to Christmas. Puerto Hlcans celebrate Christmas
differently than we do but it is just as enjoyable. Instead of turkey we
eat roast pig and rice with chick peas. Puerto Rican Christmas carols are
called aRUinaldos are usually sung v/hen you visit someonehome late
inside
narr:
) and
at night in v/hat is called a narranda. Your group stands outside and sings
until the folks inside get up and let you in.
As you can see from the picture above. Emily is getting to be a quite
a young lady. She is really talking up a storm, in Spanish, as x-?ell as
English. She is learning so much and is] always asking 'U^Jliy'' and "I^at are
you doing?" Our big news is that she willl be having a little br^. ther or
sister by the end of Marchl Suzanne is about five months pregnat.t and is
doing very well. V/e*ve got enough baby things for a little girl so Suzanne
is hoping for a girl sure it will be a boy. Pray for Suzanne during
the next few months, please. The hospitals and doctors here are excellent.
Our Wiwi Korwfe ? 'PrAift
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'orwardin^ sg,ents;M/M Don Merriman Box 6^ Williaoisport> Indiana
h'JCC
Rick and Suzaruie York
P.C. Boz 10?1
San C-ermanj Puerto Rico 00753
G07^'i
Mission Services
Box 171
Kempton, Ind ^-60^9