Virgin Islands/Puerto Rico by Tol Burk Read more about Virgin Islands here NOVEMBER 2005 REPORT November 2005 Dear brethren, My prayer is that this letter finds you enjoying good health as well as the other many blessings of our Heavenly Father. We are well, although still a bit tired from our trip to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. We arrived in St. Thomas the night of the 9th of Nov. When we stepped off the plane, it was about 80 degrees, sea breeze blowing—it was almost like “coming home”, but that feeling didn’t last long. The rental cars are parked one-quarter mile away, up a steep set of steps with no lighting, so finding the car took a few minutes. By the time we got to town (Charlotte Amalie) it was 10 PM, so only Wendy’s was open. The drive through was moving quickly, which was a surprise and we finally placed our order--#3 combo, single, med. Frosty. The immediate repl...[more] MARCH 2008 REPORT April 14, 2008 Dear brethren, We trust that you are all well, as we are. March was busy, with Dana and I each being gone 10 days and we had David Hurst and Jim Canada visit a couple of days on each end of my trip to Grenada. Ed was gone 2 weeks in there as well, so it was hectic for all of us. It's raining again—it rained a couple of hours this morning, so the temperature is only 77 right now. We don't have many days like this in the dry season and it's about a month early for the rainy season to start, so I'm not sure what this portends. Fortunately they just called to say the window screens for downstairs are now ready—windows are sold without the screens here, so we've been saving to get them made. The work at Caparra Terrace continues pretty much the same—attendance in English has s...[more] FEBRUARY 2008 REPORT February 26, 2008 As the month of February draws to a close, so does our short winter. It was 93 degrees around 10:30 AM today, but has since backed down to 81. While I know Feb. is not quite over, I'm writing this report anyway. I trust you are all well. I'm okay but Dana is having a little trouble with her asthma, so please keep her in your prayers as she goes back to the States (IN & Atlanta) for 10 days. We began the month with 10 days in Florida—in Tampa, at the Florida College Lectures, then a few days to see some friends in the Ft. Myers area, and finally a few days with our son Kai and his family in Port St. Lucie. We enjoyed our time in Fl—it was good to see many friends, although we attended the funeral of a dear friend from St. Croix while there. Ed called us on the 10th to say t...[more] OCTOBER 2007 REPORT November 5, 2007 Dear Brethren, October has been an interesting month, not only for the work here, but for us individually. Dana and I are both well, although our trip to the States (Oct. 10-30) was tiring. I trust you are all well also. It was nice to enjoy some cooler weather, but that lasted about 30 minutes I think—our bodies have already acclimated to the Caribbean and of course we don’t really have the clothes for temperatures in the 50’s or below anymore. We also enjoyed spending a few days with our daughter Kristi, who lives in Atlanta. We also spent a week with our son in Franklin, Ky and his family while I preached a Gospel meeting there. His 3 year old daughter kept us in stitches the whole time—she doesn’t mind talking and she has a country drawl that won’t quit. From there we w...[more] REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2007 December 3, 2007 Dear brethren, I trust you are well, as we are. I've been fighting a sore throat and chest congestion most of the week, but I was able to preach yesterday. It is sunny this morning, about 82 degrees—it has rained almost every day since mid-October and the rainy season should be ending. We passed Hurricane Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 17th) so for me hurricane season 2007 is officially over. I don't know if you heard about the 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Dominica, but as far as I know the brethren are all okay. I spoke to Elkin Vigilant, who preaches in La Plaine and Francis Graneau, who does the preaching in Vielle Case and there was no damage in either place—some things fell off the grocery store shelves in La Plaine, but that was about it. November was a bus...[more] REPORT FOR JANUARY 2008 January 2008 Dear brethren, January has been a very exciting month for us and the work in this area. Dana and I are both well, as we trust you are. It has been cooler, with highs several days this week only in the high 70’s. Just so you don’t think it never gets cold here, the low in Aibonito (a town in the mountains) was 45 Wed. morning. We began Jan. at home—New Year’s Eve has traditionally been greeted with a lot of fireworks and even gunshots, so many that 5-10 people were seriously injured or killed by stray bullets. By the 10th, all the brethren were back home, so our attendance since then has been 11 in English and 6 in Spanish. I was in Dominica from the 14th-22nd, spending the first 3 days in La Plaine, working with Elkin Vigilant. I had to spend the first night in Antigua ...[more] Work in Puerto Rico October 2008 Dear brethren, October was certainly a busy month although I know the calendar says it's over, I'm not too sure yet. Seriously, I know it is but yesterday, Sunday Nov. 2nd, I drove almost 300 miles—we left home at 8:30 AM for services at Caparra from 9-11 AM in English, then 11:20-12:20 in Spanish (had to leave early) so I could pick up Juan and Amanda Vargas so we could be in Moca at 4 PM (to show them where the church meets—they'll drive themselves the 45 minutes each way from now on). We left Moca at 6; I dropped them off and got home at 9:30 PM. That was typical of all of October. As I mentioned in my last report we began helping these brethren in Moca in Sept. The first Sunday in October the Moscoso's planned to withdraw their membership from the liberal church in Aguadilla a...[more] DECEMBER 2008 REPORT December 10, 2008 Dear Brethren, My prayer is that you are all well, as we are. This is the time of year we look forward to, when the cold fronts make it down to us. It’s 73 degrees right now and rained for 45 minutes this morning, so it feels really cold. Daytime highs are in only mid 80’s. The work here continues to progress slowly. Things at Moca have settled down to those who are really interested—around 14 in attendance most Sundays. Carlos & Ramona and Ruben & Maribel are always there. Ruben and Maribel’s two daughters are usually there, along with their husband (the older daughter) or boyfriend (the younger one). Darien, the boyfriend has expressed a need to become a Christian and asks very good questions. Jesus and Mirta are another couple who attend and are very interested. They...[more] JULY/AUGUST 2009 REPORT August 28, 2009 Dear brethren, Trust you are well and enjoying the nice HOT weather—I don’t want to hear how cool it is there, I’m jealous enough as it is. So far the 4 tropical systems this year have missed us, but the height of hurricane season here is Sept. 10-17. In the meantime it’s hot and humid.. The work here has really picked up during the last week of July and August. I now have 2 scheduled classes with non-Christians as well as 2 studies with brethren. I continue to study with Luis Gonzalez, the grandson of Sister Carmen Cruz, a member of the Spanish speaking church. We lack on lesson to finish our series and he has grasped everything so far. He and his Pentecostal girlfriend broke up in July—don’t know why, but suspect “religion” had something to do with it. He also c...[more] MARCH 2009 REPORT March 10, 2009 Dear brethren, My prayer is that you are all well and enjoying the richest blessings of our Heavenly Father, as we are. February has been a good month for us here—several firsts and the promise of more to come. Attendance in both the churches at Caparra has been up—we’ve had 2 or 3 visitors from off island every Sunday at the English church and a renewed attendance from some of our visitors at the Spanish church. I met with Araceli, one of those visitors toward the end of the month and she’s agreed to study on Tuesdays around 6 PM. She works at a beauty parlor and Tues. is her only day off, so I’m not able to go to Ponce right now, as they meet on Tues. Araceli told me she knows she needs to be baptized, but doesn’t feel she knows enough yet. Her son Jeffrey is a real j...[more] MARCH 2009 REPORT April 8, 2009 Dear brethren, My prayer is that you are all well and enjoying the richest blessings of our God and Savior. Here we are both well, although everyone here has had the cold/sinus/”flu”—all seem to be over it now. Tonight was the night for the newly hatched flying ants to leave their nest, seeking to build a new colony, so we have all the windows closed to keep them out—their wings are such a mess to clean up if they get in, not to mention their dead bodies. We continue our slow progress at Caparra. Because of Christians from other places visiting we’ve had 17-20 in attendance in English, but usually back to our normal 10-12 on Wed. night. Gilbert & Pat Rodriguez moved back to Texas on the 2nd of April, so our membership dropped by one. In Spanish, both Bobby and Nicanor (Nicky...[more] back |