CHRISTIAN DAY SCHOOL

G.P.O. Box 29-16

San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936
Tel. 783-2200
Richard D. York, Director
'r
Dear Christian Friends. 18,1979
Greet^gs frm Puerto Ricc. Suzanne and I are fine aid busy wi.th the work as usual,
l^ere has been a lot of activity since atr last newsletter at Christmas. At the schools
we are very busy getting ready to finish the year. Supplies and books have to be crdared
^ -ifs^dents for classes lias to be finalized. I have had to turn do^n bet^-.^een
:)U /O holies this year just for our classes in Pre-Kiiider and Kinder because of lack of
st^^ts the nother begins to cry but w^ just cannot take any more
caif)lctc t;;o nrre claris rcajs this suniTisr to give ixire space for
^ secOTd ^ade Ihis ye^- we divided seccTid gi'ude into two classes but one of tii^rbas to
^ meet m the ^pel vinch is not a verj^ good si'tuaticn. We have a Puerto Rican airistian
iirso Cintron, who lias been in charge of maintenance at the schcol for seve^-a] years
tS? sorretlMg about everytdiing in constructicn. He is a dedicated worker who lias
helped the school ^d church a great deal. He will be in charge of the constructicn.
f P^cgram of getting the school children and their farilies involved
The school s nmn p'orjicse is to evangelize and we are trying to do that
^ school. \'Je have seen sane productivity out
nearly as inuich as we would like. Pray uhat the Lord will use us and
the tMchers o.. the school to plant the seed and work until w-e .see a harvest.
^ k tostrating parts of iiy job at the school is dealing vn,th the goverr!r.=rral
talhn^n involved m. Red tape in the U.S. is nothing coiTDar.ed to red
krivlfih, b ^ to dekl with
? ^2tot.-.arres.Public Insruction,Health,end the Fire Department. All the
ae maintain th.e scliool legally in operation.
o,- r ^ involved a school van that was stolen aid has been recovered but
told ^ months of waiting. Ihe police agent in chairge of the case
tibr ^ ? f- release from an: insurance corrpaiy and the bus vrould be turned o^pv to
sLt-nfabif lately. Tiiat was Last J^e and we are still w.^aiting. Tl,e Lord laist be
to Si me sarething^'^^ because I get tire distinct itipression He is trying
h? ''ell. Bob Gur:.-cll, the minister, is doing an
believers. Ve had h'three day rerdval last week that resulted
to foi^ baptisms for rfndr we prjiise the Lord. V.'e teccked out some walls to enlarge the
of tte^vivar ^ people caiifortably. He had that many on &;o rights
"T-Ssionaries on the island are joining together in what we are calling a ITsAM
^ Sd m?rcnfofTk f ^ take three
^onir^hn J wr w b Clrui'ches and go door-to-door trying to malse contact with
wSk wftalW b T- "^ible study or correspondence course. Uris last
in -tokSf taparra area tod that have expressed scae interest
Saftolt thbtorfi'-il establish weekly sUidies with them.
next ten years w^-^cT'ftkr see ten new churches in the utwu Lcn years wna.cn VTitn God s help rs wry possible.
One of the_gr^tes^t needs wa have is a Q";rispian Service Camp. Again, vrLtrh Cod's help
we vd.ll soon nave one. Tve have locaLcd a piece of property,^six foi^^6,5OO._^0vwcea
loans and gifts we alimst have cncogh to bu^^ the l^id. Pray that \-7a vdll be aKle^o bu}' it
and put it to use. Ero^ Paul Grdinn, an eighty year old retiree has been tlie spark of tlie
canp.
Paul "vrorked for mmiy years for the Post Office in Indiana and tlisn after he "retired"
he vent to wrk at the Lake Janes Qmstian, Service Canp and in t^t^lve years he helj,Mj:d
build tVia.t canp into one of tiiG best in our brotherhood. He then went on to help
establish the Golden Years Itoastead tnirsing harje in Fort VJayne, Indiana. Paul vent beck
to school for a year in order to get his license^ to direct the hare. After five years
there he catre to l\:erto Rico and has been an inspiration for us all. He dearly wants to
see this canp get started vhile he is still alive and h.as invested a great deal of ti.oi
and energy and imney into it. Please pray for us as v.-e try and get the program started.
If you or your church would liloe to help financially, please send a cbecl: to me writtaj}.
to Canpainento Crlstlsno Taino,Inc. Your gift will be tax-deductable and V7e can use every
cent.
Hov7 for sore personal nevrs. I'm very sorry to report that father,Coy York, died
on February the 18th at Carle Clim.c in U:-:bana, Illinois. Dad bad cancer that was discoveri
last sunmsr. He v.'as a lo\dng latsband and a great father viio will be missed very much
by all of us vh.o had the hxnor of Inowing bum. I was able to get home in tlriS for trje
fti-iera?i. 'evcri' tlTOup,iT~d.>i fliy;ht drrXit '&aii Jr-cu Lo IndihLiciji'jXie \voxs "civ.vertcu
' - death v^as net North Carolina and I v^as stuck there for ^'1-8 boui'.s in a sncsvstorm. Dad'
a shock but still Wcis: very difficult for all cf us. Please ra-nemb&r iry Kci.'i in your
prayers as she begins to adjust to her new life alcna.
Good nevvs Is smole and that is in the form of nv wife: who is now in her eighth incaUli
of pregnancy. Suzsnne has been in excellent health for which we give thanks to the Tord.
I will hopefully be able to be with her cK-ring the delivery WTrl.ch should be quite an
experience. Both of the prospective grandto'd-iers are oxited btit especiall.y Su2<'^'ne's
neither,The.Jma Sv7av:go, of Ironixu,Chio because It wi.ll be her fi-rst gxaidchiLld. I tell i:y
friends t;hat we i;.re not b.aving a baby, ^vs sxe hnvir.g a graTidiT>other!
U^r-nl-: you aJ.! again for making the Ditids ..'i-varl-:;ble so tliat vx can wo?:k here. Vq
depend on you and V7e pray that Gad will bless you for being so gexxrous i:c us. Plesi-n'i
T-Trite us a note you can, wu vTculd lor^e to hear from you. Tins price of airfare to
Can Juan is not too Iiigh yet so why not cafrs and^^islt the vxrk and see arc beautifiu
island?
May God bless you as you serve Hdm.
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Christ,
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Our Address:
Paaeo /urr.lho 2526
Levittct-n,Puerto Fdco 0C950
9
)V\ |SS/0' -Se-eoicti
ALWAYS USE
2.
Yor^,
CHRISTMAS NEWS
FROM
PUERTO RICO
Season's greetings from Puerto Rico! We hope
that the Lord is blessing you during this part of
the year that we remember the birth of Christ.We
are both very busy with our work at the schools
and churches. Here at Caparra we are preparing for
a BIG Christmas program for the parents on Dec.15.
A^lot of work has been put into the program by
the teachers and students and we hope that all will
go well. This year, for the first time, the
missionaries from Levittown and Caparra are getting
together to sing for their Puerto Rican brothers
and sisters.We have been practicing the"Hallelujah
Chorus" and some songs in Spanish.
At the church in Caparra we have various
projects going on all the time and one that we
just started is a class on Personal Evangelism
for the teachers of the two schools. We are working
on ways to begin teaching the parents that we come
in contact with at the schools. The purpose of the
schools is to contact people for Christ and we are
trying to learn the best ways to do that.
We were thrilled this last Wednesday evening
when one of the parents from school, Charlotte
Charoy was baptized. She was converted by ome of
our teachers, Ray Prager. We are so happy for her
and also for Ray who was used by the Lord.
As Christmas draws near we cannot help but
think of the birth of Christ and what a sacrifice
it was for him to leave the glory of Heaven to be
born in a cold, smelly stable. We hope and pray
that this coming year we will all be more thankful
to God for his grace and forgiveness.
Puerto
NEWS FROM THE ISLAND
A lot of work is being done for the Lord here
in Puerto Rico. We want to let you know what is
going on in some of the other works. I have been
preaching at the church in Levittown for the past
three months. The church there needs a bi~lingual
preacher so please be praying for that.
The missionaries on the island are now getting
together every two months for an evangelistic
campaign on different parts of the island. This is
to encourage the work and churches that are already
established and to begin new work. We will be going
to the Church of Christ in Mayaguez on the 21-23
of this month. Pray that we'll be able to make
new contacts for the Lord there. The church is
growing very well there and they have set a goal
of having 200 members within the next three years.
We hope that our work will help them reach their
goal.
One of the great needs that we have is a good
piece of land for a campground. All of the people
are looking high and low but none has been found
yet. . We have-rented different camps in the
past but we really need our own land. Pray that
we can find some land at a price that we can
afford.
Another new tool that is being used is an
island-wide newspaper or newsletter that tells
what is going on at the various churches and other
mission work. We are trying to show the people
in the various towns that they have brothers and
sisters all over the island and all over the world.
As you can see, we have a lot to be praying
for and we hope that you will join us as we try
our best,using the best methods, to bring the
message of Christ to these people.
FELIZ NAVIDAD Y UN PROSPERO ANO NUEVO
When all of you are sitting down for a nice meal
of turkey or ham, most of the Puerto Ricans will
be eating LECH<^ ASM)0 . Lechon Asado is Spanish
for roast pig. The pig is usually butchered on
Christmas Eve and a pit is dug for a charcoal
fire. Early on Christmas morning the pig is put
on the spit to roast over the fire and it makes
one of the best meals I know of.
PASTELES are another traditional Christmas
food. They are made from corn meal mixed up with
pork,olives,potatoes and I don't know what else
and all boiled inside of a banana leaf. Sound good
to you?
PARANDAS are not a food but a custom. During the
month of December groups go around town caroling
at the homes of their friends. The only difference
is that the group usually comes to your house about
two o'clock in the morning. The people in the home
are expected to get out of bed and invite the group
in for more singing and refreshments.
LOS TRES REYES in Latin America are the Three
Wise Men. The day for their celebration is Jan. 6
and it's almost like Christmas again. The children
receive gifts and on the night before the Three
Wise Men come the children put straw beneath their
beds to feed the camels.
As you can tell, Christmas is a little bit
different here, we miss being in the States for
the holidays but we have really come to love
taking part in the celebration of Christ's birth
the way the Puerto Rican people do.
Suzanne and I hope that your holidays will
be filled with joy and thankfulness for the birth
of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ,
PERSONAL NEWS
We want to take this time to thank each and
every one of you who have made it possible for us
to work here. Your gifts toward our work make us
feel that we are backed by people who care about
what we are doing. We are also very thankful for
Don and Jan Merriman who have served so faithfully
as our Forwarding Agents. They are a great help.
We also want to announce to all of you that
we are expecting our first child in June of 1979.
Suzanne and I are very excited and we pray that the
baby will be healthy and that we will be able to
raise the child up in a way that is pleasing to God.
"There are so many details involved in having a
baby but I think that we have got it under control.
I know that Suzanne does but I am not so sure about
myselfi
We are really enjoying our new home. It has
much more room than our other house and with the
baby coming we will be able to use one of the rooms
as a nursery. God has been very good to us.
My father is in much better health now. He had
tumors in hislymph system and in his lungs and brain
but now the ones in his lungs and lymph system
have disappeared. He is still receiving cobalt
therapy for his brain tumor. He is able to be home
now after being in the hospital and nursing home for
several months. Praise God for his care.
Thank you all for your
prayers. Write to us at:
Rick and Suzanne York
Paseo Armino 2526
Levittown, Puerto Rico
00950
FELI2 NAVIDAD